When Not to Obey (1)

For he is God’s minister to you for good. Romans 13.4

Instituted by God
As we have seen throughout the studies in this series, God has established civil governments to serve the people they govern according to His good purposes. Governments exist to restrain evil, so that justice and peace can flourish, and people can be secure and free to serve God according to their callings and stations in life.

Because human beings are sinful and prone to seek their own ends at anybody and everybody else’s expense, governments serve to check that sinful propensity and constrain wickedness through just laws and the use of the sword. The passage from which our text is excerpted reads in full as follows: “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. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to 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”(Rom. 13.1-5).

We must obey civil government, therefore, and do everything we can to support it in its calling as a minister of God for good.

But governments are somewhat like the little girl with the little curl in the middle of her forehead. They can be a very, very good thing. Throughout the course of human history, we find many examples of civil governments doing very good things. In our own day, it’s not difficult to demonstrate how the wisdom and love of God are visible in the work of civil governments; but when they go bad, they can be awful.

A necessary good
Paul elsewhere teaches that Christians must pray for their government, because faithful prayers for all forms of civil government help to ensure that God’s purposes of peace, justice, and human flourishing will obtain in society (1 Tim. 2.1, 2). Moreover, such prayer contributes to the creation of a civic environment which is conducive to the spread of the Gospel (1 Tim. 2.3, 4).

So when governments are good, when they work to preserve a just, free, peaceable, and God-honoring society, they are very, very good, indeed.

But in a day such as ours, when so much of what government does rubs a good many of us the wrong way, it’s easy to believe that government is a necessary evil. The less we have to do with government, the better.

That, however, would be a wrong conclusion. According to Scripture, government is a necessary good, and when it is good, it is very good for all members of the society. Believers should actively support, promote, and celebrate all that is good about our government, and be faithful each day to hold our leaders up in prayer.

Submit – to a point
Paul says – and Peter as well (1 Pet. 2.13-16) – that we should be submissive – obedient – to our government. By obeying good government we show that, as a people, Christians are committed to what is good and wholesome for the whole of our society, and we silence the wranglings and ragings of our detractors by our manifest commitment to the good of our neighbors.

But, just like that little girl with the little curl, the same governments that can be very, very good, can also be very, very bad. And when they are, they are indeed horrid. They can be so bad, in fact, that it is not difficult to demonstrate not only that government has veered from the path of goodness God intends for it, but that it is actually standing in the way of God’s goodness and opposing His divine economy by its policies and laws.

Are Christians supposed to obey government, even when it is bad? When its actions fly in the face of God’s good and perfect will? When it flouts the Law of God, jeopardizes the peace of its citizens, or attacks those who disagree with its policies in unlawful ways?

The answer, of course, is, No. When government is horrid, Christians not only are not obligated to obey, they must not obey. But under what circumstances can we know that this is the appropriate response?

This will be the focus of our studies in this series.

For reflection
1.  Cite some examples of ways civil government today is serving as God’s minister for good in our society.

2.  Can you think of any examples from Scripture in which civil government openly and defiantly opposed God’s people and plan? How did God’s people react at such times?

3.  Would you be prepared to oppose, and even to disobey, civil government if it were shown to be opposing the divine economy and plan? Why or why not?

Next steps: What might be some signs that civil government is veering from the path God has marked out for it? Talk with some Christian friends about this question.

T. M. Moore

The Week, T. M.’s print and audio offering of worldview insights, musings, and reflections, is now available for free subscription. You can subscribe to The Weekby going to the website and, when the pop-up appears, put in your email, click on The Week, then click to update your subscriptions. You’ll be sent an email allowing you to add The Week to your list of subscriptions.

We’re pleased to bring ReVision to you daily, and ReVision studies each week in PDF at no charge. Please visit our website, www.ailbe.org to learn about the many study topics available. Your gifts to The Fellowship of Ailbe make this ministry possible. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452.

This week’s study, When Not to Obey, is part 5 of a 5-part series on a Biblical view of government and politics, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We cannot understand God’s view of government, or how to function in a political environment apart from faith in King Jesus and His rule. Order T. M.’s books The Kingship of Jesus  and The Ground for Christian Ethics to supplement our studies of God and government.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.