To whom should every person be subject?...

To the authorities placed over him or her.

The saint learns from the Lord to be subject to people who are in authority over him, whether in the church or in the world.

An attitude of rebellion and resistance against authority is not approved of God. Satan was the leader of the original rebellion, the original revolution.

God always works in terms of authority. God is a King. The Kingdom of God operates according to lines of authority. A person who will not accept authority cannot make a success of entering the Kingdom of God.

The true saints of Christ are meek and teachable. Although they know how to rejoice and to triumph fiercely and independently in the Lord God, and are free from all men, yet they also know how to submit themselves one to another and to all authority, in the name of Christ. They have been taught submission to authority and are in peace in their submission.

The reason the saint finds rest in submitting to authority is that he has learned to look past the ruler to the Lord and perform his service to the Lord Jesus.

Whether the authority is in his home or the church or the government of the country, the saint is to obey the authority as unto the Lord, trusting God to make certain he is ruled according to God’s will.

One of the prime lessons of the life of victory in Christ is that of acceptance of authority. Some Christians will not accept authority. They are useless to the Kingdom of God.

The only time a Christian is to defy authority is when the Spirit of God directs him to do so. This does not happen often. Usually it is the pride and self-seeking of the Christian that causes him to break rules and resist the law.

In almost every case, God will enable the Christian to keep all the laws made by man. The Christian must be patient and look to God rather than attempt to grasp control of circumstances that are displeasing to him or that he thinks are unrighteous.

The excuse that the laws were made by the unsaved is not an excuse in the sight of God. It is our God who established the unsaved in their positions of authority.

Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another (Psalms 75:5-7). It is the immoral who resist authority and government.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. (Jude 1:8).

If we would please Jesus we must submit ourselves one to another and to all authority. We are not to be flatterers or man-pleasers. We are to perform our work and serve Christ. We are to fear God and "honour the king." Yet, we remain free in our heart from all men because we are the servants of Christ.

The true saint (holy one) is a diligent, conscientious worker because he always performs his responsibilities and tasks as to the Lord, whether he is working in the church or in the world.

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