Authority in Government

 

This is Part 3 (of 7) in my series, Kingdom Principles: Authority

In the Introduction, I pointed out that it is the purpose of God that those in authority should provide protection and provision for those they have authority over. This isn’t tyranny. Here is a brief summary of how the governmental authority is to behave:

Psalm 72 <A Psalm for Solomon.>

1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 

2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 

3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 

4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 

6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. 

7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 

12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 

13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 

14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 

This is not the place to discuss the best form of government, I think it is sufficient to say that whatever the form, this is the goal: righteousness, judgment, protection. I am aware that many people seek government position for the power and riches, while others misuse and exploit this authority, and abuse those under them - we do live in a fallen world - but the truth remains, God has established authority in government and we have a responsibility to that authority.

What does the Lord expect of me regarding the government? (This is fun.) Romans 13

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 

5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 

6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 

7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

I’m not crazy about this either, but it is rather plainly spelled out. Guess what word that Be subject is? Yep, submit. Happily he spells out what this submission looks like: 2 don’t resist; 3 do that which is good; 7 tribute [taxes] to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

He mentions this again in Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. Once again, subject is the word submit. And he adds, obey. Yep, submit to and obey governmental authority.

This is a common theme among the apostles, Peter speaks to this as well in 1 Peter 2

13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 

15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 

16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 

17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Here it is again, submit to every ordinance or institution of man, which he spells out: kings and governors. Just as a reminder, submit means to bring yourself under the authority of.

What does he mean, For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men? “The heathen were keen to charge the Christians with any crime after Nero set the fashion.”¹ (Nero accused the Christians of burning Rome.) They may say all manner of things against us, but with our well doing, obeying the laws of the land, we prove their charges to be false.

the king as supreme – “It is not the divine right of kings, but the fact of the king as the outstanding ruler. Peter here approves no special kind of government, but he supports law and order, as Paul does.”¹

I can only draw two conclusions from these passages:

(1) God has ordained governmental authority²

(2) Our responsibility is to submit to this authority and to obey the laws of the land as much as possible. We want to be good citizens. Paul and Peter assume the government authority is the minister of God to thee for good. I confess, this is difficult for me. I grew up in the 60s, when you didn’t trust The Establishment and took a real dim view of the government. But I must remember, They were living under the imperial power of Rome; heathen, ungodly, immoral, idolatrous, anti-Christian Rome, and they still said, Submit to the king.

Of course we know where the line in the sand is drawn: When the law of the land conflicts with and contradicts the law of God, we must obey God. And this is when the fight starts. I mean persecution.

 

NEXT: Authority at Work

 

¹ Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament, A.T. Robertson

² I know there are things I am leaving out - I don’t want to go too long. I encourage you to read 1 Timothy 2:1-6, Acts 23:5, Matthew 22:21. I think the passage in Timothy is the most important. Paul is very clear, the top priority for a church is prayer. Not just, “Lord, bless this service”, but corporate prayer for the people he mentions.