Does God always want us to submit to government institutions? If so, then why? If not, then why?
Submitting to Government by Submitting to God
1 Peter 2:13-17
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)
Turn to 1 Peter 2:13-17. As you are turning there, I want to bring out Peter's flow of thought coming into our section under study. Peter is explaining that Christians have been made into a Spiritual race in Christ. We are a priesthood that is according to a royal order. The great High Priest is Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords. As we consider this, we recognize that our priesthood, in Christ, serves many purposes. Peter says that we are made this way, "so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" In this same recognition of our identity and purpose, Peter urges the Christians, scattered across the pagan Roman empire, to act like the people from the holy country of light of their true citizenship. Our job is to be reflecting God's glory into the dark world culture all around us. It is as the Apostle Paul explains,
"8 you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;" Ephesians 5:8-11
@1 The Lord wants us to try and __________________ what is pleasing to Him. We do this through His word. Ephesians 5:8-11
In the same way, Peter says,
"11 Loved ones, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:11-13
This is Peter's contextual flow of thought that we are continuing through. In proclaiming the excellencies of God, we must keep our behavior excellent among the people of the lost world culture. It is how our behavior is a proclamation. With this in mind, we read more about the excellent behavior that God wants. Our section starts in verse 13. Please read it with me now,
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Live as people who are free, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king." 1 Peter 2:13-17
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, from the preaching of God's word in this sermon titled,
Submitting to Government by Submitting to God
[prayer]
This morning, I want us to be thinking about the fact that though we have Christ as our King, and though we are a holy nation of spiritually regenerated people that are a kind of spiritual ethnic group in Christ, (which is what the holy "nation" is) we live in countries that have earthly citizenships, and earthly governments. Keeping this fact in mind, there are some vital principles concerning our relationship to earthly government that God wants us to glean from His word. Notice that Peter says,
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution
[ which are those created and instituted by men for governing the masses],
whether to a king as [supreme] authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right." 1 Peter 2:13-14
As we look at this first section, that first word stands there starkly and boldly in unflinching authority. Its presence dictates that no arguments will be allowed to be made against it. The very word itself is to be obeyed in much the same way as the submission it is commanding. Peter says plainly,
"Submit ..."
@2 God's will is that we _______________________ to authorities. 1 Peter 2:13-14
For many folks, the command to submit makes them bristle--particularly freedom minded Americans who cherish the principles of liberty that our Republic was originally founded upon. That is, unless, of course, they are the people that others are required to submit to. But for many, the instant reaction is:
I'm not going to submit to a command to submit.
Something inside instantly rebels against it. It is like an in-bred defiance that is just waiting to be awakened. Maybe this happens with you too. You hear the urging to submit, and you immediately wonder if there is a way out of it. If your initial reaction is something like that, then you are actually expressing something that is the natural reaction of human nature. There are two concepts in verse 13 that people, whether lost or saved, do not typically have an easy time accepting.
They are:
A. Submission when it comes to our end of the deal of life;
and also
B. The fact that there must be governing authority that really exists at the other end of the deal of life that must be submitted to.
