"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."
Many bloggers throw a verse up and then proceed to explain why the Bible doesn't actually mean what it says. Many other bloggers do as the Bible says and explain Scripture by Scripture and get lumped in with the aforementioned bloggers. They go against the grain and seek to uproot misconceptions about common Scripture passages and they get accused of twisting Scripture. I hope to be the latter kind today as I explain why this passage does not mean what many people make it out to say. This passage does not give authorities the right to demand your allegiance despite their failure to lead correctly. I will show you why.
Firstly, the basis of Paul's reasoning here is that all human authorities have a higher authority, without fail. There are differing levels of governors and congressional bodies that are supposed to ensure fairness for the people. These authorities derive their power from God. This is an important point because in America we have replaced the God of the Bible with the god of the people. Elected officials in our country believe they are ultimately accountable to the people whom they govern. This is not correct. They are ultimately accountable to God. For this reason, Paul says everyone should be subject to higher authorities, even those who are in a position of authority themselves. The reason we are to respect authorities is because they are representatives of God.
Secondly, Paul tells us to respect positions of authority, not specific people who occupy those offices. This would seem to be the same thing, but that is simply not the case. Paul is telling us to obey, honor, and respect authority, not follow evil leaders like whipped little lambs. Because God is the highest authority on earth, we have a responsibility to disregard any laws that conflict with God's Law.
Thirdly, the cruxt of Paul's logical argument is that authority figures are representatives of God and that they are terrors to evil, not to good. Therefore, when an authority figure reverses their role and persecutes those who are doing good, he is no longer a representative of God. We no longer respect him as if we are respecting God. In fact, to follow him into evil would be to cast off God's rightful authority over us.
Fourthly, I am not an anarchist. Too many times we liberty-loving Americans find any reason to revolt against a government. I think as Christians we are called to be patience and forbearing with an intrusive government. There is a certain point at which, however, we must resist authorities. We must worship God instead of man. The book of Revelation is all about a government that made itself God. Governments have done this for years. I am not saying that we stir up trouble, but I am saying that we must be ready to stand on our principles. If the government outlawed private education, we should ignore that law. If our government enforces a limit on children, we must resist that law, too, just like the Hebrew midwives of Moses' day. The question is, how much is too much? That is a question for another blog. All I know is that our leaders have God to answer to, and there have been too many babies murdered for Him to ignore.
Fifthly, this passage clearly reinforces the command set in Genesis 9:6. God says in Genesis 9:6 that a man (or an animal) who murders another man is to be killed. This is because man was created in the image of God and a slap at man is a slap at God. Of late, the death penalty is under assault. People who claim they support life say that killing a murderer is hypocritical and defeats the point. In fact, it is respectful to life to repay a person who takes a life. He who takes a life has by that action forfeited his own life. In the Old Testament Law, Israel was to avenge (once again, as representatives of God) blood with blood to free the nation of the guilt of the innocent blood shed. Capital punishment isn't murder--it's justice, and our God loves justice. Our nation's justice system has for too long rejected God's notion of justice, and we are paying the price. No human life is owned by any other human life, and no man has the right of himself to take another man's life. But God has commanded civil leaders to execute justice on murderers, and a failure to do so is not merciful, it is blasphemous. The death penalty protects the innocent, which is exactly what Romans 9 says the state is to do. Letting murderers back into society so they can kill again hurts the innocent, which is exactly the opposite of government's duty. The government is not to wield the sword in vain. Ours does.
In conclusion, let's not forget that this passage does still require us to respect and obey our authorities, whether they be parents, governments, bosses, and church leaders. Each deserves a different level of respect and a different level of obedience, and we must give what is due to each. God is our ultimate authority, but He has delegated, and we are to heed His institutions. Sometimes we'll disagree with this decision or that law, but until a government completely apostatizes, we must subject ourselves to them. Obey God rather than man, but be humble in the gray areas.
Comments
Post a Comment