Acts 23:5 (Exodus 22:28); Ephesians 4:31; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; Romans 13:1,2
It is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
ANDREW FULLER (1754-1815): “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors,” 1 Peter 2:13,14. There is scarcely any thing in the New Testament inculcated with more solemnity than that individuals, and especially Christians, should be obedient, peaceable, and loyal subjects; nor is there any sin much more awfully censured than the contrary conduct.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The spirit of disaffection and sedition is ever opposed to the religion of the Bible.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “By me kings reigns and princes decree Justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth,” Proverbs 8:15, 16―It is not owing to human perverseness that supreme power on earth is lodged in kings and other governors, but by Divine Providence, and the holy decree of Him to whom it has seemed good so to govern the affairs of men.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): No human government is perfect, and it may appear to us that a particular form of government is acting unwisely in its legislation and arbitrarily in its administration. The question therefore arises, How should a Christian citizen act under a particularly offensive one?
MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): Christians should not, under the pretence of Christian religion, refuse to obey men in authority even if they are wicked. Even though rulers are wicked and unbelieving, yet is their governmental power good―in itself―and of God. So our Lord said to Pilate, to whom He submitted as a pattern for us all: “Thou couldst have no power against me, except it were given thee from above, ” John 19:11.
ANDREW FULLER: On this principle it is probable the apostle enjoined obedience to the powers that were, even during the reign of Nero.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): This is not to be understood, as if magistrates were above the laws, and had a lawless power to do as they will without opposition—and when they make their own will a law, or exercise a lawless tyrannical power, in defiance of the laws of God, and of the land, to the endangering of the lives, liberties, and properties of subjects, they may be resisted, as Saul was by the people of Israel, when he would have took away the life of Jonathan for the breach of an arbitrary law of his own, I Samuel 14:45; but the apostle is speaking of resisting magistrates in the right discharge of their office, and in the exercise of legal power and authority.
JOHN CALVIN: We are subject to the men that rule over us, but subject only in the Lord. If they command any thing against Him, let us not pay the least regard to it.
A. W. PINK: That a child of God must refuse to do the bidding of a government when it enjoins something contrary to the Divine will is clear from the cases of the three Hebrews, Daniel 3:18, and of Daniel in Babylon, Daniel 5:10-13, who firmly declined to conform unto the king’s idolatrous demands. It is equally evident from the apostles, who, when they were commanded by the authorities “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus,” answered “whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye,” Acts 4:19; Acts 5:29.
ANDREW FULLER: We are not called to yield up our consciences in religious matters, nor to approve of what is wrong in those which are civil; but we are not at liberty to deal in acrimony and evil-speaking.
ADAM CLARKE: When those who have been pious get under the spirit of misrule, they infallibly get shorn of their spiritual strength, and become like salt that has lost its savour…The highest authority says, “Fear God: honour the king,” 1 Peter 2:17.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Paul applies this law to himself, and owns that he ought not to “speak evil of the ruler of his people;” no, not though the ruler was then his most unrighteous persecutor, Acts 23:5.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD (1714-1770): O my brethren, how often have you and I been guilty of this great evil?
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): I have heard many confessions, in public and private, during the past forty years, but never have I heard a man confess that he was guilty of this sin.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): What sayest thou, art thou guilty of this indictment, or not?
THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): Surely may we, by conviction, apprehend ourselves guilty.
EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): Let us, then, never more be guilty of this conduct.
ANDREW FULLER: It requires not only that we keep within the compass of the laws―but that we honour and intercede with God for those who administer them.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): The kings of the earth at that time were all heathens, and enemies to the Christian religion, and so, generally, were those who were in a subordinate authority to them, yet the apostle commands that prayers should be made in the Christian congregations for them. They were to pray for their life and health so far forth as might be for God’s glory, and for God’s guidance of them in the administration of their government.
MATTHEW HENRY: Thus the primitive Christians, according to the temper of their holy religion, prayed for the powers that were, though they were persecuting powers.
ADAM CLARKE: Good rulers have power to do much good; we pray that their authority may be ever preserved and well directed. Bad rulers have power to do much evil; we pray that they may be prevented from thus using their power. So that, whether the rulers be good or bad, prayer for them is the positive duty of all Christians; and the answer to their prayers, in either case, will be the means of their being enabled to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
JOHN CALVIN: That is the reason why believers, in whatever country they live, must not only obey the laws and government of magistrates, but likewise in their prayers supplicate God for their salvation.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): This is a responsibility that rests upon us as believers today. Christians are to be examples to others of subjection to the government…When we come together in a public service, we usually pray for those who are in authority. But are we as much concerned about remembering them before God when we kneel alone in His presence? I am quite sure of this: if we prayed more for those at the head of the country and in other positions of responsibility, we would feel less ready to criticize them.
EDWARD PAYSON: Thou shall not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. Pray for all that are in authority.
