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Under Authority

We continue our series on the Book of Romans called “Romans: The Gospel of God’s Grace” with this week’s message from Romans 13: 1-7. Pastor Jeff Marquez reflects on how we must live faithfully as followers of Christ, under our imperfect government (wherever you may live). God’s will is for everyone to submit unconditionally to authority and this submission is for the Lord’s sake. God ordained 3 institutions in which authority is to be established: family, church and government. Because God established authority to these institutions, authority is already considered divine before it even becomes political. Authority is a divine intervention and not a human invention. Even flawed governments exist under God’s sovereign permission. Government may be dysfunctional but God is not. Our response to earthly authorities is ultimately our response to God’s authority. Unconditional submission doesn’t mean that obedience is automatic. Instead, we must exercise discernment and conditional obedience. When human laws defy what God commands, we must comply with God. We must submit to authority, but if said authority is against God, we should still follow God. We must submit to every law, unless that law tells us to sin. Civil disobedience matters when government commands what God forbids and when government forbids what God commands. Even then, our spirit in which we accept these things should matter. Because we submit to authority, it is imperative that we pay taxes, pray for our authorities and display respect. We pay taxes because authorities are God’s servants who give time to governing. Paying proper taxes show us that we have financial integrity. In turn, this validates our testimony to how we live our life in God’s presence. We are to pray for our government because this is our spiritual responsibility. It is hard to demonize people (and authority) if you’re praying for them. We must display honour that is truly respectful. We can disagree with authority but we must show respect because respect is not an endorsement of the authority. You may strongly disagree with another, but we must speak respectfully. When believers live under authority with humility and integrity, we show the world who the true authority is. God delegates authority for a certain period, but God still and always reigns. We are citizens of heaven and earth, so we must live our earthly lives as representatives of God.