Does the Bible say to obey the government?

Romans 13:1-2 says: “Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.”

What does the Bible say about obeying unjust laws?

He recognized that the power of law can be used for justice or for injustice and evil. So he urged his readers to be subject insofar as conscience allows (Romans 13:5). One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

What does Romans say about government?

The passage in question, chapter 13 of the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans, reads, in part: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Who are the authorities in Romans 13?

The order of authority derives from God, as the Apostle says [in Romans 13:1–7]. For this reason, the duty of obedience is, for the Christian, a consequence of this derivation of authority from God, and ceases when that ceases.

What is obey the law?

In order to obey the law a person must act with some recognition that she is in fact doing an action that the law requires. In a phrase, obedience requires knowingly doing the right thing.

What obligation if any do we have to obey unjust laws?

Quotation: “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.”

What are governing authorities?

Governing authority means a council, board, or other body governing the affairs of the governmental body. Governing authority means the organization, person, or persons designated to assume legal responsibility for the management, operation, and financial viability of the facility.

What is Romans chapter 13 all about?

Paul’s spree of advice continues. Everyone should obey people in positions of authority. After all, all authority comes from God, so all the authority figures running around out there must have been hand-picked by God.

What does it mean that Paul is talking about governing authorities?

When Paul refers to “governing authorities,” he is writing about a government in which these Christians had few or no rights, and in which Roman law was enforced harshly. This was a world in which people had no way of affecting the course of their country or government without resorting to violence and open rebellion.

Is Romans 13 about obeying the governing authorities?

No, Romans 13 is not about obeying the governing authorities “Historically, the most terrible things: war, genocide and slavery, have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.”

Why did Paul write about authority in the Bible?

Paul doesn’t write to command unquestioning obedience to whatever power Christians happen to fall under, because those powers are human, fallible, and sometimes need to be changed. Rather, Paul wrote to remind Christians to always respect the concept of authority.

Did Peter and Paul use the word obey in the Bible?

Peter and Paul could have used this word, “obey,” but they chose not to. Used twenty-one times in the New Testament, hupo-kouo always suggests a hierarchical context, as in the relationship between children or slaves and their parents or masters (Eph 6:1 and 6:5).