And the devil took (Jesus) up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘to you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ (Luke 4:5-7)
‘Authority’ is ἐξουσία exousia and it means licensed power, the right to act, to have charge of, or dominion over.
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Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. (Romans 13:1-2)
The word translated ‘subject’ is ὑποτάσσω hypotassó from hypo, ‘under’ and tasso ‘arrange; thus, under (God’s) arrangements. Paul is unequivocally saying that God institutes earthly governance and all governments must be respected by God’s people. Within ten years after this letter to the Roman church was written, the Emperor Nero unjustly blamed Christians for having starting a fire that devastated some two thirds of Rome. One of the emperor’s capricious punishments was to position Christians on poles and set them alight, as so called ‘Nero’s torches’.
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God Breathed Words 