Resisting
Authority
Submit, Obey, Live in Peace.
Romans 13:1,2
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”
It also teaches us in
1 Peter 2:13,14,17
“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good… Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
In fact, we are to pray for our governments. 1 Timothy 2:1,2
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
Jesus also taught us to submit to these authorities and even pay our taxes. Mark 12:17
“And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Titus 3:1,2 reminds us that we are
“to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.”
Clearly, God wants us to submit and obey our
governing authorities.
These passages were even written during a time when Christians were being fed to lions, and yet we have no written record of an early church rising against Rome.
Even when the Israelites were taken into captivity, down to Babylon, they never formed an uprising and rebelled against their new king, even with the possibility of going into the lion's den or a fiery furnace, they never rebelled.
In fact, God told the captive Jews to build houses, plant gardens, get married, have children, seek peace, and pray for peace, while in this foreign land.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
Why wouldn't the early church and captive Jews, rebel against their authorities?
Did they know that war was wrong?
Of course not. The Jews did not see war as evil, for their God (and ours) commanded it many times. They had been participating in warfare all the way back to Abraham.
The obvious answer is that it was never Jesus' intention to build an earthly kingdom. His kingdom was not of this world. Why would his disciples fight, when they had an entirely different mission to accomplish?
Not only this, but the early church was simply not in a position to fight back.
What chances would they have had when going up against the best trained military in the world? Most of the early believers were not soldiers but were fishermen and farmers.
Not only did Rome have the best trained and disciplined soldiers, but they also had the best weapons, armor, equipment, strategies, provisions, and numbers.
Aside from the miraculous, these fisherman and tradesman could do nothing against the Romen Empire.
The same argument holds true for the Israelites during the captivity. Aside from some miraculous intervention, what could these defeated Jews do against the world power of their day, who had already defeated them in battle, years before?
The Old Testament Jews were not pacifists, neither were the New Testament Jews, but like most people, they desired peace. To attain peace, they needed to submit and obey their governing authorities, whoever they might be. War and rebellion would bring pain and suffering. So as a general rule: submit and obey.
As a general rule, we are to submit and obey our authorities, but we must not be legalistic when reading these passages.
We know that submission and obedience is a 'general rule' and not an 'absolute rule' because there are instances in Scripture where God's people refused to submit and obey their governing authorities.
Such as in Exodus 1:15-18, when the Hebrew midwives, refused to obey the Egyptian King by not killing the Hebrew boys, because they feared the Lord.
They were even blessed by having their names (Shiphrah and Puah) recorded in the Bible, always to be remembered.
Or in Joshua 2, when Rahab lied to the King of Jericho, and hid the Hebrew spies. She too was not being obedient to her king but was praised and blessed for her actions.
Or in 1 Kings 18, when Obadiah, disobeyed his King Ahab, by hiding one hundred prophets of the Lord in caves, so that Queen Jezebel couldn't kill them. There he also fed them food and water keeping them alive, because he feared the Lord.
Or in Daniel 3, when Shadrach Meshach and Abednego disobeyed Nebuchadnezzar (their Babylonian King), when he wanted them to bow down and worship his image.
Sometimes, it is sinful to submit and obey, your governing authorities.
Just as we read in Acts 4:18-20
“So they called them [the disciples] and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Or in Acts 5:27-29
“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood [Jesus’ blood] on us!” But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Or in Acts 12,
When Peter was released by an angel, from Herod's prison, and hurried back to the house of Mary (mother of John Mark), where many believers were gathered, no one, upon seeing Peter freed from prison, told him to go back and submit to Herod's punishment. The guards were even executed because they could not find him.
So, very clearly, we can see that submission and obedience is a general rule
- not an absolute rule.
If we do not understand this correctly, we will end up with strange teachings
and much suffering.
Throughout the Middle Ages, there existed what was called, “The Divine Right of Kings”. This political / spiritual philosophy claimed that since God establishes all authority in heaven and on earth, then the rulers of the earth were subject to no one, other than God. A king had complete authority. No matter what evil a king would do, he continued to have a legitimate right to rule, because he was established by God Himself.
Oftentimes, opposing kings from neighboring kingdoms, would wage war, both believing that they had a divine right to rule the other. Much blood was spilt because of this false teaching.
Worse yet, at this time, many kingdoms became tyrannical, oppressing their people into miserable servitude and poverty, because these kings believed that they had absolute authority from God to enjoy life, while the people existed to provide this enjoyment.
And if you resisted in any way or displeased the king, you would be at his mercy, to be punished with whatever dungeon sentence or torturous device he thought best, and there were plenty to pick from.
To prevent injustice and much suffering, there might be times when it is not only permissible to fight back, but obligatory.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:17-19
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
Take notice that it says "If it is possible, as much as depends on you..." live in peace. There might be times when violence is unavoidable.
If a government grows corrupt and becomes a terror to good people, punishing the innocent and rewarding the wicked. It is no longer a legitimate government. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul as he explains the purpose of government.
Countess Elizabeth Báthory
Romans 13: 3-7
"For [civil] rulers are not a terror to [those who do] good works, but to [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."
Because it is a Christian's duty and responsibility to protect life, when we see the innocent threatened, punished, robbed, or killed, we have a responsibility to act. It is unloving, not to do so.
At times such as this, the Christian must prayerfully consider his options and possibly make use of the Just War Theory.
Jus ad Bellum
1. Just cause or right intention.
The cause for war must be to save life or secure justice.
2. Proper authority.
War must be conducted by a legitimate or competent governing body.
3. Comparative justice.
Must weigh the injustice suffered by one party against the suffering of the other. (Good must outweigh the harm done).
4. Beneficial outcome.
Life after the war must be better than if the war didn't happen.
