ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
June 27, 2015
This is a letter to our friends –
I will not conform!
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. [1st Peter 2:13-14]
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. [Hebrews 13:17]
Christians have told me we should submit to the authority God places over us. I agree. They continue, therefore, we should obey every law of those God places over us. I disagree.
We all know the story of King David and Bathsheba (the lady he saw bathing next door to the palace). God made David king. God had given David a king’s authority. David sent for Bathsheba to come to his office. She came as she should, under his authority.
David propositioned Bathsheba (a married woman). She complied. David was outside the limits of his God-given authority, when he propositioned Bathsheba. She had every right to refuse.
My point – Authority has boundaries. Even God-given authority.
In another Old Testament example – In the book of Esther, the King is hosting a month long orgy for his governors. He is drunk and sends for his queen, Vashti. He wants her to come dance for the gov’s. Vashti refuses to come. The gov’s complain, this is going to give them domestic problems at home! Vashti loses her crown.
I believe she said, “No” to the wrong request. Vashti should have come when called. BUT, she should have arrived in a loose fitting floor-length turtleneck! When asked to dance then she should have refused. No domestic problems for the gov’s.
America’s founding philosophy was that any law that violates the “laws of Nature” or the “laws of God” (The Bible) is not to be honored, it is no law at all.
Parents have God-given authority over their children. Must a child obey a parent who tells him to do something that is sinful? Authority has boundaries.
The Supreme Court says all states must recognize homosexual marriages. That ruling violates both Natural and Revealed Law. It is thus, “No law at all.” I will not honor that law, nor if called upon, will I conform to it.
The time is rapidly approaching when individuals must decide to conform or not conform to man made laws. If they are within the, “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” then you should conform. If not – Then you must not!
The difference between law and advice – A law has a consequence. Each of us is going to have to learn new levels of trust in God as we face consequences.
