In the article “What Makes A Legitimate Marriage?” I
mentioned how at times marriage may need to be registered with the state if it
is the law of the land. This stirred my mind to address the topic of how much
should we as Christians submit to earthly authorities. This particular topic
has been heavily debated in the modern day United States churches, and for good
reason. Wickedness is being legislated upon by the government and many people
are approving of legalizing it, it is only rational that we as Christ’s
followers question our place in these times. Of course, any devout Christian
seeks to be guided by the word of God in these matters. However, from the
conversations I have seen it would appear that many of the strongest men and
women of the faith I have had the pleasure of knowing are disagreeing to the
point where one could ask if there is a correct answer even from a Biblical
standpoint. And so, I would like to take this time share my position based on
what I have learned from the Scriptures.
How
Government Came To Be
Before we move forward on what our role is in an
ever increasing government. I first want to address the origin of government.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in
the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed
them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and
subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over
every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have
given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth,
and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to
every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that
moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”;
and it was so. God saw all that He has made, and behold, it was very good. And
there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:26-31
God created man to govern. That is what it means
when He commanded them to rule. Government was to be a very good thing in the
world that would allow man to have a proper society and it would also extend to
the lives of non-human creatures that dwelled within the earth. Some men would
argue that man is who created government and that laws governing the morals of
man were established by humans reasoning together, but the Scriptures are clear
that God gave us the moral laws that govern us, and by His design we desire to
live in societies that have rules established for the betterment of the
function of society. With the fall of man we see the destruction of man’s
desire to be governed by the law of God. Nature would be against man (Genesis
4:17-19), the governing of the home would become a battle ground as wives would
desire to usurp authority from their husbands (Genesis 4:16) and of course this
would impact all of mankind as rebellion is in the heart of man. Man rebels
against government because he wishes to be free from the law to do as he sees
fit. Man does not want to be in submission to anyone, because if he is not
under submission to anyone then he will be as he desires to truly be, in the position
of God. This was the reason man first rebelled against God’s law and he has
been a pattern of rebellion ever since.
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely
will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5
Even though man desires to escape authority and
become God it is a futile mission as no man can ever truly escape God’s design
for them. God in His great mercy has allowed government to continue on in the
sinful world, and I refer to this as a mercy because if the Lord allowed all
men to live as lawless as they could there would be no survival of our kind.
However in a world governed by sinful men it is inevitable that even government
suffers corruption. This leads into our next question, should Christians submit
when the government is corrupt?
Submission
& Evil: Understanding the Higher Law
Every person is to be in subjection to the
governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those
which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has
opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive
condemnation upon themselves. 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 form the same; for it is a minister of God to you
for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it is a minister of God,
and avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is
necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for
conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are
servants of God, devoting themselves to his very thing. Render to all what is
due them; tax to whom it is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor
to whom honor.
Romans 13:1-7
This passage in the book of Romans is
straightforward in what it has to say. Logically, one might ask how is
government to be a minister of God for good when evil corruption has overrun
it. And yet this very passage was written by the apostle Paul to a people who
were being persecuted by the government over them. So, then one is inclined to
ask what would motivate a people under persecution by the government to heed
these words? My argument is this, these were a people who were certain that the
law of God was a higher authority that even wicked men were in subjection to,
and that in God’s sovereignty nothing under the sun could happen to them that
He did not permit. Look closely at the book of Romans and it becomes evident
that God’s moral law and His sovereignty are stressed in the entirety of the
book, even in regards to His act of salvation. We Christians are given other
examples of this in Scripture. Look closely at the book of Daniel where we have
two examples of obeying God’s law when wicked rulers desire the opposite. For Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego they were to be burned in a furnace because they refused
to commit idolatry and bow to the statue that the king had erected (Daniel 3).
They knew it was most likely their end but God in his mercy saved them from
death. Do not take this as an example that if you do what is right in the eyes
of God that there is a guarantee of rescue. It is far from that. If doing what
is right guaranteed rescue then how poorly should we think of those brothers
and sisters who have been murdered for the faith. Even for Daniel himself
(Daniel 6) he was doing well for a man of his status and others became jealous
of him, and when they could find no law he had broken they created a law that
went against the law of God so that Daniel could be punished. It was deemed
that no man would petition any god or king besides King Darius for thirty days
or they would be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel knowing God’s law was higher
did not stop praying to God, and he was caught and arrested for this. God in
His mercy spared Daniel when he was thrown into the lion’s den, but once again
this is not a promise that serving the Lord means all will be well for God’s
servant in this world. Even in both of these examples closer inspection we see
these men did not fight the government in every instance. They did not stop
evil laws from being enacted. They did not stop the society around them from
committing the evil that was written as law. They instead recognized God’s
authority as higher and chose not to disobey God.
However, this does not mean there is never a time to
stand against a great evil in the world by doing that which is against the law.
Let us turn to the book of Esther. Queen Esther had been brought the horrible
news that her people, the Jews, were to be annihilated and it was a plot
executed by a man, Haman, who was in good favor with the king because he hated
the queen’s cousin, Mordecai. Unfortunately, for them this plot had become a
decree stamped with the king’s seal. Mordecai related to Queen Esther what was
to happen and she knowing the law relayed to him the law.
“All the king’s servants and the people of
the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to
the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to
death, unless the king holds out his golden scepter so that he may live. And I
have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”
Esther 4:11
Esther must have been scared for her life. Her
cousin reminded her that she was not safe just because she was the queen. The
decree was to annihilate all the Jews in the land. Yet, Mordecai did not end
his message on that note. He reminded her of God’s sovereignty in appointing
her to that position when he said “And who know whether
you have not attained royalty for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14) And
indeed Queen Esther did go to the king, and God gave her favor in his eyes so
that the day came when she let it be known that Haman’s plot threatened her
life and the lives of all the Jews. The king could not overturn the decree, but
he did write another decree declaring the Jews had a right to defend their
lives from any who would dare try to kill them. If Queen Esther would have
submitted to the law and not have gone before the king before he called her all
the Jews would have died.
In
Conclusion
To conclude what can we understand from these things?
Submitting to the law of man is permissible as long as it does not impede upon
us serving God’s higher authority. At times we may need to do that which is
against the law of the land for that which is a greater good. Here in the
United States if evil is made into law we are currently in a unique position
where we can use our voice against it. That is not always true in the world,
and I would advise speaking against evil while we can. We do not need to seek
to be freed from our governing authorities because we are already made free in
Christ. Now, for anytime the government is oppressing the innocent I would
advise these words:
The king’s heart is like channels of water
in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs 21:1
Keep in mind God establishes who the rulers are for
his purposes. We should pray for them that God moves them to do what is right
in His sight; for they cannot do more than what God destines for them to
accomplish.
