Commands Modified by Examples

Romans 13

“Let every soul be in subjection to higher powers… they are ordained of God”
“Rulers are not a terror to the good work but to evil workers”
“He (the ruler) is a minister of God, an avenger of wrath to those who do evil”

These verses teach Christians to obey government rule and to be loyal subjects. Taken by themselves one could make the argument that Christians must do whatever government charges them to do… even if it is contrary to God’s other commandments.

However, commandments must never be isolated from examples in the scripture. Examples, found in the scriptures, can often modify our understanding of a command.

Take for example Moses. His parents disobeyed the command of the King of Egypt that all male newborn children had to be killed. Did they violate what is taught in Romans 13?

Apparently not, Hebrews 11:23, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid by his parents… and they were not afraid of the King’s command”. Their disobedience was called “faith”.

So we interpret the teaching in Romans 13 to mean that “generally” we are to be subject to government and we obey our governmental leaders unless they issue a law that clearly violates God’s other commands like… “Thou shall not kill”.

Understanding God’s laws for us requires patient study of the scriptures and the balancing of commands and examples. There are no shortcuts when it comes to Bible study.