The problem with preaching to individuals, as individuals only, is that the corporate nature of the covenant is lost. Because individual resistance can be anarchy, the issue of resistance must be comprehended as a corporate matter. When two separate magistrates who represent the body politic demand your obedience, who will you obey? 

In the recent post of “The Authority and Purpose of Civil Magistrates”, the conclusion appears to be that we must submit to all civil magistrates, even when they are tyrants.  I must take issue with this for the following reasons.

1. The Covenant – Those granted authority by God whether in the family, the church, or the state rule only under covenantal authority. This means that they are accountable to God and to his law. When they break the covenant, they forfeit their authority. They need to be resisted.
2. Anarchy – Anarchy is individual resistance. It is chaos. The Bible does not sanction anarchy.  Individuals have a right to disobey authority only when they can say “‘we must obey God rather than men.” As outlaws, anarchists cannot form a posse, take the law into their own hands, and pursue the replacement of tyrants. This recent post clearly targets the individual.
3. The Lesser Magistrate – The problem with preaching to individuals, as individuals only, is that the corporate nature of the covenant is lost. Because individual resistance can be anarchy, the issue of resistance must be comprehended as a corporate matter. When two separate magistrates who represent the body politic demand your obedience, who will you obey? It is my contention that when a higher magistrate (like the federal government) exceeds both its biblical and constitutional powers, the lesser magistrates (like the states) have the right to resist.
4. The Revolutionary War – As a descendent of a several soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, I applaud their bravery in taking up arms for the lesser magistrates (colonial army) against King George III and the British Parliament (higher magistrate). The covenant of Great Britain with the colonies was broken, and the colonists were called upon to defend their property and their families. If tyrants cannot be resisted under any circumstances, then America owes an apology to Great Britain.
5. The Present Tyranny – They are numerous. For example, the Constitution of my own State, Tennessee, plainly says that no judicial court can overturn our position that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The Supreme Court has nullified the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, and therefore should be resisted by the lesser magistrate.  Presently, the Tennessee State Legislature does not have the courage to resist, but our fight continues.

The federal government has forfeited its legitimate authority under a covenantal God.  They must be resisted, not by anarchists, but by local and state magistrates faithful to their covenant obligations to both God and to the people. The application of the Bible to individuals is certainly proper, but apart from the corporate concept of the covenant, sadly it legitimizes tyranny in the name of God.

Larry E. Ball is a Honorably Retired Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.