Obey the authorities

What is a Christian’s responsibility to government?

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. - Romans 13:1-2

Romans chapter thirteen is quoted often to encourage Christians to obey the government. Many pastors used this passage to cajole congregants into complying with COVID-19 mitigations such as mask mandates. It is true that God establishes all authority, and that none exists apart from His ordination. Even the founding fathers recognized this as is evidenced in the Declaration of Independence. Because God establishes all authority, Scripture does exhort us to be in subjection. Peter agrees with Paul in supporting this concept:

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

1 Pet. 2:13,14

Does this imply we must blindly obey? Or is there room and reason for civil contumacy?

From Scripture, it is clear there are times to stand in opposition to the governing authorities. A friend recently pointed out a few instances, and I thought of a few others:

• The Hebrew midwives disobeyed the king of Egypt and did not kill Hebrew sons as they were born (Ex. 1:15-21)

• Moses’ mother hid him until she could hide him no longer, then she put him in a basket in the Nile rather than just throwing him in the river to die (Ex. 1:22-2:3)

• Pharaoh’s daughter, finding Moses floating in the Nile, and knowing he was a Hebrew child, disobeyed her own father’s mandate, taking the child in as her own (Ex. 2:5-10)

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo refused to bow down and worship the idol erected by King Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 3:15-18)

• Daniel disregarded King Darius’ law that no one make a petition to any man or god other than himself (Dan. 6:1-15)

In all of these instances, God honored the civil disobedience. These are certainly not the only instances, and one of the most straightforward, which was not included in the list, comes from the book of Acts:

When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” - Acts 5:27-32, emphasis mine

Here Peter makes a statement that you may have noticed is a common theme among the passages already cited - these men all chose to ignore statutes and edicts that contradicted God’s commands. What about laws or mandates that do not specifically contravene God’s revealed will?

This is where a lack understanding of America’s founding principles confound most Americans, and even more so, American Christians. Unlike the theocracy under which biblical Israel operated, or the other government systems (empires, monarchies, oligarchies) of the time, or other modern governmental systems, the governmental structure of the United States is unique. Under other systems, rights flow to the people from the government. According to the Declaration of Independence, rights come from God and government is established by the people, and receives its power from the people. The Constitution lays out the framework under which our elected federal government officials operate (and most states have their own constitutions under which state government operates). While our representatives are installed to enact and enforce laws, their authority flows from the people via the Constitution. Therefore, unlike under other types of government structures, the Constitution, NOT the president or Congress, is the ultimate authority in the United States. Likewise, each state’s constitution is the highest authority for that state.

It is unfortunate that most people believe the hierarchy of authority in America, from top to bottom, is: 

In reality, the hierarchy of authority in America is:

 If we want to get really technical, it is:

Granted, it is a bit more complex than these graphics can depict, and it could be argued that “State Government” and “U.S. Constitution” could be flipped in the diagram. Since the states agree to abide the U.S. Constitution, the states are also subject to the U.S. Constitution. There are also instances in which the states are subject to the Federal Government, though only insofar as the Constitution explicitly gives the Federal Government authority over the states. The Tenth Amendment reserves to the states (and we the people) all rights and powers not explicitly granted by the Constitution to the Federal Government, which also means the power of the Federal Government is limited to that which is explicitly denoted in the U.S. Constitution (the whole idea of emanations and penumbras, as some have alleged, is ludicrous - but that’s a topic for another article).

In light of this understanding, when our elected officials violate the U.S. Constitution (or state constitution), we have not only the freedom but the obligation to stand against them. If we are to, as Scripture tells us, “be in subjection to the governing authorities,” we must subject ourselves to the Constitution; we are not duty-bound to obey laws that contravene the Constitution. We are not constrained to obey illegitimate mandates from executive officers (i.e. the President, governors) who overstep their bounds by declaring diktats, since only Congress (at the federal level) and state legislatures (at the state level) have authority to write laws. Even when Congress or state legislatures pass laws, if they violate the constitution of the state in which the law is enacted, or the U.S. Constitution, they lack force of constraint, except inasmuch as law enforcement will unwittingly (due to suffering the same lack of understanding as the majority of citizens) enforce them.

Yes, all authority is authored by God. Yes, we are to obey the authorities. We must, however, understand where true authority lies if we are to adhere to this Scriptural mandate. In the United States, we do not have to submit to unconstitutional legislation or unlawful mandates in order to remain compliant with God’s instruction. This is why taking time to learn the U.S. Constitution and your state constitution is critically important. If we remain in ignorance, our rights will be trampled by our own sanction. In the end, we are not under compulsion by God’s Word to obey our elected officials when they violate the true governing authorities: God, the U.S. Constitution, and our state constitutions.