The Reason We Submit To Authority Series

The Reason We Submit to Authority

In Romans 13:5 we read, “We must obey therefore, not only in order to escape punishment, but also for conscience' sake.” (WNT)

All of us are familiar with the principle that if we don’t obey rules and submit to those in authority, we will get punished, and this convention is manifested in various spheres of our lives. For example, parents in order to get their children to study, often admonish them with various consequences, schools punish children for late coming by imposing fines on them, employers threaten employees at work place with pay cuts for uniformed leave or absence from work, relations are often compelled into participating in family functions fearing being ostracized by them in future and so also many people comply to the rule of wearing helmets only because of the apprehension of being caught by the cops. By and large we have become a society, who conform to rules and accede to authority only because we fear punishment for non-compliance.

For instance, a father advises his son to wear a helmet while driving his motorbike. The youth argues with his Dad that this won’t be necessary, as he has the money to pay the fine if caught. He also justifies his behavior further with the reasoning that, even if he were to be caught, he would pay the fine once and then he could go around the whole day with the receipt in his pocket and have no fear of being taken again. Here is an example of a young man who is willfully breaking a rule, willing to pay the fine and chooses to operate against his conscience.

When this kind of behavior is translated to our relationship with God, we choose to obey Him only because we are gripped with fear and dread of retribution by God, not realizing that our God a loving God, and we are totally safe only when we submit to His Lordship and authority.

Obedience that originates from this kind of fear of penalty is not true obedience. That is the reason why the apostle Paul exhorts us in Romans 13:5, that our obedience must stem from our conscience and not because we fear the consequences of disobedience. Our conscience is that inner voice and testimony from within our own heart, and is something that cannot be stilled or manipulated. We might be able to deceive people with our behavior and talk, but we can never defraud our own conscience.

It is in the context of submitting to every kind of authority placed over us, Paul admonished believers to live by the directive of their conscience. The primary reason we are required to submit to authority, is that all authority has been ordained by God Himself. When we disrespect authority, we are dishonoring the Lord who established the same.

If the only reason we obey authority is fear of retribution, we will scheme and look for ways to evade every possible rule. Many people look at people in authority as their adversaries, rather than those appointed by God for their good.

In Romans 13:1 we read, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” (NLT)

Authority starts at home, the Lord has placed the wife under the authority of her husband, children are under the authority of their parents and this extends to our schools, our work place, in society and in every single area of our daily lives. Authority is something we will never be able to evade. Even a person in business may be functioning independently, but he too is accountable to the government and is obligated to follow certain rules and regulations set by them. Every form of authority comes from God alone, but many people consider authority as a burden, and therefore choose to disrespect any form of authority.

Let us look at the various relationships where God has established this authority.

Parent – children relationship

At home, parents exercise authority over their children and constantly instruct them entirely for their good, but often children may not perceive it as such. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-20, is a valuable example, where the younger boy rebelled against the authority of his father, and chose to go on his own. He demanded his share of property, which should have rightfully come to him only after his father’s death. As the young man had no respect for his father, he confiscated his share from his Dad while he was still alive, which the father being a kind man relinquished to him. The younger son we read in Luke 15:13, stayed on for a few more days with his family, probably pretended to be a good chap and then took off with everything that belonged to him, moved to a distant land and spent all that he had in riotous living.