The New Testament has several places where our attitude toward government is discussed. We can start with the words of Jesus,
(Mat 22:21 KJV) They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.Paul addresses the issue and so does Peter. Peter probably makes it the clearest. You can also check out Romans 13:1ff and Titus 3:1.
(1Pe 2:13-14 KJV) Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.At first that would seem clear. Notice though, it also give us the role of government. It is there to punish evil and by inference, if not direct, to protect us from evil. Proverbs also has something to say about the king being righteous. If you know anything about history you might wonder how Paul and Peter could be telling people to obey the Roman government. Were they not the source of persecution? Yes, at times, but most of the time they were the source of a stable society that believed in the rule of law. Paul was protected by the Roman legal system more often than he was harassed. Pilot tried to let Jesus go but was not strong enough to stand against the Jewsish leaders. Keep in mind it was during the Roman Empire that Jesus came in what is called “the fullness of time”.
How are we to respond when we find that the government is the source of evil? I don’t mean just an occasional bit of harassment. I mean, what do we do when the government becomes focused and motivated to destroy anything that reflects righteousness. Call to mind the way in which people who stand for moral behavior are targeted by the IRS and FBI. Remember the early morning SWAT team raids to arrest pro-life family men for trumped up charges. This is the government that is endorsing the entire homosexual agenda by whatever alphabet you want to use.
Is there a place where the government loses its mandate of heaven?
Hard questions for what are becoming hard times.
homo unius libri
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