What The Bible Says About When To Ignore The Government

The following is an excerpt from the newly published One Nation Under God: 40 Devotions for Patriotic Women, by Amanda C. Bauch.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. … For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
—Romans 13:1–2, 4

Scripture tells us that we’re all created with the natural law: “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness” (Romans 2:14–15).

Our original parents, Adam and Eve, were the first to receive the gracious gift of God’s law written on their hearts. Yet they chose to disobey and do the one thing they’d been commanded not to do: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16–17).

Even though Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, the natural law remained on their hearts, but sin obscured it. So it remains to this day.

Government, or some type of earthly authority, is needed because of man’s sinfulness. God’s law, as epitomized in the Ten Commandments, shows us our sin, which Paul wrote about in Romans 7:7: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Cer­tainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (cf. Romans 3:20).

We’re blessed that in our nation’s laws we see evidence of God’s law. Our laws protect private property, free speech, freedom of religion, and many other rights. Crimes like murder, rape, child abuse, theft, and other illegal activities lead to punishment, even if we disagree as to the type or duration of these punishments. Nevertheless, some of our laws — such as unfettered divorce or the legalization of abortion and euthanasia — also reflect the prevalence of sin.

Government, like any good gift the Lord gives us, can be used for evil. Whether it’s tyrannical dictators who oppress and persecute their people, corrupt court systems that thwart justice, or individual lawmakers who financially enrich them­selves at the expense of those they’re intended to serve, history shows how mankind has and continues to corrupt the blessing of government.

In these situations, what’s a proper Christian response? In what ways is it acceptable for us to resist the authorities?

We can look to both the Old Testament and New Testament for stories of faithful believers who withstood authorities’ com­mands and chose to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

One of the earliest examples is in Exodus 1:16, when Pharaoh demanded that the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, kill all of the male Hebrew children: “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” Thankfully, these brave women defied Pharaoh’s evil order and “saved the male children alive” (Exodus 1:17).

When Pharaoh summoned Shiphrah and Puah and asked them why they’d saved the male children, they replied, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them” (Exodus 1:19).

Although we’re not told whether this was a full truth or a half truth, what we do know is that the Lord approved of their actions, if not their explanation: “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them” (Exodus 1:20–21). Since they chose to obey God rather than man, the Lord blessed them with families of their own.

In the New Testament, especially in the book of Acts, we find numerous instances of the apostles disobeying the commands of both the civil and religious leaders. When Peter, John, James, and Paul were directed to stop preaching in Jesus’s name, they refused to do so, resulting in multiple imprisonments and beatings, and eventual martyrdom.

Paul, when he was arrested for preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem, leveraged his Roman citizenship to prevent himself from being unlawfully scourged and interrogated (Acts 22:22–29). Later on, when he was arrested at Caesarea, he once again used his status as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:10–12). God used Paul’s shrewd tactics to further the Gospel, as each of these instances gave the apostle opportunities to share his testimony with different audiences, including powerful, influential rulers.

In comparison to the righteous resistance of these believers, we have an example of the One who perfectly obeyed the authorities, Jesus Christ. Although He establishes all earthly authorities, He willingly submitted to them — even when they unjustly accused and persecuted Him.

When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus where He was from but received no answer. “Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’” (John 19:10).

Jesus did respond to this question, saying, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). He informed Pilate that he didn’t come to his position because of his own talent or intelligence. God had put Pilate in place so that the world might be saved through Christ’s crucifixion.

Jesus’s allegiance was to the Father, and while in the Garden of Gethsemane, He’d prayed, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). If submitting to the Father also meant submitting to the earthly authorities’ plan to execute Him, Jesus would obey.

Jesus Christ, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6–8).

Whether we’re resisting or obeying civil authorities, our actions must reflect God’s love, mercy, and truth, doing as Jesus commanded: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).