Submission to Governing Authorities

“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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 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, 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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Romans 13:1-7 ESV)

Basically, what this is saying is that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be law-abiding citizens. We should pay our taxes on time. We should stop at red lights and at stop signs, and yield in traffic where there is a yield sign. We should not cheat and lie and willfully misinform or withhold information from those to whom it is due. We should be honest people who abide by the laws of the land, and we should not be those who try to find ways around the law so that we can do what is crooked and evil and sinful.

But are there exceptions to this rule? Yes, there are, and they are biblical exceptions. For if any ruler or government official should demand that we do something contrary to the will of God, or that is evil in the sight of God, we are to say “No!”, but respectfully. Or if they require that we compromise our faith and convictions, or God’s moral standards, in any way, we can refuse, gracefully. And examples of this are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jesus Christ, and the NT apostles. We never have to submit to sin.

Now there are other exceptions with regard to what this passage is teaching which I want to note here, as well. Although it is true that God is the one who puts rulers in place, if we read the Old Testament, especially, we will see that he put in place rulers who were evil and crooked and not always ones who were just and righteous in their dealings with the people. And even in Jesus’ time, the rulers were evil people who Jesus chided for their religious hypocrisies, and Jesus did not always submit to their wishes.

Now, when this says here that “rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad,” that is not always true, is it, by the examples mentioned above? Jesus was absolutely perfect in every way, but the rulers hated him and wanted him dead, and so they found ways to accuse him falsely of what he did not do, and they arranged to have him arrested and put on trial, and they called for him to be crucified, and they convinced the crowds to join in with them in calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. And Jesus was put to death.

And then when it says that if you do good, you will receive approval by those in positions of authority, for they are God’s servants for your good, that isn’t always the case, is it? And again, I yield to the biblical examples mentioned above. The rulers of Jesus’ time and of the time of the early church after Jesus died and was resurrected from the dead, were persecuting Jesus and his followers for doing good. They certainly were not approving of the good that they did, and so sometimes they had to resist those in authority.

As a general rule, what this is teaching is true. Rulers are put in place by God, and I agree with that fully. He even has put evil rulers in place all throughout history, ever since the people demanded to have a king over them, I believe (not certain on that). And unless we are being required to disobey the Lord, we are to obey the rulers over us, even if we disagree with their judgments. We are to remain in submission to whatever authorities are over us, provided that they are not requiring that we disobey our Lord.

We are not to be rebellious against those whom God places in authority over us unless they require that we rebel against the Lord and that we disobey him in order to obey them. But not all authorities over us are necessarily of God, but are ones of our own choosing, and so we can choose to come out from underneath those authorities. For example, at least here in America, we have a choice as to where we work and who we work for. And if we have a boss who is a tyrant or who is abusive, we can go somewhere else.

The same is true for what are called “churches.” If we decide to attend gatherings of institutional churches which are not following the Scriptures, but which are compromising the Scriptures to make them more acceptable to human flesh, and in order to not offend the people of the world – the people who they are trying to attract to their gatherings – we do not have to submit to those who would have us lie, cheat, and compromise truth and righteousness, but we are free to come out from under their authority.

And when the Scriptures teach that wives are to be in submission to their husbands, it is to be as they would submit to the Lord. So they do not have to and should not submit to anything that is sinful and that is against what the Scriptures teach with regard to how we are to conduct our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. So, in all submission, either for wives to husbands, or for all of us to submit to governing authorities, all submission should first of all be in submission to God and to his moral standards of right and wrong.

I Surrender All  

Hymn lyrics by Judson W. Van De Venter, 1896

Music by Winfield S. Weeden, 1896

… Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. (Mark 10:28)

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken,

Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Now I feel the sacred flame;

Oh, the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to His Name!

I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BnL_zI7uw 

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