/1/
This is the first principle this morning: God wants us to submit to authorities. In the immediate context, Peter is meaning that Christians should submit to the emperor. Contextually, this would mean the emperor of the Roman empire, and any of the lower ethnarch kings that are under him. It would also mean anyone in the government matrix that manage various areas. Such people have a jurisdictional authority given to them by the institution of the Roman Republic. This included procurators as appointed governors; proconsuls who were like military leaders over an area; their soldiers, and the ethnarchs who governed the local people of a national affinity, (like the Herods over the Jews); plus the officials who collect taxes. In our own experiences, we know what this same kind of governmental hierarchy means. The labels, and nuanced structure, may be different in the secular government jurisdiction we live in, but the principle is the same. The main point is that there is something very important about this directive from the Spirit that applies to all forms of government, whether aristocratic, communist, oligarchical, a republic, mob rule democracies, or whatever. God also recognizes that the world's idea of government, in a very important sense, is God's idea of government too, even though it is human government of the lost world culture. What I mean is that God ordains the governments that exist to exist, and God has His purposes for ordaining them into existence under Him. One purpose for government is that it "punishes evil," and "praises good." When we look at the corruption and the sin tainted tendencies of all the various governments of the world, we wonder how this can be. Evidently, what the word of God is explaining to us, is that though the world is lost in sin, God ordains these government institutions as a necessary part of the existence of orderly societies. This does not mean that God expects secular government to consistently punish evil, or that He expects it to always praise good. Nevertheless, God has ordained the governing institution to exist, and in His sovereign control, He uses secular government for His own purposes. Paul states the fact this way,
"3 rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 because it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; because it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake," Romans 13:3-5
@3 Earthly government is a minister of God, and avenger, who brings ___________________ on the one who practices evil. Romans 13:3-5
The revelation we get from the word, is that authorities, in the general sense of why God ordains them to exist, are ministers of Him to us Christians for good. Though the governing authorities may be spiritually lost, and even though they do corrupt, evil, sinful, and even oppressive things, and though they may seem out of control, in God's sovereign way, they concurrently work according to His decretive controlling will. This is very hard to understand, but it is hard to understand any aspect of God's sovereign determination though it is real. Even in the king's actions that seem contrary to God, the Lord is still determining all the factors involved for His glorious purposes,
"The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of Yahweh; He turns it wherever He will." Proverbs 21:1
Whether people understand this fact, or not, it is still true. Whether people believe this fact, or not, it is still true. Whether the actual governing authority believes this, or not, about itself, it is still true. With God's comprehensive determination in mind, the Spirit moved Peter to be straight forward on this subject. He says for Christians to submit to every human instituted authority of government while in that government's jurisdiction.
I think one reason why this is so distasteful to people is that submission requires yielding. It conveys a sense of an attitude where you must show yourself to be weakened in an area of self determination. It means that you must die in a certain respect, and to a certain degree, to your own self governing tendency. This kind of weakening is either going to be volitional, or it is forced upon us. The point is that the result of the self weakening, and the death to self governing, is so that we can be controlled by someone else. The problem is that we neither like to be weak, nor do we like to be controlled. We want to do what we want to do, right? We want to do it when we want to do it. But you can not do all you want to do when you want to do it when a higher power is telling you what it wants you to do when it wants you to do it. There are other reasons submission is so repulsive. You and I know that much of the time governing authorities are oppressive, or stupid. We know that governing authority can be unjust. We know that governments are not perfect.
Who wants to submit to imperfection, and stupidity?
We want to submit to that which is right, is good, is wise, and is perfect. The only person who is always right, always good, always wise, and always perfect, is Christ Jesus our high reigning Lord. No earthly authority even comes close to emulating Jesus. But there is another reason that the taste of submission, and the savor of authority, is not always a good taste in our mouths. The bitterness is there because we are naturally selfish. People are conceived and born selfish. In a very real sense, we enter into the world as rebels. It is a trait that is inherited from Adam and Eve--the first human rebels; and they learned rebellion from the serpent. In the flesh, we desire this kind of rebellion. We see the desire everywhere. It is like a bumper sticker I have seen. It read,
"Resist Authority."
