Understanding Romans 13 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves (Rom 13:1,2). This passage has been used to justify almost all forms of civil government. The common argument is that Paul was writing to the church in Rome at a time when Nero was Caesar. If a terrible ruler like Nero was instituted by God, then all forms of political power are justified and Christians must submit to whatever political authority comes to power. And some people say, why in the Old Testament,Death Penalty is applicable while in the New Testament it dsnt. Because Execution is unjust for today,because of Wrongful execution, a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment. so why in Old Testament moses allowed the execution? Question: in the time of Moses,is there an innocent victim have been punished? Answer: NONE, Why ? becoz Moses himsesf is appointed by God, this are trustworthy judging not corrupt ,and the witnesses to prove the crime are true witnesses, not false witnesses. they are guided by angels that tells Moses what to do. let’s read , act 7 37-38 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spoke to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the..lively (ORACLES)! to give unto us: ---- act 7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. =hindi po batas panlipunan ang hinahap dito kundi batas ng Diyos which is Makatarungan- Gawa 5:29 Sa Diyos po tayo dapat sumunod, at hindi sa tao. Specialy In Christians dispensation,Our Lord Jesus Christ, in any manner, didnt allowed death penalty...ang nabasa ko lng mananagot sasenadrin. Apparently this passage has been used and is continually being used to convince Christians that they should NOT resist tyranny or evil when the government is doing it. I have read that Hitler used this passage as well with the churches in order to quell any resistance at that time. I argue that this passage was not put in the Bible so that Christians could become cowards in the face of tyranny or evil but it was put in the scripture by God to remind Christians that we should obey authority when that authority is within the perimeters of Gods will. Whenever scripture is to be interpreted it is not to be interpreted outside of the context of the entire word of God. That is, it is not to be taken out of context. I would like submit 3 passages of scripture that I believe teach that if the government is tyrannical that we are, as Christians, encouraged (by scripture) to resist that government. They are: Exo 1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: Exo 1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. Exo 1:17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. Exo 1:18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? Exo 1:19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Exo 1:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. In this passage God dealt well with the midwives when they specifically disobeyed the ungodly command to kill the Hebrew babies. Not only did God approve of this disobedience but he also rewarded the midwives. The next passages are: Mar 6:18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brothers wife. Mar 6:19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: Luk 3:19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philips, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Luk 3:20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison John protested Herods having his brothers wife as a lover and was arrested and ultimately murdered in prison for it. Jesus said of John that he was the greatest prophet. If we are to submit to the government then why did John protest Herods infidelity? If we are to idly stand down while evil runs rampant John is not a very good example is he? The next scripture is as follows: Act 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Act 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Act 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this mans blood upon us. Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Peter and all of the other apostles must be confused as well since they were very clear in their answer to the authorities saying “we ought to obey God rather than men”! Additionally, if the view that we are to submit to all government regardless of its evil nature is true then God would clearly be contradicting himself when he tells us to refuse the mark of the beast written about in Revelation 13:13. It is my conclusion that Romans 13 was provided to instruct us that even though we have freedom in Christ, we are still to obey the laws of God that are provided in righteousness. However, once those laws violate the laws of God it is clear that we are to boldly protest, we are to use our wits to circumvent evil dictates and finally we are not to obey them.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 17:00:34 +0000
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