1 Peter 2:13-16 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
Christian response to government:
Various Scriptures instruct us as to our response to governments regarding different subjects and obligations (Matt 22:16-21; Ro 13:7). We are instructed to pray for the governments (1 Tim 2:1 ff); be obedient (Ro 13:1-2; 1 Pet 2:13). The government in power when these were given was an ungodly, polytheistic Roman government. Yet God’s word tells us that even though they were ungodly and anti-god they were still the ministers of God (Ro 13:1, 2, 4). Jesus alluded to this when He stood before Pilate (Jn 19:11).
God is ultimately in control (Dan 4:32-35; 5:18-21) and He declares it thru Scripture. He also says that any who will not be obedience to His decree will suffer not only from the ruling nation but also from God (Jer 27:5-7).
Christians in government in the past:
After years of persecution and death at the hands of evil governments, Christians had a time of peace and rest when Constantine make a declaration of salvation after seeing the sign of the cross in the sky. He embraced Christianity and made them part of his government; however, he also forced many to “become” Christians at the point of a sword so he made Christianity the state religion but men and women filling important roles in the government were not truly converted. Abuse and evil ensued this time period and put a black mark on the name “Christian”.
The lasting effect of this time period and following years was that Christians believed and taught that all governments were evil and Christians should not be involved in any way. They cited Jesus’ words to Pilate about His kingdom (Jn 18:36-37) and made this the “law” for all Christians even into present times.
Often Christian groups tried to withdraw from the world into sects or religious orders to maintain an isolation from the kingdoms of this world. Others taught that any involvement in government even voting was evil and out of God’s will and should be avoided if we would maintain our relationship with God. Many will use Jesus’ words in the gospels to undo or counter OT Scriptures not realizing that when we do that we are undoing and countering all of Scripture.
