WHEN IS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE ALLOWED

Romans 13:1-7

 

On Parliament Hill over one of the entrances to the Board Room of the Official Opposition reads “Fear God, Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17. There are 3 verses carved in stone on the exterior of the Peace Tower which surrounds the Memorial Chamber. They are Psalm 72:1; Proverbs 29:18 and the most well-known of these three verses is Canada’s motto “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea” Psalm 72:8. Do you know that in the Memorial Chamber of the inner walls you can find carved in stone these words. “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:8-10

 

Our government in their ignorance will stand guilty of all charges for 

every action and deed that is contrary to the Word of God.

 

So when is ok to disobey and 

not honor the Emperor?

 

There are three general views to

civil disobedience.

 

The Anarchist view says, “A person can choose to disobey the Government whenever he likes and whenever he feels he is personally justified in doing so.” This view is not supported by Scripture and the results are devastating. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25. An anarchist view leads to a multitude of sins and disobedience towards God, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” 2 Tim 3:1-5

  

The Extremist Patriot view says, “A person should always follow and obey his country, no matter what the command.” There is a big problem with taking Romans 13 and using it as a blanket go to text to say we obey in everything because God says we are too. It’s the patriot and Christian thing to do no matter what. This view was exposed during the Nuremberg trials, and we are told, “The attorneys for the Nazi war criminals attempted to use the defense that their clients were only following the direct orders of the government and therefore could not be held responsible for their actions. However, one of the judges dismissed their argument with the simple question: “But gentlemen, is there not a law above our laws?” As Pastor Aaron Rock said, “Unconditional submission to civil authority is not Christian”

 

The Biblical Worldview says, “A person submits under Biblical submission, with a Christian being allowed to act in civil disobedience to the Government if it commands evil, such that it requires a Christian to act in a manner that is contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture.” This would be the correct view of how we approach civil disobedience. But there is a popular argument amoung the church that says, “Since the government is failing to do what God requires of them found in Romans 13:4, the Christian is free to disobey in everything the Government tries to enforce.” No! We’re not. This is a bad hermeneutics of the text to fit a narrative that Paul never spoke about. To be honest, I was leaning to this view myself, because we tend to want to believe we are in the right, when we feel violated of our constitutional rights. And if I can convince myself I am right; then it’s much easier to distort the text of Scripture to appease my conscience.

 

Leon Morris wrote about this issue, “We should be clear that Paul is writing about the existing state, not some ideal state that he hoped would appear. Every state has its faults, and first century Rome had many. But it still had to be treated as the ruling authority and as such as the servant of God.”

Rulers may and does misuse the authority God has given them, but Paul’s point is that it does not alter the fact that it was God who gave it to them. Our responsibility is to submit, is not cancelled because the person in authority is a godless and wicked person. If being godly was a prerequisite for submitting to a leaders and Governments, none of us would ever submit. As I said last week, there are more examples to obey those over us, and then there are to not obey those who are over us.

 

Reformer John Murray said, “The implication is that no person is exempt from this subjection; no person enjoys special privileges by which he may ignore or feel himself free to violate the ordinances of magisterial authority. Neither infidelity nor faith offers immunity.”

 

R C Sproul wrote, “If we resist the authorities that God has appointed, we might be regarded as heroes by some, but we can expect only the visitation of God’s judgment.”

 

So, when is right to have

civil disobedience?

First off, when we see the injustice of God’s holy standards being suppressed by fallen mankind who try to assume more power that they were given. What do I mean?

 

Abortion is legal in Canada…..As Christians, are we put blinders on to the reality  that thousands of lives are being slaughtered ever year in our country; and our Government has a law that says  that you can have your child terminated up to the day of delivery. We support First Step Option, because they’re a resource that reaches out women and girls who are struggling with pregnancy in their lives. We support this organization which is under attack by the Canadian Government; but we also use our voices for speaking Biblical truth to our local and provincial magistrates, for the voiced of those who cannot defend themselves.

Same Sex/Alphabet groups are legal to marry in Canada….. we are to be a voice to the Biblical stand of marriage in a broken government system. Paul said, “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” 1 Cor 7:2. We have laws about gender pronouns…..society wants us to accept this by calling them by whatever they declare themselves to be. No, there are two genders male and female, and men cannot have babies, only women can.

 

The killing of millions of Jews and other people was legal in Nazi Germany…. Do we just ignore this and say, “Obey those who rule over us because they know what’s best for us.” Churches throughout Europe were mostly silent while Jews were persecuted, deported and murdered by the Nazis. Churches, especially those in Nazi Germany, sought to act in their own best interests by turning a blind eye to the wickedness of their Government. The churches failure to respond to the horrid events was not due to ignorance; they knew what was happening.

 

Euthanasia is legal in Canada….. we need to be a voice to demonstrate that we are image-bearers of God and that life is a gift and even in sickness our life still has value whether you see it or not.

