“Obeying the Law”

Sunday, March 03, 2024

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.

(Romans 13.1-2)

Several New Testament passages remind Christians to obey the law of the land.  It seems self-explanatory—and so it is, in ideal circumstances.  But there are caveats.  The first is usually introduced with a look at the Apostles’ own conduct toward authorities, when their instructions conflicted with God’s.

“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 5.28-29)

Aside from these circumstances, it’s generally accepted that human law is backed by God’s authority, and rejecting legitimate human authority is a one way ticket to hell.  That’s an exaggeration, but only a slight one.  This cut-and-dry view of the issue is built on our general assumption, in the United States of America, that we are a nation of laws, and not of men.  That is to say, the law is the law, and it is not subject to the whims of officials, whose job is to enforce it.  This is a long and strong tradition in our country, going back to John Adams, one of the least appreciated and yet most effective of the founding fathers, who in March of 1775 wrote:

If Aristotle, Livy, and Harrington knew what a republic was, the British constitution is much more like a republic, than an empire. They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men.

(John Adams, 1819, Novanglus, and Massachusettensis, p.84)

His point was that Britain’s refusal to give the colonies legislative representation flouted its own law.  Britain was by then a constitutional monarchy, and its king ruled in conjunction with a parliament, elected to represent the populace.  In an autocracy, or “empire,” as Adams termed the undesirable system, “the maxim is quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem” (ibid.), which may be translated, What pleases the prince, has the power of law.

Adams’ legal mind was hugely influential in bringing about the American Revolution, and even before hostilities broke out, Adams recommended to the Continental Congress that each colony create its own State Constitution, ratified by a popular vote.  His own Massachusetts was the first to respond, and whom, do you think, they would ask to draft it?  Adams’ words would soon become a model for other states to follow, and made it painfully clear that power ought to separated between three branches, “to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men” (Pt. I, Art. 30).

Why does all of this matter?  It illustrates that our nation is built on the tradition of governance through a robust system of laws, and not the whims of officials.  We take this for granted, but it is exceptional!  A quotation is often attributed to Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria, “show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”  But this sentiment is hardly unique to the mass murderers of the 20^th century!  A little research will turn up many related proverbs, one of which—involving a prosecutor and a ham sandwich—you may have repeated, yourself!

In the political climate surrounding the early church, the Roman Empire did not call itself an empire, nor did it call its rulers emperors.  Instead, the emperor was princeps, the “first citizen,” and definitely not a king, because Rome hated the concept of monarchy.  Until late in the third century, Rome maintained its pretense of being a republic, ruled by the senate, whose foremost member just sort of happened to get his way, right around 100% of the time.  But whatever the politicians claimed, normal people understood the situation.  As Peter wrote, sometime in the mid-60’s, “Honor the emperor” (1Pe 2.17).  The Greek word behind the ESV’s “emperor” is βασιλεύς-basileus-“king.”  Regardless of the written law and supposed constitution, they were living in an autocracy, in which—to return to what John Adams wrote—“what pleases the prince, has the power of law.”

This made the Christian’s job harder, and helps to explain why Paul also wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Ro 12.18), and urged

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.

(1 Timothy 2.1-2)

They couldn’t rely on compliance with the written law to keep them out of government crosshairs, and instead had to grapple with the unwritten law and try their best to avoid worldly troubles from which they ought to have been exempt but, in fact, were not.

There’s no sense in Christians today making an idol of the written law of the land, either.  Despite a long history of “government of laws, and not of men,” things are rapidly changing—regressing to the sadly normal state of human affairs.  We, likewise, must wrestle with this uncomfortable truth, and muddle through life, balancing our God-given responsibilities with the ever-increasing burdens men lay upon us.  It’s not easy.  But it will help immensely to remember that

our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

(Philippians 3.20-21)

Jeremy Nettles

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