Romans 13:3-5, Appointed by God

Who wears the pants in your family? I mean who is really in charge and has final say when a decision is made and veto power over other decisions in the house. Most people would like to think they are in charge but, if we answer anyone other than Jesus then our home is not in order spiritually. In fact, Paul says in verses 4-5 that this is the way a believer should look at all authority in our lives. Weather the person in authority is a Christian or not God is sovereign and has allowed them to be in that position. Paul goes on to say that we should respect them not only because of the power they have to punish us for our nonconformity but more importantly because God has commanded us to do so.

As Christians it is sometimes difficult to submit to people in authority whose beliefs and behaviors don’t line up with what we think they should. We have access to the Word of God, and we know what a leader should look and act like but the problem with this reasoning is that we don’t think like God thinks. God has eternal and infinite knowledge of the past, present and future. He knows far more about why He has allowed an individual authority than we could ever hope to. With that being said, we must trust God and His selections of those in authority. As Paul points out in verse 4 sometimes God allows certain people to be in authority to bring punishment upon those who are in rebellion to him. We see this throughout the Old Testament were God allowed rulers of pagan nations to have authority over Israel in order to bring them to a place of repentance and restoration. God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), we must submit to His authority and decisions on who is in authority and when they are in authority.