To Obey, or Not to Obey

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)

To obey, or not to obey — this is the question. It’s really not a difficult question, but for some people (maybe for many people) it is a question they genuinely wrestle with because they do not want to obey. One’s will, or motivation to obey, has nearly everything to do with whether or not we obey.
I’m not referring in a limited way to obedience to God’s will, although that will really be our focus; the point I want to assert is that obedience to mankind’s will — authority that God has established (according to the passage above) — is also a matter of submission to God’s will.

The best example of submission is Jesus: when He was twelve years old, He had stayed behind in Jerusalem while his parents were traveling home. When they discovered He was not with their party, they went back to Jerusalem, finding Him in the temple.

When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. (Luke 2:48-51)

We might suppose that if anyone had the divine right to disobey their parents, Jesus would have since He is God among us; but He didn’t because He is God among us.

It is not merely American idealism that goes against authority. But we are living in a time when people generally do not seem interested in what the rules are — unless, of course, we’re talking about something insipid like a game of football.

It’s not that everything is falling apart, but the things that are falling apart seem possible because people are not willing to submit themselves — and when everyone does what is right in their own eyes, we’re repeating history (e.g., Judges 17:6; 21:25; also see Micah 2).

I remember being in high school and some of my friends adored the concept of anarchy. At least they thought they adored it until someone (who shall remain unidentified) sucker-punched one of them to make the point that anarchy was pointless. If there are no rules, then there are no rules.

The natural order all around us is governed to the rules of its creator without debate. We have been given free will, and many of us simply don’t want to submit ourselves to the rules of our creator. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

God is not trying to keep us down. His desire is our salvation, and therefore our elevation (2 Peter 3:15). “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11)

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

If the Son of God willingly humbled Himself to His heavenly Father and to His earthly father, then why won’t we? (cf. Hebrews 12:1-11)

The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:4-6)