Skip to main content

Honor The Lord, Then The Emperor

Recently in our Sunday School class we have entered into some discussion about our obedience to the Lord and our obedience to our government and the laws they set forth for the people. Most of the time their is little to no conflict between the two, but because the question was raised I will try to offer some biblical direction for the conversation.

We know that laws are good. In fact the Bible states that God puts governments and systems of law in place to restrain evil and lawlessness. (Romans 13:1-7) So it is both good and right that we have an allegiance to our country and government, because God, in His sovereignty, has put it in place. However, we must also understand that we have an allegiance to a much higher authority and law. Jesus makes it clear that the two greatest commandments (i.e. laws) we have are to (1) love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and (2) to love our neighbor as ourself. (Matthew 22:34-40)

These two "greatest" commandments should rule supreme in our hearts. 99% of the time they will never contradict the rule and laws of the land. But a day may come when they do. Sooner than that a moment may come in each of our lives where we are forced to choose between two allegiances. Our greatest allegiance must be to that of God Almighty. So in the mean time we will live as Peter instructs us in in 1 Peter 2:13-17; being subject to every human institution, but obeying the Lord God above even them.

Love In Christ,
Pastor Mitch

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Generation of Mark 13:30

At the beginning of Mark chapter thirteen Jesus is leaving the temple area and one of his disciples points out the grandure of the temple buildings. Jesus' remark to that disciple concerns the fact that these buildings will one day be torn down. The disciples question Him further as to the times of these events, and so begins an extended teaching from Jesus on the end times.As Jesus' remarks are drawing to a close, He makes this comment in Mark 13:30: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." (NASB) So the reader is left to wonder the meaning of this statement. Either our understanding of generation is wrong, or we are understanding what Jesus meant by "these things" wrong. I think there are at least two solutions. The word for generation (genea: Greek) could mean, as some side column reference Bibles note, "the human race". This is possible, since the events have not all happened and the human race...
15 comments
Read more

Thinking Clearly About Election Day

I am against demonizing men. But many of the conversations I hear regarding the upcoming election are just that. People speak of our President as if he had no good qualities about him. And in the next breath they praise Mitt Romney as if he were the Savior of the world. Neither is true. As Christians we need to step back and, as much as possible, clear our heads about the presidential candidates and what each of them truly believes. We need our thinking to be clear and clearly biblical. I believe both are genuinely seeking to do what they believe is best for our country. That is, they are living and making decisions based on what they feel to be right. Neither of them is practicing outright deception, at least not in a way that is any different from the presidents in our past. I also would not feel comfortable calling either of these men Christians, though they would both call themselves one. Barack Obama is a member of a Christian church, but one that in which the Bible holds l...
1 comment
Read more

Children, Forgive Your Parents

Originally written on August 7, 2005 I remember the first time my father spoke to me as an adult. I was thirty. I had always looked up to my dad because he has many characteristics that are larger than life. Our relationship had always been that of a father and child. It did not change as I became a teenager and as I entered adulthood this unchanging relationship was the cause of much strain. So I was caught off guard as my dad began to speak to me over lunch one day at Chik-fil-a. As he spoke to me he began to confess the things that he had done wrong in raising my brother and me. It was a remarkable moment. Mainly because I noticed very few of his mistakes. He always worked to provide for us, loved my mother with all his heart, gave us plenty of hugs and kisses, and told us that he loved us everyday. So why would he admit to making mistakes in raising his children? After all, he had done a pretty exceptional job. The truth of the matter is that no matter how good we do as parents and...
1 comment
Read more