If Christ Reigns, He Reigns over Church and Government

Simply put, Christ reigns over church and creation through church and government offices: elder and magistrate. This one rule is distinguishable but united under Christ who reigns as Lord and Messiah.

In either case, if pastor or Premier sins, they retain the authority God gave but are accountable to God for their sin. They are also accountable to whatever body keeps them accountable (elder board, legislative assembly, etc.). Some sin obviously disqualifies too.

The advantage of the church is that we have Scriptural revelation that perfects and corrects and reveals what we could not otherwise be known: namely, God in Christ for us. Hence, good government too ought to recognize the correcting, perfecting, and revealing nature of Holy Scripture.

They often don't. And so are left with less clarity than they'd otherwise have, relying entirely on nature and the light of nature. Richard Hooker explains that such governance is still possible and often "good" but there is a lack there.

One confessional document that recognizes the reality of the light of nature in governance is the Westminster Confession of Faith which notes: "there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed" (WCF 1.6).

This basically sums up the entire reformed tradition on political theology which always or nearly always affirms natural law, the light of nature, and prudential judgments made by the magistrate as God's governance—though the language might vary the ideas are basically the same in the reformed tradition.

Polyander in the Leiden Synopsis advocates for the greatest harmony between church and magistrate, with all the regular limits of that harmony. Don't commit sin whether pastor or king commands it, etc.

The basic distinction, which really is too basic and needs clarification, is that Christ reigns over the church through the conscience and sacraments while the magistrate orders society in accordance with external matters—in light of nature and (ideally) Scriptural revelation.

Such a view prevents one from minmizing the reign of Christ, as if Christ only reigns in the church and not society since not everyone is yet converted. But if Christ only reigns over the converts and not creation, he is not the Lord of Creation. 

But Scripture says God reigns over Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and the world. To minimize his reign by arguing that Christ only reigns when a society as a whole converts to Christianity in effect undercuts the present universal reign of Christ.

But in fact, he does reign and when we returns all will recognize that reign visibly and publically when every knee will bow. 

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