In this
chapter, the church is charged that prayers be made for those in authority. We
are charged to pray in order that Christians may lead a quiet and peaceable
life. Human government provides an authoritative cover under which the church
may carry out the great commission. It follows then, that we should pray for
the government. We will join in praying for the Church in Pakistan. Taliban
terrorists attacked Christians yesterday as they were leaving the church after
worship, killing 78 people including children and injuring 141 others. It is
occurring around the world that Christians have become the target of persecution
and terror. We will pray for the Lord to grant His grace and courage to His
people and soften the hearts of those who are so filled hatred and violence. We
will pray for the governments of the nations they might pursue peace and justice
for all.
It may surprise us to know that government is part of the way
the gospel goes forth in our lives. However, it shouldn’t really surprise us
because, once more, human government is a divinely ordained authority. Here we
see that we pray for human government so that we can live out the gospel.
Christianity has survived under duress. Christianity has gone forth under
Communism, Totalitarianism, and even under hostile
Atheism.
One man who demonstrated and taught this in a great way was
the Dutch pastor Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). Kuyper was a theologian, scholar,
journalist, educator, and, from 1901 to 1905, Prime Minister of the
Netherlands. He taught that the Bible forges a distinctive world view where
Christ is Lord of all. His most famous saying summed up his understanding of
the Lordship of Christ: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our
human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry:
‘Mine!’”
This is a
mandate we all have. Is that characteristic of your life today, or is there an
area of your life that you have compartmentalized away from God? Jesus Christ
wants to be God in every area of your life — your family, your vocation, every
area.
Another
word that defines the relationship between biblical faith and human government
is submission. "Jesus said to the them, 'Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.' And they marveled at
him" (Mark
12:17). In Mark, the religious leaders wanted to trip up
Jesus in this area. But Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is his (in this
case it was taxes) and to God the things that are His. Paul was teaching
the same thing in Romans
13,
where we read, “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." Human government is an institution of
God.
“Pay to
all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue
is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed”
(Romans
13:7). Even though the Roman Empire was an oppressive
agent, Paul sought to work within the system to get the Gospel out.
The Word
of God clearly teaches that God has established human authorities and that, as
believers, we are to submit to those authorities. To be a Christian is to be a
slave to Christ, and a slave to others for the sake of
Christ.
Is there
ever a time when it is not right to obey human government? Yes. When human
government orders believers to do what is contrary to God, we must obey God.
This is what happened to the early church. When we look inActs
5:27 we find the following:
“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high
priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this
name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to
bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must
obey God rather than men’” (Acts
5:27-29).
In
Christ,
Brown
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