PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

GOD INTENDS THAT MAN SUBMIT TO REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORITY

A. In the World

(Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13-14)

In the universe God is the source of all authorities. All authorities on earth are set up by Him. As such, they represent God's authority and even possess God's authority. God Himself has set up systems of authorities for the expression of Himself, so that when man meets these authorities he meets God Himself. When the presence of God is available, man can know God through His presence. When the presence of God is absent, man can meet God by meeting His authority….

Some are set up by God to give commands and to be authorities for God. All those in authority are ordained by God. Hence, all authorities that God has set up should be honored. Today God has entrusted authority to man. After He entrusted man with authority, many on earth are set up by God to manifest His authority. If we want to learn submission to God, we ought to know to whom the authority of God is entrusted. If we understand God's authority to be only in Himself, it is very likely that more than half of the time we are offending God's authority. How many people are there in whom we see God's authority? There is no such thing as making a choice between God's direct authority and His deputy authority. Not only do we have to submit to God's direct authority, we must submit to His deputy authority as well, for there is no authority that is not from God.

Concerning earthly authority, Paul gave not only a positive word about submission, but also a negative warning that to resist authority is to resist God's personal commandment. For man to reject God's deputy authority is for him to reject God's own authority. In the Bible, authority only bears one nature. There is no authority that is not of God. To resist authority is to resist God. God will not overlook this. Those who oppose will receive to themselves judgment. It is impossible for us to rebel without being punished. Hence, for man to resist authority is to incur death. In the matter of authority there is no choice….

In Romans chapter thirteen, Paul showed us that all rulers are the servants of God. At that time the government was in the hand of the Romans. Humanly speaking, there is no need to submit to foreign aggressors. But Paul did not tell us to rebel against a foreign government. Not only do we have to submit to our own nation and to our own race, we have to submit to the government wherever we are as well. I cannot disobey a local government just because I am of another nationality. The law is not a terror to the good, but to the evil. No matter how different the laws of the various nations are, they are all from the law of God. Their basic principle is still the rewarding of the good and the punishment of the evil. Every government has its laws, and the function of the government is to maintain and to execute the laws so that the good would be rewarded and the evil would be punished. They do not bear the sword in vain. Although there are governments that uphold evil and suppress good, they must of necessity change the truth, calling the evil good and the good evil.

At any rate they cannot say that they are upholding such and such because they are evil, or that they are punishing such and such because they are good. To this day, all governments uphold the principle of reward to the good and punishment to the evil. This principle is irrevocable. For this reason we say that the governments still adhere to God's principle. One day when the lawless one (the Antichrist) appears, he will overturn all authorities. That will be the end of the world. By then the good will, indeed, be taken as evil and the evil as good. The good will be killed and the evil will rule.

There are four signs of submission to authority on earth: (1) paying tax to whom tax is due, (2) revenue to whom revenue is due. (3) fear to whom fear is due, and (4) honor to whom honor is due.

For a Christian, to abide by the law is not something done out of fear of punishment but out of the exercise of his conscience before God. If he would not submit, his conscience will be condemned. This is why we have to learn to submit to our local government. God's children cannot criticize or revile the government lightly. Even the policeman on the street is a God-established authority. He is God's officer attending constantly to this very thing. What then should our attitude be when it comes to paying taxes and revenue? Do we consider our local government as God's authority? Are we submissive to it? But if man has not met authority, he cannot submit. The more you ask such a one to submit, the harder it is for him to do.

(continued on page 3)