“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but
for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you
will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good.
But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for
nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one
who practices evil.” (Romans 13:3–4, NASB95)
Generally speaking the best way to get along in a society is
to abide by the rules. If you stay within the lines then you won’t be
prosecuted for crossing them. But if you cross the lines, don’t be surprised
when there are harsh consequences. If you obey the laws then you don’t have to
be watching over your shoulder to see if you will get caught. You may not get praised,
and you may not even get noticed. But at least you won’t be put away. Laws and
the enforcement of laws helps to provide for a safe environment in which to live
good lives, and in so enforcing those laws the government is doing what it is
designed to do. Similarly, with the authority invested in the government also
comes the power to prosecute and to judge those who break the laws and then to
put them away such that they are removed from those who are living good,
law-abiding lives.
I don’t think any of us would argue this point, but….
This is where the rub comes. We have our concerns where we
are tempted to say, ‘but.’ There are those things that governments do that must
clearly be an exception to these verses. What if our government isn’t trustworthy
or doesn’t get things right? What about where government oversteps its intended
purpose, or what if it tries to take more than we want to give or becomes more
invasive and restrictive that we think it should? We also might even have
concerns about government demanding that we do or approve things which are in conflict
with our values. These questions are not fully covered in these verses. What we
are looking at here is the intended role of government as the entity that
protects the people by establishing laws for their overall welfare and then
enforcing them.
God is a God of order and He instructs us to obey His
ordinances. Consistent with this, He also instructs us to obey the laws of the places
in which we live. In doing this we are to submit to the authority of those
charged with enforcing these laws. As we read in the first verse of Romans
13:1, these rulers are established by God and he tells us to live in subjection
to them.
When it comes to those situations where government acts
outside of this intended role and it maybe even demands that we do things which
God instructs us not to do, then we have to weigh how we will respond based
upon the greater instruction of God’s Word.
Obeying God and walking wisely among men is not always easy.
It requires that we trust Him fully, that we continually hide His Word in our
hearts and depend upon it to be a lamp for our feet sand a light for our path,
and it means that we need to be continually in prayer—bringing everything to
Him and submitting our wills and our bodies to His wise, good, and sovereign
hand.
“rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to
prayer,” (Romans 12:12, NASB95)
“What then shall we say to these things? If God
is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered
Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who
is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was
raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will
separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:31–35,
NASB95)
No comments:
Post a Comment