General Election 2017

The occurrence of the General Election in 2017 on June 8th necessitates that we, as Christians, focus on our responsibilities towards the government of the country.

Basic Principles

It is important that we are initially aware of some of the “non-negotiables” that prevail upon us as believers. We are:-

• To acknowledge that all government is established by God. Paul in Romans 13:1b states that there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. We are not in a position whereby we assess the character of a government and then decide whether or not it is from God or not. Rather scripture says that all government, whether good or bad has been instituted by God.
• To submit to those in authority. Having established that all authority is established by God, Paul draws the logical conclusion that we should submit to those who are in authority (see Romans 13:1a). Paul further says that whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves. (Romans 13:2). Peter underscores this teaching when he says that we should submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority. (1 Pet. 2:13a). It is always the Christian’s default position to submit to the rules and regulations that are imposed upon us by the authorities. Civil disobedience is not, therefore, something that the Christian advocates. We should not be thinking if such and such a party gets into power through this election then I am going to refuse to pay my taxes or whatever. Christians should be known as law-abiding citizens. However, in saying this we note that there are times when the injunction is to obey God rather than man (see Acts 4:19). If the government is asking us to go against God’s Word then we must reject their regulations and obey God instead.