The "obey authority" excuse is used so often
that I need to address it in more detail. It does not refer to
obeying false authority. If you obey false authority you are
rebelling against legitimate authority. Obeying false authority is
mutiny against God.
The idea that governments are automatically bowed down to, is an
idea that God prohibited in his first two commandments.
The word secular means "without God." Bible believers will
not automatically obey secular government. Imagine how easy life
would have been if we had obeyed secular authority.
- Daniel would not have been thrown into either the furnace nor
the lions' den.
- Moses, while he was a civil servant, killed one of his
government's law enforcement officers.
- Israelites would not have rebelled against Pharaoh.
- Peter would not have said in Acts 5:29 "We must obey God
rather than men."
- The apostles would not have been hunted down and executed,
except for one who was exiled.
- William Tynndale would not have been executed for the crime of
translating the Bible into English.
- Christians would not have risked death on the Mayflower's
seven week voyage to bring fourth on this continent a new nation
conceived in liberty.
- A Quaker preacher named William Penn, while he was a British
subject in a British Colony, would not have been arrested for
preaching a Quaker sermon.
- Patriots would not have started the American Revolution. They
would not have risked death to kill their government's law
enforcement officers.
- Rahab, a career criminal, would not have helped overthrow her
government, and would not be considered righteous (James 2:25) and
listed in Hebrews 11 as one of the all-time faithful.
- And today, the Church in China could exist peacefully if it
registers with their government, but refuses. Because regulation
IS persecution.
Romans 13:1 (KJV) "Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be
are ordained of God."
Did the very same author of the above words change his mind in 1
Corinthians 6:12 when he wrote "all things are lawful for me, but
I will not be brought under the power of any." ?
Romans 13:3 continues with a comparison between legitimate and
illegitimate rulers: "For rulers are not a terror to good works,
but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that
which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:"
It cannot be both ways. You cannot claim that verse 1 refers to
all powers, if tyrants are excluded in verse 3.
And, by the way, I support Bible smugglers. I do this to obey
authority ordained of God.
1st Peter 2:13-16 (KJV) "Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your
liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of
God."
Read that again. Peter is recommending that you obey government
in order to silence the rumors of foolish men who are saying that
your liberty from their laws is a guise for maliciousness. Peter
even used the term "foolish," yet Christ said we would be in
danger of hell fire if we called anyone a fool. Matt 5:22.
Titus 3:1 (KJV) "Put them in mind to be subject to
principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every
good work,"
Hebrews 13:17 (KJV) "Obey them that have the rule over you,
and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that
must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:
for that is unprofitable for you."
It is irrelevant that Christians are required to obey legitimate
authority. No law or court has ever required you to get a Social
Security Number.
If you are not yet convinced that you have the Mark of the Beast,
then you must eventually decide where you will draw your line in the
sand. Most people flippantly say they will refuse to take an implant
in their right hand. They give it no further thought. If government
controls buying and selling, will you disobey? Will it be voluntary
or mandatory? To what extent will you obey government? Some say we
must obey a Hitler, others say we must obey authority up to, but not
including, a Hitler. Others say civil disobedience is necessary if
our convictions require us to disobey. How can you say that a
Christian must cooperate with evil?
You are the one that must decide whether or not to cooperate with
evil. There are a dozen New Testament verses that tell us to stand
firm. The word `apostasy' means failing to stand firm. This is not
legal advice. I am NOT telling you to take a stand. Those who refuse
to compromise with evil will lose their homes, jobs and family.
Isaiah 59:15 he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. You must
choose your battles wisely. We are in this predicament because
people over the last 70 years refused to take a stand. They
willingly gave up their rights, until there are none left. Ben
Franklin said that those who give up some liberty for safety deserve
neither.
Government employees are allowed to deceive you (See Appendix
B) and the law requires you, just like Adam and Eve, to accept
the consequences if you are deceived. Do not obey a lie. Jeremiah
17:5 If you trust men, you are under a curse.
If you ever need to be deprogrammed from the error that we must
obey tyrants, read Martin Luther's Secular Authority: To What
Extent It Should be Obeyed, published in 1523. Jesus himself
tells you in Matt 10:17-22 to beware of those who will turn you over
to authorities, and to stand firm. The persecuted church for 20
centuries, ever since Acts 4:26, knew that governments conspired
against Christ. Or read the sermons of the American Revolution. Or
James 2:6-7: those who blaspheme the one that called you, are the
ones taking you to court. Jesus told us to agree with our adversary
so we will not be cast into prison, Matt 5:25 and Luke 12:58. Does
that sound like Jesus was pro-Government? The same biblical
principals that require us to obey legitimate government require us
to disobey illegitimate government. If you want to know if a
government is legitimate read Romans 13:3. Legitimate Government is
not a terror to good works, but to evil. Also 1st Peter 2:14. Your
US government upheld these principles against national socialists at
Nuremberg. The "we were just obeying orders" excuse did not work at
Nuremberg and it won't work here.
