Today's Devotion

December 7, 2010

Civil Disobedience

When man’s laws contradict God’s laws we ought to obey God rather than men. Of course man’s laws almost never contradict God’s laws, at least in this country. Even the issue of abortion does not justify believers to go outside of the law because, as it stands now, the government is not forcing anyone to have an abortion.

Is it sinful to abort a child, yes! Is it an abomination, yes! Must one have an abortion, no! The point is civil disobedience is sinful unless the law of man tries to force you to commit a sin. We are to obey our authorities (Romans 13:1-2).

“Then the high priest rose up, and all those who [were] with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." And when they heard [that], they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, "Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!" Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told them, saying, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set [them] before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!" But Peter and the [other] apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. "Him God has exalted to His right hand [to be] Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. "And we are His witnesses to these things, and [so] also [is] the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."” (Acts 5:17-32 NKJV)

Clearly, in the passage above, man’s laws were contradicting God’s laws. The apostles were to preach the Word of God to all people. When the Jewish leaders demanded they stop obeying God and obey them instead, the apostles were forced into civil disobedience.

They did not react violently to the situation. In fact, they were willing to take whatever punishment the government would dictate. However, unless they were physically restrained they would not stop speaking all the words of life as the angel commanded them to do.

It is interesting to see how the leaders tried to use fear to dissuade the apostles. Being thrown in prison would have been a serious moment. Fear is most often the tool used to silence the good news of Christ. However, in this case, the leaders were really the one’s acting out of fear.
Notice how they feared the Romans and the People. They feared the Romans because the apostles were filling Jerusalem with their doctrine which would probably bring a reprisal from Rome. The Jews were allowed to govern themselves as long as they stayed under the radar. But the increased attention by the apostles preaching would surely be noticed. Also, they feared the people when they saw the popularity of the apostles. They brought them back to the leaders without violence lest they risk being stoned to death.

At the present time, we have no laws prohibiting the public proclamation of the Gospel. One might argue that the school system limits what can be taught in the classroom. After reading several parts of the Missouri Constitution and Looking at several sections in the Missouri School Laws, I am not sure that is even true. I am no lawyer so I will let you be the judge of that.

However, it is clear that people want to limit our freedoms. Therefore, how should we act during this time of freedom? The apostles were thrown in jail for preaching the truth. We can preach it without fear of government prosecution.

Let’s not waste this opportunity to proclaim the message. Someday it might not be legal to preach Christ. If we won’t speak the truth now, what will we do then?