All these laws I hate are not causing us to personally sin, to which I can still obey my Government, but also voice my concerns at the same time. This is Biblical civil disobedience without disobeying the laws of the land. We expose darkness that is atrocities to the value of human life in the eyes of a holy God by still obeying them within the parameters of the law. We don’t do this by……..force, vengeance, with bitterness, anger or disrespecting the positions of authority over us. We use our voices to speak Biblical truth with meekness and gentleness as Christ dealt with the His accusers and with those in power. This was Paul’s prayer request as he had opportunity to preach the gospel and the same rule applies for how we conduct ourselves. “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Col 4:1-6. The only time it is right to completely disobey the Government is when they force you personally to sin, an to go against God’s holy Word. We call this Government strong-hands moving over into our lane and dictating what we can and cannot do as God’s people or as a church.

 

Understand There are limitations to Governing authorities. And the government’s intrusion into the lives of its citizens grows continually. Same principle is true in marriage, and in church leadership. The Bible speaks of submission in these areas, but there are still limitations to what end we submit to and when we disobey. Wives are not to continue being mentally and physically abused by their husbands because the Bible says “submit to your own husband.” Eph 5:22. Church elders are limited to the spiritual aspect of life as it pertains to individuals in the church (I can’t tell you what car you should drive or what hockey team you should support). 

Heb 13:17

Examples Of Biblical Acts Of Civil Disobedience

 

When Government commands the murder of innocent children. In Exodus 1, the Egyptian Pharaoh gave the clear command to two Hebrew midwives that they were to kill all male Jewish babies. But they disobeyed those orders. “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and let the male children live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them." So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.” Exo 1:17-20

Rehab disobeyed a command from the king of Jericho to produce the spies. Joshua 2.

 

Saul during a military campaign that no one could eat until Saul had won his battle with the Philistines. His Son did and Saul commanded for his son to be killed but his soldiers disobeyed that order. 1 Sam 14:45

 

When Government command the worship of idols. We read in Daniel about a moment in history of civil disobedience. “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." 

Dan 3:12

 

So what happened with their civil disobedience? “Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, "Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Dan 3:13-18

 

Their disobedience made the king furious because they would not worship man or the image of man. And here is where we see the pride of government exposed to civil disobedience. “Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” 

Dan 3:19-22

 

In Daniel’s letter we see there is a new king named Darius who loved Daniel but had to deal with Daniel’s act of civil disobedience. Daniel 6:1-28

 

When government forbids believers from spreading the gospel. We come to the New Testament we read about Peter and John standing before the Council of the Sadducees after Peter healed a man born lame, both men were arrested for preaching about Jesus and put in jail. Acts 4:1-31. In Acts 5 Peter stands before the council on a different occasion after he was called to the council for preaching in the temple area and he responds with these powerful words that should resonant with you and me today. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.” 

Acts 5:27-29. The reason why these leaders are repeating this prohibition is that these same Apostles had been thrown into prison the day before for the same “offence.” Amazingly, they were divinely rescued in the middle of the night and told by an angel, “‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.” Acts 5:20–21. The Apostles were commanded by an unjust civil authority to stop preaching the Gospel. When magistrates and governments cause or force us to sin and stand on the side of evil, we must at all time always disobey without reservations.

In the Netherlands during 1521-1555 there were a multitude of signs placed over the people which later resulted in a revolt in the Netherlands. “No one shall print, write, copy, keep, conceal, sell, buy, or give, in churches, streets, or other places, any book or writing made by Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, John Calvin, or other heretics reprobated by the Holy Church (The State Church)…..nor hold secret, or illegal gatherings, or be present at any such in which the adherents of the above-mentioned heretics teach, baptize, and form conspiracies against the Holy Church and the general welfare. We forbid all lay persons to converse or dispute concerning the Holy Scripture openly or secretly…or to read or teach, or expound, unless they have properly studied theology, or have been approved by some renowned university…… The punishment is as follows, the men, to be beheaded with a sword, and women to be buried alive, if they do not persist in their errors; if they persist in them they are to executed with fire; all their property in both cases are confiscated to the Crown.” In 1550 this lead to the deterioration of the Emperor, and laid the foundation for the revolt of the Netherlands.

In 1660 John Bunyan was arrested for preaching without official permission from King Charles II; he was to spend the next 12½ years in Bedford County Prison. The magistrates of these times thought the non-state churches were trying to start a coup against the government to overthrow, but in reality all they were doing was worshipping God the way they were told in the Scriptures. But the Government came in with a strong hand to stop this. This is where we would have to say with John Bunyan. “I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eye lids rather than disobey God. “

 

Jesus is Lord…….we love and serve and obey Him above all, whether its leads us to our death.

 

My life, and my death, are all for His glory for what He

has done to save a sinners like me.

This is what it means to live a sacrificial life by obeying those who are over us; and also when we are to disobey those who are over us.

 

Understand the conditions to disobeying! We are never to disobey just because in makes you feel uncomfortable, or it inconveniences you from your daily life, or when there is no force of sinning.

Pick the right battle to stand on and stand there,

even if it brings death.

 

But never think you are free to do what you want outside the boundaries of Scripture when it comes to submission and authorities.

 

Christians should resist a government that commands or compels evil and should work nonviolently within the laws of the land to change a government that permits evil. Civil disobedience is permitted when the government’s laws or commands are in direct violation of God’s laws and commands, forced on the believer. But keep this in mind as you proceed in proper, Biblical disobedience, “Rest in the providence of God, CALM DOWN. God is sovereign. No matter the circumstances, our testimony is “Our God reigns.”