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Who are the governing authorities to whom you should obey?
Unfortunately, traditional Church teachings on the topic totally ignore key stipulations when identifying the rulers to whom you owe allegiance. “He is God’s minister to execute His goodness and His judgment.” This discriminates and differentiates to whom you ought to subject yourself; it is certainly not just to anyone simply because he holds a position of authority. God is not revealing that every governing authority is of Him and demanding we submit to all of them, without some qualifying factors. However, if you have been following the vast majority of church teachings on the subject, that is exactly what you are being taught to do. Before we blindly agree with the majority, let’s take a look at a few key qualifiers.
He is God’s minister: He is a servant of God inspired by the Lord to carry out His plan for His people.
He is God’s arbiter of what is good: He knows inherently or intrinsically what is right. Anything good originates from God and is empowered by God through faith; nothing and no one can be good otherwise.
He is God’s avenger: He is a special representative of God, an advocate, agent or champion of God and defender of His ways. He is a superintendent, administrator, or ambassador carrying God’s authority into the earth and exercising judgment on what and who is evil.
He attends continually to God’s business: He devotes himself entirely, continuously, and steadfastly to his direct assignment from God.
It should be obvious that Paul is teaching that true authorities are appointed by Yahweh for the good of His people and to champion His cause. And when they are acting in that position, a minister for good, their authority and therefore their rulings are to be considered as if they are from Yahweh. If you don’t submit to them, you will bring judgement on yourself as if you are rejecting God. If necessary, Yahweh uses these anointed officials to discipline His people. The choice is simple; do what is good and you will have favor with God and among His leaders; do what is evil, and you should instead be very afraid of them.
Nowhere does God command His people to submit to ungodly rulers when what is being required of them is in violation to God’s will. In other words, God is not recommending ungodly obedience as a path to good citizenship. Consider Daniel’s response when a decree was signed by the king forbidding prayers to Yahweh. On schedule, Daniel knelt before the Lord three times that day, as was his custom. And what about the disciples when they were ordered to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus?
Their response was the exact opposite of subjecting themselves to the governing authorities; “If you believe it is right to listen to you above God, you are dead wrong. We will not cease speaking of the things which we have seen and heard about Christ, because that is what God wants us to do, even if you command otherwise.”
When the governing authorities are ruling in an ungodly fashion, they should be ignored, and instead, God’s people should submit to His higher authority. God’s ministers are attending to the work of God and they are commissioned to hold His people accountable. Give them the honor and respect they are due. And provide for their needs in every way necessary. And finally, do what is right because it is the right thing to do, not because you fear the consequences.
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