God’s Delegated Authorities

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. – Romans 13:1-2

The Lord Is Sovereign

The Bible teaches that God “is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes” (Daniel 4:17, 25, 32). God sets up kings and puts them down. Absolute sovereignty belongs to God alone; he is not accountable to anyone, and he alone does what he pleases.

The Bible also teaches that Jesus Christ is God, the Yahweh of the Old Testament. As Lord, he is sovereign over all. He created all things and rules over all things. Jesus himself said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18), and we are told in Ephesians 1:22 that God has placed all things under his feet.

The only question is, will we confess him as Lord now or later? No one can be saved without confessing that Jesus Christ is God, King, Savior, Lord, and Judge. Some people make this confession now, and they are saved. But a day is coming when everyone will be forced to acknowledge this truth: “At the name of Jesus every knee [shall] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).

Whether we like it or not, this absolute sovereign God has chosen to rule the world through his delegated authorities. In Romans 13 these delegated rulers are referred to by the Greek term exousia, translated variously as “authority,” “governing authority,” “government,” and “delegated authority.” This important word appears six times in these seven verses. Exousia represents the power delegated by the sovereign God to a person or group of persons to minister in his behalf for the good of the people and to restrain evil in a fallen world. Their authority is limited, as they are accountable to God.

The Bible recognizes three primary institutions to which God has given authority to govern in his behalf: the family, the state, and the church.

The Authority of the Family

The family was established by God as the basic institution in the world. The church and the state cannot exist without the family. In this day and age it has become necessary to define what a family is; in this church, we believe it is a man and woman, joined together as husband and wife, and their children.

If the family is good, the church and the state will be good. If the family is bad, everything else will be bad. We must not blame the church or the state if our family is undisciplined. If a family is not good, it will contribute to the corruption of the church and the state.

Parents are God’s exousia, God’s delegated authorities, in the home. They must govern their home for God and for the good of all the people in their family. So it is their job to promote good and restrain evil. Parents must obey God’s word and raise children according to it. Their authority is found in the commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12), a verse that Paul cites in Ephesians 6:1-4, saying, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’-which is the first commandment with a promise-‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’ Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” This is the foundation of the Christian home.

Children, then, are to honor their parents by obeying them in everything, and parents are to “train [each] child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). Notice, there is a right way, the way a child ought to go, which is revealed in the word of God. We are not to train our children according to the psychology, sociology, and values of the prevailing culture. The word of God alone gives us the right way, and as parents we are to submit to that divine word.

Parents are to teach, train, rebuke, and correct their children so that they will fear God. If the children grow up wild and unbelieving, the parents have failed in their delegated responsibility. What if parents say, “But I have a strong-willed child”? I would say it is good to have a strong-willed child! According to my definition, a strong-willed child is a child who will say “No” to sin and “Yes” to God. I do not want to have a weak-willed child who succumbs to sin; give me a strong-willed child, who is trained by his parents in the way he should go.

God has given parents the power of the rod to enforce their teaching. Nowadays people do not like the idea of enforcing discipline, but God’s word tells us what is right. In Proverbs 13:24 we are told, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” Think about that. When you do not discipline, when you do not enforce your teaching through judicious punishment, you are not loving that child; you are hating him and depriving him of the wisdom that he needs to live in the world.

We must understand, as Jonathan Edwards did, that children are born sinners. Proverbs 22:15 says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” Notice the divine guarantee and promise for parents who discipline their children. Proverbs 23:13-14 says, “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.” This refers not only to physical death, but also to the second death of everlasting damnation.

Parents, do you use the divinely ordained tool of the rod to enforce your teaching? Proverbs 29:15 tells us, “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” Father and mother, you are God’s delegated authority in the home to govern for God and for the benefit and everlasting life of your children. Parents who love their children will teach those children to honor them. If children honor their parents, they will honor God and all those he has placed in authority. But if you fail to teach your children to honor you, they will not honor the pastors or elders, the teachers, the police, or any other authority. Without discipline, a child grows wild and foolish, eventually meriting the judgment of God, both historical, in the here and now, and eschatological, at the last judgment. And if some day the state says we cannot use the rod to punish our own children, we will have to disobey that order, for the state has no right to restrict us from doing what the Bible commands.

Only those parents who themselves love and embrace discipline in their own lives will give discipline to their children, for one can never give what one has not received, valued, and embraced. So those who hate discipline will not discipline their children. But such parents will be judged by God, because they failed in their God-given responsibility. The day will come when all parents must give an account of their children to God, just as a pastor must give an account to God of his flock. If you are parents, I counsel you to fear God and train your children to become lovers of God.

