(Standing For Freedom Center) Unless you’re a radical anarchist, or you lived in Portland circa the summer of “fiery but mostly peaceful protests” — rest in pieces, CHOP…or was it CHAZ? — you know that as an American citizen, you are accountable to the government. We are a nation of laws, we respect the rule of laws, we got rid of monarchs hundreds of years ago, and don’t you forget it. The highest rule in our land isn’t a king, but the Constitution.
Of course, that Constitution provides a framework for our government, both for how it functions and who fills it — elected representatives of the people. We have a system by which our legislative body, in cooperation with the executive, that is, the President, passes legislation into law (cue Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m just a bill…and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill”). But once “duly enacted” and presumed constitutional bills become law, they are binding on all American citizens. Then the government enforces them. We obey — or we face the consequences.
So, we are accountable to the government. But who is the government accountable to?
In Romans 13:1-7, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, makes this very clear: Government is accountable to God. Why? Because governmental authorities, be they an emperor, king, or duly elected representatives in a constitutional republic, are God’s servants. (Read More)