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Paul was a Roman citizen and cherished the laws which
granted him the freedom to live, travel and do business as he saw
fit. He knew that chaos would ensue and make it difficult for
churches to operate if Roman law unraveled. Therefore, Paul
advocated for Christians to accept the fact that nations and
governments are ordained by God in order to avoid anarchy. The
entire creation is based upon physical laws, spiritual laws, and
political laws to govern nations. Jesus wants us to submit to
government as long as it doesn’t violate the Word of God. Likewise,
it is the duty of any government to write just laws and hold
criminals responsible. Christians need to respect government offices
because a benign ruler is not a threat to law abiding citizens. This
was the mindset of Paul in describing government and encouraging
compliance to earthly rulers or facing the possibility of ending up
with a prison ministry. God does not like anarchy and chaos whereas
Satan is a liar, murderer and destroyer of all that is good. In the
end, we should not obey the laws of men out of fear, but because our
conscience tells us to do so. |
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