November 6, 2008

Obey Your Authorities

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2 NKJV)

“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” (Titus 3:1-3 NKJV)

I was reminded this morning how easy it is to step across the line and sin against God with the tongue. There are no authorities over us that have not been appointed by God. Yes, that means the bad ones too.

Be careful not to fall victim to this sin. It could be you are not happy with the way current events turned out. However, you must by faith trust in God’s sovereign rule over the affairs of men. To resist God’s sovereign choice is to resist God. This will bring judgment upon you.

Whether this speaks of divine judgment or temporal judgment at the hands of magistrates is a little unclear. However, if you think about it, the two are the same. God often uses temporal means to judge his people. How many times did Israel fall to the sword because of their wickedness? Do you remember Achan’s sin and how Ai defeated Israel until Achan was dealt with?

Don’t bring the hand of God against you and your family by resisting God. He knows what He is doing, and can keep you in the midst of it all. Praise God that He has given you eyes to see with and ears with which to hear. Amen.