The Authority of the State

The second God-delegated authority is the state. We read about the state specifically and especially in Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17. The government of the state is “from God”-hupo Theou. This idea appears three times in the first two verses of Romans 13. The idea is that the authority of the state is not inherent in the state itself, but is given to the state by God. All authority originates in God.

Romans 13:1 begins, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Here we see that the state is an institution established by God, just like the family and the church. Verse 2 continues, “Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.”

It is interesting to note that we are not told that we should submit only to a “Christian” government. We are not even told about the nature of the government to which we must submit, whether it is a democracy, a theocracy, a plutocracy or an autocracy. We do know that there was no Christian government existing when Paul wrote this letter. Yet Paul tells us that the authority of even a pagan government comes from God himself, for God is a God of order, not anarchy. So all government is from God, and we are to subject ourselves to it, no matter what type of government it is.

We are told three times in this passage that the state is a servant, or minister, of God-diakonos tou Theou; therefore it is responsible to God. The state has the dual ministry of promoting good and punishing evil. This is also true of the government in the home as well as in the church.

What is the responsibility of the people of the state? They are to be subject to this God-ordained government and render obedience to it, without exception. It says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.” That means we must all pay tax. When we do so, we are giving money to God, just as we do when we contribute to the church. Why does God command us to pay tax? Because government cannot exist without money. In a democracy we may have some say as to how much we should pay, but the fact is there can be no government without money.

So we are to pay tax, obey just laws, and respect those who govern us. That does not mean we are to worship them. Jesus Christ said, “Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Taxes belong to government authorities; worship belongs to God alone. Caesars may demand our worship, but we are not to give it; it is given only to the Sovereign God. We are also commanded to pray for our government leaders. Additionally, we should be involved actively in politics, especially by voting intelligently.

The Westminster Confession elaborates on the duty of the people to the state:

It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates, to honor their persons, to pay them tribute or other dues, to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience’ sake. Infidelity, or difference in religion, doth not make void the magistrates’ just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to them: from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted, much less hath the pope any power and jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over any of their people; and, least of all, to deprive them of their dominions, or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pretense whatsoever (Chapter 23, Section 4).

What power is granted to the state? The sword. The power of the parents is the rod, but the state alone is given the power of the sword, which means it has the authority to kill the defiant. Capital punishment promotes the sanctity of life. He who disobeys and rebels against the state is disobeying and rebelling against God himself, just as one who rebels against parents or pastors is rebelling against God. A disobedient citizen experiences the wrath of God through the sword of government.

Christians must obey the state, not only because it wields the power of the sword, but also for the sake of conscience, which is a higher standard. Such obedience is the will of God, which Christians delight to do. So failure to do one’s duty to the state is to violate one’s conscience.

In John 19:10-11 we find Jesus standing before Pilate: “‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given you from above.'” In the Greek it is hupo Theou-“from God.” The authority of the state comes straight from heaven.

Certainly Pilate acted wrongly when he crucified Jesus unjustly, just as the Sanhedrin violated Jesus’ rights and condemned him unjustly. God will judge them for that, for he is a God of order, not of confusion. He will not approve of anarchy, whether in the home or in the church or in the state. The last verse in the book of Judges reads: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” This is anarchy. God opposes all antinomianism and autonomy, because it is antithetical to social order. Whether in the home or in the church or in the state, communal life cannot exist when people are autonomous.

The Authority of the Church

The church also exists by divine authorization. The duties of the church are described in the Westminster Confession, chapter 30, sections 1-4:

The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his church, hath therein appointed a government, in the hand of church officers, distinct from the civil magistrate.

To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed; by virtue whereof, they have power, respectively, to retain, and remit sins; to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the Word, and censures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the gospel; and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require.

Church censures are necessary, for the reclaiming and gaining of offending brethren, for deterring of others from the like offenses, for purging out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump, for vindicating the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the gospel, and for preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the church, if they should suffer his covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by notorious and obstinate offenders.

For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the church are to proceed by admonition; suspension from the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper for a season; and by excommunication from the church; according to the nature of the crime, and demerit of the person.

Acts 20:17 speaks about church government, specifically that of the large church of Ephesus in Asia Minor: “From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.” These were men who were appointed and ordained by God, the Holy Spirit. In Acts 20:28 Paul directed them, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God.” My mother used to tell me the same thing. “Before you start preaching,” she would say, “watch out for yourself.” Pastors and elders are to keep watch over themselves first, in terms of a holy life. They should not be thieves, liars, deceivers, drug addicts, or fornicators. Additionally, their children should not be wild and disobedient (Titus 1:6).

