The New Testament Scriptures define the Source of authority.

Authority According to Barney Fife

Romans 13:1 (KJV) speaks of “power” and “higher powers” and the fact that “there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” The NIV translates the original Greek word here as “authority” rather than “power.” In the NIV the Scripture reads, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”

The writer of Romans simply stated the fact that GOD is the Source of all legitimate authority. Anyone trying to exercise authority that God did not establish can be said to have exceeded his (or her) authority. So how do we determine which authority is legitimate and which is illegitimate? The answer seems to lie in the definition of the (KJV) word “ordain” used in Romans 13:1.

The original Greek word that the editors of the KJV translated as “ordain” is the word tasso (Strong’s <5021>).  It means: 1) to put in order, to station; 1a) to place in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a place, to appoint or; 1a1) to assign (appoint) a thing to one; 1b) to appoint, ordain, order. This is similar to what our military calls “the chain of command.” It refers to the fact that each person in the chain is accountable (we will consider this concept in a later article) to those under whose authority he/she operates.

Again, God is the SOURCE of all legitimate authority. The bottom line is… unless God (the Ultimate Authority, cf. Mt 28:18) has shared a portion of His authority (possibly through the “chain of command”) to an individual, any “authority” that they may claim is ultimately void and WILL be taken away!

Another point that can be drawn from this is that, although each person in the chain has some authority, they also have accountability. They are accountable to the person from whom they draw authority. The British Royalty and indeed, almost all nations proclaim their own “sovereignty.” However, no one is SOVEREIGN except God Himself. You can print it on coins and advertise it around the globe but, in the end, “[ALL] men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Mt 12:36). Read the rest of this entry »