Treasures New and Old

Christian Behavior: Relationships: Authorities

– Romans 6:4

So far this year we have looked at the identity we have in Christ and three subjects: walking in newness, being a child of the King, and growing on to maturity. The next three articles continue our Christian Behavior series by looking at how God wants us to handle relationships, and the three topics to be discussed are how we relate to: authorities, believers, and the lost.

Seven Principles Recap:

1. We must always strive to be like Him and understand that we can never be better than Him
2. Always remember that Christ is our Master – others may be teachers or counselors, or brethren, but He is our Master
3. The Master is coming back and will ask for an accounting
4. Hold fast to the truth, don’t stray, avoid the gray areas
5. Disciples serve one another – as our Master gave example
6. Stay in the Master’s Book
7. Be a vessel of honor

You Are a New Creature!

2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Galatians 6:15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcised, but a new creature.”

Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

Romans 1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith.”

2 Corinthians 5:7: “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

Galatians 3:11: “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 10:38: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Authorities We Recognize

The Bible teaches us that we have several authorities that we are subject to one degree or another. They are simply stated as:

• God/Church
• Government
• Family/Home
• Work/”Masters”
• Others (like unions, societies, etc.)

One can argue that the groupings above are wrong, that the priority order above is wrong, and that I may have missed some. But these are general categories to allow us to handle the volume of verses that teach us about authority in the Bible. There is also the kingdom authority we inherit through Christ, but that is a subject for another article. Let’s start with God and church:

God

Obviously, God is our ultimate authority and must be obeyed first and foremost, and when conflict exists, other authorities are subservient to God’s. However, our attitude must not be belligerent or rebellious. We, like Daniel, must be ready to accept the consequences should government reject our appeal to follow God first.

1 Samuel 15:22: “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power [authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Acts 5:29: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

1 Corinthians 11:3: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

Philippians 2:10-11: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Church

I see church authority as parallel, in many ways, to home, government, and work. This may be especially true in the United States as long as the First Amendment holds true. Here, it may be more difficult to weigh the dictates of these separate authorities (work on Sunday?, government shuts down your church during a pandemic lock down?) Sunday worship, for some, is as a Sabbath, and therefore, is a God ordinance, not a church ordinance. Whereas for others, they see every day the same and can, with good conscience, work when they have to on Sunday (pull the ox out of the ditch sort of thing).

The most controversial area may well be (1) that of women remaining silent in the church, and (2) women are not to teach a man. I believe that Paul was dealing with gossip, rude behavior, and some silly women stirring up trouble when the Holy Spirit had him write these things. At the cross all are equal. Sisters do have an important role serving in the church. But everything must be done decently and in good order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Also, where are the men that God has commanded to lead?

(Note: Sisters can certainly teach children and other sisters, and Paul encourages the older sisters to teach the younger sisters.)

Acts 20:28: “[Elders] Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made your overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Government

The government is into everything! They dictate rules for food handling, commerce, safely, fire laws, taxes, fees, imminent domain, transportation, licenses, permits, building codes, and the list goes on and on. Where these do not conflict with God’s ordinances, we must try, to the best of our ability, to obey; unless a clear violation of our conscience dictates otherwise. (A doctor who won’t perform abortions, for example.) I am willing to bet that the average Christian has trouble obeying the speed-limit laws – and they are so easy to follow – if we wanted to . . .

Luke 20:25: “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.”

Romans 13:1-6:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

1 Peter 2:13-15: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will the God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:”

Titus 3:1-2: “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men.”

Home/Family

This area has been made very difficult to navigate because of civil laws that make divorce, child custody, and other things as amoral as they can. God’s best and His original intent was simple: The father under Christ, the mother under the father, and the children under the parents. Fathers could nullify a vow of his wife’s or daughter’s as a protective measure. The problem is that people see these verses as dictatorship oriented and not protective and nurturing focused as they should be. God holds the father responsible for his care and provision of his wife and family – he better be more focused on that than laying down a volume of laws everyone else is to live by!

Exodus 20:12: “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

1 Corinthians 11:3: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

Ephesians 5:21-28:

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Ephesians 6:1-4: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up on the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

1 Peter 3:1-2: “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.”

Work

Servants back in the days the Bible was written were either paid servants or slaves. Today, we will concentrate on the employer/employee relationship. Rule exist within a company that reflect many things: safely, laws, corporate proprietary information, ethics, sexual behavior, corporate goals and standards, and many others. There is no question that sometimes a boss will ask or demand something that we cannot do (ethics violation, for example), but where there is not conflict, we are to obey them as best as we can with a servant’s heart. Once I had to fire a young man because he decided that he didn’t have to fix something. It was a work day, it was his code, we were trying to get a delivery out to the customer and his tests failed. When I called him and let him know we were having problems with his portion of the code, he shrugged his shoulders and left the building. Several attempts were made to try and get him to come back and fix it. Sick? No. Important engagement? No. Religious issue? No. Just didn’t want to. A co-worker got him to do her a personal favor, and he came back and fixed it in time to make the delivery date. However, when it happened again, he was terminated. The attitude for Christians is that we serve our boss as if we were serving the Lord.

Ephesians 6:5-9:

Servants [employees], be obedient to them that are your masters [employers] according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

1 Peter 2:18-20: “Servants [employees], be subject to your master [employers] with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”

(Note: this is a pliable command in that people change jobs when the need arises and should always be done with the Lord’s direction.)

General Attitude of the Christian

I would like to close with these thoughts. If we walk through life as if everything we do is seen as serving the Lord, it is going to be a lot easier to have a right attitude and a servant’s heart even to difficult bosses, civil authorities, spouses, and parents.

2 Peter 1:5-8: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

May God bless you all!

Bro. Joe

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