Our Response to Government: Submit and Respect

[Read 1 Samuel 24:6-11, Titus 3:1-2]

We have naturally rebellious natures. I feel like I’m saying this all of the time, but I’m saying it all of the time because I think we need to be reminded of these things. That’s especially true because we live in a culture/society that does not believe this to be true. We are surrounded by the idea that everyone is basically good and basically obedient and basically nice and loving and kind. Yet, that is not what we believe is actually true. Again, I remind us of this very blunt portion of the Heidelberg Catechism: ”I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor.” (HC Q&A 5). That’s our natural tendency—rebelliousness.

Anyone who has been a parent knows this. There’s a period of time in raising children when their favorite word becomes “NO!”. They find great joy in telling you “NO” and informing you that they are going to refuse to do what you want them to do. Sometimes they even know their rebellion is not going to end well, so they yell “NO!” and then run away as fast as they can. This sticks around through the “You’re not the boss of me!” stage of adolescents. It sticks around through the teen years. This is true even if it’s done passive-aggressively by teenagers, not outright fighting with their parents, but just waiting until they’re out of their parents sight to do whatever they really want to do. That’s just another way of saying, “You’re not the boss of me!” without actually having to say it. It sticks around into adulthood as well—often in the same passive-aggressive form of hiding our rebellion (which is probably why we like to think that we’re all “basically good” because we’re all hiding our rebellions). We have naturally rebellious natures.

Yet this is not how we were designed to live. God didn’t design us to live rebelliously (whether overt or passive-aggressive) but designed us to live obedient, submissive lives. That’s why one of the first things we’re told to do as Christians is to “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” (James 4:7, ESV). When we become Christians, God begins the process of bringing our rebellious natures back into submission and obedience to Him.

Submission is a Christian virtue, which is why Christians should love submission. It’s why Christians are repeatedly told to submit in many different ways. We’re told to submit to our parents. We’re told to submit to our masters. We’re told to submit to our husbands. We’re told to submit to our leaders. In fact, we’re told: “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21, ESV). Submission is not something we should cringe at or chafe at or get nervous about. Submission is a Christian virtue.

So, it shouldn’t surprise us when we read passages like this: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” (Titus 3:1–2, ESV). Of course we are told to be submissive and obedient to rulers and authorities because submission is a Christian virtue.

Notice the first words in this verse because it’s really important: “Remind them…” (Titus 3:1–2, ESV). There’s more to these words that meets the eyes, especially when we understand the Greek beneath it all. The word “remind” is in a unique Greek tense that has the sense of “continually remind them”. So, Paul is telling young pastor Titus that he needs to continually remind his congregation in Crete that they need to be submissive to rulers and authorities. Titus is supposed to be preaching and teaching on this topic regularly. Some commentators even say that this could also assume that Paul already taught them to be submissive to rulers and Titus is to continue teaching them to be submissive to rulers. So, this is something that’s already been done by Paul (which makes sense because Paul mentions it in many of his letters) and Paul tells Titus that he needs to keep on doing this on a regular basis. Why?

On the one hand, the Cretans are…well…Cretans. We read this earlier in Titus: “One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”” (Titus 1:12, ESV). So, Cretans had a reputation of being a rebellious people, which would make sense why regular preaching and teaching around submission was needed there. But, don’t for one second think that gets all of us off the hook. Guess who else has a reputation for being a rebellious people? We do. Of course, throughout the world, the USA is seen as a country founded on a rebellion (whether that’s accurate or not, and discarding the conversation about legitimate rebellion). So, we’re seen as a rebellious people with a rebellious DNA. There is something in the blood of Americans that says, “You’re not the boss of me!” It’s there and we need to honestly acknowledge that it’s there.

Yet, the Apostles talked about this in many different places. Calvin says, “From many passages it is evident that the Apostles had great difficulty in keeping the common people subject to the authority of magistrates and princes. We are all by nature desirous of power; and the consequence is, that no one willingly is subject to another. Besides, perceiving that nearly all the principalities and powers of the world1 were at that time opposed to Christ, they thought them unworthy of receiving any honour.” (Calvin, 324). We have naturally rebellious natures. Because of those naturally rebellious natures, we need to be continually reminded that submission is a Christian virtue.

We also need to be reminded that our rebelliousness is part of our sinful nature. That’s also part of the reminder in Titus. Look at the next verses in Titus: “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient…For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us…” (Titus 3:1–5, ESV). Titus is to continually remind his people that they once were rebellious and foolish and disobedient people, but not anymore. Jesus saved them from those things. Titus is to remind them that any remaining rebellious tendencies they have are part of their sinful nature, parts of them that Christ died to cleanse and redeem them from. We don’t live like that anymore. He saved us.

We also see many of these same principles in David’s interactions with Saul. We see this in multiple instances throughout 1 Samuel. God chose Saul to be the first king of Israel, and Saul failed as king. So, God anoints David to be the next king, yet doesn’t put him in place yet. David has to wait. There are multiple instances where David is given the opportunity to kill Saul and take the kingdom that God has promised him. Yet, David refuses. One of those instances happens in the Wilderness of Engedi. David and his warriors are hiding in a cave, Saul goes into the cave to “relieve himself,” and David’s warriors see this as a providential gift of God. God is giving him into our hands! Yet David responds, ““The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words…” (1 Samuel 24:6–7, ESV). Actually, the word “persuaded” is much stronger than that. One commentator said, “But the Hebrew text reads, “So David tore apart his men with the words,” suggesting that David had to resort to violent and threatening language to cool their blood.” (Dale Davis). David violently refuses to take matters into his hands because Saul was the Lord’s Anointed.