I thought it was ironic that whoever is displaying that bumper sticker is seeking to tell others what to do like they are an authority that should not be resisted while they tell us with authority to resist authority. The point is that we see it all over the world, but we also see it in the church too. Christians will rebel against God's biblically qualified and gifted overseers in the church which are not even government institutions of men. They are government institutions of God who are anointed by the Spirit for their serving-leadership tasks according to Biblical qualifications. Elders are not perfect. But our perfect God has instituted them to shepherd the flock. The point is that just because we are Christians, it does not mean that this kind of rebellious desire of the flesh is something that no longer haunts us. There is something that remains in us that loathes submission, and will disrespect God ordained authority. Peter just mentioned the lust of the sinful flesh that still lingers in us, as a warrior, after salvation,
"I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11
Positionally in Christ, in terms of our identification with Christ, we are dead to that old nature of Adam. Nevertheless, the fleshly lusts are still very real and very alive and that is why they wage war against your soul. Yes, you still sin. The same fleshly lusts manifest themselves in not wanting to do what God says, and submit to authorities. If this is the case, then some very important questions need to be answered:
How can we submit to earthly authority? How can we submit when fleshly desire to not do so is always waging war against our soul?
The answer is that we need to be looking in the right direction. In other words, the answer is that you do not submit to earthly governments for the sake of the government itself. You do not submit to earthly governments for your own sake either. This, folks is the huge key; and it has to do with the second principle. The Spirit says,
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake ..."
This changes everything doesn't it? The Lord is the one, for Whom's sake, we are to submit. This means many things. First and foremost, it means that because we are in Him, we actually can submit to Him. In Him, (by the Spirit) we can now obey this directive. We are no longer in bondage to sin. Now that we are freed from sin's bondage as master over us, we can live to God who is our Master. We live to God, by and through, His Holy Spirit. This is what Paul means in Galatians 2:19, when he says that he died to the Old Covenant Law, that he might live to God. What Paul is talking about is the death of the Old Paul who was under the Old Covenant while rejecting his Messiah. The old man Paul died. The re-conceived, re-born, and adopted Paul, walks in newness of life in obedience to the Lord in salvation. As God's people, we have died too. The old you has been crucified with Christ. Why? So that you "might live to God." This is the foundation of what Peter is teaching concerning submission to government for the Lord's sake. Submitting for the Lord's sake is something we do as we live for God. When people in the lost world culture submit to governing authorities, they are doing it for another sake. They are living for anything but the one true God. They submit for the sake of the person. It could be because of self preservation. Aren't there consequences for doing something contrary to what the government wants? People may not like to submit, but they want to protect themselves from the authority, so they submit anyway. It could also be because of patriotism. Patriotism is a strong motivation. Patriotism can manipulate masses of people like a strange magnetic force that brings together atheists, agnostics, cultists, and even Christians to submit to the common cause of simply being part of a nation, or a political party. Every nation has its patriots who are all willing and ready to die for their own particular, country, government, and its system. But all these things can change in an instant when self preservation is not an issue. Submission to authority as a patriot doesn't matter any more, once you decide you don't really care to be a patriot. This is why it is important to recognize that what Peter is talking about has nothing to do with self preservation, or patriotic zeal. Our submission is supposed to come from the purest foundation which makes it the purest form. It is for the Lord's sake. This kind of obedience is obedience to God. So what happens is that when we are submitting to earthly authorities, we are demonstrating that God is the supreme authority of all; and by submitting to Him, what are we going to do? Submit to others. This is where our submissiveness is both an act of worshipping the Lord, and it is also your ministry to other people. Patriotism, and self preservation, come at it from a completely different motivation. It is founded upon the sake of humans. But all of that stuff takes the back seat to the Lord's sake. In the Lord's sake, what we are trying to do is minister truth to the world. We are ministering an exemplary life, and faith, to the lost. We are showing them that we are serving the God who is over governments when we submit to those governments. We are declaring that the government only exists because of God in the first place. Anytime we seek to obey the law by not trespassing, or lying, or stealing, or any of those things, we are doing more than obeying mere laws of men. We are being royal priests serving the God that made everything. This leads to the next principle.
/3/
Submission to earthly authorities silences those who seek to make accusations against Christians. Silencing those who seek to make accusations against Christians also glorifies the Lord for His sake,
"15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."
