Dave Havir - Romans 13: 1-7

Dave Havir, assenting that some civil authorities fight evil, while at other times the civil authorities perform (or are) the evil, suggests that the precautionary language used by Paul in Romans 13:1-7 could have been motivated by the knowledge that civil authorities would snoop into his letters. Many instances in scripture portray individuals who valiantly resisted evil civil authorities, including Rahab, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the mother of Moses. Civil governments do not always carry out the will of God, and should be resisted when they do not. When religious authority becomes wedded to civil authority, evil increases exponentially. We are not to be a doormat, yielding because we are fearful, but sometimes to put to shame detractors. We need to exercise our freedom as servants of God. We should NEVER follow civil leaders into sin. Even though a system may be unrighteous, we need to adapt as is necessary to keep peace. We should never let anyone take away our freedom. When there is a conflict between God's law and man's law, we must obey God rather than man.

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