…and saying, “Men,
why are you doing these things?
We also are men with
the same nature as you….
Acts 14:15a
Did not He who made
me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One
fashion us in the womb?
Job 31:15
He fashions their
hearts individually:
He considers all
their works.
Psalm 31:15
Romans
chapter 13:1 is most important to remind us: all men, that includes Christians,
all are to be in subjection and in submission to government. Why? Every individual
on the face of the earth, past, present, and future, have the same nature. The
commands given to Adam and Eve, and to all men thereafter was: “And God
blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth…..Then God blessed them, and God said
to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living
thing that moves on the earth’” (Genesis 1:22;28). All living things given
this command to be fruitful and to multiply, man given another command and that
was to be in dominion. This is a universal and immutable law of God, a law of
nature, therefore all men must conform and follow the laws of God and where men
are told to be in subjection to the government: they are to be in subjection.
This immutable law in regards to the nature of man and the commands of God are
not in question: they are immutable. Then how are we to understand what it
means to be in subjection and in submission? The first question that should
come to mind is: what is the general purpose of government, and to what end did
God allow and ordain that governments should exist? History will testify that
man has and is involved in some sort of society. There is joining together
people and the first joining was man and woman. Here is a fact: man joins one
individual to another individual, men join with other men, local societies join
with other local societies, all for the purpose and for some utility; i.e.,
safety, socially, economically, etc. Therefore, a joining is so that by God’s
design men are placed in a better state than if he had not formed a society. If
this was not true, then why form a society. Why men should join together in any
sense? When men join together they do so and ought to have good faith among
themselves; is this not so? Without this good faith men would not have any
reason to join together living in a dangerous society, but by joining together
in good faith there is a coalescence that benefits, or should benefit mankind.
Does this joining together in a society always have the approval of God and
operate so as to benefit those in the society? History testifies to this as
well that this is not so. A grandson of Ham, the son of Cush, Nimrod, began to
build a society by building cities, one famous city was the Babel (Genesis
10:12). Nimrod, called a mighty hunter before the LORD, (Genesis 10:9), founder
of a city and society Babel with the people made a decision to build a tower.
Not for any other reason than to make them a name, and secure they would not be
scattered, as the command was to them and to all by God, to fill the earth.
This tower was in total opposition to the will of God and Nimrod who had
leadership over the people allowed, or even participated in this gross opposition
to God and God had to deal with this severely (Genesis 11:7–8). Nimrod, the
government at the time had the responsibility to see to it that the people and
all laws were in conformity with the laws of God. This he did not do and God
reprimanded him for his lack of being the government doing the will of God. By
this we know then that government has the responsibility to by as what was
recorded by Paul, appointed by God as ministers of His to do His will for the
benefit of society, to aid men to live in societies with good faith leading
them. Therefore, by this we know the purpose of government(s), and how we are
to live in subjection and in submission to them; it is for us to do which is
lawful, i.e., pay taxes, etc., and give them honor where honor is due. God
limits the power of governments. Therefore, governments are not unlimited. God
sets limits upon the joining of individuals, i.e., marriage where both husband
and wife have limitations. Men are limited, although they are free to disregard
morality if they so desire, and as with Babel, God will deal with this matter:
our limitations are to be in the will of God and do His will, and this extends
to all leadership, especially those governing. From the beginning of time men
would increase and the need for societies become more and more needed and it is
this joining together that is essential that is to be done with “good faith,”
and in the will of God. Joined together places obligations and duties upon us
to conform our actions to the will of God, and this too extend to governments.
The unfortunate reality is that men in their passions will become unbridled and
insufficient as ministers of God. With there passions men and all the
ideologies, and even theologies, prejudices that have affected their nature making
cause for them not to be minister’s of God according to God’s will; “Truly,
this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out
many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). We are admonished as to how we are to
react when government is not doing the will of God: “Do not be hasty to go
from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does
whatever pleases him” (Ecclesiastes 8:3). How does this play out? How are
we not to take a stand when there is evil being done by government(s)? Before
we make a decision, let us continue our search and investigation on this matter
and ensure that our decisions are Scriptural. This will be the thrust of the
upcoming blogs.
Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn
back to the LORD;
Let us life our hearts and hands
To God in
heaven.
Lamentations 3:40–41
Do Not Fear! God Is In Control
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