Must Christians Always Obey Government? | Biblical Resistance Series Ep. 1

Are Christians commanded to obey government no matter what? Romans 13 is often cited for resisting authority, but is that the full biblical picture? We examine Romans 13 and compare it with Exodus, where Hebrew midwives defied Pharaoh. If rulers are meant to be “a terror to evil,” what happens when governments reverse that role? This study explores: common interpretations of Romans 13, whether all authority is sanctioned by God, biblical examples of righteous disobedience, how scripture clarifies difficult passages, and when obedience to God requires resisting unjust laws. This is the start of a series on faith, liberty, and moral responsibility.

TRANSCRIPT

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Thomas Jefferson once said that disobedience to tyrants is obedience to God. But Christians say Romans 13 says that we are supposed to be subject to the powers, to the government. So is Thomas Jefferson wrong? Is this interpretation of Romans 13 correct? When we talk about the principle of nullification, which is what the founding fathers said was one of the solutions, there's one of three steps, the first of three steps to be able to restore lost liberty. The first step is nullification, the disobedience of illegal laws. And this is something that the founding fathers did.

Of course, you know, if they believe that Romans 13 said that they were supposed to just do whatever the government says, then they were wicked for rebelling against England. Right? So I don't think they were wicked. And I hope my viewers don't think they were wicked. So I wanted to go through, I want to do this series where we show from the scriptures what that means and what Romans 13 means. And then are there examples in the scriptures of individuals that have actually rebelled against tyrants, rebelled against the government? And were they, what did the, what did the scriptures say God thought of them?

Okay. So we've done several different videos on the principle of nullification. I encourage you to go check out those playlists on the channel. But first let's go to Romans 13. We got two editions. We've got the King James version of the Bible and we have the, the in new, the new standard revised edition in SRV, in RSV, sorry, the new revised standard edition or version. And we're just going to look at kind of get, this is a more modern wording of it. And I'm going to go to the classic King James first to turn to Romans 13 and what it says. So Paul speaking says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher power, for there is no power but of God.

The powers that be are ordained of God." So many people, and I've shown video clips on these other videos in the nullification playlist, preachers and government officials saying that, you know, if they're in government, they're there because God put them there. And that is where the divine right of Kings comes from. "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." So if you resist government, you're resisting God is the interpretation that people have. "And they, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?

Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God and revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." So that interpretation that is common of those scriptures, I don't believe it, as is pretty clear I think by now, is that everybody that is in a government position was put there by God. And so if you resist or you disobey these government officials, you are disobeying God. So I'll get into the other examples of how that just doesn't make sense and then go into what does it really mean?

Is there a contradiction or is there a different way to read that? Let's go to the NRSV and Romans 13 again, starting in verse 1. "Let every person be subject to the governing authority." So still government, right? "For there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority?

Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval. For it is God's agent for your good, but if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid. For the authority does not bear the sword in vain. It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer." Okay? So again, I think both of those, you can see how people would interpret it in that way, but I think it's a very dubious interpretation. So let's go to our, the first in this series, I am going to go to Exodus chapter 1. Going back to the King James Version, and going to verse 15 we read, "And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shapira, and the name of the other was Pua."

I'm going to butcher that, some of you Bible scholars out there can correct my pronunciation. And he said, so the Pharaoh said, "When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live." Okay? So this interpretation of Romans 13, the Christian duty would have been to kill all of the Hebrew babies, boy babies. Okay? Right? If all government officials are there, put there by God, and so we are supposed to obey them, these midwives, according to that interpretation, should have killed those boy Hebrew babies.

Okay? Continuing on to verse 17, "But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive." So because they feared God, they disobeyed the government. "And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?" So the king, the pharaoh, knew what was going on, and he called the men for their disobedience. "And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively, and are delivered, ere the midwives come in unto them." So these midwives are lying to Pharaoh, saying, "These Hebrew women, they just had their babies so fast, we just can't get there in time."

So they disobeyed the king, and they lied. Two big sins, right? According to people's just crazy interpretations, because as we'll see. Verse 20, "Therefore God dwelt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and waxed mighty." God dealt well with them. So God dwelt well with these midwives that did two things that people say are always wrong. They disobeyed the government, and they lied to the king about it. Let's go to this more modern interpretation, the NRSV.

And let's go to the same verses where we have, starting in 15, "The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shapura, and the other Pua, 'When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.' But the midwives feared God," right? So going back, they were told to kill them, but they feared God. They did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. They did not obey the king, they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?

Why did you do this?' The midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives come to them.'" So this version says the same thing, that basically they lied. They said they got, they're just, they're too fast for us. We can't do anything about it, but we know the fact is that they refused to obey. So God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and became very strong. God dealt well with them. So twice, both versions say the same thing. God dealt well with them that lied and disobeyed the government.

So what is Romans 13 really saying? Well, we, because, and I'll get into this in the future things, but Paul didn't obey this modern interpretation of the divine rights of kings that we should just obey them himself. I mean, that's why, one of the reasons why he was killed. So when we, when we actually read what it says again, and we take things into context of the entire scriptures, we can read exactly what's going on here and what it really means. Okay. So, "Wherefore, he that resists the power, resists the ordinance of God." So the ordinance of God, government is an ordinance of God. So therefore, ordinances can be bastardized.

They can be manipulated. They can be changed. And so when you change the ordinance, right, you're changing an ordinance of God. And so God has revealed something. And so when you do it against what God has established, then you're, when you go against that ordinance, you're no longer, you're not going against the ordinance of God because it is not as God has established it. "For rulers," this is verse three, "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil." So was Pharaoh being a terror to good works?

Yes, he was. Because this says rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. So we can see in that verse just alone that what the ordinance of God is, is that a ruler is a terror to evil. And so when a ruler changes that ordinance of God and becomes a terror to good, they are not doing an ordinance of God. They are doing an ordinance of Satan. And it is now our duty to disobey him as we see with the midwives. When we disobey the government that is violating an ordinance of God, that is bastardizing an ordinance of God, it is now our duty because what they are doing is an ordinance of Satan, is to disobey that entity.

So please join us back. Click, like and subscribe. Comment your thoughts, your questions on this. And we will come next time with you another scripture showing again that when you are, when government is a terror to good works, we are to disobey them. At the Tree of Liberty Society we're not just studying history, we're restoring the principles that built a free people. This movement isn't funded by corporations or politicians, it's built by people, patriots who care enough to act. Now you can stand shoulder to shoulder with us through YouTube memberships, a simple way to strengthen the cause of liberty while gaining access to deeper discussions, exclusive content and direct engagement with the society.

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