1 Timothy 2:1-2
Most of the New Testament teaching on the Christian's relation to the civil government is covered in two extended passages of Scripture.
The first section is in Romans 13:1-7: Please read this passage in your Bible before continuing.
A. VERSE BY VERSE BREAK DOWN:
Verse 1: Be subject to the authorities!!!!
This command is repeated by Peter in 2 Peter 1:13-14.
But does this include a communist dictatorship? Yes.
But what if they say that I cannot read my Bible? No, a human government is then stepping out of bounds. See examples in Daniel 3:14-18, 6:7-10.
Remember that God has all things, including the hearts of kings (Proverbs 21:1), under His control, and He has providentially established leaders so that even the rebellion of wicked ones glorifies Him (Examples: Pharaoh - Exodus 9:16, Nebuchadnezzar - Daniel 4:32).
Verse 2: Disobeying the government.
Paul asserts that in most cases this is equivalent to disobeying God.
Verses 3, 4: Governments should punish evil men.
This means that we should support and encourage our police for their good work.
From Genesis 9:6 we see that this God given power includes the right to use capital punishment for certain major crimes.
Verse 5: We obey for conscience's sake.
This is important: If we disobey human laws, we easily harden ourselves so that we take God's commands lightly.
One often runs into situations where some action may be legal, but it still is not right. In such cases we should follow our Scripture-enlightened conscience, rather than harden ourselves by saying, "It was legal, so I did it." Remember that the final judge of right and wrong is the LORD.
Verse 6-7: Pay taxes!!!! Even when they are unjustly high.
Certainly the Roman government was thoroughly heathen, and their methods for gathering taxes were corrupt; nevertheless, Jesus did say, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:16-21). Note also Jesus' teaching to Peter in Matthew 17:24-27.
"So that we may not offend them" is the main point here: In God's value system, men's souls are more important than money. If a Christian's rebellion against paying taxes is going to be a stumbling block for some people, then it is better to pay taxes.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."
We are certainly blessed to be living in a country which allows us to "live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness!" We should thank the Lord for this, and pray for our leaders so that this blessing may continue.
There is no simple formula for determining when civil disobedience is justified. For example, Jesus did not upbraid the Jews and urge them to rebel because the Romans would not allow them to carry out all of God's commandments (e.g., stoning blasphemers). Given the strength of the exhortations to obey, it appears that we should only rebel in situations where there is a clear Biblical precedent. From the examples in Scripture (cf. Exodus 1:15-21, Daniel 3:14-18, 6:7-10, Acts 4:18-20, 5:28-29), we can conclude that rebellion is only warranted under extreme situations when our faith is challenged, such as when commanded to do immoral or blasphemous actions (murder babies, worship idols, or quit preaching the gospel).