I want us to notice that there is an explanation of the will of God here that is not simply that you submit. It is important for us to recognize that the will of God here is shown to be twofold. We submit because it is "doing right." But, it is also God's will that we silence the ignorance of foolish men. What we are doing is obeying God, and exposing the lost in their foolishness of the futility of their darkened, lost, minds according to Ephesians 4:17 and Proverbs 1:7. We are not primarily doing this to keep ourselves from paying fines, or to keep ourselves out of jail. We are the Christians. We are the true right-doers.
I want us to notice something about the sense of our task to do right. To be doing right is to be doing what is right according to what the earthly government also thinks is right. In other words, we need to be acting like what the world generally considers to be a good citizen. You are considered to be a good citizen when you do those things that are honorable in the eyes of the governing authorities of the lost world culture. Think about how the world is avidly looking for reasons to accuse us because we are Christians. It is in their nature to do so. As they scrutinize us for opportunities to negate our righteousness in Christ, and the validity of our service to the one true God of the universe, they are expressing their hatred for the true Christ, His grace, and his supremacy. So, to the best of our ability, we want to glorify our God in the midst of this kind of thinking, right? But what else do we want? Or rather, what else is God doing for His own sake in our submissive actions where we silence the critics of Christ and His body? We are evangelizing by our actions. We must remember that this is the context where Peter begins the urging,
"11 Loved ones, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."
We want to see the world come to know Christ through the drawing of the Spirit in our daily living. We want to see them glorify God as they observe our good deeds. This is where lifestyle evangelism takes on a tangible meaning. When people see us, what they should see is a group of people who submit to God in doing what is right. Our ultimate hope, then, is for those people who see us, to have spiritual eyes opened to also desire this submission to God for their own selves.
/4/
This leads to the fourth principle. In submitting to human institutions of government, we live as though acting like submitters to people, though we really have freedom in Christ because we are under His jurisdiction. Peter says,
"16 Live [Peter means "live submitting" but] as people who are free, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God."
Peter has explained earlier that all Christians are elect people who have been purchased by Christ's blood out of slavery to the lost world culture. He said,
"... conduct yourselves in awe and reverence during the time of your stay on earth; 18 knowing that you were not purchased with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:17-19
So, when Peter says that you are not to use your freedom from the lost world culture of sin and death as a covering for evil, but to use it as a bondslave of God, this grueling purchase action is how we became God's bondslaves. Knowing that we are holy priests who have our citizenship in heaven, as God's bondslaves on earth, we know that we are free in respect to the lost. Now think about what can happen when we know this. This can be dangerous knowledge if one desires to use it wrongfully. What I mean is that we can use our freedom as a covering for breaking the earthly laws of the land. We could say,
"All things are lawful in Christ. I am free in Christ. Christ Jesus is my King. I am God's bondslave. I am led by the Spirit."
All those things are true. Since they have truth to them, then those thoughts can develop into our own philosophies; and then what? We can try to justify disobedience to earthly governing authorities. But the principle is that there is more to this than the fact that you are free in Christ. Whenever someone says that all things are lawful in Christ, they are only partially quoting Paul the apostle who was battling the same tendency among Christians to use their freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. What Paul really says is,
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything." 1 Corinthians 6:12
"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable All things are lawful, but not all things build up." 1 Corinthians 10:23
It is same undercurrent that Paul meant when he said,
"For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13
@4 As brothers and sisters in Christ, God wants us to __________________ one another through love. Galatians 5:13
The point that all the apostles make is that true freedom in Christ is what liberates us to actually do the good that God is urging us to do. In fact, the profound statement that the world does not understand, and is what God wants us to demonstrate to them, is that because we are slaves of God, we are the free ones. The natural mind hates this fact. Because we are free, and yet are actually God's bond slaves, we should do good, all the more, rather than use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh in rejecting God's will to submit to earthly governing authority. This reminds me of when a young man once asked me how he should act around his unsaved family and friends. I told him,
"Just be Yourself by being your saved self."
