In Which I Rant About Misuse of Romans 13 (A Counter-Argument to a Comment on a Previous Post)

Previously I posted a long-winded rant about America and its myth of Christian values, particularly when it comes to immigration policy. In summary I said that the way the U.S. Government treats immigrants, particularly those of the undocumented variety, is inhumane and counter to the Gospel, so America and the Republican Party cannot refer to themselves as a nation or party of "Christian values".

A common counter-argument which was commented by an "anonymous" commenter (who I actually know and respect) on the previous post is that of Romans 13:1-6 (and also 1 Peter 2), which I'll quote here out of the very literal NASB,

"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. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 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; 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. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing."

"Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king." (1 Peter 2:13-17, NASB)

Because I'm a Christian who affirms Sola Scriptura, I believe in this statement from Paul. I don't, however, believe it as a blanket statement to any and everything, because many governments and rulers are unjust and go against what Christ and the rest of the Bible teaches.

I wouldn't give up Jews hiding in my house to Hitler because of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.

I wouldn't stop being a Christian if I lived in a closed country because of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.

Obviously Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 can't be applied to any and everything.

Mark 7:5-13 (NASB, my emphasis) says:

"The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”  And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

Now, "Corban" was a Pharasaical tradition not found in the Torah in which the Pharisees could declare something "Corban", which would mean "tagging" it for God, instead of personal interests. If they declare what they would have to help their parents (according to the law of Moses to 'Honor your father and your mother') as "Corban", they would not have to honor their parents with these things, but instead it could be used for the temple or other religious reasons, for which they were heavily involved. They took what was supposed to be used for God and used it for selfish reasons, under the guise of using it "for God".

As Isaiah said, quoted by Jesus,

"Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men"

Now what does this have to do with illegal immigration and Romans 13? I believe that the Republican Party, its nationalist prophets in the Church (your Falwell and Jeffress types), and staunch defenders of government action by way of Romans 13 fall into the trap which Jesus mentions. They are doing "things such as that", they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.

By using Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 and the command to "obey the law" without question, they equate with scripture whatever the United States Government has to say, because Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 says to obey the law.

Like the Pharisees with their human "Corban" tradition, the Republican "party of Judeo-Christian values" and the United States Government it is currently in charge of uses their own human tradition of the U.S. immigration law to ignore what the Bible says in Leviticus 19, Hebrews 13, Exodus 22 (that one is especially sobering), Deuteronomy 10, Matthew 25, and other places in the Bible.

The Republican Party and its Christian apologists use Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 to make laws and enforce policy that go against scripture.

They equate their laws with scripture and act like their law is better than the many scriptures that go against it.

They teach as doctrine the precepts of men.

Now I'm not saying that Christians shouldn't follow the law. We should. We should follow the just laws that follow scripture and submit to the governing authorities as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, which is still scripture, says. We should also pray for those in charge. The Democrats and the Republicans. But we should not treat those who break the law, especially the unjust laws or laws that go against scripture, inhumanely, as the U.S. Government is doing.

I'm also not saying conservatism is inherently evil; it's not.

But Jesus did say it Himself, 

"For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’" (Matthew 25:35-40, NASB)

1 Peter 2:15-16 (NASB, my emphasis) even says

"For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God."

As someone once put it (that I can't seem to find the original source of)

"If you are more fortunate than others, build a longer table, not a taller fence".

Lord help us.


Further reading:

John Piper: The Limits of Submission to Man, Desiring God, 1981
"Should We Obey Governments That Are Bad?", Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
"A Theology Lesson for the Attorney General", Rob Schenck, The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute

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