The state has no power over the Christian

Here is a thought-provoking paragraph from William Stringfellow:

the state has only one power it can use against human beings: death. The state can persecute you, prosecute you, imprison you, exile you, execute you. All of these mean the same thing. The state can consign you to death. The grace of Jesus Christ in this life is that death fails. There is nothing the state can do to you, or to me, which we need fear. (A Second Birthday, p. 133)