Bryan Fischer
Did the American Revolution violate Romans 13?
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." ~ Romans 13:1-2
It is fashionable among some Christians to believe that the American Revolution was unbiblical because it represented rebellion against God's established political authority and thus was a violation of Romans 13.
They could not be more wrong.
Our forefathers no more violated scriptural standards of obedience to government than Moses did when he led Israel out of political bondage to form a new nation in the desert sands of Arabia.
At the moment on July 4, 1776, when the representatives chosen by the American people declared "These United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES," the colonists were morally, ethically and biblically absolved of the prior allegiance they had owed to the Crown, and assumed a new allegiance, to the sovereign political authority God had just at that moment, through the Continental Congress, established on American soil.
Students of Scripture, of course, must agree. For Paul says, "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." If all political authority is instituted by God, that certainly must include the government established by the Founders on Independence Day.
In other words, from July 4, 1776 forward, American citizens would have been in violation of Romans 13 if they had NOT resisted the Crown and had refused to submit themselves to the newly formed government God had just brought into being. In other words, it was the Loyalists who were disobeying Romans 13, not our patriot forefathers.
At the moment independence was declared, England became a foreign and occupying power. The Crown had two choices: to respect Romans 13 and acknowledge that this new government was from God, or use the force of arms to invade a sovereign and independent nation. The Crown, of course, chose the latter course.
When Americans took up arms to defend their newly-birthed union, they were not taking up arms in rebellion but in self-defense. It was not a war of aggression but a war that was a matter of national security and national defense. Every sovereign state in the world has the moral as well as the legal right to defend its liberty and sovereignty through the use of force. And so our forefathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the task of preserving and protecting the liberty of this new nation.
Thus Christians may freely and in good conscience celebrate every 4th of July just as John Adams directed: "with solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God." We've got 363 days until the next celebration. Let's start gearing up right now.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
July 6, 2012
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." ~ Romans 13:1-2
It is fashionable among some Christians to believe that the American Revolution was unbiblical because it represented rebellion against God's established political authority and thus was a violation of Romans 13.
They could not be more wrong.
Our forefathers no more violated scriptural standards of obedience to government than Moses did when he led Israel out of political bondage to form a new nation in the desert sands of Arabia.
At the moment on July 4, 1776, when the representatives chosen by the American people declared "These United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES," the colonists were morally, ethically and biblically absolved of the prior allegiance they had owed to the Crown, and assumed a new allegiance, to the sovereign political authority God had just at that moment, through the Continental Congress, established on American soil.
Students of Scripture, of course, must agree. For Paul says, "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." If all political authority is instituted by God, that certainly must include the government established by the Founders on Independence Day.
In other words, from July 4, 1776 forward, American citizens would have been in violation of Romans 13 if they had NOT resisted the Crown and had refused to submit themselves to the newly formed government God had just brought into being. In other words, it was the Loyalists who were disobeying Romans 13, not our patriot forefathers.
At the moment independence was declared, England became a foreign and occupying power. The Crown had two choices: to respect Romans 13 and acknowledge that this new government was from God, or use the force of arms to invade a sovereign and independent nation. The Crown, of course, chose the latter course.
When Americans took up arms to defend their newly-birthed union, they were not taking up arms in rebellion but in self-defense. It was not a war of aggression but a war that was a matter of national security and national defense. Every sovereign state in the world has the moral as well as the legal right to defend its liberty and sovereignty through the use of force. And so our forefathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the task of preserving and protecting the liberty of this new nation.
Thus Christians may freely and in good conscience celebrate every 4th of July just as John Adams directed: "with solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God." We've got 363 days until the next celebration. Let's start gearing up right now.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
