We Must Obey God Rather than Men
Should Christians always submit to the authorities that God has placed over them? Today, R.C. Sproul outlines principles for knowing when we must obey and when we must disobey.
We are always to obey those in authority over us—unless that authority commands us to do something God forbids or forbids us from doing something God commands. If the husband says to the wife, “I want you to earn some extra income for us by turning to prostitution,” not only may she disobey him, she must disobey him.
On the other hand, if a woman is married to an unbelieving man, and the man says to her, “You may not go to that church on Wednesday night and join the choir,” what should the wife do? She should stay home, because God nowhere commands women to sing in the choir. I plead for it, but I can’t command it.
But what if the husband says to the wife, “You are not permitted to go to church on the Sabbath and join the corporate worship of the people of God”? Not only may she disobey him, she must disobey him, because God commands her to be in the assembling together of the saints.
Do you see how this can be very painful and very costly when we are caught in this vise between two authorities that differ? We can never use the cop-out “I’m just obeying orders,” as a license or an excuse for sin. But the other side of it is this: just because God gives us the right and the responsibility to disobey when an authority over us commands us to do something He forbids or forbids us from doing something God commands, that is not a license to be disobedient just when we disagree with the authority, or if the authority is exploiting us, or if the authority is afflicting us, bringing us discomfort or inconvenience. How inconvenienced were Joseph and Mary in making that arduous journey to Bethlehem? But they submitted, because God never commanded that Joseph and Mary be comfortable or be wealthy or be popular.
Again, the principle that’s the general principle is we bend over backwards to be submissive, but we stand with ramrod defiance when the magistrate commands disobedience to God. That’s why it’s very important for us to understand in our daily lives what it is God commands and what it is God forbids. Otherwise, we are like sheep without a shepherd, and we go along with what Nietzsche called a “herd morality,” doing whatever anybody tells us to do, when in fact there are times the Christian has to say no.
There’s a reason why the first century was the century where the blood of the church became the seed of the church’s growth through the martyrdom of those who would not submit to tyrants who told them to deny the faith in Christ. With Job, we have to say, “Though they slay us, yet we will honor Him.” I urge you Christians to be prepared for that time when you have to choose obedience to those who command sin or obedience to Christ.