Later a similar situation occurs and David says, “Who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?” (1 Samuel 26:9, ESV). David has an understanding that the Lord is the one who put Saul into place as king. So, anyone who puts out their hand against the king, is putting their hand out against God himself. This was a big deal. This is along the lines of what Romans 13 says: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13:1–2, ESV).

What makes this really hard is that David is talking about Saul, a failed and wicked ruler who had dishonored God. Paul is talking about a Roman government that is very corrupt and very anti-Christian—a government that would eventually execute Christian persecution on levels the world has never seen before. Yet, they both continue to say that we must submit to them because God has put them in place—they are the Lord’s Anointed.

Yet, we’re also told to do more than just submit. We’re told to honor and respect them. The Belgic says, “Moreover everyone, regardless of status, condition, or rank, must be subject to the government, and pay taxes, and hold its representatives in honor and respect, and obey them…” (Belgic Confession, Article 36). Just a few verses later, Paul tells the Romans to show honor and respect toward the ungodly government leaders. We see David approach ungodly Saul and call him “lord, king, and father” then bow down to him in reverence and honor.

We are called to do the same. We are called to show not only submission, but honor and respect to our governmental leaders—even the ungodly governmental leaders. We are to consider them placed in those positions by God himself—The Lord’s Anointed—and give them the honor and respect they deserve in those positions. And to bring this even closer to home for every one of us in this room, we are called to do this for whoever is currently in these positions of authority AND whoever is in authority after the elections in November. We are to understand that God has placed them in that position and show them the honor and respect that comes with being placed in that position by God himself and then submit and obey in all things…

Except. I know everyone was beginning to get nervous and a little uncomfortable and that was the point. I think we too quickly and easily run to the “except” portion of this sermon. We too quickly run to the “but what about civil disobedience?” portion of this sermon. So, I wanted to force us to sit in the tension of that for a while, because that’s what scripture does.

However, there are obvious portions of scripture that show the virtue of civil disobedience. Even David is not fully submitting to Saul, because he continues to run from him and hide from him in the wilderness. He’s a fugitive from justice. The Hebrew midwives were blessed by God for not submitting to the government’s orders to kill all male babies. There’s the story of Daniel’s refusal to stop praying, and the story of his friend’s refusal to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's statue, and they were blessed by God as a result. And there’s the well-known line from Peter and the Apostles in Acts, “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29, ESV). This too is part of the Christian story, Christian teaching, AND Christian virtue.

The Belgic Confession recognizes this and holds the tension by saying, “Moreover everyone, regardless of status, condition, or rank, must be subject to the government, and pay taxes, and hold its representatives in honor and respect, and obey them in all things that are not in conflict with God’s Word…” (Belgic Confession, Article 36). We are to obey them in all things that are not in conflict with God’s Word. That means if something is in conflict with God’s Word, then we must NOT obey them or submit to them. We first and foremost submit to our God, and that submission trumps submission to anyone else.

This is even present in Romans 13, one of the strongest passages on Christian obedience to governing authorities. When we looked at this passage in the past, I’ve always been emphasizing the goal and function of the government to punish evil and praise and protect the good. Paul says, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:3–4, ESV). There’s a lot of talk about why Paul makes this comment so starkly, without any suggestion that the government might possibly be a terror to good conduct, or that the government might possibly punish the good and praise and protect what is evil. Why? One commentator says this, ”He is describing how the state is supposed to function under God and is calling believers to submit to states that function in that way. Perhaps there is room in what he says to allow believers to turn against the state when it turns against God—as it does, for example, in Revelation.” (Moo, 428-429).

Yet, I want to make sure none of this undermines what we’ve already taught and the weight that is placed on submission and obedience to the governing authorities God has put in place. As Paul reminds us, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Romans 13:2, ESV). This should give us a proper fear in the midst of these things. Whenever we disobey or refuse to submit to those in authority over us, there is the possibility that we’re disobeying and refusing to submit to God himself. We must never forget that this is the case and could possibly be true. It should never be a light thing to consider rebelling against authority or refusing to submit to authority. It must always be done with fear and trembling.

It must also be done out of a greater sense of submission and not from our rebellious nature. This is so important. We do not refuse to submit and disobey simply because we do not like something. Calvin says that we can submit to a bunch of things that we don’t like and don’t even approve of. That’s not grounds for disobedience. We must never rebel or disobey simply because we don’t like the people telling us what to do or because we want to assert our own independence, saying “You’re not the boss of me!” If we are ever placed in a position of disobedience and refusal to submit, it must be because we are joyfully following in submission to our God and Savior. Another way of saying that is that any form of rebellion must be motivated by a greater sense of submission.

That’s because we have been saved from our rebellious nature and are being transformed into a nature that is submissive to Jesus Christ. We’re no longer to be rebellious like the rest of the world. That’s what we read in  Titus: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit…so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” (Titus 3:3–5, 8; ESV). Jesus Christ saved us from our rebellious nature so that we could submit to him and devote ourselves to good works—one of those good works being submitting to those in authority over us.