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"It is legitimate for Christians to use civil ordinances just as it is legitimate for them to use the air, light, food, and drink. For as this universe and the fixed movements of the stars are truly ordinances of God and are preserved by God, so lawful governments are ordinances of God and are preserved and defended by God against the devil."
Apology to the Augsburg Confession Daniel Preus, Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-8. Tappert, p. 178.
"...the spiritual kingdom does not change the civil government. Thus private revenge is forbidden not as an evangelical counsel but as a command (Mattew 5:39; Romans 12:19). Public redress through a judge is not forbidden but expressly commanded, and it is a work of God according to Paul (Romans 13:1ff.) Apology to the Augsburg Confession,
Daniel Preus, Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-8. Tappert, Political Order "...lawful civil ordinances are God's good creatures and divine ordinances in which a Christian may safely take part." Daniel Preus, Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-8. Tappert, p. 222f.
"That as occasion arises no Christian, without violating his conscience, may use an office of the government against wicked people, and that subjects may not call upon the government to use the power that it possesses and that it has received from God for their protection and defense." (Anabaptist view, judged intolerable)
Daniel Preus, Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-8. Tappert, p. 499.
"Since the temporal power is ordained of God to punish the wicked and protect the good, it should be left free to perform its office in the whole body of Christendom without restriction and without respect to persons, whether it affects pope, bishops, priests, monks, nuns, or anyone else." Martin Luther, Open Letter to the Christian Nobility, Daniel Preus, Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-8. Luther's Works, 44, p. 130.
"Walther himself initiated a lawsuit in the state of Indiana against a fellow Lutheran of the Ohio Synod who had been guilty of slandering him. Through his lawyer he even sought monetary damages from the man guilty of slander, although stating that any damages awarded would not be used for his personal benefit. Walther dropped his lawsuit only when the two individuals primarily responsible for slandering him had retracted their slander and apologized in writing, submitting their apologies for publication in 'Der Lutheraner.' (Der Lutheraner, July, 1884, p. 109) Daniel Preus "Christians, Lawsuits and 1 Corinthians 6," Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-6.
"Paul himself appealed to the highest civil authority, Caesar himself, to seek protection from the religious leaders of his own people (Acts 25-28). Yet the synodical president and others have cited Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 as proof of their charges that Robert Preus has sinned by appealing to the civil court for help. But nowhere in these verses does Paul state that it is wrong for a Christian to take his case to a civil court. He talks about bringing disputes before the ungodly (adikoi) and going to the lawbefore unbelievers (apistoi)."
Daniel Preus "Christians, Lawsuits and 1 Corinthians 6," Affirm, June, 1991, p. 5-6.