Romans 13
Submission to the Authorities
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.----------------------------------------------------
Last wednesday we went on a sandwich run and were able to see first hand the "lowest" of our city. Not to say that we've never seen them, but because we were actually looking for them probably allowed us to be more observant of gtheir predicament. Now for a realted observation:
On that same day i dropped into my friend's criminal justice class, andthey had brought in some guest speakers on the aboriginal status regarding criminal justice. they said that in 1990, it was confirmed that the aboriginal population in criminal institutions was misrepresented. Misrepresented in that the amount who were sent to jail were a higher percentage than of those people who actually commited the percentage of crimes. Meaning that if they or you were to commit the smae crime, it was statistically a fact that you had a higher chance of being being put in jail just because of not being a native. Anyways, soon afteer this was realised(although it had been known but not proven for a long long time), there was an act made to "fix" the issue. The act roughly said that natives were to be treated more lightly when sentenced just becuase of their race. but the important part is the reasoning when the judge passed this. It was stated in legal jargon that not only was there a problem with the treatment of these people, but MAINLY that there was a problem with the government, becuase it had let this happen for such a long time.
Now i know that people see the government corrupt from a christian stnad point and i cant say that it isnt. But form the passage and my event..... Im not too sure what to think. I know that the bible is the be all and end all but regardless it is importnat to critically analyze things in order to confirm their validity. So yea, leme noe wut u guys think.
-Brian Tse
7 comments:
5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."
Yes I believe you must submit to the government insofar as you're upholding the laws set by the government. Taxes, restrictions on crime, murder and the like.
However if you clearly see your government is EVIL, and by EVIL I mean compromising God's law - that is to LOVE your neighbour as yourself, then you know there is something amiss.
"3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong."
This applies to everyone, including the government. If they're doing wrong, they're screwed and will be held accountable. You do not have to commit murders on account of your government - you have free will to uphold the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God, and you may choose to LOVE your NEIGHBOUR as well as your ENEMIES as it is said in the scripture.
I highly doubt God will punish those who refused to be part of Hitler's regime, or to be involved in the exploitation of another country for selfish gain. This stuff is pretty black and white.
If your government asks you to do something that is sorta grey and NOT so cut-and-dry... that I believe is up to church leaders and personal conviction. In the end you and you alone will stand before God's judgement. The government will not do it for you.
- Jono rbk (3)
thats very true, that the government can be viewed as corrupt (well sometimes)...But in the end (like Jono mentioned) it is between us and God every one of us.
Richard Chan Rbk (4)
hmm, I don't know. Cause I personally have had too many bad encounters with bad police officers.
For me, I do kinda agree with Johnny tho, it's like.. if they're EVIL, then you do have freewill, and in a sense... call them out on it like what Brian Tse meantioned in the devo. But becuase of personally exiperience I do dislike the POLICE.
Just to be a devil's advocate, the government and police aren't Christian. So can we trust them? And going back to history, back in the day.. the King or government in place was very religious and the Church played a very strong role in helping to govern the nation. Nowadays we have moved sooo far away from what God has planned/put in place for us, I believe that we have to be careful and evaluate rather than just blindly agreeing to the government/police. Thoughts?
- Brian Yee -> rbk(4)
I like to view it as
yes we need to follow the bible
THE WHOLE BIBLE
not just "one passage"
so when authorities and government start disobeying or twisting God's word or just don't follow it at all. It is up to us Christians to stand strong. I believe Satan uses all forms of authority and rules and stuff like that to push us down, but be strong in the word and stand up from under it.
- jacky rbk (4) (its a hard 4 lol)
Brian,
Acts 4:18-31; 5:17-29
Richard rbk(4)
yep tis been said before, jono said it all, and jacky mentioned it again. We do need to abide by the law since it says we must do so in the bible. that and usually disobeying the law is a sin and/or something we're not supposed to do as stated by the bible. As mentioned of course the bible is absolute, so when, *insert hitler example* yea.
and i think that native stuff is retarded. on the one hand they're making up for the racism and unfairness they committed in the past. but on the other hand they're bypassing the constitution again.
and im a little confused with what you mentioned BTse, so they're being treated favourably.. or unfairly... either one would make sense. but my engrish just cant keep up with waht you were saying before that lol, that misrepresentation spiel. oh well.
-drew
rbk(check my other post >_>)
p.s. which i typed up and didn't actually publish since i didn't select my identity. argh.
rbk(2/4)
depending on how the count is supposed to be working (6 or 7 if we're good till MSG again) and the criteria.
iunno in a sense i think what goes around.. comes around again...
when i was a kid and did something bad, my parents always say this:
"you know how you treat us now? your kids in the future will treat you the way you are treating us" (no chinese accent)
so in the same way.. i tend to think that okay.. what i do now.. will affect me in the future... obeying God's law vs. obeying Man's law, which will lead me along the path that He has set for me?
we can simply take the whole idea of legalization of gay marriage. its 100% against the Bible, and yet churches still accept it. why? because they fear the government? or is it because they are corrupted as well?
When it comes to grey area topics, i usually try my best to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me through the decision, rather than being the impulsive self i am to decide.
Jon rbk (4)
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