Romans Chap 13... It does say to pay your taxes and respect the leaders because they were put in their place by God. I have always had a hard time with that one.
Well then, by that logic, the Hebrew midwives who feared God and would not obey Pharoah’s law to kill the first born Hebrew male children were in violation of God’s law. Look at Christ’s admonition again very carefully and Roman’s 13 will become clear to you. “Render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and render unto God the things that are God’s!”
The historical record is full of martyr’s who rendered to God what Ceasar demanded for himself(of those things that did not belong to Ceasar). In your heart of hearts, you know or can know what belongs to God and what belongs to Ceasar. A government can demand taxes but not to the point of open thievery where families can not be fed or loved ones supported. A government can demand that Citizens obey certain laws but not to the point of demanding open tolerance or practice of immorality or to the giving over to one’s children to abusive sexual teaching and abuse(Molech’s modern equivalent).
God’s laws are always higher than government laws and when government breaks those laws, an enlightened people must act to reign in that government lest God come and destroy both that government and the people!
One example: David was tempted and ordered that an illegal census be done of the people. (Now God wanted to punish the people for their inattentiveness toward him). When David did so, David was confronted and given a choice of punishments. The punishment chosen was a plague that was to fall upon the people. Now had the people been spiritually enlightened, they might have confronted David en mass to halt the Census and spare the nation punishment. As it was, David was stricken in his heart with guilt and interceded for the people by buying a property and building an altar and having a sacrifice done in repentance of his sin and for the salvation of his people.
Now I feel I have to issue a warning! We have the evil government we have now because the people have become inattentive to God and his Son. The old testament warns that God takes away the “natural wisdom of the princes” as a first step in punishing a nation if not destroying it. Only a repenting spiritual people have any hope of restoring a faltering nation...and it will have to be done pugnaciously to the point that if we must, we end up divided so that the righteous can live in freedom!
Can American Christians find the stomach for what may need to be done?
Yes it does say that, but it also says unless they go against the word of God. You’re to obey God first.