Love Demands Resistance
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)
God is the transcendent king; one whose law defines for us His character. As He prepared to go silent for 400 years, God both encouraged and warned his people that He never changes, “For I am the Lord, I change not . . . .” (Malachi 3:6); His character is forever uncompromising, which is later evidenced in Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus Christ that He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever”. (13:8) Jesus is God (John 1), and He never changes.
Romans 13 is used today by pastors, doctors, politicians, and others as proof we are ALWAYS to submit to the authorities; however, they are wrong. There are times when resistance is not only justified, but becomes a biblical requirement. True ministers of God will recognize God’s Law as supreme; it is King! Governments, which disregard God’s law, place Christians in positions where they are no longer bound by Romans 13 and must resist.
The Founding Fathers not only modeled for their progeny a form of government based on God’s law, they went out of their way to ensure their reliance on God and His Law was evident in our foremost legal document, the Constitution of the United States of America. They understood the truth behind the following quote, “Governments who do not yield to Jesus Christ do not work to preserve human life; they work to undermine and destroy human life.” They understood that governments are ordained of God to uphold His law, not their own; and when a government no longer fears God, their own law becomes their god. Evil are they who do not fear God!
This travesty can be no more evident than in a country where government not only condones but applauds the merciless slaughter of over 60 million defenseless children. Our government mocks God’s law, placing their law above His; they have made themselves to be gods. Their law says “kill for convenience”, God’s law says “Thou shalt not kill”. “No country or people [who despise God], and who are responsible for this kind of slaughter can expect to avoid the wrath of God”, and I believe we are today experiencing a very mild case of God’s wrath; a fury which I believe is only ramping up.
The issue of abortion, while certainly requiring us to stand up and resist government decrees, may not be the more pressing matter deserving of our efforts; the larger issue is the failure of government to recognize the authority of scripture, and of God himself. They fail to understand God is transcendent to all kings, princes, magistrates, and yes, even the President of the United States of America. When any form of government denies the divine nature of God, they become their own gods; and as such, develop a complete disregard for the sanctity of life. Before the study of history is completely outlawed, please research the slaughter which took place under the governing of Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Leopold II, Hitler, and countless others. Anywhere there is no fear of God, there will be slaughter! As a nation, America no longer fears God!
Today, Christians are being mocked, ostracized and marked as unemployable for refusing to defile themselves with an immoral concoction. While completely unaware of how this substance was developed, many have accepted it, they are NOT blameworthy! However, those who now are knowledgeable and are being commanded to partake have a terrible and consequential decision to make; allow an illegitimate king to force them to defile themselves, or resist his mandates and face destitution, this is an agonizing decision. Nevertheless, Romans 13 does not bind them to bow to immoral mandates, and strong precedence exists for resisting the king. Under threat of death, Daniel “. . . purposed not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat . . . .” (Daniel 1:8) Also in Daniel we find his three companions thrown into a “fiery furnace”, for resisting a king’s mandate. (Daniel 3:16-25)
Jesus Christ authored the Law, and His law states, “Thou shalt not kill”. Remember, the Law defines His character, and His character never changes; it is as wrong today as it was then to murder. Furthermore, too little is known about the long term ill effects of the king’s concoction for us to accept it, and if we do, we will be encouraging our neighbors to do so as well; love of God and neighbor demands we resist the king’s mandate to defile ourselves, regardless of cost.
