"War and Peace"

We don’t want a firefight,

We hate to go to war,

But punishing earth’s evil,

Is what the law is for.

And nations will be fighting,

Up to the very end,

That’s what the Good Lord told us,

Before He comes again.

Work and pray and hope for peace,

‘Cause peace-makers are blessed,

But when deadly force is needed,

God help ‘em do their best,

To remove the threat of danger,

To stop what’s clearly wrong,

To punish when they’re guilty,

Put them back where they belong.

“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.” (Romans 13:3, NAS)

Paul’s teaching on God’s delegated authority is part of inspired scripture. He saw government as an enforcing agent to punish wickedness and reward goodness. Therefore, Christians should be subject to the law of the land. This is the general rule but there are exceptions. If the government required you to deny the Lord it would be a sin to compromise. In that case we would have to resist the civil authority in favor of our profession of faith. But generally we are to respect the law and have no fear of its authority. In a time when there is so much division and political controversy it is more important than ever for Christians to obey the Lord.

Lord, help us to recognize and obey Your authority, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Weller, used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.