God Before Government

We have cause for celebration today as our nation celebrates 245 years this morning. America has been an independent nation for nearly a quarter of a millennium. That is a long time. Today we not only celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy here in America, but, and more importantly, we honor the God who has bestowed those freedoms on his people. Today is Independence Day and today we give great thanks to God for giving us this great land we call home.

But America is not without its issues. All one has to do is turn on the TV to see we are a nation that is on the brink of disaster as we are split over political, social, economic, and moral ideologies. Never have I seen such an assault on our freedom of speech and our freedom of religion. When Robert Penley was here, he spoke of the fact that perilous times are not coming, they are already here. America indeed is in peril.

We are faced with a radical transformation of the very fabric of our republic. It was Ronald Reagan who said,

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

We exist as dual citizens in this country. We are Christians who belong to God, but are also citizens of a nation here on earth. But how do we live as Christians in an America that tries to marginalize us? If we are to keep our freedoms as free citizens in this country, how are we to do so when the government pushes us into the margins of society?

As always, we must turn to scripture as our guide. Turn your bibles to Romans chapter 13. Today we will be looking at two passages simultaneously, so if you want to bookmark Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, we will be going back and forth between both.

Romans 13:1–7 NASB95

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 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. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For 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.

We as Christians have a responsibility to our government as it has been established by God. We will use this passage in Romans and the one in 1 Peter to help us understand more clearly how we ought to live as Christians in today’s America.

Our responsibility is to obey the government.

Romans 13:1-2 are very clear. It is the Christian’s responsibility to subject himself to governing authorities. Why? Because all governing authorities are established by God. All of them, not just Christian ones or ones that we agree with. All governing authorities are established by God. Those who oppose these authorities also oppose God. If you are defiant of the government, you are defying God, the establisher of government.

Peter says something very similar in 1 Peter 2:13-15:

1 Peter 2:13–15 NASB95

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. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Peter is in agreement with Paul. Whoever the authority is, our duty to God is to subject ourselves to the authority he established. This is his will for us.

Now, we must look at what these passages say about the role of government as well. Whether the governing authority recognizes it or not, his responsibility is to praise what is good and punish what is evil. Paul says in Romans 13:3 that rulers are not to be feared for good behavior. They are to be feared for bad behavior. The government does not bear the sword for nothing. God did not establish human governments without the capacity to punish evildoers. So it is our duty as Christians and as citizens to obey the government. We need to do good so as to avoid the wrath of the authorities, but also for our conscience’s sake. Then he gives us an example: pay your taxes. Render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, or in this case, to the IRS what belongs to the IRS.

Peter says back in 1 Peter 2:16-17:

1 Peter 2:16–17 NASB95

Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

We are to act as free men, but not to cover up evil, but to further our service to God. Your freedoms were not given to you so that you could be your own authority, but so that you can submit yourself to God’s leadership and service to him. So it is in our freedom that we honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.

Briefly, I want to remind you who these men are writing to. Paul is writing to the church in Rome, to which he has never been. Peter is writing to Christians in the region of Asia Minor, which we call Turkey today. In both instances, they are writing to Christians under Roman rule and the Romans were not fond of Christians. The Romans had a tendency to tolerate people of other religions so long as they didn’t stir up trouble, but the Jews were pretty good at doing that for them. So the early Christians were facing intense persecution and here these two apostles are not saying revolt, but comply.

But is this command absolute? Are we to submit ourselves to the government in all cases? The answer is absolutely not.

Disobedience becomes necessary when the law would press us to violate God’s law.

What happens when the government enacts policies and passes laws that are contrary to the law of God? The answer is simple. When we as Christians living under a government that is not, are called to comply with laws that would press us to violate the law of God, our response must be civil disobedience. The law of God will always stand above the laws of men and as Christians, our duty is to have the courage to follow the law of God before we follow our government. In fact, we see several examples in scripture of this very thing.

The Hebrew midwives defied Pharaoh when he commanded them to slaughter any Hebrew baby born male (Ex. 1:15-22). The midwives did not comply. They lied to the Pharaoh and because of it, God honored them and blessed them.

Daniel was an Israelite living in Babylon under king Nebuchadnezzar. When he and the other Israelites were brought to Babylon, Daniel was commanded to eat the same diet as the other official. Their diet included things that were not permissible according to the law of God under the old covenant. Daniel proposed a ten day trial where he and his people would eat vegetables and drink water, and the king’s men would continue heir diet. At the end of ten days, Daniel and his group looked healthier than the king’s men.

How about when king Darius in Daniel 6 signs an injunction requiring all people to worship him exclusively for thirty days. Daniel hears the news and goes to pray to the Lord and is then cast into a lion’s den. But then he is miraculously delivered as God shuts the mouths of the lions, preserving Daniel’s life.

Or how about when king Nebuchadnezzar erected a statue of himself and commanded that everyone bow down and worship it? Three Israelite men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel’s friends, refuse to bow down. They are thrown into the fiery furnace only to be delivered unharmed. They open the furnace and the king says, “Who is that fourth guy whose appearance is like a son of the gods?”

Peter and the apostles were arrested for preaching about Jesus. When they were brought before the leaders in Jerusalem, they said, “I thought we told you not to go and preach in the name of Jesus yet here you are, trying to bring this man’s blood on us.” The apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.”

The Bible gives us clear examples when it was necessary for the people of God to stand against the governments over them. Our nation was founded on that very principle. It is written into our declaration of independence:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

In our declaration of independence is the understanding that when government does not do what it was created to do, by God, the governed have the right and the obligation to throw off such government and establish a new one. You and I are called to do so by engaging in the process by searching and voting for people from among us who will go and uphold the constitution faithfully.

Our founders understood that they were covenanting with God as this new nation was established. We can see it in the Mayflower Compact. We can see it in the framing of the constitution. George Washington, in his inaugural address said this:

“Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

In other words, if America expects the blessings of God to fall on us, we must bless God through honoring his law. How do we live as Christians in a post-Christian America? We remember our allegiance is to God before government. We impress upon our leaders the importance of honoring the eternal rules of order and right. Those who seek to undermine our freedoms should be voted out of office. And you and I must have the courage to stand strong in the face of tyranny. We must echo the words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they faced being thrown into the fiery furnace. It was reported to Nebuchadnezzar that these men would not participate in idol worship. He came to them and offered another change. They replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Remember the words of Peter: Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Our duty is to obey the law until the law would cause us to violate God’s law. At all times, it is God before government, but we pray as we go forward that we will see our government honor the Lord. Pray for our leaders. Pray that God would raise up godly leaders to lead our country. And may we seek to raise godly leaders in the church who will go out and serve him in the public square.