The wise man trusts in the Lord, not in human leaders whose plans are finite and often futile. Even those leaders who trust in God and seek to follow Him are fallible and can lead you astray. Yet God tells us that our human leaders have authority from Him. Godly leaders will probably at least consider our suggestions. Ungodly ones will most likely reject our suggestions outright or claim falsely to consider them.

There are many today who question why Christians are so concerned with active Christian participation in government in the USA or any other country. Many see God as having complete authority and refuse to honor government leaders. Others honor human leaders as being their only source of power and authority and discount God completely. Both of these positions are not supported by God’s Word. There are many degrees of belief about authority and power that range between these positions but the only correct one is the biblical position – not because I say so, but because God Himself has declared it to be so.

This study by its very nature would take at least a book to cover in any detail. It is worth your time to study what the Bible has to teach us about power and authority. But my presentation can only be a basic review because I don’t have the room for complete coverage. It can be a useful starting place for your study.

Most Christians do not believe that our government, or any person, can fix the problems that face any government today. The Bible seems to teach that this is true. “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118: 8-9, NIV).  “Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God” (Psalm 146: 1-5, NIV).

The wise man trusts in the Lord, not in human leaders whose plans are finite and often futile. Even those leaders who trust in God and seek to follow Him are fallible and can lead you astray. Yet God tells us that our human leaders have authority from Him. Godly leaders will probably at least consider our suggestions. Ungodly ones will most likely reject our suggestions outright or claim falsely to consider them.

So why the great concern?

The verses above tell us that even though our human leaders have power from God, they do not have a full understanding of any situation and therefore do not always render proper decisions. All humanity that trusts in God can be wiser than any human leader not trusting in God, however, none of us is all-knowing and therefore we are all fallible. God, who is all-knowing, gave us prayer and the Bible to seek His wisdom. We must carefully seek God’s wisdom in every matter before we open our mouth.

If you are studying God’s Word it will usually be pretty easy to know if your leaders are doing their job as Scripture dictates. It is when we are not studying His Word that we get led into false teaching. (See 2 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Colossians 2:6-15.)

ALL authority comes from God

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13: 1-7, ASV).

If God is the one who gave our leaders their authority, then it stands to reason that He has authority over them and His position on the use of that authority is preeminent over theirs. If God were not over them, He could never have given them authority. Scripture is full of instances where God put those in authority out of power. Read about King Saul: I Samuel 9 – 20. In Romans, Paul even tells us that

In our society, we (all citizens together) have a lot of say in what our leaders are allowed to do. This authority is from God also. We must seek to use it properly, with wisdom, or we will lose that authority. Below, I close with a section from 1 Timothy. I have been challenged by that passage as I read it. We also must follow God’s commands on how to speak out about the issues we face today.

God Has a Purpose

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” (Romans 9:17 ESV).  God put Pharaoh in authority, raised up Moses to proclaim God’s word to him and then, using Moses, showed Pharaoh who had the power as He magnified his own name over Egypt and freed the Jews from their authority. By the way, Pharaoh was removed from power through death as Pharaoh led the forces of Egypt against Israel. Israel had no forces but God defeated him by the use of His power over nature.

God has put those, whether elected or otherwise, in authority, giving them authority. All those who have authority receive it from God. We as subjects of God are subject to His authority. Paul explains that very thoroughly here in Romans. Remember, those He puts into positions of authority, He can remove, just as easily – if He so desires.

When our leaders misuse God’s Authority

Scripture is full of people who thought their power and authority was absolute. But not every person in authority uses that authority to do God’s will. We see that today as many of our leaders in the USA from all political parties misuse the authority that God granted them. What then?

There are many instances throughout the Gospels and Acts where the principles of authority are acted out for us. Jesus called the Jewish authorities to account many times and pointed them to the Word of God. Christ’s Apostles refused obedience to those in authority over them throughout the book of Acts and were jailed, beaten, imprisoned, and even put to death. Yet they never repented of these seeming acts of disobedience. They often said that when the orders of those in authority contradicted the Word of God, that God’s Word was of greater authority and so they obeyed God’s Word. Read the Book of Acts for many examples of this. Our authority, and the use of it, is found in the Word of God.

These men declared the Word of God in active (often unwanted) participation with their leadership. This is still the mandate for Christians to this very day. When our human leaders go against the ordinances of God, we are to continue obeying what God has commanded in His Word. They let their human leaders know this and did what God commanded. This they did even when the authorities (leaders) of their customs and country punished them and put them to death. God will use every instance of our obedience and disobedience – everyone else too – to Him to eventually (in His timing) bring glory and honor to His Name. God took several generations to bring Israel out from under the power of Egypt. While it is – or at least should be – our desire to do his will to please Him, he has guaranteed to bring His end to pass. We will be part of doing His will either as sinners or obedient servants. Which part of His will do you want to be part of? He has an end in mind even now and God’s Will will come to pass.

And HIS People

For our part, we are to continue to seek His will, and in obedience to Him, speaking out for what He says in His Word, and honoring his name in whatever He gives us to do. Let me stress: it must be according to God’s will. He will empower us.

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (1 Timothy 3:1-11, ESV).

Bill Robfogel is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, served as amissionary in Nigeria, and is now retired in Sebring, Fla.