Pastor Claude Thomas Blog

Posted By: Pastor Claude Thomas

The origin of something does make a difference in how we receive it. If we are told something by someone we trust we are likely to respect and receive what they say. The opposite is also true. Let someone we know is not trustworthy tell us something and we doubt it and are skeptical. Why? The “Source” makes a difference.

From Scripture we are taught government is from God. Clearly Paul set this before the Roman believers. Here is what he said to them. “…for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God” (Romans 13:1- 2). Now we may need to remind ourselves who was in power when Paul wrote those words. The Roman Empire was in power when those words were written.

When Jesus stood before Pilate, He told Pilate that the authority he possessed had been given to him by God. “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above…” (John 19:11).

Tertullian, the third-century Roman apologist, wrote that the Christian is to look up to the emperor because he “is called by our Lord to his office.” 1

Whether Tertullian, Paul, or Jesus…let’s know Government is from God! The idea didn’t originate with our founding fathers or any man or group of men. It is something God thought and gave to us. And since it is, we are to be active citizens exercising our privileges and rights as citizens of the Kingdom of Christ and the nation where we live!

1.    Mounce, Robert H. “Romans” NAC, p. 53 quoting from Tertullian, Apology, 30.