PolyPride
Member
I know it's commonly thought of that we only serve or obey God, but I've realized that is only half of the story. According to Scripture, Christians should obey "certain" people in position and not just God. Here are some verses to support this view:
Slaves "obey" your earthly masters
Ephesians 6: 5-7 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Wives obey your husband
1 Peter 3:5-7
5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Everyone should obey their leaders
Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Everyone obey your leaders as the supreme authority
1 Peter 2: 13-15 13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
God sets up kings, authorities, powers and takes them away (like He did with King Nebuchadnezzar, King Darius, etc.)
Daniel 2:21
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them
God sets up kings, authorities, powers part 2
Gospel of John 19: 10-11
10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
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Now to be fair here, there are also verses that mention to serve or obey ONLY God. Examples:
Gospel of Luke 4:8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.' "
Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him onlyand take your oaths in his name.
I'm left with asking, how can I obey my leaders which God has set up, obey my parents (as a child), obey my "earthly" masters, and for wives to obey their husbands, while ONLY obeying God, at the same time?
Now I'm not going to pretend I have a perfect explanation for this nor will I draw conclusions based off of apparently conflicting pieces of information while pretending there's no problem with doing that.
Perhaps, part of God's will is that I do the will of others', like my leader's, parent's... (and I'm assuming there's also room in here for my own will, i.e. free-will) will?
I know I can not serve mammon and God at the same time, unless it was God's will that I also serve mammon, which in turn would mean that I'm also serving Him since that's what He wanted me to do.
Now when it comes to if the people who God wants us to serve tell us to sin, I would say that God wouldn't want us following them at that point or following them when it comes to that particular act. God never wants us to sin but to repent. The hardest place this may be to practice in our day is when the government tells a person to do a sinful thing, like renounce Christ. A Christian shouldn't commit that sin of course, but then you also have to accept the risk of facing consequences which God says to count it as a blessing when you suffer for His name and His Word just as Jesus, Paul, some of the other Apostles, and other early Christians had to suffer.
Slaves "obey" your earthly masters
Ephesians 6: 5-7 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Wives obey your husband
1 Peter 3:5-7
5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
Everyone should obey their leaders
Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Everyone obey your leaders as the supreme authority
1 Peter 2: 13-15 13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
God sets up kings, authorities, powers and takes them away (like He did with King Nebuchadnezzar, King Darius, etc.)
Daniel 2:21
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them
God sets up kings, authorities, powers part 2
Gospel of John 19: 10-11
10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now to be fair here, there are also verses that mention to serve or obey ONLY God. Examples:
Gospel of Luke 4:8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.' "
Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him onlyand take your oaths in his name.
I'm left with asking, how can I obey my leaders which God has set up, obey my parents (as a child), obey my "earthly" masters, and for wives to obey their husbands, while ONLY obeying God, at the same time?
Now I'm not going to pretend I have a perfect explanation for this nor will I draw conclusions based off of apparently conflicting pieces of information while pretending there's no problem with doing that.
Perhaps, part of God's will is that I do the will of others', like my leader's, parent's... (and I'm assuming there's also room in here for my own will, i.e. free-will) will?
I know I can not serve mammon and God at the same time, unless it was God's will that I also serve mammon, which in turn would mean that I'm also serving Him since that's what He wanted me to do.
Now when it comes to if the people who God wants us to serve tell us to sin, I would say that God wouldn't want us following them at that point or following them when it comes to that particular act. God never wants us to sin but to repent. The hardest place this may be to practice in our day is when the government tells a person to do a sinful thing, like renounce Christ. A Christian shouldn't commit that sin of course, but then you also have to accept the risk of facing consequences which God says to count it as a blessing when you suffer for His name and His Word just as Jesus, Paul, some of the other Apostles, and other early Christians had to suffer.