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| Christ Reigns, He Appoints Rulers (Romans 13:1) |
The demon Anarchy is sweeping across America in the form of protests. People are gathering en masse to voice their rejection of the President Elect Donald J Trump. I am calling all Christians involved or endorsing this behavior to take heed and hear the voice of the Lord Jesus and His Apostles. Jesus Christ said, ""Put away your sword," Jesus told him. "Those who use the sword (live by the sword, warriors) will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:42), "And Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," (Mark 12:17), "Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world," (John 18:15), "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself,"(John 6:15), "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good," (1 Peter 2:13-14), "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior," (1 Timothy 2:1-3), "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed," (Titus 3:1), and "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed," (Romans 13:1-7).
We as Christians must be subject to the governing authorities and powers. Even if we do not like who was elected, we have no right to riot and cause chaos and harm to innocent citizen's and their property! The Lord Jesus elects every leader, good and bad, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Romans 13:1). The Lord places in power godly men to give us justice, and wicked men to judge us and turn us unto repentance. What every Christian brother needs to understand is that we believers are not suppose to be actively involved in temporal things, We are not of this world (John 15:19, Romans 12:2). The Early Christians in 70 A.D. were a sect of Judaism, but the Jews rejected and split from us because our Christian ancestors and forerunners refused to wage revolt, anarchy, and insurrection against Rome. Jesus told Peter to put away His sword (John 18:11), had Peter not have obeyed, Peter would not have been at Pentecost and involved in saving 3,000 people from 80 Nations (Acts 2:1-13, 41). This is why Jesus said, "Those who live by the sword, die by the word," living by the sword does not mean a soldier perse, but rather the war like drive to combat, to revolt, and disregard authority. The Authorities had the right to take Jesus to the Sanhedrin (John 18, Matthew 26:56-67), and so Jesus did not resist or revolt. Jesus was giving us an example, that you must obey your authorities, especially if God's Will is involved, for had Jesus not gone along with governing authorities, He wouldn't have been crucified for our sins!
The Apostles only support rebelling against government and governing authorities if the governing powers persecute the Faith, "But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than any human authority," (Acts 5:29) and "But Peter and John replied, "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."(Acts 4:19-20). When the governing powers threaten you to not obey Jesus Christ, you then have Apostolic right to rebel, but that is the only reason you may. There is not clause to take to streets over an election of President, over some social issue, or economic problem and forcefully resist the governing authorities. But even the Apostles when arrested for their faith did not resist in a war fashion or rise up in anarchy, but instead in chains preached the Gospel of Christ (Ephesians 6:20, Phillippians 1:12-26). So they submitted to the rule of law, but they refused to renounce their faith or cease preaching the Evangelion (Gospel). The point is you resist spiritually, you don't break the law. You let the governing powers crucify you or you escape miraculously or join a nation that defends you faith. You do not become rebels who to overthrow one tyrant makes many tyrants who are answerable to no one!
A major question I would ask rebels, anarchists, and dissenters, if you cannot obey the authorities over you that you see, how can you obey the Authority of the One you cannot see? How can you boast being a Christian and Rebel?! You cite the American Revolution, but you fail to recall that the Revolutionaries, Washington, Adams, and More appealed to King George three times in an official capacity, they pleaded and asked the Monarchy to reconsider, then they had a revolution. The French Revolution was massive failure in this regard, it was lead by anarchists, not revolutionaries. Revolutionaries have tried every diplomatic, peaceful, respectful, and lawful way to achieve Independence or the will of the people, then as a last resort force of arms is employed. Anarchists in contrast just use anger, hate, wrath, and vicious malcontent in acts of rage, violence, and cruelty with the mere goal of causing damage, harm, and pain to their perceived enemies.
So I urge you all, "put away your sword" (Matthew 26:42) and stop protesting. Accept that God appoints all leaders, even those we don't like (Romans 13:1). Remember there were many who did not like when President George W. Bush was reelected or when President Barak Obama was elected. No good comes from violence and vitriol! Instead we are commanded, "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4). The last verse includes our rulers, that we pray for salvation for our leaders. So instead of standing in protest, stand in prayer.
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