Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Roy Moore
Obeying God over Man
When faced with a choice to either obey God or obey man, we have no choice but to obey God. When the Apostles were being threatened to not preach about Christ anymore they said “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) so when man’s laws and God’s laws conflict with one another, we are to obey God and not man’s law.
Obeying Authorities is Obeying God
We are to obey God over mankind but the truth is that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Rom 13:1-2). Those placed in authority over us are “God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom 13:4) so keep your God-given rights but remember we are commanded to obey the laws of mankind but only when they don’t go against God’s law.
God-Given Rights
Just before Jesus’ ascension back to the Father, He gave the disciples His own authority by telling them “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20) so you have a God-given right the authority to preach the gospel to the lost but it’s not just a right, it’s a commission; the Great Commission, and no man has the authority to tell you otherwise.
Conclusion
Roy Moore has said that if God gives you rights, no man and no government can take them away from you, and that includes the command to obey God over man; to obey the laws of the land where they don’t clash with God’s law; and to exercise your God-given right to take the gospel into the whole world but not forgetting that your neighbors next door is part of that commission. We can go to the ends of the earth but we must not forget to go to the end of the block.
