The fifth commandment

5.3 Honor authorities

The rulers of God’s people are called to exercise just judgment, and they are to be honored and obeyed.

Exodus 22.28

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

Acts 23.1-5; Romans 13.5; Titus 3.1

Deuteronomy 16.18-20

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

John 7.24; Acts 14.23; Titus 1.5

We note that Jesus extended the charge to rulers to the people of God generally in John 7.24. All God’s people must judge righteous judgment in their dealings with one another. Thus we may expect to stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10.24), to deliver one who has fallen into sin (Gal. 6.1), and to exercise our gifts in ministry unto love for God and neighbor and the building-up of the Body of Christ.

God’s promise is that, when His people thus live in justice, according to all His Word, as faithfully taught and judged by the rulers of each community, they will know the fullness of His covenant blessings. Here is all the more reason for every believer to take seriously the Lord’s command to learn, obey, and teach His Law, for the progress of His Kingdom and the glory of His Name (Matt. 5.17-19).

This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.