On July 4, Americans celebrated their rebellion against British authority. Our nation came into existence through a revolution, a revolt against British authority. Our founding fathers set up our government in a way that limits centralized authority. Our modern culture encourages us to question authority and even rebel against authority. The only authority for many people is themselves; they question all other authority.

Christianity is an authoritative faith. That is, God is the highest authority. God’s word is our primary authority for faith and practice, and we are obligated to obey it. Christians must submit to authority. We recognize various structures of authority, and we willingly submit to the legitimate authorities who are over us.

In our Summer Sermon Series, I have been speaking about the importance of biblical convictions. Conviction refers to being convinced and confident that something is true; a conviction is a strong persuasion or belief. By biblical convictions, we mean beliefs derived from and based on a commitment to Scripture. And I’m advocating that we hold our convictions strongly and without compromise.

Today we’ll be considering convictions we should have that pertain to authority. God designed man to operate under God‑given authority. We must acknowledge these legitimate authorities and submit to them, within limits.

Christians are typically not rebels and revolutionaries. We don’t generally fight authority. We acknowledge legitimate authority and we submit to it except in rare cases where we cannot submit.