22 Bible Verses about Human Authority, Nature Of

Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

"You would have had no power whatever over me," replied Jesus, "had it not been granted you from above. On that account he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are."

For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say 'Go,' and he goes, to another 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

For I too am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

"'Good and trustworthy servant, you have done well,' his master replied; 'you have been trustworthy in the management of a little, I will put you in charge of much: share your master's joy.'

"'Well done, good servant,' he replied; 'because you have been faithful in a very small matter, be in authority over ten towns.'

It is like a man living abroad who has left his house, and given the management to his servants--to each one his special duty--and has ordered the porter to keep awake.

So, after impatiently watching their opportunity, they sent spies who were to act the part of good and honest men, that they might fasten on some expression of His, so as to hand Him over to the ruling power and the Governor's authority.

And learning that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction he sent Him to Herod, for he too was in Jerusalem at that time.

"Do you refuse to speak even to me?" asked Pilate; "do you not know that I have it in my power either to release you or to crucify you?"

and here he is authorized by the High Priests to arrest all who call upon Thy name."

Submit, for the Lord's sake, to every authority set up by man, whether it be to the Emperor as supreme ruler,

"Do you refuse to speak even to me?" asked Pilate; "do you not know that I have it in my power either to release you or to crucify you?" "You would have had no power whatever over me," replied Jesus, "had it not been granted you from above. On that account he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are."

But Jesus called them to Him, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you; but whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant;read more.
just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as the redemption-price for many."

Jesus, however, called them to Him and said to them, "You are aware how those who are deemed rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men make them feel their authority; but it is not to be so among you. No, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever desires to be first among you must be the bondservant of all.read more.
For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people."

rose from the table, threw off His upper garments, and took a towel and tied it round Him. Then He poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel which He had put round Him. When He came to Simon Peter, Peter objected. "Master," he said, "are *you* going to wash my feet?"read more.
"What I am doing," answered Jesus, "for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know." "Never, while the world lasts," said Peter, "shall you wash my feet." "If I do not wash you," replied Jesus, "you have no share with me." "Master," said Peter, "wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." "Any one who has lately bathed," said Jesus, "does not need to wash more than his feet, but is clean all over. And you my disciples are clean, and yet this is not true of all of you." For He knew who was betraying Him, and that was why He said, "You are not all of you clean." So after He had washed their feet, put on His garments again, and returned to the table, He said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me 'The Rabbi' and 'The Master,' and rightly so, for such I am. If I then, your Master and Rabbi, have washed your feet, it is also your duty to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example in order that you may do what I have done to you.

If, however, I were to boast more loudly of our Apostolic authority, which the Lord has given us that we may build you up, not pull you down, I should have no reason to feel ashamed.

For this reason I write thus while absent, that when present I may not have to act severely in the exercise of the authority which the Lord has given me for building up, and not for pulling down.

Have we not a right to claim food and drink? Have we not a right to take with us on our journeys a Christian sister as our wife, as the rest of the Apostles do--and the Lord's brothers and Peter? Or again, is it only Barnabas and myself who are not at liberty to give up working with our hands?read more.
What soldier ever serves at his own cost? Who plants a vineyard and yet does not eat any of the grapes? Or who tends a herd of cattle and yet does not taste their milk? Am I making use of merely worldly illustrations? Does not the Law speak in the same tone? For in the Law of Moses it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is God simply thinking about the oxen? Or is it really in our interest that He speaks? Of course, it was written in our interest, because it is His will that when a plough-man ploughs, and a thresher threshes, it should be in the hope of sharing that which comes as the result. If it is we who sowed the spiritual grain in you, is it a great thing that we should reap a temporal harvest from you? If other teachers possess that right over you, do not we possess it much more? Yet we have not availed ourselves of the right, but we patiently endure all things rather than hinder in the least degree the progress of the Good News of the Christ. Do you not know that those who perform the sacred rites have their food from the sacred place, and that those who serve at the altar all alike share with the altar? In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News. But I, for my part, have not used, and do not use, my full rights in any of these things. Nor do I now write with that object so far as I myself am concerned, for I would rather die than have anybody make this boast of mine an empty one. If I go on preaching the Good News, that is nothing for me to boast of; for the necessity is imposed upon me; and alas for me, if I fail to preach it! And if I preach willingly, I receive my wages; but if against my will, a stewardship has nevertheless been entrusted to me. What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.

If one of you has a grievance against an opponent, does he dare to go to law before irreligious men and not before God's people? Do you not know that God's people will sit in judgement upon the world? And if you are the court before which the world is to be judged, are you unfit to deal with these petty matters? Do you not know that we are to sit in judgement upon angels--to say nothing of things belonging to this life?read more.
If therefore you have things belonging to this life which need to be decided, is it men who are absolutely nothing in the Church--is it *they* whom you make your judges? I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there does not exist among you a single wise man competent to decide between a man and his brother, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? To say no more, then, it is altogether a defect in you that you have law-suits with one another. Why not rather endure injustice? Why not rather submit to being defrauded?

It is true that a particular kind of food will not bring us into God's presence; we are neither inferior to others if we abstain from it, nor superior to them if we eat it. But take care lest this liberty of yours should prove a hindrance to the progress of weak believers. For if any one were to see you, who know the real truth of this matter, reclining at table in an idol's temple, would not his conscience (supposing him to be a weak believer)read more.
Why, your knowledge becomes the ruin of the weak believer--your brother, for whom Christ died! Moreover when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak consciences, you are, in reality, sinning against Christ. Therefore if what I eat causes my brother to fall, never again to the end of my days will I touch any kind of animal food, for fear I should cause my brother to fall.

Everything is allowable, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable, but everything does not build others up. Let no one be for ever seeking his own good, but let each seek that of his fellow man.