Submission, but Not Obedience
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
While we cannot obey earthly governments when they come in conflict with the law of God, we need not resist them. This point is well put by Dr. Lyman Abbott, as follows:— “The church may impose the creed or the ritual against which the conscientious judgment of the individual revolts; the State may call upon the Quaker to bear arms in war; and thus not merely the opinion or taste of the individual, but his conscience, may be brought into collision with the judgment or even the conscience of the community or the family. What then? The answer of the Scriptures to this question is plainly submission, but not obedience. The individual is not even then to set the community at defiance by resistance; neither is he to yield to the community by acquiescence. He is simply to disobey the law, act on his own conscience, and accept the consequences. Thus Daniel, forbidden to pray, raised no revolt against the palpably unjust decree, but prayed and bore the penalty. Thus the apostles, forbidden to preach, organized no resistance to the palpably illegal decree of the Sanhedrin—for freedom of speech was a constitutional right in the Jewish Commonwealth—but went on with their preaching and submitted to arrest and trial.” “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” The apostles had been beaten—a punishment that carries with it more disgrace than anything else. And yet they rejoiced. As we study the lesson, it is easy for us to see why they should rejoice; but how would it be if we were in similar circumstances? If we think that we would do as they did, we can easily test the matter. If we endure the little trials that befall us, uncomplainingly; if we are patient under abuse or ridicule, then it may be that we could rejoice in persecutions. It is not a hardship, but a privilege, for the Christian to suffer for Christ. It is accounted as much a blessing as it is to be allowed to believe on him. Phil. 1: 29. See also 1 Thess. 3: 3; 2 Tim. 2: 12; Matt. 5: 10–12. E. J. W.