Your saved self is a bondslave of God. This is the way we should "be" acting in submitting to governing institutions. This is what Augustine meant when he said,
"Love God, and do what you please."
You are God's property. This is why you love Him. As you love God, you demonstrate your love in obedience to Him under His jurisdiction. This is an important principle. We live as though acting like submitters to people, yet we have freedom in Christ because we are under His jurisdiction.
/5/
This leads to the fifth principle. It has to do with how we treat people to convey our submission to God while submitting to others. Peter says,
"17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king." 1 Peter 2:11-17
Notice that there are four categories. These ways of treating people, once again, must be seen in light of doing it for the Lord's sake. What the Spirit is urging here is wisdom activity that comes from the love that God has shed abroad in our hearts. Think about it. Nobody likes to be dishonored. Whenever we honor someone, what we are doing is showing respect for them in light of who they are as people. Peter is saying to honor all people. The governing authorities just happen to be part of all people, right? But, the whole teaching goes deeper, because lowly people are also part of all people too. Not only does this help hold back accusations against you as a Christian passing through the world, and not only does it show quality behavior, but it also gives the testimony that we want. We want to see the lost saying,
"Christians are decent people. They show honor and respect to others that is amazing."
We do not want people to notice rebellion, and lack of respect, to others. So, maybe that co-worker you see every day is not saved; but show honor to him anyway for the Lord's sake. It is the same with unsaved family members. When Paul says that we can associate with the world, but we are not to share in commonality with them, what Paul means is that while we associate with the world, we should treat them with what everyone, whether saved or unsaved, recognizes as common respect. But we need to be taking it up to another level. We should be doing so as ministry to them in our worship of God.
Then notice that Peter also says to love the brotherhood. In Christ, we already love the brothers and sisters who are also in Christ. It is impossible for us to not love Christians. John says that if anyone does not love the brothers and sisters of the family of God, then the love of the Father is not in such people. If the love of the Father is not in you, then you are not saved. His love has not been shed abroad into your heart. What Peter is saying to do here, is as Paul explains in his epistles. It is to not only love other Christians because they are brothers and sisters, but it is to be expressing the tangible manifestations of love out to them in practical ways. The reason why Peter would even point this out shows that it is something that we can be lax in expressing to each other. We need to love one another in deed, rather than in just words. It is necessary, not because we are witnessing to one another; but because we, as the body, need the body to be the body to one another while we are in the world. God wants his royal priesthood sticking together, and building one another up, in unity while in the midst of the chaos and sin all around us.
Then Peter says to fear God and honor the king. As we learn from this, I want to point out that when Peter placed the urging to fear God right before honoring the king, Peter was doing something that comes across as intentional. In properly fearing God, you will properly honor authorities. In other words, we do not fear the king, or the police, or the governments of the world, and so that is why we honor them. Rather we give fear to whom fear is due, which is to God. We honor kings as ministry to express Christ to them, but we also do it as worship of God through declaring His excellencies in our obedience.
As we finish this morning, I want to add that there are times that we must disobey human authorities for the Lord's sake. To do so is to obey God the highest authority, as his bondslaves. I want us to think about this because there are times when we are best ministering God's truth to the lost, and we are best worshipping our supreme God, by not obeying authorities. You might be saying,
"Kerry, what on earth are you talking about?"
The principle I am talking about is usually called the "higher authority" principle. But, we need to be careful, because it can be used as an excuse for the covering of the evil intents and evil actions that Peter warns against. Here is how the "higher authority" principle works:
You only disobey the human institution; the governing authority, or the institution's statute, code, or law, when it does not line up with the revealed ministry description that God ordained for authorities in the first place.
I'll repeat that again, so I make sure nothng is missed in the exact meaning:
Only disobey the human institution; the governing authority, or the institution's statute, code, or law, when it does not line up with the revealed ministry description that God ordained for authorities in the first place. In this way, you disobey for the Lord's sake.
