All scripture is God inspired and is as applicable today as when it was written I fully agree .Context is important though .

When I studied as a kid we looked at the so called “ divine right of Kings “ in English history and Romans 13 was clearly used by tyrant kings to justify their behaviour good or bad . Often bad and with lethal consequences.

Obviously they cherry picked the scriptures they liked and applied it completely out of context .

The Devine right of kings in England was destroyed if my memory serves me right by Bible believing Christians called puritans, through brutal conflict and many lives were lost in the process and we arrived at parliamentary democracy .

Democracy is far from perfect and does present a slightly different angle and context to Romans 13 as we are actually responsible for voting in our government. We have to be vigilant as the electorate including Christians to ensure that these elected Public servants stick to the same laws that govern us without over reach political power grabs and hypocrisy.

Surely the Church is able to , within a democracy and completely within the permissible Governing Law to voice concern and protest in opposition to legislation that violates Gods law ,statutes and injustice on the poor and marginalised without breaching Romans 13 ? Respectfully and peacefully of course .

I would go as far as to say if we don’t speak out and act where we see evil , injustice or harm , whilst living in a democracy , we become as my unbelieving brother calls it,
Armchair Christians…

I find it curious feel the need to justify everything that’s in the Bible, even when it clearly goes against their deeply held convictions. Why not just accept that this was Paul’s view and your interaction with your God should be direct, not intermediated by priests or religious fanatics or the Bible, which after all, is a compilation by a committee ! If you read what Paul has written, I don’t see how you can say that does not mean that Hitler or Mugabe was appointed by God.

I think as Christians we have an obligation to stand for the truth, and in the US one of the ways we can do that is to vote for laws that align with God’s word. That being said the implication that Romans 13 doesn’t apply to us because it was written to the church in Rome is a dangerous way to look at scripture. Paul wrote the Corinthian letters to the church in Corinth, all his letters were written to specifically to churches in Asia so do none of those apply?
All authority comes from God. That is what Romans 13 says. Regardless of our right to vote authority comes from Him. We need to respect that. That doesn’t mean we go along with things that are immoral or against scripture. But it does mean we should speak about people in authority in a respectful way whether we agree with them or not. You absolutely can tell someone they are wrong and still be respectful.
And remember Romans 12:8 says so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with ALL men.
Our goal should not be starting fights. Just standing firmly for the truth.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/sessions-cites-bible-defense-breaking-families-blames-migrant-parents-n883296

It’s permissible to engage in civil disobedience as long as you’re willing to submit to the legal process. I have been arrested for refusing to vacate our Prime Minister’s office while a number of us were praying for asylum seekers being victimized by our government. I disobeyed the directive to move, but submitted when arrested and went along without violence. Look up the phrase Non Violent Direct Action for more information. And thanks for visiting.