says that “every soul” should “be subject to the governing authorities” because they are “appointed by God.” If Christians take the Scriptures seriously, how can they refuse to “be subject to the governing authorities”? The answer is found in a close look at the rest of . Those legitimate civil powers are not to be “a terror to good works, but to evil (by the Bible’s standards).” They are to praise and encourage those who do good (by the Bible’s standards). Civil magistrates are to protect the innocent, and enforce justice.
When a civil jurisdiction actually becomes a “terror” to those who seek to do good, encourages wrongdoing, fails to protect the innocent, and does not enforce just laws against those who break them, then the civil regime has severed itself from accountability to God’s transcendent revealed principles, and thereby has lost its authority. It begins functioning out of raw power it seizes and arrogates to itself.
In total agreement, but when does that reach the level of “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another”?
EXCELLENT, your #4.