What did Jesus Christ teach about the duty that Christians owe to the governments of the nations they live in? What did the Apostles teach about what the duty of a Christian is to the governments of the nations that Christians live in? What do Christ and His Apostles teach about the relationship between Christians and the governments of the world? What did Christ and His Apostles teach about the government of God and the Christian’s loyalty to it? IN this article I use the New testament to answer all these questions and explain exactly what the Bible teaches about the relationship of the true disciple of Jesus Christ and the governments of the world.
Tag: avenger
What Christians Need To Know About Romans 13
The traditional argument says that in Romans 13 Romans 13 the Apostle Paul tells Christians that they should be obedient to their governments which have been appointed by God to be His servants on Earth. But is that what the Paul really taught? In a word? No. Not even close. In this article I delve into what exactly Romans 13 does teach.
First, after looking at the teachings of multiple theologians and the text of the scripture itself, I demonstrate that even assuming Paul is talking about governments he isn’t teaching that we should be obedient to every government or that every government is from God. Rather Paul teaches that Christians should only obey governments as the laws and actions of those governments accord with the commandments of God – which means that Christians are not bound to obey most modern governments.
Next, I attempt a re-interpretation of Paul. After delving into the actual Greek text and the meanings of the words that Paul used, I conclude that Paul isn’t even talking about worldly governments at all. Instead Paul is actually talking about the kind of relationship that Christians should have to the church and its leaders, as well as the role those Church leaders should play in the lives of Christians.
No matter how you look at it, the Apostle Paul did not teach Christians that they should be obedient to governments or that worldly governments are God’s servants. And those that think otherwise have misunderstood the scriptures.