"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
Obeying God is a commandment and not an option. People are always talking about obeying God but when it comes to an actual sacrifice then the memory to obey God flies out the window. Peter and John had just suffered a major ordeal with the government, they had been warned not to preach about Jesus but they did anyway even though their life was threatened. Christians are to obey God at any cost to them. Life is ordained of God and disobeying God to better your life is not going to be successful no matter how much we disobey God. We must understand everyone and everything in creation is commanded to obey God, but very few do. If you will remember Jesus Christ, God's own Son also obeyed the commandments and will of God the Father. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 6:38 Therefore to obey God is being like Jesus Christ, and obeying no matter where the road leads or how many issues arise, or even if it means to do with less in life or even without. Jesus Christ gave His life because God has ordained it to be. Many other millions of Christians also suffered great and horrible deaths because they were following Gods ordained will. God said in Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Christians are obeying God when they allow the high powers that be rule and move forward without interruption from Believers. We must all remember that "...For there is no power but of God..." therefore we are to accept things as Gods will, and obey them. Now please understand we are not to accept everything as "ok" just because God allows sinful things to exist. For example God does not accept abortion as a way of life, in fact He condemns it as murder, but He does allow it, and if God truly wanted abortion stopped then God would stop it. But this does not mean that God will not hold abortionist and all involved responsible. With this being said, always remember "all powers" even the power of Satan is controlled by God. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:13 - 14 "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; (14.) Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well." Now please understand we are to obey man until it conflicts with God and then it is only God we obey. Let us take abortion again as an example. God has ordained abortion just as He has ordained everything else including the crucifixion of His own beloved Son Jesus Christ. God had also ordained the sacrifice of millions of His believers through His blessed will. Please remember "...For there is no power but of God..." Therefore, while as Christians we are not to fight the government over abortion (except through the legal system) we are certainly not to accept it as our way of life, nor any other law's that may disobey God. This reminds us of Peter and John, the government would not allow them to teach about Jesus, but God did, therefore they continued even though their life were threatened. "Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Acts 5:28 but the only thing that mattered to them was to obey God. God never tells a believer in Jesus Christ to disobey Him. It was God who told these two men to "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." Acts 5:20 and speak they were going to do even if it meant their death. It is needful that we understand that Gods commandments are to always be obeyed, but only God's direct commands, nothing else allows us to disobey man. Therefore we ought to obey God rather than men, if that is Gods command.
