1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.In this day and age we sees Christians wanting to throw off the chains of our government because we are citizens of God's kingdom. We see from this passage we see that is not the case the government is also God-given. From verse 2 and 3 we see that the Apostle Paul is envisioning a government that does its job and we see that policemen who are honorable in exercising their authority are a good thing. Can you imagine a country where murder, and theft was legal. We do not reject our earthly citizenship from the U.S.A when we become Christians. Yes we are to obey God rather that man when they come into conflict but that is the exception not the rule. As uncomfortable as this is to read in verse 6 and 7 that we should pay our taxes. One passage people refer is in the gospel of Luke chapter 3
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." 14Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."
he is not knocking their occupation he is knocking the corrupt practices they were known for.
In 1 peter 2 it says
its interesting he says honor the emperor. The emperor at the time was Nero a nutcase who legend says would kill peter, yet peter says to honor because his authority comes from God. Plus submitting to the government can help silence rumors Christians that are false.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor
I don't think i stopped being a citizen of this great country when I gave my life to Jesus. Instead I am grateful he put in a country where we can gather openly without fear of being arrested or martyred for out faith
I think this is a good reminder to us that even when we disagree or dislike our leaders, whether they are dictators or we actually voted for them, they are part of God working out his plan on earth. But still, rebellion and overthrowing governments, like what happened with Egypt or what happened with the American colonists, must also be part of God's sovereign will (or they couldn't happen) and one way in which he brings rulers low. But perhaps we individual Christians are to obey our leaders and not take part in such revolutions? This is a complicated area, don't you think?
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