iliyande:
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to the governors, who are sent by him to punish {24} those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men (1 Peter 2:13-15 NIV).

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men (Titus 3:1-2 NIV).

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities which exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves (Romans 13:1-2 NIV).

The answer is no.

We are to obey governments unless they violate Scripture. Acts 5:29 says, "We must obey God rather than men." Whenever a government violates biblical teaching, Christians are obligated to disobey that government. For example, if a government were to declare that we should kill all unbelievers or in support abortion, we should disobey. Governments are run by people and often become corrupt. Furthermore, the Bible never tells us to obey governments in contradiction to the revealed word of God.

When systems become ungodly and anti-Christian, they are no longer properly representing God and should not be obeyed.

Are we seeing a conflict or a contradiction? Not at all. Let's take, for example, Exodus 20, where we see two commandments: obey your parents and do not murder. We can see that our parents are the authorities above us, even as governments are, and we should obey them. But, what should we do it our parents tell us to murder someone? Should we obey? Of course not. Obedience to our parents is only proper when it's consistent with the rest of the Scriptures. Likewise, submission to the governmental systems is only proper when it is consistent with Scripture.

Finally, let's look at Rom. 13:6-7 again, "For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Notice that Paul says that the rulers are servants of God. This is the context of the submission that is mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. If these rulers are no longer servants of God, and if they contradict Scripture, they are not to be obeyed.

Lalasticlala

seunmsg:



Rubbish. Nigeria is ruled by the constitution and not the bible. We have atheist, pagans, Muslims, Buddhist etc in the country who doesn't believe in the bible. Nigeria is a multi religious country so stop this crap you are spewing.

tosinjay:
For the most part, Nigerian government hasn't got any law against the word of God.
Like America who will punish one for not making wedding cake for a gay couple. We should be able to decline what we don't see inline with our faith.

Christians can have tolerance but not forced to do what is considered evil according to the bible.

davien:
As a public government official in the United States, you aren't allowed to use a religion to discriminate any individual.

That was why punishment is given to anyone using religion to refuse service of any customer... gays have rights just like everyone else.

tosinjay:

And that's where the essence of the thread lies. If i were in the US, will simply decline such happily as open service calls towards my God. I've done that countless of times in my business line where i was rendering payment for people and i turned down payment for some itens i deemed ungodly. Unlike the the US Nigeria will lawfully jail such aspiring gay couple if the law prevail as it's lawful in this land.

It's rather the other way round, that i consider the person turning down the service who is punished to be discriminated upon as according to his/her faith it's damaging to the soul than beneficial to anyone's emotions. Why don't the gay persons turn to others for such service. As long as one do not humiliate, or harm them the best is they take their leave.

davien:
No that's not how it works, you see in a business where you are obligated to follow the constitution... It's against the law to disobey or breach any form of rule laid down.

The government gives you the right to stock up shop so it's only fair that you abide by the rules.

You won't say because your religion is against black people or gays, you'll refuse to render your service.. that's cheating not only those customers but the government itself that recognises and let's you own and set up a business.

In Nigeria and as Nigerians that don't know their rights both as customers and human beings, we'll merely shove and move to the next business... which actually does more harm than good.

tosinjay:

I get you already and understood what you say even before saying all, bu that's the part of the laws that going by the authority of the Bible the government's law becomes ungodly and i wouldn't obey it.

To be frank in my view of the US, "it's the most corrupt nation on earth morally" and US have got a lot of laws that aren't godly backing their moral stands. I will not spare the rod on my child, i will not let them grow spoilt, abortion is evil let alone being legal, more reason i don't fancy USA and if i were to ever live there i will not obey many of the laws that contradicts Scriptures!!

mmsen:


Boko Haram also claim to be moved by the 'spirit'.

We need to look inwards to solutions but there are no spirits or deities that will solve our problems for us.

davien:
Then why protest against jail time for disobeying the government? ... you reap the fruits of your own acts.

Judging by your post you seem to think everyone should make laws based on what seems "moral", well sorry to disappoint you but morals are something that differs for everyone based on personal prejudices... which is religion for you in particular.

For a country to effectively operate in the best interest of its citizens, it has to be able and ready to put personal morals judged by prejudices aside in favour of one's that promote the wellbeing of everyone.

That's why abortion is legal, a woman has a right to terminate a pregnancy because it's her body, nobody is obligated to force a baby on her..

And physical abuse often goes unchecked, which is why the youths in Nigeria prefer jungle justice because they've been bred by "the rod"... punishment doesn't have to be physical to make someone understand what he/she must not do.... it(physical punishment) only promotes the idea of not getting caught.

Societies that carelessly make morals and ethics into laws often collapse under the weight of the very same laws they wish to keep..

tosinjay:

I tire for you oo, are you an atheist, mormon or what exactly? Because no true Christian will let evil laws prevail over his faith. I hate going back and forth when it doesn't worth it. All your points aren't tenable!!

davien:
I'm an atheist, it seems religion is blindfolding your brain because that's what I can tell from your post.

If so, please try to read up on humanism and objectivity.. It helps to be educated on matters you reply to.

tosinjay:

Ok good you declared being an atheist, Bible is the constitution for Christians and as long as Nigerians aren't forced to become Muslims, our laws aren't opposing Biblical views so thanks. In the afterlife we go see who humanism and objectivity don help. Byebye