Does The Word Of God Contradict Itself
In one sense, we are to obey the civil magistrates, but in another, we are not. The dividing line is simple. Whenever the government advocates something that is against Scripture, we are to disobey it. Our obligation is to follow God rather than man .
Therefore, when any government advocates abortion, we are to resist it. When the state approves of homosexuality, we are to resist it. If the state approves of same-sex marriage, we are to resist it. This is significant, especially since the government is promoting and legislating ungodliness.
- State-approved abortion
What Does The Bible Say About Authority
As believers we must do what is pleasing to the Lord. We must continue to respect and obey authority. We must not only obey when we agree with things. Though sometimes it may seem hard we must obey when things seem unfair. For example, paying unfair taxes.
Be a good example for others and even through hard times serve the Lord with all your heart by submitting to authority.
Remember that we are to be the light of the world and there is no power, except that which God allows.
Christians Disobeyed The Kings Order To Seize Paul
In Damascus, the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, 33 and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands, .
Damascus is a city in Syria, outside of Israel. An ethnarch is a ruler who is given authority by someone from another country. Aretas was an Arabian King and the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. So, when Paul was in Damascus preaching about Jesus, the Jews there plotted to do away with him, . But, his disciples lowered him in a large basket through an opening in a wall so that he escaped .
We see here that a ruler, in concert with the Jews, sought to apprehend Paul. But, instead of obeying the wishes of the civil magistrate, Pauls disciples helped him to escape. They did not submit to the governing authority because, again, it violated scripture.
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Two Reasons Why The Bible Tells Us To Obey Authorities
Scripture tells us to honour the emperor , to submit to authorities , and to do good to all people . This represents the Bibles basic stance on our relationship to authority. The Old Testament too confirms the rightness of submitting to proper authorities through its narratives.
Throughout Scripture, God also calls us to what is good and right . So if someone in authority tells us to deny Jesus or to act wickedly, we have to say, We must obey God rather than men . Hence, the martyrs died at the hand of Romans because they would not deny Jesus. Our obedience has certain, set limits.
However, our usual stance to authority should be one of submission. One question we should ask then is: why should we submit to authorities? We need to look no farther than Scripture itself. The Bible often tells why we should obey authorities, not just that we should.
Here, I have the modest aim of highlighting two reasons why the Bible tells us to obey authorities to deepen our understanding of the biblical mandate for obedience.
Civil Disobedience In Biblical History
For example, there is a long and respected tradition of civil disobedience in biblical history which God not only allows but also praises. It starts in Exodus 1. The Israelites had lived in Egypt under the rule of the Pharaohs for several centuries. They became very numerous, so the king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the boy babies born to the Israelites . But verse 17 says, “The midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.” And verse 20 adds, “So God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” It seems clear to me that these women were not subject to the governing authorities. In fact, they saw the command of the king not as a command of God, but contrary to God’s command. So they disobeyed the civil authorities for God’s sake, and God was pleased.
Two other instances are found in Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar made a royal decree that all who heard his music must fall down and worship the golden image of his god. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey the edict . So they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God miraculously saved them and thus put his stamp of approval on their civil disobedience.
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Bible Verses About Respecting Government Government Authority Government Officials & Government Leaders
7 Bible Verses about Respecting Government, Government Authority, Government Officials, & Government Leaders.
Find below 7 Inspirational, Motivational, Encouraging & Eye Opening Bible Verses about Respecting Government, Respecting Government Authority, Respecting Government Officials, & Respecting Government Leaders.
Dear Friends, we must respect Our Government Authorities, Officials, and Leaders whether or not we agree with their policies and actions. When we disagree, we must do so respectfully. We must never forget that we are representatives of Jesus in all we say and do.
We must also remember to pray for those in authority, so that it may go well with us and so that we might have peace in our land.
I pray these Important Scriptures are a blessing to you and yours. May our lives, words, and actions always bring glory to God. Thanks for reading!
VersesTitus 3:1, NLT Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.See also:7 Bible Verses about Respecting Authority
Romans 13:1, NLT Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
Daniel 2:21, NIV He changes times and seasons he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. See also:Wisdom comes from God
First To Live A Quiet Life As A Political Society
Oliver ODonovans writing on political theology tipped me off to something so incredibly transparent in the biblical text but for some reason opaque to me! The Bible tells us to obey authorities so that we can live independently .
After Paul tells the Romans to obey authorities in a justly famous passage , Paul then says, Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law . We should not owe anything to anyone but love, something that we have and can share. Thats the same reason we should not stealso that we can work and share .
1 Peter 2, another key passage on obedience to authorities, tells us to obey and to live as free people: Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God .
Paul elsewhere writes, But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one .
Note the last phrase that explains a purpose of living a quiet life, be dependent on no one. This independence means that we owe no one anything . It means that we can freely love others without worrying about external constraints.
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What Being Subject To Governing Authorities Means
What does have to be qualified is verse 3. In view of what Paul knows about the miscarriage of justice in the death of Jesus, he can’t have meant it to be an absolute fact with no exceptions when he said in verse 3, “Rulers are not a terror to good conduct . . . Do good, and you will receive their praise.” This verse and the next one must be a general statement of how governments should and often do function. Paul simply does not have in view the problem of evil governments. Instead he has in view a good government in which doing good deeds will generally find approval and doing evil will generally be punished.
