Obeying the Law

Message / Question

Intriguing question about obeying the law of the land. It sounds to me like you're a stooge for the government Dr Dave... Are you saying Christians who are rebels aren't? Are you sure Jesus wasn't one of these rebels? Do you think he would have been killed by the Jews, Romans, etc, if he wasn't a rebel? What are your thought of Christian rebels?

Response

I have been called a few things in my time, but I congratulate you on a new one – “a stooge for the government”. An interesting concept.

When you refer to “Christians who rebel,” you use a term that is impossibly broad for any reasonable comment. So let me “rebel” against your image of a “stooge” and refer to the Biblical standard – as that’s the one that I follow and the only one in which I have much interest.

In the life of the Christian, there should be no question that God should have first place. The first and greatest commandment is all about loving God with all that we are have. So that is a given in Scripture. If we are to obey God fully, then we must find His answer to the question of compliance with the laws of the land. This very issue is addressed in Romans 13:1-7 where Paul writes, "Let 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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” So the general rule is clear, and that is we are obliged to obey civil governments. But there is another concept that we should see here. What happens when civil governments require a Christian to disobey God’s law? When obedience to God contradicts obedience to the government, the Bible shows us what we should do. In Acts 5:27-29 we read how the governing authorities gave strict orders to the disciples that they were not to teach in Jesus’ Name. Confronted with this clash of 2 laws (i.e. God’s law and human law) Peter replied ‘We must obey God rather than men!' So when civil law violates Biblical teaching, Christians are obligated to disobey that law. So, for example, if I believe (as I do) that the Bible declares marriage as being a relationship between one man and one woman and civil law declares that, as a Christian minister I am obliged to perform a same sex marriage, then I have no option but to breach that civil law and refuse to conduct such a ceremony.

So as long as the law of the land does not contradict the law of God, we are bound to obey the law of the land – failure to do so then becomes not just rebellion against civil government, but rebellion against God. However, as soon as civil law contradicts God's Word, we are to disobey the law of the land and obey God.

Was Jesus a rebel? No, He obeyed the law and paid his taxes, but when there was a clash between God’s law and the civil / religious authorities and God’s law, He obeyed God.

In a secular liberal democracy such as Australia, dissent is legal provided we do not breach other law in expressing our dissent. So, for example, we may protest publically about abortion, but to walk into an abortion clinic and shoot the doctors who perform such a procedure is clearly wrong. So we can write to MPs, protest in the street etc and still comply with both civil law and our Godly principles. When Christians stand up for their faith and refuse to be stopped by civil law from obeying God’s law, I admire them and see them acting as the early church acted in the face of persecution. However we must not use our faith to break laws simply because we don’t like them. If we are to break civil law, we must be able to clearly show how obeying that law would break God’s law – if we can’t do that, then we must obey civil authorities. Running late for church does NOT give you the right to break the speed limit to get there!