Ephesians 4:11-13 also speaks of the divine appointment of church government: “It was he”-that is, the resurrected Christ, the Sovereign Lord and Head of the church-“who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” And 1 Corinthians 12:28 says, “In the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles,” and so on. The authority of the church and its ministers comes from Christ.

What, then, is the job of those God has placed over his church? Very simply, it is to faithfully preach the gospel and govern the affairs of the church, caring for the flock. Pray! Preach! Protect! These are the duties of a pastor.

What power has God given the church? The home has the rod, the state has the sword, and the church has the keys. In Matthew 16:19 we see Jesus Christ granting power to the church: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This is exactly what the Westminster Confession said. The church uses the key of the gospel to bring people in and to put people out. That is the power of the church.

What is the duty of God’s people in the church? It is found in the Bible. You may notice that what is written there is antithetical to the current political culture of democracy. (PGM) But the church is not governed according to current political culture; it is governed by the word of God.

Let us then look at what is expected from the people of God. First, at a time when people glory in libertinism and antinomianism, Hebrews 13:17 tells us, “Obey your leaders.” That does not mean negotiate with them, rebuke them, or show contempt to them. It says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” In 1 Corinthians 16:15-16 Paul says, “You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it.” These verses teach that the church cannot be filled with autonomous Christians and experience any social order and peace. Submission to leaders is required.

Second, the flock is supposed to respect its leaders. In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 Paul tells us in regard to the leaders God placed over us in the church, “Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.” We are not to hold our pastors and elders in high regard or higher regard, but in highest regard. When you do not respect people, you do not respond to or benefit from their teaching; in the same way, if you do not respect the leaders of the church, you are depriving yourself of God’s grace that comes through his word.

Finally, the flock is to provide for the leaders. First Corinthians 9:14 says, “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel,” and Galatians 6:6 says, “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.” In 1 Timothy 5:17 we are told, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.'” The idea of double honor means there is respect first, and then there is money. That is double honor, especially for those who preach and teach in the word of God, which is the word of his grace.

This, then, is the responsibility of the flock toward their leaders: submission, respect, and provision.

Limitation of Authority

What are the limits placed on these authorities? We are to submit to God’s delegated authorities in the home, state, and church, right up to the point where obedience to them would entail disobedience to the absolute sovereign God. It is our responsibility to disobey if they forbid what God clearly commands, or if they command what God clearly forbids. So children must disobey their parents if they forbid them to believe in Jesus Christ and worship him regularly. We must disobey Caesar if he demands that we worship him and not Jesus Christ. We must disobey preachers if they refuse to preach the word of God and teach doctrines that are clearly contrary to it.

The Bible gives many illustrations of people who did right by disobeying authority. In Daniel 3, the three Hebrew children were asked to worship an image set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. They refused, and were thrown into the fire. Then in chapter 6, Daniel was commanded not to pray to his God, but to pray to the king for thirty days. He refused, and was thrown into the lions’ den. In Acts 4 and 5, the apostles were told not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ. This was a clear violation of what the Sovereign God had commanded them to do when he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). So what did the apostles say? “We must obey God rather than men!”

Liberty of Conscience

I want to say a couple of words about conscience. Conscience is the final refuge of an autonomous Christian scoundrel. Based on their own conscience, the early Anabaptists of the sixteenth-century rejected all civil government. In the seventeenth century in England, the Fifth Monarchy men rejected all civil government, based on their argument of liberty of conscience.

Yet the Bible tells us the exact opposite. We are to obey the governing authorities, not only because we fear punishment, but also because of our Christian conscience (Romans 13:5). Knowing their authority came from God, we have a duty to submit to them. A Christian delights in the will of God. Only a scoundrel will use the argument of liberty of conscience to disobey parents, state government, or church leaders.

The consciences of those who reject authority are not good, clear, or pure. Paul makes this point in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, where he speaks about so-called Christians: “The [Holy] Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith,” that is, the Christian faith. Do you think such people will come and say, “I just abandoned the Christian faith”? No! They will still pretend to be Christians, yet they “will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with hot iron.” These people are dead and insensitive to the word of God, yet they hide behind “liberty of conscience.” So we must ask the question, what conscience are they speaking about? A seared conscience. If a person has a good conscience, he will submit to God by submitting to God’s delegated authorities.

Conscience is like a sundial. It functions somewhat accurately only when the sun is shining upon it. It is not at all accurate in the moonlight. Even so, when a Christian knows the word of God, is led by the Spirit of God, and is living a holy life, he will have a good conscience that will cause him to submit to God and to his delegated authorities. Conscience is never our absolute or final authority (1 Corinthians 4:4).