When verse 5 says we are to be subject in order to avoid wrath, it means the punishment that comes from wrongdoing, not from obedience to Christ. 1 Peter 4:15, 16 makes this issue clearer. It says, “Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or a wrongdoer or a mischief-maker yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God.” In other words, strive to avoid incurring wrath for wrongdoing, but if doing what Christ demands brings wrath, don’t have a guilty conscience, glorify God.
The Role Of The Government In The Bible
Like we have just covered, the role of the government is simply to punish evildoers and to protect those who obey the law.
15)Romans 13:3-4 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid for it does not bear the sword for nothing for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
16)1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves for the Lords sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
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Live In The Light Of The Messiahs Return
11 This is necessary because you know the timesits already time for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we became believers. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. Lets therefore put aside the actions of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Lets behave decently, as people who live in the light of day. No wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, quarreling, or jealousy! 14 Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.
Footnotes
Believers Should Submit To Authorities To Honor God
Submit yourselves for theLordssake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority .1 Peter 2:13
The first reason believers are called to submit is because of the Lord. Peter says we should submit for the Lords sake. This is the reason that believers can demonstrate lives full of submission even amidst persecution. It is because they live a life of submission to the Lord.
Look at what Paul taught in Romans 13:12,
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Paul says believers must submit because there is no authority except that which comes from God and to rebel against the authority is to rebel against God. We see this very clearly in the scenario with David and Saul. David had been anointed as future king, and yet King Saul wanted to kill him. He threw a spear at David, had soldiers come to his house to take him, and chased him through the mountains, and yet David always said this, I will not touch Gods anointed. Who can touch Gods anointed and be guiltless? Look at what he says:
Do you see God as having established your pastors, your small-group leaders, your bosses, your president, even those who are ungodly?
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Bible Instructs Followers To Obey The Government
Like many others, I have witnessed the election of a number of presidents of the United States, but never before have we experienced the vitriolic accusations, lying, name-calling and pure hatred as is being experienced by, and directed toward, our new president, Donald Trump. Regardless of which side you are on, the election is over, and its time for such vindictiveness to end.
The Bible speaks decisively to this issue. Romans 13:1-2 says: “Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.”
This verse speaks to three issues: That it is God who influenced the election and elected our officials we need to follow the law of the land and, if we refuse to obey, punishment will follow.
We need to digest and obey this verse. The only time we are to disobey a law is if it is morally wrong not in our opinion but in God’s sight. Otherwise, we are to be good citizens and make the church and state work together for good.
Let’s lay aside any anger or disappointment and start working together for the good of our nation.
Arlene Kelly, Windsor Heights
Believers Should Submit To Authorities Because God Judges Justly
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself tohimwhojudgesjustly .1 Peter 2:23
When Christ was persecuted unjustly, he did not retaliate, but he entrusted himself to God. The word entrust is a banking term. Christ placed himself in the bank of God and trusted that God would do what is right and just. In fact, we see this right before Christ dies he quotes a Psalm, saying, Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit .
Paul says the same thing in 2 Timothy 1:12 while he was in prison: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day .
Paul is about to die unjustly as well, but the reason he was not ashamed was because he believed and was convinced that God was able to guard what he had entrusted to him until the day of Christ. Paul had put his entire life in Gods bank, and he knew his life was ultimately eternally safe and would produce tremendous interest. Though the world misjudged him and wrongly valued his life and character, God would not. God is a just judge, and in his justice, he would also judge those who had wrongly persecuted him.
ApplicationQuestion: What does it practically mean to entrust your life into Gods hands, especially during unjust persecution? What are some hindrances to entrusting our entire lives or hard situations into Gods hand?
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Governing Authorities Established By God
God has set the government in place within a specific realm of authority. The government was given to us to punish lawbreakers and to protect those who uphold the law. Anything outside of that is outside of Gods given realm of authority. This is why so many Christians are opposed to increasing federal mandates. That is giving over more authority to the government than is within the realm of authority that God has said that government should have.
8) John 19:11 You would have no authority over me at all, Jesus answered him, if it hadnt been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.
9) Daniel 2:44 In the days of those kings, the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
10)Romans 13:3 For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you.
11) Job 12:23-25 He makes nations great, and he destroys them he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste. They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Choose As An Actofthewill To Obey God Choose To Forgive And Obey
Look at what Paul says:
Dont you know that when youofferyourselvestosomeonetoobey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obeywhether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness ?Romans 6:16
In speaking about believers who have been set free from sin , he talks about the possibility of them still becoming enslaved to sin. They could still offer themselves as slaves to sin. However, they should offer themselves as slaves of righteousness. Listen.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offertheminslaverytorighteousnessleadingtoholiness .Romans 6:19
You must choose to offer yourself as a slave to righteousness in faith. You must act upon your freedom, even though you feel weak in your flesh. We choose to obey God in faith. I am free from slavery to unforgiveness, and therefore, I will obey God in faith by loving and serving my enemy.
Here is a second thing.
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