Servant Not Savior: An Introduction to the Bible’s Teaching about Civil Government

by Levi Secord

God’s design is for the state to be a servant, not our savior. Sadly, as we’ve abandoned God’s instructions, people across the political spectrum treat the state as a potential savior. Today is the day of big government as people consistently cry out to the state for salvation. Politicians take on Messiah-like personas, yet time and again they fail to deliver on their promises. Both history and Scripture teach us that the state makes a terrible savior. Christians, of all people, must recognize the frightful implications of turning the state into a savior. To counteract this trend, the church needs a robust political theology.


This book by pastor-theologian Levi Second addresses every major issue touching on a biblical theology of the state and politics. Likely no book of this size has ever been written which addresses so many vital issues related to politics in the Christian worldview and addresses them with greater biblical fidelity.


This book is a distinctively biblical education in political theology.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Daniel Bouchoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

The secular state has demonstrated it’s insufficiency. On top of removing God from the political scene, secularism insists that the church not speak into their realm. Christians are free to believe what they want, but they better not say anything about politics.

The church has responded in 2 ways. First, many Christians, raised in this culture, accept this and insist that the church stay in their lane. The state should not identify as Christian. It's neutral. The other way is Christian Nationalism--the state should be explicitly Christian and separation of church and state should be collapsed, or at least partially.

Levi presents his better option in this book. He begins by unpacking sphere sovereignty. He holds to 3 (at least) spheres of authority--state, church, and family. Each sphere has its own ministries. The state upholds justice, the family creates and educates, the church performs the sacraments and wields the keys to the kingdom. Each sphere has something to contribute to the others, but they should not overstep on each other’s authority and ministry.

He then presents the sanctified state. In summary, the state is a servant of God to uphold justice and to protect the rights of family and church. The state is accountable to God and should acknowledge so. This acknowledges that their authority is derived and thus limited.

There are clear strengths to this book:
1. Clear unpacking of the biblical doctrine about civil government.
2. Solid critique of a neutral state and of Christians who prefer secularism because a confessional Christian state might produce nominal Christianity.
3. A good presentation of sphere sovereignty and the relationship of the spheres. I only wish he said more about if the church has moral superiority over the state. I think he would say yes.

[Cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the two best books summarizing governmental theology that I’ve read. The other is Baird’s new book King of Kings. I think Baird’s is an ideal general primer while Secord’s book covers more topics from a more specific viewpoint. Secord’s view is a nuanced form of Christian nationalism that he calls the Sanctified State. While I agree with why he qualifies his view with this term, I think the Christian Nationalism term is still ultimately helpful since it most obviously opposes Secular Globalism.

[Ryan Rust · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great. The first book in the political theology/Christian nationalism debate of the past five years that sums up pretty much my entire view. I pray this will be read widely.