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The 13th chapter in the letter to the Romans has been
a thorn in the side for many Christians. Did Paul really mean that
Christians should blindly submit to any government? Answering that
question requires a little background knowledge. Roman law protected
people and made it possible for them to travel freely within the
empire, to possess property and conduct business, including
preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus the Roman government in
Paul’s mind was good, and with imminent return of Jesus, he believed
that Christians should submit to Rome’s authority. Paul did not know
that the Roman Empire would cease to exist or that Jesus would still
not have come back to the earth some 1,950 years after writing this
epistle. The Bible tells us that no man can become king unless it
has been decreed by God. Does that mean that Christians should
submit to evil governments? No. Is it lawful to resist an evil
government? Yes. There are numerous examples where godly men
resisted and rejected tyranny against the Word of God. This is
precisely the reason why the American colonists declared
independence from Great Britain in 1776. |
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