Overview:
God’s people often are in a dilemma. While we are citizens of heaven, we’re
nevertheless instructed to be good and involved citizens of our country. Scripture
commands us to both obey God and to submit to human governing authorities.
But what do we do when those two realms of authority come into conflict? Do we
yield to the biblical injunctions to obey God regardless? Or do we follow the equally
authoritative biblical imperatives to obey the civil government? Jesus said to “render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25), yet godly men and women
occasionally rebelled against the rule of human authorities. At the same time, we
encourage respect for governmental authorities. Which is correct? Aren’t there times
when it’s right to rebel?
