Podcast Introduction Our reading today is Romans 13-14, and I’m calling the episode “Facts and Opinions”.  Comments on Romans 13 I recently received a question from a Lifespring Family member, and he asked about obeying government authorities in light of current events. I’ll tackle it, even though not everyone may not agree with what I’m going to say. I’ll give you some Biblical background on what I’ll be saying, and where appropriate, I’ll give my opinion…and label it as such.  One thing we have to establish up front is that much of, if not *all* of these arguments are what I consider to be peripheral issues. In other words, they are not central to our salvation. The bedrock, the things that make or break whether we are born again are believing that Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, that he lived a sinless life,  he died for our sins, was resurrected on the third day and sits at the right hand of the Father, and is coming back. We must admit that we are sinners, in need of a Savior, and we must repent, or change direction. In other words, we must submit our life to the Lordship of Jesus. Just knowing about Jesus is not enough. We must believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord.  I think that covers it. Everything else is peripheral. What day of the week we worship. Whether it’s ok to drink alcohol. Whether women should be allowed to be priests or pastors. Whether music should be allowed in church. Whether speaking in tongues is for today, and on and on. All of these, while important, are not central to salvation. Now, as for submitting to governmental authority. Or put another way, is it ever ok to not submit? Is civil disobedience ever permitted by God? I’m framing the question this way because if different governmental bodies are in conflict, if you obey one, you must disobey the other. So let me try to answer the question: Is civil disobedience ever permitted? When Paul wrote the book of Romans, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Nero was the emperor of Rome. Nero was probably the most immoral emperor Rome had ever had. I won’t go into his deeds here, but if you don’t know about him, look him up. You heard what Paul wrote in Romans 13 today. The first three verses are: 1All of you must yield to the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule, and no one rules now without that power from God. 2So those who are against the government are really against what God has commanded. And they will bring punishment on themselves.  And Peter says pretty much the same in 1 Peter 2:13-17: “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.” Seems cut and dry, right? Christians have to do what governmental authorities say. But is it? There are three views on civil disobedience. Anarchist A person can disobey the government whenever he wants to and whenever he feels justified in doing so. There is no biblical support for this view.  2) Extreme Patriot A person should always obey his government, no matter what. This position also has no biblical support. In addition