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Submission to Government
Chapter 13 is one of the major passages in the Bible having to do with the relationship between a Christian and the government they live under. We’ve already dealt with this topic a few times before, dealing with issues like taxes and citizenship. In this chapter Paul says some interesting things and even comes back to the issue of taxes (summary: pay them).
When was in college, my final Senior Seminar paper was on the subject of the Bible and civil disobedience, focusing particularly on the underground Church in China. As I said, we’ve talked about some of these issues before. I want to quickly offer up a few key ideas that we need to understand about a Christian’s relation to government:
1. Governments are appointed by God. Verse 1 starts us out with this principle. Does this mean the government will always follow the laws of God? Absolutely not. Remember that Paul is writing this letter to those living under the Roman government that have just been fiercely persecuted under that government, yet Paul tells them that the government is instituted by God! What this DOES mean is that God is the author of history and the God appoints governments for a purpose and despite their rule, whether it be good or bad, God uses governments for His ultimate purposes.
2. Obey the government at all times unless what the government asks goes against the commands of God. This is not a choice for the Christian: you do just get to pick and choose which laws you like and follow only those. If you are going to go against the commands of the government, you’d better be REALLY sure that you’re doing so for the sake of God.
3. If you DO feel that you need to follow God rather than man, understand that it is the government’s job to punish you. This passage is clear that governments exist for the purpose of keeping order and are divinely ordained to punish those that break their laws. Even if the laws are unjust from a Christian standpoint, such as forbidding evangelism or children’s Sunday school, understand that the government’s role is to punish those that break the law. This is a very important point: many people expect to follow God’s commandments and to be delivered from any consequences. This is not the case: remember – nearly all of the apostles died violent deaths at the hands of those that did not follow God. We have a responsibility as Christians to both follow God AND accept the consequences for doing so.
Obviously there is a lot to figure out in this topic, but for the most part we as Americans haven’t thought through ANY of it. It’s the American way to complain about the government. I suggest that it is the CHRISTIAN way to be concerned for our government and to pray for our leaders. Above all, we need to realize that any earthly government will fail us. We can rejoice that we live under a relatively just government that values liberty and freedom and pray for our brothers and sisters that live in places ruled by harsh dictators. Above all, we need to remember that God institutes governments and uses them for his purposes.
Submission to Government
Chapter 13 is one of the major passages in the Bible having to do with the relationship between a Christian and the government they live under. We’ve already dealt with this topic a few times before, dealing with issues like taxes and citizenship. In this chapter Paul says some interesting things and even comes back to the issue of taxes (summary: pay them).
When was in college, my final Senior Seminar paper was on the subject of the Bible and civil disobedience, focusing particularly on the underground Church in China. As I said, we’ve talked about some of these issues before. I want to quickly offer up a few key ideas that we need to understand about a Christian’s relation to government:
1. Governments are appointed by God. Verse 1 starts us out with this principle. Does this mean the government will always follow the laws of God? Absolutely not. Remember that Paul is writing this letter to those living under the Roman government that have just been fiercely persecuted under that government, yet Paul tells them that the government is instituted by God! What this DOES mean is that God is the author of history and the God appoints governments for a purpose and despite their rule, whether it be good or bad, God uses governments for His ultimate purposes.
2. Obey the government at all times unless what the government asks goes against the commands of God. This is not a choice for the Christian: you do just get to pick and choose which laws you like and follow only those. If you are going to go against the commands of the government, you’d better be REALLY sure that you’re doing so for the sake of God.
3. If you DO feel that you need to follow God rather than man, understand that it is the government’s job to punish you. This passage is clear that governments exist for the purpose of keeping order and are divinely ordained to punish those that break their laws. Even if the laws are unjust from a Christian standpoint, such as forbidding evangelism or children’s Sunday school, understand that the government’s role is to punish those that break the law. This is a very important point: many people expect to follow God’s commandments and to be delivered from any consequences. This is not the case: remember – nearly all of the apostles died violent deaths at the hands of those that did not follow God. We have a responsibility as Christians to both follow God AND accept the consequences for doing so.
Obviously there is a lot to figure out in this topic, but for the most part we as Americans haven’t thought through ANY of it. It’s the American way to complain about the government. I suggest that it is the CHRISTIAN way to be concerned for our government and to pray for our leaders. Above all, we need to realize that any earthly government will fail us. We can rejoice that we live under a relatively just government that values liberty and freedom and pray for our brothers and sisters that live in places ruled by harsh dictators. Above all, we need to remember that God institutes governments and uses them for his purposes.
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