Articles
The Governing Authorities
There are some supreme Bible truths that need to be remembered as we embark on another presidential election. The most significant of them is the respect that every leader inherently deserves because of his or her God-ordained role in the physical world. Even evil rulers are put in place because of the invisible hand of the divine, just as Paul explains in Romans 13, a key scripture. In summation:
“Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God… For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil… for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid… Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection for conscience’s sake. Because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them; tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”
Even if we do not like a particular leader or his politics, it is the Christian’s mandate to obey when it is right. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right” (1 Peter 2:13-14). But is it hard to respect certain political leaders, or submit to them? Without question, Christians have always been faced with carnal leaders who are sinful to some degree or another. Is it difficult…
To submit to a person who is sinful in his or her personal life?
To obey a leader who makes bungling military mistakes?
To respect a man or woman who cannot resist a sinful addiction?
To follow a person who is a slick liar?
If it helps, try to remember that these problems are not new, and that the righteous have always been faced with them. Bribes are not a modern phenomenon, for example. “Your rulers are rebels, and companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe, and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, nor does the widow’s plea come before them” (Isaiah 1:23). High taxes are not unique to our time, as the example of Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12 proves. Furthermore, we need to keep in mind that at the very least, we do not live under the cruel iron fist of the Roman empire, the barbaric greed of the Philistines, or the opulent arrogance of the Egyptians. Friends, we do not submit to the authorities because we necessarily want to, or because they are always right – we submit because it is what God wants. “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake…”
