[DJ MacWoW]

God ordained all authority and we must obey them? Then I guess you'll accept the mark of the beast. I will not.

Again, you need discernment. Not all of man's "rules" are to be obeyed. Man is wicked in his heart. But God is THE authority and is right in all His ways.

[NoCmpromiz]

It seems that some who wish to be seen as 'expositors' of Scripture get stuck on one or two 'proof texts' and this gives them license to ignore the rest of God's revelation. One of the major rules of hermeneutics is that you must take into consideration the entirety of scripture that touches on the subject. Yes, the Holy Spirit through the pen of the Apostle Paul did write the book of Romans. But He (that would be the Holy Spirit who is a person and thus a He, not an it) also wrote the Book of Acts and Daniel. It then becomes the expositor's task to harmonize the varying direction of scripture.

Now, in case anyone missed it (and in reading through the posts, it seems that is the case), the early church did not have stone edifices with stained glass windows and pipe organs. Today when we hear the word 'church' we tend to think that it is a building. Wrong. The church is the people. The building can burn down, but the church will still be there - they can sit on the lawn, they would still be the church. The early church met in peoples houses (gasp - wonder what the Emperor thought of that...) and as authority for that statement from Holy Writ I recommend that you look at Colossians 4:15 paying attention to the words "and the church in her house."

Getting stuck on Romans 13 while ignoring other passages that speak to the issue most certainly will leave such a person with no alternative but to accept the mark in the forehead or hand because the government said you have to and God wrote it..

[AppyPappy]

Here’s what God said:
Rom 13:1-2 MKJV
(1) Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities. For there is no authority but of God; the authorities that exist are ordained by God.
(2) So that the one resisting the authority resists the ordinance of God; and the ones who resist will receive judgment to themselves.

Argue with God, not me.