Remember, Peter says; that we submit to human institutions who are described as doing
"the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right."
Peter does not say to submit to authorities in any specific operation that requires you to be an evildoer, or someone who is not allowed to do right. Think about Romans 13 again. If a ruling institution strays from particular functions that Paul describes as God's revealed purpose for earthly government's ministerial duties, and it becomes a cause of fear for you because of your good behavior, Romans 13:3; and it stops praising you for doing good, but instead it is condemning you for doing good; and it actually becomes a minister of evil to you, which is the opposite of being a minister for good, Romans 13:4; and it brings wrath on you when you practice good, which is also the opposite of Romans 13:4; and it ceases to devote itself to the very thing of being a servant of God for the punishment of evil, then, the institution has not operated in a proper way toward the bondslave of God who is free to it. So, the Christian is free to disobey that authority for the Lord's sake; but only in respect to the area in which the authority has ceased in its ordained ministry. We honor the authorities, but that does not necessitate that you honor all that the authority does or says to do. This whole principle is not unusual. This is the principle that Christians have followed throughout history, like in the protestant reformation. It is the classic Christian response to authorities and human institutions that tell Christians not to do God's will, or tell Christians specifically to do something in direct opposition to God's will. The interrogation of Peter and the apostles by the instituted authorities exemplifies this God glorifying response. We read it in Acts,
"They brought them and stood them before the Council. and the high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men," Acts 5
@5 If an earthly authority wants us to sin, or wants us not to do God's will, then we must obey ______________________ rather than men. Acts 5
Another dramatic example is found in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33 where Paul fled from being arrested. Paul evaded arrest from the government in direct disobedience to governing authorities. He disobeyed because they were being ministers of evil and not ministers of good. The principle the apostles demonstrated is that God, as the higher authority who ordains all authority, is obeyed according to His precepts in Scripture rather than the evil precepts of men and their evil decrees. Bible smuggling, like that which is done in societies where institutions claim it is illegal to own a Bible; underground church meetings where church meetings are outlawed by human institutions; refusal to bow to the humanistic god that is preached in government schools; praying in public, where it is forbidden by human institutions; refusing to be politically correct in matters of sexual preference, religious orientation, and gender, as is dictated by God and His word; are all examples of disobedience to evil directives from human institutions by Christians who choose rather to follow the highest authority of all. The point is to just be your saved self as you love God and do what you please by doing what pleases Him for His sake. This may mean doing something, or not doing something, that does not please the governing institution.
Let's recap briefly what we have covered: It is clear that God wants us to submit to authorities. It is also clear that God defines the authorities as those instituted by humans. Remember, we submit for the Lord's sake. It is something we do as we live the life of Christ in living for God. It is from submission to submission. Your submission to earthly authorities is because of your submission to your heavenly authority. Then we must always remember that submission to earthly authorities silences those who seek to make accusations against Christians. This is Peter's big concern. In submitting to human institutions of government, we are living as though we are submitting to people in bondage to them, but the reality is that we really have freedom in Christ because we are under His jurisdiction. Finally, in doing all of this for the Lord's sake, we need to honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king which means the government institution. In this way, we manifest the fruits of the Spirit, and this means we are declaring the excellencies of Him Who called us out of darkness and into the Kingdom of Christ our great King. amen
[communion]
@1 The Lord wants us to try and __________________ what is pleasing to Him. We do this through His word. Ephesians 5:8-11
@2 God's will is that we _______________________ to authorities. 1 Peter 2:13-14
@3 Earthly government is a minister of God, and avenger, who brings ___________________ on the one who practices evil. Romans 13:3-5
@4 As brothers and sisters in Christ, God wants us to __________________ one another through love. Galatians 5:13
@5 If an earthly authority wants us to sin, or wants us not to do God's will, then we must obey ______________________ rather than men. Acts 5
