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"Obey God Rather than Men"

A Question from a Recent Visitor:

Hi, thanks for the commandments; they really helped me. I still have one question. Is it also a law to obey the government like in Romans 13:1-7? Thank you.

Hello Evert, 

That is an excellent question that is not so difficult to answer but can often be extremely challenging and costly to carry out.

Obeying the Government

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (Rom 13:1-2, NKJV).

Superior to Every Other Law

Christian should place the Laws of God above any other Law. in other words, we should never obey laws (Government or otherwise) that cause us to contradict God's Laws.

For instance: Some parts of the government in the U.S.A. and other countries are currently attempting to force Christians to support abortion. However, most Christians consider the taking of a life, either born or unborn, to be sin.

So although it may place the Christian in grave danger or perhaps imprisonment, we must first obey God's laws. And we must always obey the government as long it does not force us to break the Laws of God. The following is an example from Scripture.

We Ought to Obey God Rather than Men

The Disciples and others of the first-century church were bravely teaching the Word of God; however, the authorities (Jewish government) ordered them not to teach about Jesus, and when they did anyway, the authorities had them locked in prison. However, later that night, they were miraculously released by "The Angel of the Lord!"

The authorities arrested them again, and this is the dialogue:

Authorities: "...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 man's blood upon us."

"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him" (Acts 5:28-32).

The phrase, "We ought to obey God rather than men," guides us in handling such situations. Christians are not to obey anyone else, government, or otherwise if doing so would cause them to break or denounce the Laws of God. So, we should be watchful, 

God does not want us to be militant, but to follow the example of Jesus and the disciples, they always respected and obeyed the government until it required them to disobey the Laws of God.

Samuel Mills

Christian Questions

Trusting in Jesus Home Page

Obey God rather than Men

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Why is it so difficult for our educators and society, in general, to understand that love and respect for one another taught from a young age can solve much of the world's hostility and social problems!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it" (Prov 22:6).

Love is the answer!

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True loyalty springs from the heart and is wrapped in love. It is often in our most private moments that true loyalty, or the lack of it, is made known.