Third Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"Religion in Relationships"

Insights to Lesson 7:
Respect for Authorities
August 14-20

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

God established three institutions on earth: the home (Gen. 2:18-25), government (Gen. 9:1), and the church (Acts 7:38; Matt. 6:18). Our lesson this week dwells primarily with the respect due to civil governments, but the principle of respect for authority must extend to the home and to the church as well. The result of disrespect to any of these institutions is anarchy, chaos. and ruin.

The principle of government authority comes from God. A secular or civil government invested with authority should exercise that authority by the consent of the governed. God respects the choices of people. It matters not whether the people choose a monarchy or a democratic form of government. The form of government should not be forced upon people. They should be free to choose how they will be governed.

Governmental authority involves the power to enforce laws, exact obedience, collect taxes, command, and judge. The rule of government must be submitted to and obeyed by all citizens or subjects of it, if such obedience does not involve compromise with God’s government.

Consider some examples of the relationship of believers to the authority of civil government. The Old Testament contains a variety of attitudes toward authority. Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, and the parents of Moses all provide examples of subjected persons, three of whom chose to work jointly with those in authority in the regime in which they found themselves. The record also shows the limits of collaboration: Nehemiah and Esther used their closeness to the throne to win concessions for their people, while Daniel and his companions faced martyrdom rather than compromise their private religious principles. There may be a hint of civil disobedience on the part of Moses’ parents when they hid him from the Egyptian death decree for all Jewish male babies.

In New Testament times the authority structures directly encountered in the provinces of Rome would be local rather than Roman, although bolstered and supported by Rome in differing degrees. Many commentators jump to unwarranted conclusions that Rome’s authority would have been seen by subjects in the provinces simply as extensions of Roman power, but perceptions could vary. It is true that some in the provinces saw Rome as the oppressing power, while others identified the empire, and more particularly the emperor, as a protector against more present local exploitation. Complexities such as these must be borne in mind if a serious understanding of Christian attitudes and behaviors is to be reached.

Calvary’s Respect for Authority

The cross of Christ reveals respect for the authority of God’s government in that Jesus was obedient unto death (Phil. 2:5-11). The fact that He died by the authority of Pilate, who was responsible for the order to crucify Him, shows that He respected that authority also.

As a Roman governor, Pilate was not a persecutor of Jesus, but rather he was a weak, vacillating (Matt. 27:15–24), and basically unwilling tyrant. The New Testament writers do not seem to wish to pin the blame for Jesus’ death on the government of Rome. Despite the manner of His death, the New Testament writers do not assume that Rome was the natural enemy of the Christian movement at that time.

In writing to the Christians in Rome, Paul wrote about the principle of civil authority and obedience to it (Rom. 13). At that time Rome gave its approval to Christianity, probably because it was considered a Jewish sect. Time was not too far distant when it would be most difficult if not impossible for a Christian to be loyal to the Emperor, because a Christian could not place incense on a Roman altar and affirm, “Caesar is god!”

Christians who died under those later death decrees of Rome died as martyrs. These laws of Rome were an abuse of authority. However, as Jesus before them, Christians did not actively resist the government of Rome. Although martyrdom is a form of resistance, it is a passive resistance. This resistance involves an attitude of readiness to accept martyrdom that may be combined with theoretical opposition to the persecuting powers which themselves come under the judgment of God.

In Romans 13 Paul outlines the Christian’s responsibility to civil authority. Paul wrote that human government is a “minister” of God (vs. 4). The word in the original is “deacon.” Governments are God’s servants to administer laws that protect the rights of its citizens and to punish evil doers. This was revealed at Calvary.

Reasons Why Christians are to Obey Civil Authority

Today there are those who advocate that rioting and rebellion in the name of Christ must be practiced. They feel that it is Christian to disobey the law and to rebel against civil authority. They are in reality teaching anarchy. Paul refuted this position in his letter to the Church in Rome. He gave and explained four reasons why a Christian must be in subjection to the laws of civil government:

1. Because God appointed this kind of authority, the Christian is under God’s authority as exercised by government (Rom. 13:1-4). This does not mean that every thing a government does is approved by God, but only that the authority to rule comes from Him. (Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard way, see Dan. 4.) We may not be able to respect a person who holds an office of authority over us, but we are to respect the office, because government was ordained by God. Even though government officials may not be believers in Christ, they are still “ministers of God” because He established the authority of the State.

2. For conscience’s sake (vss. 5-7). Here is a motivation that comes from God. It is higher than merely obeying the law because of the hope of reward or the fear of punishment. A Christian should obey because of conscience. If the government interferes with conscience, then the Christian must obey God instead (Acts 5:29). If the law is right, obedience must be rendered in order to maintain a good conscience (1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; Acts 24:16).

3. For love’s sake (vss. 8-10). We are under God’s authority and are responsible to “love one another.” This is a basic principle of the life of a Christian. When love is practiced the letter of the law is not needed. However, the letter of the law as contained in the second table of the law is listed in vss. 9-10. These are summed up in the positive aspect of God’s moral law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If we love God and His authority, we will not sin against Him or His instituted human authority. Here Paul got to the problem in society—the sinfulness of the human heart. God established the rule of authority to control humanity or there would be no one left alive! Even so, laws cannot change the heart. This can be done only through the grace of God by faith in Christ.

It should be noted here that human government can enforce only the second table of the law. This table deals with external human behavior towards one another. The first table of the law comprises the obligations man has to God alone. This is a matter of conscience and cannot be enforced by human law.

4. For Jesus’ sake (vss. 11-14). Paul moves from fear of punishment to conscience to love and now to devotion to Christ. A Christian citizen should be the best citizen. He or she may not always agree on parties or politics, but ought to agree on their attitude toward authority. The emphasis in this last part of the chapter is the imminent return of Christ. These attitudes will prevail until Christ returns.

Conclusion

Early Christian attitudes toward Rome show as wide a diversity as their Old Testament counterparts. Both submission and resistance are revealed. Three strains of resistance run through the records of Scripture. These include the passive resistance of martyrs, the theoretical resistance in preaching about the kingdom of God, with its radical opposition to all wrong human authority structures (however, this theological stance does not necessarily entail active resistance to authority), and civil disobedience such as in the case with the parents of Moses. Overt political or military activism are virtually unknown in the New Testament. If there is a single attitude that can be said to predominate in the New Testament it is not martyrdom so much as the withdrawal from the political life of the Empire, which is fundamental both in the Gospels and in the Paul’s letters. It is this which should and must provide the context for understanding the New Testament recommendation of submission to authority.

The principles studied here apply to all three institutions ordained by God: the home, civil government, and the church. These principles were brought to bear in 1888, and should have been ever after on the part of those who believe that God has sent “a most precious message” both to the church and to the world.

—Gerald L. Finneman

Read the study notes for lesson 8