God establishes the civil government to be a servant of justice for Him on the earth. But He also appoints familial and ecclesiastical governments, each with its sphere of sovereignty. The family is God’s ministry of health, education, and welfare, the state imposes justice, and the church ministers mercy. Each must respect the jurisdiction of the others as given by God Himself, and no human authority at any level is absolute. We have to honor all the authorities God has established, which also means resisting them when they egregiously overstep their bounds.