{"id":3343,"date":"2015-07-30T00:44:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T07:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3343"},"modified":"2015-07-30T00:44:45","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T07:44:45","slug":"730-is-government-the-servant-of-god-or-an-instrument-of-the-devil-%e8%af%978938-45-%e7%bd%97131-14-%e4%bb%a3%e4%b8%8a71-91a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/07\/30\/730-is-government-the-servant-of-god-or-an-instrument-of-the-devil-%e8%af%978938-45-%e7%bd%97131-14-%e4%bb%a3%e4%b8%8a71-91a\/","title":{"rendered":"7\/30: Is Government the Servant of God or an Instrument of the Devil? (\u8bd789:38-45 \u7f5713:1-14 \u4ee3\u4e0a7:1-9:1a)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd789:38-45 \u7f5713:1-14 \u4ee3\u4e0a7:1-9:1a<\/h2>\n

Is Government the Servant of God or an Instrument of the Devil?<\/h2>\n
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Politicians: how do we treat them? Governments and local councils: how do we view them? Taxes: do we really need to pay them?<\/p>\n

What about evil regimes? If you live under a Hitler or Stalin, a Saddam Hussein or Colonel Gaddafi, are you supposed to obey them?<\/p>\n

\u2018Be a good citizen,\u2019 writes the apostle Paul. \u2018All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it\u2019s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you\u2019re irresponsible to the state, then you\u2019re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you\u2019re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear\u2019 (Romans 13:1\u20133, MSG).<\/p>\n

This would have been a radical idea to Paul\u2019s original readers. In the ancient world most people saw religion and government as intertwined. The early church was still adjusting to the idea that the Messiah was not going to rule over his people in an earthly government. Those around them would have worshipped Rome and the Emperor as god. Yet here Paul tells them to follow Jesus as their King and still submit to Roman authority.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s teaching in Romans 13 needs to be balanced by Revelation 13. Revelation 13 was written at the time of the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Domitian. The state is seen as the ally of the Devil (pictured as a red dragon) who has given his authority to the persecuting state (pictured as a monster emerging out of the sea). At worst, government can even be an agent of evil. In both of today\u2019s Old Testament passages we see examples of what happens when authority starts to go wrong.<\/p>\n

Both Romans 13 and Revelation 13 are true. There is good government and there is bad government. There is a good side to human government; there can also be an evil side. As Oscar Cullmann remarks, according to whether \u2018the state remains within its limits <\/em>or transgresses them, the Christian will describe it as the servant of God or as the instrument of the Devil.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Pray for those in authority<\/h2>\n

Psalm 89:38-45<\/a>Israel was a theocracy. Church and state were inextricably intertwined. The \u2018anointed\u2019 leader of God\u2019s people (v.38) was also the one who wore the \u2018crown\u2019 (v.39) and sat on the \u2018throne\u2019 (v.44).<\/p>\n

The kings in the Old Testament were regarded as anointed by God. Yet many of them sinned and were unfaithful to the Lord. The psalmist writes, \u2018But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust\u2019 (vv.38\u201339).<\/p>\n

He is probably describing here the events of the exile in 587 BC. The king referred to in verse 45 is probably Jehoiakim, who was aged 27 at the time of the fall of Jerusalem: \u2018You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame\u2019 (v.45).<\/p>\n

Lord, I pray for my government and all the other leaders of my nation. May they never be covered with shame. May they govern well and wisely.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Enjoy freedom under authority<\/h2>\n

Romans 13:1-14<\/a>We live in the period between the first and second comings of Jesus. When Jesus returns he will rule and reign forever. There will be no need for human government. In the meantime, however, we do need human government. The authority of governments is properly seen, in St Peter\u2019s phrase, as a \u2018human authority\u2019 (1 Peter 2:13).<\/p>\n

This does not mean that humans devised it in independence or isolation from God. Rather, it is an institution implicit in human social existence as God made it.<\/p>\n

Yet, since it is God who sets the terms, St Paul writes that everyone must submit themselves to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1\u20132).<\/p>\n

If this applies to secular authority \u2013 how much more must it apply to the authority of the church? Different churches have different structures of authority. In my experience, submitting to the authority of the leaders of our church has brought great freedom.<\/p>\n

This is the basic New Testament principle. We should obey every authority \u2013 the government, local authorities and the institutions we find ourselves in. Why?<\/p>\n