Submitting To Authority

The idea of submitting to anyone goes against our human nature.  When Satan entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve the temptation centered around submission.  Would she continue to submit to God and obey his instructions or would she assert her own free will and reject God's authority.  Since that time one individual's insistence on inserting their free will over another's has been the start of mankind's freefall to destruction.

Yet God is clear in his instruction on submission, especially in his instruction on submission to those who have been placed in authority over us.  God's Word says we are to submit to all human institutions (I Peter 2:13), leaders (Hebrews 13:7) and governing authorities (Romans 13:1).
Human institutions would include those in leadership in our government, the President, Governor, Mayor, etc.  Leaders are parents, teachers and pastors.  Governing authorities include all of the above including law enforcement, employers, supervisors and leadership positions within the church.

Why is submitting to leadership so important to God and, therefore, to us?  Actually God gives us several reasons.

• All authority, whether human or spiritual, has been appointed by God.  (Romans 13:1)
• They have been appointed to keep watch over our souls.  (Hebrews 13:17)
• As leaders appointed by God, they will give an account of  their work.  (Hebrews 13:17)

Hebrews 13:17 also tells us that it does not profit us anything to resist authority.  We may feel that we are standing for God in doing so but Romans 13:2 warns that when we resist the human authority that God has appointed over us we are opposing the authority of God and will bring condemnation upon ourselves. Instead let us choose to follow 1 Peter 2:15 which reminds us that by doing right we can silence the ignorance of foolish men.