A Christian is to (1) Obey civil authorities. “Obey magistrates” (Titus 3:1). “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers” (Romans 13:1). “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man” (1 Peter 2:13). (2) Obey civil government “for the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13). Because “the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1), resisting such authorities is equal to resisting God’s ordained arrangement (13:2). “For so is the will of God” (1 Peter 2:15). (3) Obey every aspect of civil law. “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13). “Every ordinance” would include what the civil authorities might decree about building codes, littering highways, tax obligations, the size of passport photos, how far a church building must sit away from a street, and you name it. We may be tempted to label some laws as unreasonable or ridiculous, but the law is the law. If I have the right to disregard a law that I count as inconvenient or excessively costly, then why would another person not have the right to disregard a different law? What is it that ensues when people decide to use their own gut feelings to determine with which government ordinances they will comply, and which they will disregard? The word is “chaos” or “lawlessness.” (4) Obey civil authorities at all levels. Peter’s Spirit-guided instruction to submit to civil ordinances was, “whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil

(Glad Tidings of Good Things, Vol. 6/Nov. 15, 2001) Sometimes students of the Bible are shocked and confused to read in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit at times describes the thoughts and actions of God as “evil.” For example, in the Book of Jeremiah alone we read that Jehovah “brought” evil (Jeremiah 4:6), he “thought to do” evil (18:8), he “framed” evil (18:11), he “pronounced” evil (26:13, 19), he “purposed to do” evil (36:3), and he “did” evil (42:10). In each of these passages, both the King James Version and American Standard Version of 1901 speak of the “evil” that the Lord planned and/or carried out. First, there are a number of words used in the Bible that have more than one meaning. Their meaning in a particular instance in the Scriptures must be determined by the context in which they appear. So it is with the word “evil.” When we read the word “evil,” perhaps our first thought is that this signifies wickedness, sinful action, that which is wrong or evil from a moral point of view. The word “evil” does carry such a meaning in many biblical passages. For instance, in the days of Noah the thoughts of man’s heart were only “evil” continually (Genesis 6:5). Is the Lord God guilty of thinking and doing that which is “evil” in a moral sense — does he do that which is wrong? Consider three biblical statements that show that God could never think or act in an evil