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Government Is Under God's Law

The Nazis committed murders that were condemned by the world. Yet, many justified their innocence by claiming they were only following orders and being good Christian citizens submitted to their government leadership, which is taught in the Bible (Romans 13). So- is that actually what the Bible teaches? Today many church leaders have been inadequately prepared in the realm of biblical ethics and teach the same faulty reasoning to their congregations. 

Romans 13 does not teach total and unquestioned submission to one's government. In fact, the verse lays specific guidelines for how government leaders are to conduct themselves in light of God's laws that define justice. The Nazi trials judges appealed to a higher law which condemned the murderous actions of the Nazis in the holocaust of World War Two. There is a higher law than national laws. Some refer to it as natural law. But ultimately God and his laws define what justice is. God is the ultimate source of law because he is our Creator and it is He that has the ultimate authority to define for us what justice is. When man's laws clash with the laws of God, our default position is to recognize God as the ultimate authority on the legitimacy of any law that is being questioned.  

The following video presents the issue in more detail.

God is Ultimate Source of Law