Do Christians have to obey the laws of the land?

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  1. boyatdelhi profile image51
    boyatdelhiposted 11 years ago

    Do Christians have to obey the laws of the land?

  2. MickS profile image60
    MickSposted 11 years ago

    Yes, to think otherwise is absurd.  Do we want religious groups throughout the world, especially in multi cultural societies, saying  words along the lines - sorry, this law conflicts with my religion's law so I'll ignore it?  That way is chaos and a breakdown of society.
    Also that attitude presumes that there are no criminals in Christianity.

  3. profile image0
    JThomp42posted 11 years ago

    Yes, I think this verse explains it well.

    Matthew 22:21
    They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

  4. lone77star profile image73
    lone77starposted 11 years ago

    Not necessarily. If those laws are at odds with those of God, then those laws must be rejected.

    Render unto Caesar, that JT mentions, has to do with taxes. Certainly obey those laws, rules or conventions. And there are some who argue that personal income tax in America is not an official law, only a convention, because the 16th Amendment was never legally ratified. But even then, it is best to follow the convention, because that is what love and humility would do.

    But if the laws of the land require that we lie, cheat or kill, then I would not be able to follow those laws. As crazy as the United States has become, I don't know what kinds of crazy laws they will come up with. It's now a felony, under some conditions, to protest what the government is doing. Since 9/11, more and more of the Constitution has been eliminated or eroded.

    If a law comes out that we have to wear the new Rockefeller RFID chip for identification, I will refuse, because I cannot wear the "Mark of the Beast." And I will recommend to anyone who will listen not to embed such a device, because it is a mark of evil. Anyone who accepts the mark will be condemned (Rev. 13).

  5. renegadetory profile image60
    renegadetoryposted 11 years ago

    The apostle Peter put it best in 1 Peter 2:13-17

    "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors... Honor all people.  Love the brotherhood.  Fear God.  Honor the king."

    Paul says something similar in Romans 13:1

    "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

  6. windygreen profile image61
    windygreenposted 11 years ago
  7. junkseller profile image80
    junksellerposted 11 years ago

    Depends on which Christian faction you ask. Christian anarchists (such as Tolstoy) will say that the state itself is fundamentally a thing of violence and following it idolatry.

  8. CrescentSkies profile image63
    CrescentSkiesposted 11 years ago

    Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's, render unto god what is god's. A commandment that most religious groups think they're above for some strange reason...well if god exists I hope they enjoy their stay in hell.

    1. profile image0
      JThomp42posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This is not a commandment, but purely a statement made by Jesus.

    2. CrescentSkies profile image63
      CrescentSkiesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Point taken, though maybe he should've included it as a commandment considering how many people break it hmm

  9. BLACKANDGOLDJACK profile image73
    BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 11 years ago

    I generally agree with what renegadetory said with the exception of what lone77star said. Yeah, we have to pay taxes, although the IRS doesn't agree with how I do it. But if Pharoah says we have to kill all the Jewish male babies, I won't do that.

    There are two verses in the last chapter of Hebrew that I think gives us some leeway. Hebrews 13:7, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." Hebrews 13:17, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account . . ."

    So in my opinion if somebody who has rule over me doesn't speak to me the word of God and doesn't watch out for my soul, I may not feel obligated to blindly follow the queen.

  10. TerryK81 profile image61
    TerryK81posted 11 years ago

    Yes, Sir! God tells us in Roman 13:1-7 that we are to obey authority because all authority is given by God, and to resist authority is to resist God. We also are to pay taxes. But this is made difficult somehow by some people because even some leaders and authorities, as we all well know if you are alive today in the world, will tell people to do something that go against God and His Commandments. Again, Scripture answers this in Acts 5:29 that "we ought to obey God rather than men". If a dictation or law of man contradicts God in any way, then we are to disregard it.
         Simply put (and when the above scripture answers are read) we are to obey God first, and He says to obey man UNLESS they contradict the Authority of God.

  11. celafoe profile image53
    celafoeposted 11 years ago

    all that do not conflict with and cause you to disobey God.

 
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