Subject to the Government - Part 2

We're discussing the problem of Romans 13:1-4.

¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴ for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. (Rom 13:1-4)

Yesterday we addressed the first major truth claim -- all authority is from God. Today we're looking at the problem of bad government.

We have biblical examples of people who did not obey the bad government. Pharaoh commanded that every son of Israel born would be dropped into the Nile. The midwives defied him. God "dealt well with the midwives." (Exo 1:15-22). Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about the spies (Josh 2:1-6) and she was listed in the Hebrews "Hall of Faith" for it (Heb 11:31). Samuel, at God's command, anointed David as king knowing that the existing king, Saul, would have had him executed for it (1 Sam 16:1-4). When the authorities ordered the disciples "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus," they answered, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20). Later, they affirmed, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29). There is no shortage of people in Scripture that rightly defied the governments they were under. How does that figure into this discussion?

Given the certain examples of biblical characters that rightly did not submit to the governing authorities, it only makes sense that this "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities" statement must not be taken in an absolute, blind sense. I would argue that the absolute authority to which we must submit is God, not necessarily government. You can see this in the statements from the disciples. You can see it in Samuel's following God's explicit instructions in direct opposition to the king. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren't confused about the orders to bow when the king's golden image passed by; they simply weren't allowed to recognize any other god than YHWH (Dan 3:1-18). Daniel refused to submit to the king's injunction that all prayers must be made to him (Dan 6:6-9). Instead, when he knew that it was signed, he went up to pray (Dan 6:10). In every case those who defied the governing authorities did so with a direct command from God. So the absolute requirement would be "Let very person be subject to God." The corollary would be "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities" as long as the governing authorities are not requiring a direct contradiction to God's authority. Thus, Peter writes, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution." (1 Peter 2:13). Always "for the Lord's sake."

We need to be careful here. We tend to get a little fuzzy on this. Is it a command to preach the gospel? Yes. If you're told not to, you have to defy it. Is it a command to have your civil liberties recognized? No. It's not comfortable and it's not pleasant and it's not right, but civil liberties are not commanded by God. Therefore, refusing to submit to the government on that issue isn't biblical. Are we then without recourse? No. There are legal, civil means of standing for these kinds of things. In our country we have the right to petition the government, to contact representatives, to peacefully protest to petition the courts. Those are all within the limits of the law. Even when the order we are given by government is in direct contradiction to God's commands, we must pay respect to whom respect is due and honor to whom honor is due (Rom 13:7). The underlying lifestyle of a believer is sacrifice (Rom 12:1) and the underlying ethic of the believer is love (1 Cor 16:4).