Civil Disobedience
Sometimes we, as believers, have to decide whether to follow what the governing authorities say or what the Lord says for us to do. In those instances, it is always right to obey the Lord. That is what Zerubbabel and Jeshua did when they heard the word of the Lord from the Prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. (Ezra 5:2) The Lord told them to finish rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, even though the king of Persia had ordered them to stop until he could search out the decree made by king Cyrus. What would you have done?
The kingdoms of this world fall under the dominion of the Lord and His kingdom. Believers are citizens of God's kingdom. Yes, we live in an earthly country, and we should obey the earthly rulers as much as we can, since they are ordained by God. (Romans 13) However, when the earthly authorities tells us to break God's law, or they tell us we can't do what God has plainly told us to do, we must disobey. We call this civil disobedience because it is disobeying the government. However, the same thing applies to other authorities, because they are all subject to God.
If our teacher or our boss tells us to sin or forbids us from doing what is right, we must obey God or quit our job. There is no excuse for not being obedient to the Lord. This is how we are salt and light in our world. If we conform to the world, we have lost our saltiness, and we are worthless, as believers.(Matthew 5:13-15) Let's be all that we can be for the Lord, and let Him protect us as He sees fit.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezra 6-8.
The kingdoms of this world fall under the dominion of the Lord and His kingdom. Believers are citizens of God's kingdom. Yes, we live in an earthly country, and we should obey the earthly rulers as much as we can, since they are ordained by God. (Romans 13) However, when the earthly authorities tells us to break God's law, or they tell us we can't do what God has plainly told us to do, we must disobey. We call this civil disobedience because it is disobeying the government. However, the same thing applies to other authorities, because they are all subject to God.
If our teacher or our boss tells us to sin or forbids us from doing what is right, we must obey God or quit our job. There is no excuse for not being obedient to the Lord. This is how we are salt and light in our world. If we conform to the world, we have lost our saltiness, and we are worthless, as believers.(Matthew 5:13-15) Let's be all that we can be for the Lord, and let Him protect us as He sees fit.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezra 6-8.