by Keith Sharp<\/p>\n
About forty years ago, I knew a young preacher with a cavalier attitude toward traffic laws. He was known to drive down the highway at breakneck speed, with a Twinkie and a Mountain Dew for breakfast, steering the car with his knees! Sandy and I would not let our children ride with him. When we rebuked him for breaking the traffic laws, he replied, “If I’m arrested, I’ll pay my fine, so I’m submitting to the government.”<\/p>\n
The Lord is quite clear about obedience to civil government.<\/p>\n
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves<\/em>” (Romans 13:1-2).<\/p>\n
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right<\/em>.” (I Peter 2:13-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Submission necessitates obedience.<\/p>\n
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If a purported Christian told the elders where he was a member, “No, I won’t attend regularly, but it’s OK with me if you rebuke me for poor attendance,” would he be submissive or recalcitrant? (cf. Matthew 21:28-29)<\/p>\n
Oh, we’re informed, you just can’t know all those volumes of civil law! A dear brother informed me a few years ago, “We can’t keep from sinning, because the Bible’s too big of a book to know it all.” I replied, “You don’t have to know all the Bible; you have to know the difference between right and wrong.” He conceded we can do that. “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame<\/em>” (I Corinthian 15:34).<\/p>\n
The State of Arkansas published a reasonably sized “Arkansas Driver’s Manual.” It’s not written in Greek, Hebrew, or Shakespearean English. I suspect your state has a similar book. Speed limits and other regulations are prominently posted on road signs.<\/p>\n
I concede the United States income tax code is voluminous and technical. So I hire a tax professional to help me. You can do the same.<\/p>\n
I have a dear friend, an elder of the church, who refused to wear a seat belt because he “didn’t vote for that law.” How many Roman laws do you reckon Paul or Peter voted for?<\/p>\n
Don’t make excuses for disobeying the law. It’s a sin, and you don’t have to sin.<\/p>\n
\n
- “Let every soul be subject to the authorities<\/em>.”<\/li>\n
- “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.<\/em>“<\/li>\n
- “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin<\/em>.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Keith Sharp About forty years ago, I knew a young preacher with a cavalier attitude toward traffic laws. He was known to drive down the highway at breakneck speed, with a Twinkie and a Mountain Dew for breakfast, steering the car with his knees! Sandy and I would not let our children ride with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,310],"class_list":["post-98050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-government"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":98050,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-boy-girl-relationships-not-advisable-at-a-young-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":98050,"position":1},"title":"Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age Answer: Youth is a time of impatient desires. They want the things available to adults, but adulthood seems so far away. The typical teenage boy enters puberty around the age of 11. The typical teenage girl enters puberty around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-lost-the-surprise-somewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":98050,"position":2},"title":"We Lost the Surprise Somewhere","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I remember watching Mayberry RFD and related shows most of my childhood. Poor ignorant Gomer Pyle who worked as an auto mechanic was a notable character. 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Answer: We were taught to pray, \"Give us this day our daily bread\" (Matthew 6:11), but God still commands us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":98050,"position":4},"title":"The Book of My Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 19:23-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each week the paper publishes its list of top selling books \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the books are biographies, fictional stories, or fiction placed in historical settings. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They hope that others will also purchase the books, if for no other reason than curiosity. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many author\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-passages-that-refer-to-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":98050,"position":5},"title":"Are there passages that refer to THE Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have been studying the Lord's supper issues and one of our main concerns is about a second offering in which only a few partake, for the reasons you listed in your article (not doing it together). 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