We must obey authorities in the Lord.


Wednesday, 10/29/14

In today’s passage from his Letter to the Ephesians Paul wrote about being obedient, and he reduced all obedience to obeying God. Like, he doesn’t just tell children to obey their parents, he tells them to obey “in the Lord.” And he tells slaves or servants to obey “as to Christ.”

That ties in with what Paul wrote in Chapter Thirteen of his Letter to the Romans, there is no authority except from God. Who ever resists authority opposes what God has appointed.”

That is in line with the second chapter of the Bible where the first thing God said about his first human was that it wasn’t good for him to be alone. We are social animals, each with his or her outlook on things. The only way we can work together is that we have one person with the final say.

While the Fourth Commandment tells us only to honor our parents, it is always taken to be shorthand for telling us to obey all authority.

In giving us that commandment God knew that some parents and persons in authority would be far from perfect. Still he was telling us that for good order we needed to obey them.

Our government leaders and our church leaders are far from perfect, but for good order we must obey them “In the Lord.   

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