Did the same Peter who is quoted in Acts 5:29 as saying that we
must obey God rather than men, change his mind in 1st Peter 2:13-4,
or is he only referring to legitimate government?
NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES GOD GIVE MANKIND THE AUTHORITY TO
LEGISLATE. In fact it is prohibited for mankind to legislate,
Deuteronomy 4:2. The only legitimate government among mankind, is
the government that enforces Biblical law. Even Jesus corrected the
apostles about Moses' law by stating that it was not so, even from
the beginning.
There is no power but of God, as Paul wrote in Romans 13. This is
NOT a command to obey counterfeit government. The (legitimate)
powers that be are ordained of God. Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers (as contrasted with counterfeit powers).
The same Paul that tells us that the powers that be are ordained
of God, and that every soul should be subject unto the higher powers
- is the same Paul who was often in prison (2nd Corinthians 11:23)
and who escaped from law enforcement officers in Damascenes
according to 2nd Corinthians 11:32. Government eventually executed
Paul. It cannot be both ways. Either he was executed for obeying
civil government, or Romans 13:1 is the definition of legitimate
power. Did Christ tell us to avoid being turned over to legitimate
authority (Matt 10:17)?
Actions speak louder than words. There are many people who
willingly hand over part of their wages to fund abominations. You
are either for Christ, or against him. Choose this day whom you
shall serve. Those who choose to be part of the evil system must
obey their masters.
Must a Christian pay for vile abominations such as abortion
clinics in public schools, punish parents for disciplining their
children, punish schools for acknowledging the existence of God,
fund pornography for school libraries, pay usury on the National
Debt, execute people known to be innocent (Exodus 23:7 says that God
will not tolerate slaying of the innocent.), fund the National
Endowment for the Arts to publicly display Piss Christ "art,"
buy condoms for children, pay for UN atrocities, deliberately
mis-educate youth, and sodomize your military? Do your civil
servants act on your behalf to teach witchcraft at the public
schools while prohibiting student prayer?
Thomas Jefferson said that "To compel a man to furnish funds
for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and
tyrannical." Your founders set up a system that prohibits the
collection of a direct tax. There is no need to fund persecution of
Christians. Example: On 5/21/93 the Clinton Administration
petitioned the Supreme Court to allow RICO racketeering statutes be
used against abortion protesters. They claimed that anti-abortion
groups comprise "a nationwide criminal conspiracy of extremists
...[bent on] unlawful and violent methods" to drive customers
away from abortion clinics. Then, right on schedule, on 1/25/94 the
Supreme Court ruled that RICO prosecutions need not prove economic
motive. This means that racketeering charges can be brought against
any church with a member who shows a pattern of misdeeds (twice
praying outside a clinic). All church property can then be seized
without a trial of any kind. Another example: The Freedom of
Choice Act would make it against the law to suggest to a
pregnant girl that she put her baby up for adoption rather than to
kill it. Another example: In 1973 homosexuality was officially
classified as a psychological illness, and only 20 years later,
anyone who questions such lifestyle is a dangerous nut. In 1993 the
American Psychiatric Association said that an "irrational fear
and hatred of homosexuals is a psychological abnormality that
interferes with the judgment and reliability of those affected."
Now there is even talk of forcing Christian hospitals to perform
abortions, and forcing churches to hire homosexuals. And hate speech
laws to prohibit reading the Bible (especially Jude:7, Lev 20:13,
etc). If congress is your benefactor, you've agreed to this.
Yes, Romans 13:6 says we should pay legitimate tax for legitimate
government. But verse 3 defines legitimate government as not being a
terror to good works. I assure you that Satan has a counterfeit
authority for you to obey. And once you pay a tax you don't owe to a
false authority, the legal doctrine of solutio indebiti
enslaves you and requires you to continue paying future taxes. Yes,
Christ paid taxes. But did He render unto Caesar that which is
God's? Did He fund vile abominations with his own labor? Notice that
He didn't pay the Temple tax until Peter blurted out that He pays
taxes. Notice that He didn't pay with His own money. More about
taxes later. |