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The New Testament was written to people who lived in the pagan Roman Empire, in which government leaders didn’t care who you worshipped as long as you respected and paid homage to Caesar. The story of Peter going to visit Cornelius demonstrates that Christianity is a worldwide movement that is not bound to any earthly government.
What relationship should believers have with the civil government? According to Phil. 3:20, 21 and Heb. 11:13-26, the believer’s primary citizenship is in heaven. We are ambassadors, which means we are foreigners and represent our home country. Our mission is to win people for the heavenly kingdom. In fact, we have more in common with other ambassadors than with unbelieving citizens around us.
We tend to have a lot of thoughts and opinions about events and decisions that affect us. That probably can’t be avoided, but do we care more about the effect of such things on our pocketbook and freedoms than on our true mission in the world? Our responsibility is to be a witness for Christ and to respect and obey the government unless it violates Scripture.