5. High probability of success.
If we lose the war the suffering will be greater after the conflict.
6. Last Resort.
War must only be used after all negotiations have failed.
Often times, we may have a Just Cause for war / rebellion but small probability of success.
Depending on the probability, war / rebellion may be off the table, but as a Christian, we must still do what we can, to help those who suffer or are in need, possibly by lying for them or hiding them.
Does Martin Luther
have anything to say about this?
At first glance, it would seem that Dr. Martin Luther (portrait to the left) was against the idea of a revolution since he opposed the peasant's war of 1525, but this seems to be more because of Thomas Muntzer (portrait to the right), who was leading the war effort, since he misused and misapplied a number of Biblical passages, even calling himself the "Sword of Gideon".
The peasant's war of 1524-1525, led by Thomas Muntzer, ended poorly. Out of the 300,000 peasant farmers, 100,000 were slaughtered. This was the largest European uprising prior to the French Revolution. Martin Luther sided with the Nobles and called for these peasants to be put down like mad dogs. Muntzer was tortured and executed.
But in 1531, Luther issued a statement called A warning to his dear German people, which is quite interesting, for he makes a strong argument for the right to resist the government when the gospel is at stake.
In the second section of this work, Luther uses the argument of natural law to maintain that an individual has the right to self-defense. He disagrees with the Roman theologians (surprise surprise) that resistance is rebellion, but instead calls it self-defense, for the simple reason that the protestants were the ones who sought peace, while the Romans were the ones wanting war.
“Furthermore, if war breaks out – which God forbid – I will not reprove those who defend themselves against the murderous bloodthirsty papists, nor let anyone else rebuke them as being seditious.”
Martin Luther
Luther dies in 1546, before any imperial invasion takes place (Charles V was busy fighting against France and the Turks).
This same year, Charles V makes an alliance with the Pope and decides to wage war against these troublesome protestants, known as the Augsburg Interim.
Philip Melanchthon, fellow reformer and friend of Luther reissued Luther’s Warning after his death.
The Schmalkaldic war, however, caused nearly all Lutheran lands and cities to revert back to Roman Catholicism.
The Schmalkaldic war did not go well for the Lutherans. Within a year, both the Elector of Saxony (John Frederick) and Philip of Hesse surrendered.
More and more political and religious refugees fled to the city of Magdeburg, including many Lutheran pastors and friends of Luther (Nikolaus Von Amsdorf, Nicolaus Gallus, Erasmus Alberus, Matthias Flacius).
Here in 1550, they issued what became known as the Magdeburg Confessions.
This document formalized the concept of the
Lesser Magistrate Doctrine where lesser rulers had the responsibility to resist the higher government, if the higher government became unjust or immoral.
This angered Charles greatly and he laid siege to the city. After 13 months of battle, 4,000 of Charles’ men were killed while there were only 468 Lutheran casualties. Charles V withdrew from Magdeburg.
In 1552 the Lutherans forced Charles to flee across the Alps to avoid capture. King Ferdinand of the Romans signed the Peace of Passau, which granted some freedoms to Protestants and ended all of Charles' hopes of religious unity within his empire. Three years later, the Peace of Augsburg granted Lutheranism official status within the Holy Roman Empire. These ideas spread all over Europe.
Published in 1558, Goodman wrote a book which he claimed Calvin read, and completely agreed with its contents.
This book claimed that it was not only lesser magistrates who had the responsibility to resist, but the common man as well.
Our founding fathers carried these ideas to the New World and used this philosophy when writing the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
And so, the United Sates was born through the blood and effort of many God-fearing men.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights,
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed--
That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."
"Almighty and eternal Lord God, the great Creator of heaven and earth, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; look down from heaven in pity and compassion upon me thy servant, who humbly prostrate myself before thee."
George Washington
If a person believes that Christians must always submit and obey their government, they need to answer a few questions.
What do we do if another authority (possibly the church) rises up and takes political control of a nation? Do we submit to this authority as the Western World submitted to the power of the medieval Popes, or do we fight?
We know that God raises up foreign governments to overthrow wicked governments. Is it possible that God raises up men to overthrow wicked governments as well? Could God Himself be behind an uprising, such as when the English nobles forced John to sign the Magna Carta, or when William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought against the tyrannical King Edward?
Or what if we have a constitution and our current rulers ignore it, should we obey the current administration or our constitution? Which of the two is our legitimate government?
What if we have two legitimate governments simultaneously, a state government and a federal government, like they did at the time of the Civil War? Do we obey the federal government or our state governments, when there is a dispute?
Or, what if there is a foreign invading force, perhaps China, and they have conquered much of our country, do we then consider China to be our government and stop fighting against them? At what point do they become our legitimate government?
Knowing that the Beast of Revelation is, in some form, a civil government, do we Christians submit ourselves to this government, accept his mark, and obey what he commands, or do we fight back with all our might.
Keep in mind, that the Beast is not going to announce that he is the prophesied beast that God warned us about.
God did not write the Bible as a political science textbook, telling us how to form a government or what kind of government we should have. That was not its purpose.
The purpose of the Bible was to show us our sins and point us to the Savior, so that we can live eternally with God. The guiding principle on this topic is to obey our governing authorities so that we can live in peace and spread the Gospel.
But we do not submit and obey unconditionally. We must obey God rather than men. We must defend our lives and the lives of our neighbors.
If we obey our governments unconditionally and absolutely, we will be no better than the German Christians who sang louder as the noisy holocaust trains rolled down the track, past their churches.
It is not compassionate to ignore the suffering of others.
It is not love to remain silent when others need our voice.
It is not good, right, just, or Christian to obey a government as it hunts down and murders innocent people.