Question
What should we do if the God’s law / commandments is against the law of the government? Could we be saved if we can’t meet God’s requirement?
Answer
Thank you for your wonderful and timely question. I have answered a similar question before but hope I can provide a more clear and thorough answer now that you have posed this question. First I will lay down some Bible principles and then give examples from both the Old and New Testaments on how we must submit to God’s commands when government laws conflict with them. Then, I will close by giving some examples that we face here in the United States (where I live) where if we want to please God, we must not submit or encourage others to do so to sinful government laws.
Principle 1 Obeying God’s commandments is our greatest duty in this life and therefore is the top priory for all humanity.
Ecc 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
Ecc 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Mat 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.
Mat 22:35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Mat 22:37 And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
Mat 22:38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
Mat 22:39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Mat 22:40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Act 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
Act 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Act 2:39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Act 2:40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”
Act 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Mat 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Principle 2 God establishes governments and commands Christians to submit to governments.
Rom 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Rom 13:2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
Rom 13:4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
Rom 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
Rom 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
Principle 3 When government laws conflict with God’s commandments, we must submit to God’s Word.
Example 1 Daniel’s three friends rebel against the King of Babylon. Dan. 3
God’s commands to the children of Israel
Exo 20:1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Exo 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
Exo 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
Exo 20:5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exo 20:6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
The King of Babylon’s sinful command.
Dan 3:4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language,
Dan 3:5 that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
Dan 3:6 “But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
Daniel’s friends state their faith in God.
Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up?
Dan 3:15 “Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?”
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter.
Dan 3:17 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
They obey God rather than men.
Dan 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
Dan 3:20 He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.
Dan 3:21 Then these men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their caps and their other clothes, and were cast into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire.
Dan 3:22 For this reason, because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace had been made extremely hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.
Dan 3:23 But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astounded and stood up in haste; he said to his high officials, “Was it not three men we cast bound into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.”
Dan 3:25 He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the furnace of blazing fire; he responded and said, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, come out, you servants of the Most High God, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.
Dan 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.
Dan 3:29 “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”
Dan 3:30 Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
Example 2 Jesus’ apostles rebel against the Jewish Council. Acts 4-5.
God’s command to the apostles to preach the gospel to all.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Mat 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Mar 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Mar 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Luk 24:44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Luk 24:45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Luk 24:46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,
Luk 24:47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48 “You are witnesses of these things.
Luk 24:49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The Jewish Council’s sinful commandment.
Act 4:13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Act 4:14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
Act 4:15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,
Act 4:16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
Act 4:17 “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.”
Act 4:18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
The apostles rebel against the C0uncil and continue to preach the gospel.
Act 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
Act 4:20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Act 4:21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;
Act 4:22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
Act 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
The Council’s sinful commandment again.
Act 5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them,
Act 5:28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
The apostles rebel against the Council and preach the gospel.
Act 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.
Act 5:31 “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32 “And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Act 5:40 They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.
Act 5:41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Act 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
From these we can clearly see that when governments as they often do conflict with God’s direct commands, we must obey God rather than men if we are going to be saved. To do anything less means we fear men more than we fear God. Let us pray for one another that we might have the courage and faith to stand in these hard times.
In the united States today, we must obey God rather than men and stand against and not do or encourage others to do things like abortion, homosexual “marriage”, divorce and remarry for reasons other than fornication and many more. Even if we suffer, God will be with us if we honor and obey Him from the heart.
By Gary Hunt
