Day 8 of 14
Authority and Submission
When to obey and when to resist
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Romans 13:1-7: "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."
Then read Acts 5:27-29: "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.' But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'"
Reflection
Romans 13 and Acts 5 sit in the same Bible, and they create a tension that every generation of Christians must navigate. One text commands submission to governing authorities. The other records the apostles defying those same authorities. Both are the Word of God. How do we hold them together?
Romans 13 establishes the baseline. Government is not an accident or a necessary evil. It is, in some mysterious way, ordained by God. Rulers bear the sword to punish wrongdoing and commend the good. Christians are to pay taxes, give honor, and submit to lawful authority. Paul wrote this while living under the Roman Empire — hardly a model of justice or religious freedom. Even under Caesar, the default Christian posture is respect for the governing order.
This text has been used — and misused — throughout history. Southern slaveholders cited Romans 13 to demand obedience from enslaved people. Nazi-supporting churchmen used it to silence dissent. Paul's words do affirm the legitimacy of government, but they cannot mean that government has unlimited authority, because the same apostle who wrote Romans 13 also defied the authorities in Acts 5.
When the Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to stop preaching, Peter's answer was immediate: "We must obey God rather than men." This was not rebellion for its own sake. It was a principled stand on a clear point: when human authority directly contradicts divine command, the Christian must obey God. The apostles did not organize an armed revolt. They accepted the consequences — beating, imprisonment, eventually martyrdom — while refusing to comply with an unjust order.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived out this tension more dramatically than almost anyone in modern history. As a German pastor watching the Nazi state demand total allegiance, he concluded that there were moments when faithful obedience to God required active resistance to the state. His participation in the plot against Hitler cost him his life. Bonhoeffer understood what was at stake: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
The biblical framework, then, is not simple submission or simple resistance. It is a hierarchy of loyalties: God first, then legitimate human authority insofar as it operates within its God-given mandate. When government protects the innocent, promotes justice, and maintains order, Christians submit gladly. When government commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands, Christians must respectfully, courageously, and often costly disobey.
Going Deeper
The hard part is discernment. Both the right and the left claim that the other side's government is illegitimate and must be resisted. The biblical tradition of civil disobedience is narrower and more demanding than most modern activists prefer. It requires a clear divine command being violated, exhaustion of legitimate alternatives, willingness to accept consequences, and a spirit of love rather than vengeance. Where does that leave you?
Key Quotes
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Prayer Focus
Pray for governing authorities — by name if you can — and ask God for the discernment to know when obedience and when resistance is required.
Meditation
Is there an area of your life where you are using Romans 13 to justify passivity in the face of injustice, or using Acts 5 to justify rebellion against legitimate authority?
Question for Discussion
Romans 13 commands submission to governing authorities, and Acts 5 describes apostles defying them. How do you discern the line between legitimate obedience and faithful resistance — and what safeguards prevent this from becoming a convenient excuse for whatever you already wanted to do?