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.
In Luke 15:16 we read, “The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.” (NLT)
After having wasted all of his father’s wealth, the younger son was now, famished and in a deplorable state where even the pods that pigs ate seemed good enough to satisfy his intense hunger. The reason for the arduous situation the young man was in, was because he did not respect the love and authority of his father, but chose to walk away in disobedience and rebellion.
Many children rebel and walk out of their homes without realizing that the authority that is exercised over them by their parents, is only for their welfare and in no way for their detriment. As parents if we don’t use the authority God has entrusted to us and discipline our children whenever necessary, we are in a way abdicating the responsibility that God has committed to us. Our disciplining our children is for their good, and it will ensure that their future is great. We must teach our children to respect everyone, and this respect must firstly be modelled at home. If we tolerate disrespect from our children at home, we can be sure they will never respect others outside. Children must be taught that though discipline seems hard at the present time, it is for their benefit so that they have a blessed life ahead of them. It is also important for us to remember that every decision and action of ours will have consequences which will be faced by no one but ourselves.
Teacher – student or disciple relationship
Many children are in fear of their teachers and dissent any form of authority in their schools. They are unwilling to accept any kind of discipline from their teachers. When teachers reprimand children, many parents blindly support their children and question the school authorities. Instead we should teach our children to respect the authority of the teachers who are placed over them, to enable them to grow up to be respectable young men and women.
In that encounter when Jesus first called Peter to follow him, we recall how Jesus was preaching from Peter’s boat. As soon as he finished, he asked Peter to go a little deeper and throw his nets for a catch. Peter was a seasoned fisherman, who after a whole night’s work had returned to the shore having caught nothing. However, because of his respect for Jesus he said to Him in Luke 5:5, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (NKJV) Peter could have thought, Jesus was a carpenter by profession, what would He know about fishing, but instead Peter readily submitted himself to the authority of Jesus and the result was mind blowing. They had such a great catch of fish that their nets were breaking and their boats sinking. But when Peter realized who Jesus was and the call to become a ‘fisher of men’ he submitted himself to the Lordship of Jesus, left everything and followed after Him.
The same Peter after having spent three and a half years with Jesus, after His death, burial and resurrection, decided to go back fishing and took along with him six other disciples. When Peter decided to move away from being submissive to the Lord, he found himself again in a similar situation he had been in, when Jesus first called him. He toiled all night and caught nothing. He stood again with his nets empty, and his labor unproductive. Peter’s life was blessed only as long as he was submissive to the authority of the Lord.
There will be fruitfulness in our lives only as long as we submit to authority. All our efforts will be meaningless and void, if we are not submissive to every authority that the Lord has placed over us.
Master – servant relationship
We read about the story of the Syrian commander Naaman in 2 Kings Chapter 5, who came to the prophet Elisha to be cured of his leprosy. When Elisha commanded Naaman to go and dip himself in the river Jordan, Naaman had to submit to the authority of the prophet and do as he was told to experience that miraculous healing. He came back and offered generous gifts to Elisha as a token of appreciation and thankfulness, but Elisha refused to accept anything from Naaman.
Elisha’s servant Gehazi was completely of a different mind. He had a rebellious spirit that stopped him from submitting to the authority of the prophet. He ran after Naaman, coveted some of the gifts, left it at his home and went back to the prophet Elisha. Elisha knew what Gehazi did, as a result, the leprosy that left Naaman was contracted by Gehazi and his family forever. That was the gruesome consequence Gehazi had to face, for not submitting to the authority of the man of God whom God had established over him.
We too must learn to submit to authority not only for fear of punishment or just to appease those who are over us, but because every authority had been set up by God Himself.
Many people are of the view that as we living in a period of grace and it is perfectly fine to live any way we like. There is a warning for us from the life of the early church. When the believers in the early church genuinely sold and gave all of their property to the apostles, there was a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who also wanted to make a show and pretend to give their all just like everyone else. They sold their fields and withheld a portion of it deliberately, and laid the rest at the apostle’s feet. What happened as a result of that deception was that both of them lost their lives.
Anything we do, must be done sincerely and with the only motive as unto the Lord and not to please men. When we rebel against authority, we must be cautioned that instead of receiving blessings, we will only receive curses as did Ananias and Sapphira.
Irrespective of whether we are at home with the family, at school, at our work place, in society or at church let us decide to be subject to every authority placed over us, for it has been set up for our good, and has been more importantly established by God.
If we were to think about it, any rule that is imposed on us like, to wear a helmet or seat belt have all been implemented only for our good and safety. Laws are not enforced for the benefit of policeman, neither are lawmakers killjoys, but rather those who are placed over us have been placed in position of authority, just to enhance our safety and well-being. We will be a lot happier if we follow the rules and will surely avoid loads of dangers.
Our life will be filled with joy if we learn to submit to all authority that is placed over us. There are lots of rules and regulations that are imposed on us which are really meant for our good and to bring order in our lives. We must truly be thankful to God for every authority that He has placed over us; our husband, wife, parents, teachers, employers, government and pastor.
The greatest blessing we all have is our conscience within us. We must decide to submit to all authority not fearing punishment or consequence, but only because of conscience sake. We must constantly tune ourselves to listen to the voice of our conscience and live in obedience to it. By doing so our lives will be peaceful, blessed and joyful.
We looked at 3 examples, the prodigal son whose conscience must have bothered him when he left home, but his willful disobedience landed him in a place of filth and want with pigs. Peter decided to go back to fishing against his conscience, and ended up in a place of failure and emptiness. Gehazi ran against his conscience and coveted gifts from Naaman, and the consequence was he lost the anointing that would have been his, and contracted the leprosy of Naaman. Let us remind ourselves from Romans 13:5, “We must obey therefore, not only in order to escape punishment, but also for conscience' sake.” (WNT) and learn to live every day in obedience to the voice of our conscience and in submission to every authority the Lord has established over us.
Pastor F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by : Ms. Esther Collins
