The following was sent in by Eli, in Idaho:

 

Law of the Land

(Source: Sixteenth AMERICAN JURISPRUDENCE, Second Addition, page 177)

The greatest misconception is that any statute passed by legislators bearing the appearance of law constitutes the law of the land.  The U. S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and any statute, to be valid, must be in agreement.  It is impossible for both the Constitution and a law violating it to be valid.  One must prevail.  This is stated succinctly as follows:

“The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it.  An unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it were never passed.  Such a statute leaves the question that it purports to settle just as it would be had the statute not been enacted.”

“Since unconstitutional law is void, the general principles follow that it imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no power or authority on anyone, affords no protection, and justifies no acts performed under it…”

“A void act cannot be legally consistent with a valid one.  An unconstitutional law cannot operate to supersede any existing valid law.  Indeed, insofar as a statute runs counter to the fundamental law of the land, it is superceded thereby.”

“No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it”

Which brings us to the following: The Doctrine of Unconditional Submission?

 The Doctrine of Unconditional Submission

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Let’s discuss the doctrine of Unconditional Submission; Or simply put, that God requires us to submit unconditionally to the governing powers, regardless of what they ask.  I don’t believe such a doctrine is biblical.

Many Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that they would ever have to refuse to obey a law; much less actively resist authority, but that may be what is needed in some situations. Rom 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.

Where there is conflict, we stand on God’s word as the basis of our beliefs and are no longer subject morally or ethically to do what the government says. God is the ultimate authority, and whatever we do must be in line with His will. As long as His will and the governments is the same, no problem. But when there is a difference, we ALWAYS stand on the word of God. God is sovereign and omnipotent and rules all.

Don’t believe it? Consider Hitler. Would it have been proper for a Christian to have submitted to Hitler? Absolutely not. Consider something as minimal (in today’s context) as King George’s taxes on the American Colonies. When compared to today, few of us would even blink an eye about something so minor. Yet in those days it was enough to go to guns. And had American Patriots not resisted we would not now be a nation today. Today we see the glimmerings of anti-Christian laws (illegal to pray in school, illegal to invoke the name of Christ, etc.). How will you resolve to submit to that oh, Christian??

The Bible is full of examples where good people of God directly disobeyed the orders of their ungodly kings.

Examples include the Hebrew midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh’s order to kill babies in Exodus 1:16-17, the flight of Moses from Egypt after killing the Egyptian in combat, Rahab lying to the king in Joshua 2:4, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego disobeying the king in Daniel 3:13-20, and Daniel disobeying the king in Daniel 6:10. And let’s not forget Joseph fleeing to Egypt with Mary and Jesus in direct disobedience to Herrod in Matthew 2:14. And our Lord Jesus was certainly not an unconditional submissive when He challenged the Pharisees, cleansed the Temple, and

taught His people.

Clearly God also allows evil men to come to power as chastisement for a people. Insofar as these men do not trample the word of God, or make it illegal, we can continue under their control. (Consider Hitler, Stalin, PolPot, Hussein, and Chavez) The moment they compel you by force (how else does ANY government get people to obey?) to deny the faith or compel you to do things contrary to God’s will, the submission role is over and the sword of Luke 22:35 must come out to play.

Did you know the laws of our own civil government adopt this view? According to the Declaration of Independence, the “laws of nature and of nature’s God” are laws higher than the laws of England (and, by implication, higher than the laws of any human civil government). The laws of nature are God’s moral law written on the heart as the conscience, and the laws of nature’s God are the laws of God revealed in the scripture.

The Declaration of Independence also says that it is not merely our right, but also our duty, to throw off civil authority when that civil authority shows that its goal is to reduce the people under absolute despotism.

Unconditional submission to anything or anyone except God Himself amounts to idolatry. This includes good things as well as bad ones. Remember Peter’s bold answer to the ruling Council: Act 5:29 and Peter and the apostles answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men.

Seems very clear to me. So why do so many churches and so many pastors ignore this? One reason…it is easy. It is easy to simply go along. It is easy to not make waves, not lose any tithe money, and simply bow the head and do as you are told. I say no!

This ill-conceived and misinterpreted doctrine must be purged from the minds of believers. Under normal circumstances we should submit to just and necessary laws and rules, but when those same rules become ungodly and unjust, we must make a choice – follow God or follow man.

It has been said that “the natural human tendency is to rebel unless given good reason to submit, and that God intends us to submit unless given good reason to rebel.”

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

 

The proceeding phrase depicts the current condition and state of affairs that the citizens of the United States of American now find themselves.  A cross roads is fast approaching that will determine if we still have a free nation morally governed justly by We The People, or we become the servant-slaves of a dictatorial tyranny.  That time unimagined when good and just Americans may be called to take up arms, as Shakespeare has penned,  against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.

The question begs; will men of this modern era no longer suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and refuse to further obey a renegade and corrupt government and by so doing stand in absolute armed defiance to fight off these incursions against our liberties as promised and guaranteed by the Constitution?

We may well find that peaceful remedies through elected representation are no longer possible, that those sent by the voters to faithfully discharge their oath of office and steer the ship of state away from the rocks and shoals that will batter our country into splinters, are no longer willing to be moral men, but rather be summer soldiers and sunshine patriots with feet of clay.

To be true to ourselves and obey God may very well compel us to rebel openly and totally.