E
enoch son
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I say you need to look up the frist peter vers. in strong's, the greek is not what was written. It does not mean what you have been taught.
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Submitting to authority?
- Thread starter superjsuh
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JimfromOhio
Life of Trials :)
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Submission to the Authorities
Romans, Chapter 13 (NIV)
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.
Even unjust authorities are God's servants. This obviously does not mean God endorses everything they do, but it does mean they have the authority to punish those who disobey them or the laws they represent. Christians should be known as those who respect civil government; we should never be known as those who advocate rebellion or anarchy. So if we must disobey an authority, we must avoid showing disrespect for their office. The goal of Christian resistance must be to correct an untenable situation without dishonoring the person or their office. According to scripture, Christians are to submit to civil authorities; even those who are evil and corrupt.
Our attitude and action influences God's ability to do what is needed. If we are hostile, belligerent or threatening, God has to distance himself because he is holy and righteous, incompatible with sinful human nature. Instead, we are to put off sinful traits such as self-centeredness and reject the demands of our sinful nature to seize control and cause things to be as we think they should. Then we are to emulate Jesus' nature and seek God's will in the situation. This gets our sinfulness out of the way and allows God to intervene. When we relinquish control to him, significant changes can occur. Many times we create problems for ourselves and other Christians by the way we view situations. We still think like the world, so we think the way to get something done is to use intellectual and physical methods. If an authority makes an unjust demand, for example, we try to reason with him, we try to persuade other people, we appeal to other authorities; these are intellectual methods. If we are unable to get the desired results with intellectual methods, we might resort to physical methods of civil disobedience: refusing to cooperate with the demand, performing a demonstration or sit-in, or even more physically aggressive methods in rare cases. These may be legitimate things to do, but relying on these methods alone completely ignores the spiritual reality of the situation. Civil disobedience is not primarily about us trying to make something happen. It is about us obeying God under all circumstances. We can work to affect change through normal human efforts, such as active participation in the government process or even by civil disobedience. Politicians are like most other people, in that they are influenced by the pressure and petitions they receive. We can bring about changes by persuading our authorities, but as soon as the pressure shifts, so do the policies. We need to use influence, work within the system, and use normal human methods, but real long-term changes occur when we work with God and allow him to intervene. When we do this, he may direct us to use typical human methods, but there will be significant differences in our attitudes and motives. And this permits God to promote his will and his kingdom.
Romans, Chapter 13 (NIV)
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.
Even unjust authorities are God's servants. This obviously does not mean God endorses everything they do, but it does mean they have the authority to punish those who disobey them or the laws they represent. Christians should be known as those who respect civil government; we should never be known as those who advocate rebellion or anarchy. So if we must disobey an authority, we must avoid showing disrespect for their office. The goal of Christian resistance must be to correct an untenable situation without dishonoring the person or their office. According to scripture, Christians are to submit to civil authorities; even those who are evil and corrupt.
Our attitude and action influences God's ability to do what is needed. If we are hostile, belligerent or threatening, God has to distance himself because he is holy and righteous, incompatible with sinful human nature. Instead, we are to put off sinful traits such as self-centeredness and reject the demands of our sinful nature to seize control and cause things to be as we think they should. Then we are to emulate Jesus' nature and seek God's will in the situation. This gets our sinfulness out of the way and allows God to intervene. When we relinquish control to him, significant changes can occur. Many times we create problems for ourselves and other Christians by the way we view situations. We still think like the world, so we think the way to get something done is to use intellectual and physical methods. If an authority makes an unjust demand, for example, we try to reason with him, we try to persuade other people, we appeal to other authorities; these are intellectual methods. If we are unable to get the desired results with intellectual methods, we might resort to physical methods of civil disobedience: refusing to cooperate with the demand, performing a demonstration or sit-in, or even more physically aggressive methods in rare cases. These may be legitimate things to do, but relying on these methods alone completely ignores the spiritual reality of the situation. Civil disobedience is not primarily about us trying to make something happen. It is about us obeying God under all circumstances. We can work to affect change through normal human efforts, such as active participation in the government process or even by civil disobedience. Politicians are like most other people, in that they are influenced by the pressure and petitions they receive. We can bring about changes by persuading our authorities, but as soon as the pressure shifts, so do the policies. We need to use influence, work within the system, and use normal human methods, but real long-term changes occur when we work with God and allow him to intervene. When we do this, he may direct us to use typical human methods, but there will be significant differences in our attitudes and motives. And this permits God to promote his will and his kingdom.
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