""Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" is a summation of the famous 1750 sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mayhew, based on Biblical and reformation principles.
"...On 30 Juanuary 1750, Mayhew delivered a sermon "Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers with Some Reflections on the Resistance Made to King Charles I." Its critique of the proper Christian response to tyranny would lay the philosophocal groundwork for the American Revolution. As Peter Kershaw writes:John Adams called Rev. Mayhew "the morning gun of the Revolution." Adams also dubbed him a "transcendent genius." Robert Treat Paine called Dr. Mayhew, "The Father of Civil and Religious Liberty in Massachusetts and America." No one today should underestimate the significant contribution that the Rev. Jonathan Mayhew made toward the cause of liberty and American independence. Mayhew preached several sermons on Romans 13. The sermon . . . was considered so important that it was printed and widely distributed throughout the American Colonies. Mayhew was also famous for his election sermons (in Mayhew's day it was common for preachers to preach a sermon to the governor and the legislators immediately following an election). The message of Mayhew's sermon challenging passive obedience and non-resistance to all rulers was radical and unmistakable -- the king must repent of his tyrannies or face the consequences of his subjects forcibly throwing off the chains of tyranny. Mayhew's sermon was even sent to the king and the British parliament as a "remonstrance." Mayhew's habit of serving remonstrances on tyrants became a common practice with many other patriot preachers, as well. King George branded these "nonconformist" clergymen as the "Black Regiment" (mocking them for the black robes they wore). Mayhew's sermon resulted in the motto for the American Revolution: "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=24548
Jesus obeyed the Father and went to the cross voluntary to pay the penalty for our sins. The point of my post was that that a civil government has authority in civil matters, but the authority is limited and defined. See the article below the one linked above on Romans 13, which clearly limits the authority of civil government by strictly defining its purpose:
"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil . . . For he is the minister of God to thee for good . . . for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."
"Any government that oversteps that divine boundary has no divine authority or protection. This is a basic principle of Natural Law (and all of America's legal documents--including the U.S. Constitution--are founded upon the God-ordained principles of Natural Law"".
Cordially,
Since government is, like all humanity, all sinners, then by the light you “cordially” proffer no government could ever have any authority. It’s not a question of whether it will err, it’s only a question of how BADLY it will err.
Paul wrote Romans 13 while Nero was on the throne. Not a nice guy.
The actual biblical limit is drawn at being required to sin. Nobody has obligation to yield to being required to sin by the government.