In the modern age, when truth is relativized and authority is treated with suspicion or outright disdain, the biblical worldview offers clarity: all legitimate authority originates from God and is accountable to His created order. Whether in the home, church, or state, authority is not self-derived or autonomous; it is a trust – a stewardship to reflect the justice, order, and righteousness of God. When those in power within those institutions God ordained reject this foundation, authority becomes not only illegitimate but dangerous.
This principle is clearly seen in Scripture. Ephesians 5 outlines God’s design for the family, calling wives to submit to their husbands "as to the Lord." But this submission is not unconditional. It is predicated on the husband’s own submission to Christ. In other words, a husband’s authority is legitimate only to the extent that it mirrors the sacrificial, righteous leadership of Jesus and is not abusive of the positional authority of headship.
Similarly, civil government is called in Romans 13 to be a "minister of God," ordained to uphold justice by rewarding what is good and restraining what is evil (Micah 6:8). This means government is not given the authority to define good and evil according to cultural trends, political pressure, or ideological fashion. Its job is not to create morality, but to reflect and enforce the moral order that God has already established. When government begins to reverse this order – punishing righteousness and protecting or promoting wickedness – it is no longer functioning as God’s servant but as a usurper of divine authority. Just as a pastor cannot rewrite scripture and remain a faithful minister of the gospel, a government cannot redefine good and evil and still claim legitimacy in authority under God. It becomes, in essence, an outlaw regime – operating in rebellion against the very authority it claims to represent.
When a governing authority steps outside its God-given bounds and begins to legislate immorality or suppress righteousness, it is not the citizen who resists such tyranny that is in rebellion – it is the state itself. Defiance of illegitimate authority is not rebellion against God; it is obedience to Him.
This principle was central to the American Revolution. The Founders did not see their cause as anarchy or sedition, but as a moral stand against a monarchy that had violated the very purpose of government: to secure God-given rights. The Declaration of Independence was not a rejection of authority, but an appeal to higher authority – the"“Supreme Judge of the world," as the document states.
The Revolution was justified not by human preference but by the reality that the British Crown had broken covenant with the moral law and forfeited its legitimacy. Scripture is replete with examples of civil disobedience: Daniel refusing to worship Nebuchadnezzar and Peter declaring "we must obey God rather than men." The American founders likewise understood that resistance to tyranny is obedience to God when that tyranny seeks to supplant divine authority. This is quite literally what we mean when we say "one nation, under God."
Moral rebellion
Today, however, we are witnessing the unraveling of this understanding of delegated authority, created order, and moral foundation in our nation. We no longer understand what it means to be "under God." The state increasingly claims moral neutrality while actively legislating against biblical morality, as if it has the authority to do so.
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Abortion, for instance, is treated not as the destruction of innocent life – which scripture and natural law clearly condemn – but as a "right." This is not moral neutrality; it is moral rebellion, enshrined in law. The same can be said for the ongoing redefinition of marriage, the promotion of gender ideology in schools, and the normalization of sexual immorality through government-funded initiatives.
Moreover, the federal government has long abused its authority through reckless spending on programs and ideologies that undermine the moral fabric of society. What DOGE is evidencing in real time is billions of taxpayer dollars funneled into institutions and agendas that promote a worldview hostile to biblical truth – whether it's abortion providers, radical sex education curricula, or international aid that advances anti-family policies.
When government uses its God-given authority to subsidize sin rather than restrain it, it ceases to be legitimate.
The judiciary, too, plays a critical role in either upholding or undermining moral legitimacy. Judicial rulings that interpret the Constitution apart from any moral framework render the document a wax nose – twisted to fit the whims of the age. But the founders never intended for the Constitution to be a morally hollow document. As John Adams wrote, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." A secularized judiciary that treats morality as subjective ultimately divorces the law from justice, and in doing so, forfeits its own legitimacy.
Authority found in Christ
The American founding was not based on the modern social contract theory, which suggests that rights are conferred by consensus and subject to change. Rather, it was built on the belief in self-evident truths – truths grounded in "the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God." Rights are not invented by the state; they are recognized as pre-existing, rooted in the created order. This is why the Declaration of Independence could speak with moral certainty about inalienable rights – because it appealed to a higher law than human opinion.
But when truth becomes subjective and morality negotiable, power fills the void. Without a shared commitment to moral absolutes, law becomes a tool of coercion rather than a servant of justice. We are left with competing interests rather than a common good … and government becomes not a guardian of liberty, but a manager of chaos.
This is not merely a political crisis – it is a spiritual one. A people who reject the authority of God will inevitably misuse human authority. When the state rebels against its Creator, it becomes a tyrant rather than a servant.
For America to be truly great again, it must recover its moral compass. We must return to a biblical vision of authority – one that sees power as a sacred trust under God, not a license for self-will. Legislators must pass laws that reflect God’s justice. Judges must interpret the Constitution with the moral assumptions of those who wrote it. And citizens must recognize that freedom is only sustainable when tethered to virtue.
True authority, whether in the home or the halls of Congress, can only exist when it is in submission to Christ. As Psalm 2 reminds us, the kings of the earth are commanded to "kiss the Son," lest they perish in the way. That is not a call to theocracy – it is a reminder that no human authority is ultimate. All must give account to the One who is.
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