To resist lawful authority without just cause is not a mark of maturity or courage. It is a sign of a heart that has not yet learned to bow. And until we recover a biblical seriousness about rebellion, we will struggle to cultivate the peace, order, and godly fear that Scripture envisions for society, home, and church.

In recent years there has been a great deal of discussion in society and the church about the abuse of authority. We hear frequent warnings against domineering husbands, heavy-handed elders, overreaching pastors, and tyrannical governments. Experience shows that these are real concerns, and they deserve serious responses. Thankfully, Scripture speaks plainly to them, and the Bible forbids the use of authority for selfish gain and wrong ends. Christ condemns those who lord it over others, and the Apostles remind superiors that they will give an account to God for how they exercise their authority.

But there’s another danger that seems to receive far less attention—one that is just as spiritually destructive and far more culturally acceptable: the sin of rebellion. We live in a society shaped by the ideal that, in the pursuit of independence, it sometimes becomes necessary “to throw off such Government.” We almost romanticize revolution. Increasingly, people are growing deeply suspicious of authority in any form, and rebellion is reframed as courage. Resistance is praised almost reflexively. Submission, by contrast, is viewed as weakness or moral compromise.

Yet Scripture doesn’t speak this way. While the Bible is unsparing in its condemnation of abusive authority, it is equally severe in its judgment of rebellion against lawful authority. While many acknowledge the former, the latter is frequently minimized, excused, ignored, or even championed among professing Christians.

In thinking about rebellion, we need to begin where the Bible begins: with God’s ordering of the world through legitimate authority. Authority isn’t a human invention or merely the result of a social contract. It’s a divine ordinance, “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Rom. 13:1). Structures of authority in society, the church, and the home are necessary to preserve order, peace, and righteousness. In part, God governs the world through these authorities, so our service to him is found in submission to them: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” (1 Pt. 2:13).

In Reformed teaching, this reality is often described in terms of superior and inferior. These categories are relational. A superior is one whom God has placed in a position of authority; an inferior is one who stands under that authority—in state, in the church, and in the family. These authorities differ in scope and function, but they share a common source. To reject lawful authority, therefore, is never simply a horizontal act. It is ultimately an act directed against God: “Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” (Rom. 13:2).

This is why the Fifth Commandment, “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12), is foundational to biblical ethics. It doesn’t simply relate to family life; it establishes the principle that authority is a good gift from God and that honoring lawful superiors is a moral duty rooted in God’s will. While it specifically names parental authority, Scripture and the Reformed faith have long understood that it includes all lawful superiors. As the Westminster Larger Catechism says, “The general scope of the fifth commandment is the performance of those duties which we mutually owe in our several relations, as inferiors, superiors, or equals” (Q&A 126).

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