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[Lost Lobos]

Did the US Founders violate Romans 13 by rebelling against God's appointed King George?

Are our votes displacing God's working through kings by us making the choice for a temporary politician instead of God's choosing a king?

[jimwalton]

> Did the US Founders violate Romans 13 by rebelling against God's appointed King George?

No. Romans 13 says that God ordained the idea of government and the authority of government, but it doesn't say that every ruler was God-appointed. Nor is it sinful to speak against the government or even rise against it. Take note that...

• John the Baptist spoke against Herod (and was killed for it)
• The midwives disobeyed Pharaoh (Ex. 1.15-21)
• Moses rose against Pharaoh and achieved freedom. There are times, which is exactly what the Declaration of Independence says, when rising against the government is biblically justified.
• Rahab refused to give up the spies to the authorities (Josh. 2.1-6, 15)
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego defied the king. they disobeyed the law because it was an ungodly law. Dan. 3.
• Daniel stood up to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 1.
• Daniel broke the law in direct defiance of the king's edict (Dan. 6.10-13)
• The magi (Mt. 2.7-8) were told by God to disobey Herod.
• Peter and John were ordered by the gov't not to preach. They disobeyed and preached (Acts 4.19-20)
• Paul and Silas were ordered to leave town. Instead, they staged a sit-in (Acts 16).

In other words, there are legitimate biblical justifications for rising up against the government.

God instituted the idea of government to enable a society that does what is right. From Proverbs 20.8 and Romans 13.3-4 we learn that the point of government is to maintain morality and justice in society. We can judge and measure the extent to which a government is accomplishing its ministry by asking whether it is treating good and evil properly. In Isaiah 1 God condemns the government that exalts self-preservation and the exercise of power over both justice and fairness for all. A government that has turned right and wrong on its head or that is acting out of injustice should be opposed, according to Isaiah 1, because God condemns such a government.

The authority of government is not self-justifying. That government exists is ordered by God; but the text does not say that whatever the government does or asks of its citizens is good. And we as Christians can’t possibly claim that God is saying that everything a government asks is good and we should submit to it. We all know better. We should be submissive to the authority of the government, but if we simply obey anything anyone says, we are relinquishiong our Christian role to be a check on governmental evil, and we actually participate in governmental evil. Nazi Germany is the clear example here. Instead, we should render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Mt. 22.21). State authorities should get only what is due them (Rom. 13.7).

> Are our votes displacing God's working through kings by us making the choice for a temporary politician instead of God's choosing a king?

No. In the Bible God doesn't dictate the shape of society. He does not seek to form a “perfect” society, because no society is perfect (since it is a society of fallen humans). He rather speaks into the shape of society as it exists in those times and encourages his people to live holy lives in that society. He does not dictate an ideal kind of government (monarchy vs. democracy); he does not dictate a certain sort of economy (market economy vs. barter). Every social structure is flawed. Democracy is not "displacing God's working." God doesn't show preference for either monarchy, democracy, or republic, socialism or capitalism. God can work through any structure.