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NASB | Romans 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God. [Prov 8:15] |
Subject: Governmental Authority? |
Bible Note: Gracefull i take exception with this statement, "But as long as Satan is loose, every country will have both good and evil working from within. Our task is to determine personally, which we will serve...." our task is NOT to determine which we will serve since the determination has already been made for us in Rom. 13. we should "be in subjection to the governing authorities". i understand that you think that the US is responsible for sending the Gospel throughout the world. i would contend that it is the CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS in the US that are responsible for that rather than the US as a whole. the overwhelming majority of missionaries that have been sent out from the US have only been going for approximately the past 100 years. the pentecostal renewal that happened in azusa street at the turn of the century (approx. 1905) birthed a large percentage of the modern Christian missionary movements and organizations. (this is not to say that other missionary organizations are better or worse, i'm just making a point of the timetable of missionary activity) that is almost 150 years after the birth of this nation... you would think that if the missionary movement directly coincided with the birth of America then there wouldn't be such a large gap of time before meaningful missionary works started coming out of America. i said all of that to make a point that i don't necessarily believe that just because many missionaries are sent out from America that somehow God "ordained" the American Revolution. i find it much more likely that God allowed the missionary explosion to occur in the US simply because there were/are believers willing to be sent into the harvest. personally, i am not a pacifist by nature. my father is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and i have always admired the men and women in uniform that protect our country. that being said, i'm beginning to try to take to heart Jesus's message of meekness, humbleness and blessing those that persecute me. (Matt 5) in the early days of the Church, Christians were persecuted unmercifully by the Roman Empire. it wasn't until Constantine became emporer (305 ad) that this persecution ceased. (Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 ad) Unfortunately he tried to force his new religion on the enitre Roman world and we all know how that eventually ended. well it seems like i'm starting to ramble now so i'll cut it off here. hopefully God will help me deal with this new-found desire for pacifism in me. any other comments are greatly appreciated. Montag |