THE STATE AS FALSE GOD

The state as false god

The gowned clowns’ recent legislation — sorry, decision on sodomites’ “right” to marry — is disastrous, an outrage, anti-Constitutional, totalitarian and evil. But it does have a silver lining: It has prodded various Christians to resist the state. 

Though we sat silent as the Feds sexually assaulted passengers in airports or even cheered the killing of our fellow Christians in the Mideast, some of us are finally, in the 59th minute of the 11th hour, rising to defend the faith and, coincidentally, freedom.

But what are we to do with Romans 13? Its very first verse — “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God” — would seem to prohibit even disapproval of government, let alone the slightest disinclination to obey its edicts. And indeed, many believers insist that “in most situations we should cooperate with civil authorities, since they have a God-ordained function in society.” 

But this stance confuses us into a baffling compromise: “On the one hand, we are obligated to obey civil authorities; but on the other hand, civil authorities are not always right and cannot always be obeyed.” A few Christians go further: they imply that since the emperor in power when St. Paul wrote Romans was hostile — lethally so — to Christians, we must always obey government, however godless or wicked its dictates. 

The only exception these folks allow comes when rulers violate God’s law, based on Acts 5:29 (“We ought to obey God rather than men”). I’m not sure how such policies as no-fault divorce or subsidizing abortionists who sell “fetal tissue” uphold God’s law, but they must since so many churches still display the American flag and “minister” to U.S. troops.

Yet the text of Romans 13 never mentions an exemption, which means Acts 5:29 must contradict it. But if the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God as it claims, how can one section repudiate another?

Meanwhile, there are other, more egregious contradictions as well. Those “governing authorities” God supposedly appoints routinely violate at least three of the Ten Commandments. Government’s lifeblood is theft: It cannot exist without the legalized robbery if calls “taxation.” Glance at any newspaper’s headlines to see how often politicians and bureaucrats bear false witness, i.e., lie. And the state casually, callously murders then lies yet again by euphemizing its butchery as “war.”

Once again, we note the lack of exemption. The Eighth Commandment doesn’t read, “Thou shalt not steal — unless thou ‘workest’ for the IRS, and then it’s OK to extort money by force.” Nor does the Sixth Commandment condone murder as long as thou wearest a uniform. So should American Christians enlist in the military? What about Christians in Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Russia?

Jesus Christ reinforced the Commandments with the Golden Rule, paraphrased as “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” I haven’t met too many folks who appreciate others’ picking their pockets; I presume even the IRS’s thieves would protest mightily should any of us confront them in an alley and steal 31.5 percent of the money in their wallets. Ditto for the most ferocious of Uncle Sam’s soldiers if a troop of Iraqis destroyed his town as he has theirs. So it seems that the Golden Rule prohibits Christians from supporting government in any way.

Indeed, many passages, such as Judges 9 and I Samuel 8, clearly condemn the state. They chastise it as a false and harmful god, presuming to rule in place of providence while utterly exploiting us to boot. And Psalm 2 tells us that God laughs in derision at government. These and myriad other verses prove that far from “ordaining” the state, as so many Christians erroneously aver, God despises it. And no wonder: Satan owns it.

He declares that ownership in Luke 4 when he arrives in the wilderness to tempt our Lord. One of Satan’s tests involves “taking [Christ] up on a high mountain [and] show[ing] Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’”

You cannot “give” something you do not own. Nor does Jesus refute Satan’s claims. The latter asserts three times that he can “give” those “kingdoms” (and the original Greek translated as “kingdoms” refers specifically to political leaders, or kings, not to the nation as a whole), yet Christ never once says, “Wait a minute! My Father ordained earthly government, so you don’t own it and can’t give it to Me.” And Jesus tacitly assents when Satan declares that the state “has been delivered to me.” Apparently, the “governing authorities” with all their violence, force, brutality, greed and corruption disgust the Almighty so thoroughly that He ceded political government to Satan.

That brings us back to Romans 13. We can easily resolve our dilemma by looking at the original Greek. The word mentioned above — the one that signifies “government” — never once appears in this chapter. Rather, the “authorities” are social ones, such as parents, tutors (i.e., private teachers), owners of property. (1) Without the political government that the Bible proscribes, such “authorities” are essential for maintaining peace and order — and we as Christians are to respect them. For example, when I enter your home or business, I should honor your wishes while there; I may not trespass, and I certainly lack all authority for ordering you to swap your incandescent bulbs for CFLs or compelling you to buy a permit before you add another room.

Far from “ordaining” political government, God vigorously condemns it. No Christian should ever acquiesce to the state’s evil, let alone actively support it or, horrors, “work” for it. Rather, let us “stand fast … in the liberty by which Christ has made us free.”

–Becky Akers

1) I am indebted to Paul Green’s correct reading of the Greek. Readhis exegesis on Romans 13 here. Find more of his articles on the Bible and anarchy here.

http://personalliberty.com/the-state-as-false-god/

My comments: Listen to Isaiah speak abut the Nations: "ALL the Nations are as Nothing before Him; they are regarded by Him as less than Nothing, and emptiness (waste, futility and worthlessness)." (Isaiah 40:17, AMP) Why is this? Because they ALL belong to Satan. (1 John 5:19)