The Westminster Confession deals with the issue of liberty of conscience, as we read in an article by Michael Wagner, “A Presbyterian Political Manifesto: Presbyterianism and Civil Government” (http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/PresbPol.htm). Wagner quotes the Westminster Confession, chapter 20, section 4: “And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another,”-[notice, both conscience and delegated authorities have their function]-“they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.” You see, this was written in the seventeenth century, when scoundrels were hiding behind the pretenseof liberty of conscience and opposing any government. The Westminster Confession says such people may lawfully be called to account and proceeded against by the censures of the church.

Wagner then quotes a Scottish theologian, Thomas M’Crie:

It should also be pointed out that the section of the Westminster Confession quoted above was written specifically to counter abuses concerning “liberty of conscience.” True Presbyterians have always defended every person’s liberty of conscience. But here the Confession states that liberty of conscience cannot be used as an excuse to oppose “lawful power” and to disturb “the external peace and order” of the church. Liberty of conscience does not override the obligation to obey authorities acting according to God’s Word. “He who is the Lord of the conscience has also instituted the authorities in Church and State; and it would be in the highest degree absurd to suppose that he has planted in the breast of every individual a power to resist, counteract, and nullify his own ordinances” (M’Crie, Thomas, Unity of the Church,1821 [republished Dallas, Texas: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1989],162)

Wagner continues, “That the Confession’s authors felt it necessary to write out a statement expressing the limitations on liberty of conscience is understandable considering the historical situation in which they lived. At the time, England was experiencing a civil war and certain sectarian groups were using “liberty of conscience” as a slogan to advocate various forms of lawlessness.”

Then Wagner quotes James Bannerman, a nineteenth century theologian:

The Sectaries who during the civil wars {in the seventeenth century in England} used the watchwords of “liberty of conscience” and “universal toleration,” in behalf of views which the authors of the Westminster standards felt bound to oppose as in the highest degree destructive of civil and ecclesiastical order. . . {Such people} may be divided into four classes: 1. Those who “pretended liberty of conscience” against all Church authority, – such as the Brownists, who held that no man should be brought under Church discipline or excommunicated for any action or opinion in behalf of which he could urge that plea. 2. Those who “pretended liberty of conscience” against all civil authority, – such as the Fifth Monarchy men, who demanded universal community of goods and levelling of ranks, and “the world to be put under the feet of the saints.” {You see, they said, “The millennium has come, and I am now the ruler.”} 3. Those who “pretended liberty of conscience” against the practical authority of the law of God, – such as the Antinomians, who maintained that the moral law was buried in the grave of Christ, and was no longer binding upon a Christian man as a rule of duty. {In other words, the whole Ten Commandments are buried with Christ and have no more relevance to us.} 4. Those who “pretended liberty of conscience” against the authority of God as a standard of belief conveyed to us in the Scriptures, – such as the Libertines, who asserted that all opinions were alike innocent, if only held conscientiously. {In other words, they threw the entire Bible out.} (Bannerman, James, The Church of Christ. Vol. 1, 1869 [republished Edmonton, Alberta: Still Waters Revival Books 1991], 182-183) {Bracketed comments by P.G. Mathew}.

Honoring God’s Delegated Authorities

Jesus Christ is the Lord of history, the Head of the church, and the Lord of every Christian family. The authority of church, state, and family is the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. To obey these delegated authorities is to obey Christ; as Jesus said, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me” (Matthew 10:40). But to rebel against these authorities is to rebel against the Lord himself. Such rebels, we are told, will be punished by God himself in history and at the end of history: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7).

In conclusion, let us consider a story from 2 Samuel 10. While King David was on the throne, he heard that Nahash king of Ammon had died. It appears there had been a treaty between Nahash and David, so David sent some people as ambassadors to show sympathy in the situation. But instead of receiving the ambassadors properly, the arrogant young king, Hanun, shaved off half their beards and cut off the part of their garments covering their buttocks, and sent the men back to David. This was serious humiliation, not simply of the ambassadors, but of King David himself! But notice how David responded. He did not say, “Well, Nahash didn’t humiliate me; he just humiliated some of my people, so it is all right.” No! He sent his army out, and it completely defeated and enslaved the Ammonite kingdom.

Children, if you dishonor your father and mother, you are dishonoring the Almighty God, and he is going to deal with you severely. If you do not honor the government or the police, and if you disobey the laws of the state, you are going to be dealt with by God himself. If you think that you can abuse a pastor or an elder who has been appointed by God, and then think you can get away by pleading “liberty of conscience,” you are mistaken. You will not get away with it, because, as Jesus taught, “He who rejects you rejects me, and rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16).

I pray that we will all joyfully submit to God and to all God-established authorities, that we may live in the blessing of our only sovereign God.