Where does true authority originate from?

Tom Ascol discusses the nature and source of authority, emphasizing that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ. Human authorities, such as presidents, congressional leaders, and judges, exercise delegated authority, which is ultimately vested by Christ. Recognizing this helps Christians understand that governmental authority is not the final authority. Instead, these authorities have a specific role ordained by Christ, and when they step outside of their ordained lane, they are violating the very source of their delegated authority.

Christians are called to remind these authorities of their accountability to God. When faced with commands that contradict Christian teachings, believers must respectfully affirm their allegiance to God's authority above all. Examples from the Bible, like Daniel and his friends, show that even in the face of persecution, obedience to God takes precedence over human mandates. This principle extends beyond government to other areas of human authority, such as within families and churches, where authority must be exercised within the boundaries set by Christ.

Acts 5:29 (NKJV): "But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: 'We ought to obey God rather than men.'"

Christians need to remember the nature of authority and the source of authority. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So he is the ultimate source of authority, which means all human authority is delegated authority. It's vested from ultimate authority. Why do presidents and congressional leaders and Supreme Court justices, why do governments and magistrates have authority?

It's because Jesus Christ has delegated it to them. And when we remember that, then we won't look at the state, we won't look at the government as final authority. We won't sit around waiting for them to say jump and we determine how high they want us to jump in that moment immediately. Rather, we will recognize, no, they have a lane that Christ has ordained for them to stay in, and he's given them authority to exercise in that lane. And whenever they get outside of that lane, then they are violating the very source of authority that has delegated to them their responsibilities and authority.

And we who know that are to teach them. We are to call them to remember that there's a God in heaven to whom they will give an account one day. So when the government says, you can't meet as Christians or you can't say these Christian things or you can't teach these points, we just have to simply respectfully say, I'm sorry magistrate, but the authority that we bow to ultimately is greater than yours. We're going to obey God rather than men. Daniel gives us a great example of this.

He continued to pray, even though the people plotted specifically so that when he prayed he could be arrested and thrown into a den of lions and he didn't let that deter him. He continued to honor God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the same thing. So, oh King, our God can deliver us. But if not, even if he doesn't, we're still not going to bow to you because this is what is true.

There's one King, there's one Lord. So as Christians, we must understand the nature of authority that all human authority is vested. That's true not just of the government, but that's also true of husbands and fathers and elders. And when elders begin to exercise authority outside of the sphere that Christ has given them to exercise it in, then we need to be willing to say, you know, brother elder, you are overstepping the boundaries that the authority that's been vested in you has been vested for you to exercise. And the same thing's true for husbands, the same thing's true for parents.

And so this is why as Christians we submit to authorities very respectfully, but we do it for Christ's sake. And whenever those authorities begin to demand what Christ has not prescribed for them to demand, and they abuse authority, they become tyrannical, then we have not only the right, we have the responsibility to resist it.