SHALL WE OBEY GOD, OR MAN?
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.” Rom. 13:1. This is a very plain declaration, and it would seem that there is no excuse for misunderstanding it. All the power that any man or any governmental body has is of God, the Source of all power; therefore every man and every governmental agency is under obligation to render due allegiance to God, and to make a legitimate use of the power with which God has endowed such individual or official body. Then the first duty of every one is loyalty to God’s authority—obedience to His will, which is expressed in His law. But sinful men are prone to pervert the gifts of God, whether of power or other endowment. So kings, governors, legislators, and other officials—just as ordinary individuals—often misuse their authority, and exercise their functions without regard to the will of God. In this way laws are sometimes enacted whose provisions contravene the law of God, and it is insisted that these laws must be obeyed, because we are enjoined to be subject to the higher powers. What, then, is duty? Duty is clearly seen when we reflect that the individual’s first duty, his prime allegiance, is to God; that no agency is authorized to intervene between him and the law of God, who is a still “higher power” than any earthly power. The Scriptures furnish abundant illustration of this principle. Daniel declined to eat the food ordered for him by King Nebuchadnezzar, because he would not defile himself before God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to the king’s golden image, because the decree required him to disobey the commandment of God. For the same reason, Daniel refused to obey King Darius’ decree that no prayer should be offered to any one but himself for thirty days. Christ disregarded the traditions of the Jewish rulers, because they made of none effect the law of God. Peter and John disregarded the command of the Jewish council not to preach in the name of Jesus, and said, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” And on another occasion, before the same authorized power, when arraigned for persistent defiance of official command, “Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Moreover, all the martyrdom of God’s chosen servants has been on the plea that they disregarded the authority of “the powers that be.” Yet no class of people ever lived who were more obedient to the laws of the land, as long as these laws did not require disobedience of God’s law, no matter how unjust the human statutes may have been in other respects.