Submission to Authorities - Always?

I was born with a natural rebellious streak. It is one of those dominant attributes of my fleshly sin nature that rears its ugly head more often, and with more force, than it should.

Romans 13:1-5 states it very clearly, “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. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.”

Seems like pretty clear direction, and it’s not like bad leaders are a phenomenon that is new to recent history. Chronicles and Kings are filled with kings that “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”; the Roman authorities under whom Paul’s contemporaries were living at the time of his letter ruled with torture, terror, and crucifixions; and human history is filled with Hitler's, Stalin’s, Lennon’s, Mau’s, Ayatollahs, Putin’s, and Xi’s and their murderous regimes. Remember, the passage says that all of these authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

And yet, as I read through the Bible, I find example after example of men of God defying the authorities. Daniel refused to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and bow down to the statue. Jesus cleared the temple of the money changers and denied the religious authorities their illicit kickbacks. Peter and Paul were commanded to cease their preaching of the Gospel, but they continued more fervently.

Looking at more recent history: Should Bonhoeffer have submitted to the dictates of the 3rd Reich? Should Solzhenitsyn have submitted to the Soviet State? Should the house-church pastors in China close their doors and submit to the CCP? We must grapple with our own conscience and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine where we will draw the line. At what point do we transition from passive subjects to active dissidents?

God is infinitely greater than man, and God’s laws are infinitely greater than those of man. When the two are in conflict, we must choose which we will follow.

A time for choosing is upon us. Our own authorities currently promote abortion, have redefined marriage and human sexuality in perverse ways, and have issued decrees (in the name of “public health”) to close the doors of our churches. Are these not in direct opposition to the Scriptures? Do you honestly think they achieved their goals and will stop there? We find ourselves living in a post-Christian nation and whether we acknowledge it or not, we have lost the culture war. Totalitarianism and persecution of believers are in our future, and likely sooner than any of us imagined until very recently. We must pray for wisdom, discernment, and courage; and we must prepare are hearts, minds and bodies to stand up and stand together for the Truth. There may be a price to pay in this present life, but we are called to live for eternal life. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [Romans 12:2]”