It is no business of the state ever to enquire what deity men worship, other than in the situation in Old Testament Israel where God himself established a theocracy. There under the law of Moses the governing authority was responsible for enforcing not only the second table of the law – laws relating to our fellow man – but also the first table of the law – laws relating to God. With the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Jewish Gentile church, that responsibility has never again been given to an earthly government. How could it be otherwise when the gospel has been sent into all the world, and it has become clear that for the purposes of salvation God deals with individuals, and not with nations. Israel of old was a type of the church, but not the true people of God. God tolerated that situation for a time, and the government of Israel was charged with upholding the outward expression of pure worship, but it could never govern men’s hearts. Christ has brought into existence a better arrangement, a true people of God, ‘an holy nation’ (1 Peter 2:9). The church of Jesus Christ is composed of those who are called out of an unbelieving world, and the world as a whole is left to its unbelief. As Paul says, ‘For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth’ (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). How can the task of ordering religion on earth be handed over to those who are not themselves members of the kingdom of heaven. Although kings and queens may come to personal faith, there is no guarantee that future monarchs will know the Lord, for the Lord calls whom he wills, and therefore the policing of religion on earth can never be given to the state. They are not competent to do so, and they should not attempt to do so. But of course false religion does not understand this, and human pride makes men believe they are able to rule over the totality of human life, and so they intrude into what God has never given them authority to rule over.