22 Bible Verses about Human Authority, Nature Of

Everybody must obey the civil authorities that are over him, for no authority exists except by God's permission; the existing authorities have been established by Him,

Jesus answered him, "You would have no power at all over me, if it had not been given to you from above. So the man who betrayed me to you is more guilty than you."

For I, too, am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order this one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave-boy to do this, and he does it."

For I too am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave to do this, and he does it."

His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful slave, you have been faithful in the use of a small amount; I will put you in charge of a larger one. Come, share your master's joy!'

So he said to him, 'Well done, my good slave! Because you have proven dependable in a very small business, be governor of ten cities!'

It will be like a man who leaves his home and goes on a journey, after he has given orders to his slaves, to each his particular task, and has given orders to the watchman to keep watch.

So they closely watched and sent spies who pretended to be upright men, to catch Him in His conversation, so as to turn Him over to the power and authority of the governor.

So when he learned with certainty that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, He sent Him up to Herod, for he was in Jerusalem at that time.

Then Pilate said to Him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have it in my power to set you free or to crucify you?"

Now he is here and has authority from the high priests to put in chains all who call upon your name."

For the Lord's sake submit to all human authority; to the emperor as supreme,

Then Pilate said to Him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have it in my power to set you free or to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power at all over me, if it had not been given to you from above. So the man who betrayed me to you is more guilty than you."

But Jesus called them to Him and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots over them. It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold first position among you must be your slave,read more.
just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

Then Jesus called them to Him, and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots over them; but this is not to be the case among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold the first positions among you must be everybody's slave.read more.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

got up from the table, took off His outer clothes, and took a towel and tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel which was around His waist. Thus He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to Him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"read more.
Jesus answered him, "You do not now understand what I am doing, but by-and-by you will learn." Peter said to Him, "You must never wash my feet!" Jesus answered, "Unless I do wash you, you can have no share with me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, do not stop with my feet, then, but wash my hands and face too!" Jesus said to him, "Anyone who has taken a bath has no need of washing anything but his feet, but he is clean all over. And you are now clean, though not all of you are." For He knew who was going to betray Him; this is why He said, "You are not all clean." So when He had washed their feet and had put on His clothes and taken His place at the table, He said to them again: "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right in calling me so, for that is what I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, in order that you too may practice what I have done to you.

For if I do boast a little too much about my authority, which the Lord gave me for building you up and not for tearing you down, I shall never have to blush for doing so.

This is why I am writing this while far away from you, that when I do come, I may not have to deal harshly with you in accordance with the authority which the Lord has given me, for building you up, not for tearing you down.

It cannot be that we have no right to our food and drink, can it? It cannot be that we have no right to take a Christian wife about with us, can it, as well as the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers, and Cephas? Or is it Barnabas and I alone who have no right to refrain from working for a living?read more.
What soldier ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Who shepherds a flock and does not drink any of the milk the flock produces? I am not saying this only by way of human illustrations, am I? Does not the law say so too? For in the law of Moses it is written, "You must not muzzle an ox that is treading out your grain." Is it that God is concerned about oxen only? Is He not really speaking on our behalf? Yes, indeed, this law was written on our behalf, because the plowman ought to plow and the thresher ought to thresh, in the hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown the spiritual seed for you, is it too great for us to reap a material support from you? If others share this right with you, have we not a stronger claim? Yet, we have never used this right; no, we keep on bearing everything, to keep from hindering the progress of the good news of Christ. Do you not know that those who do the work about the temple get their living from the temple, and those who constantly attend on the altar share its offerings? Just so the Lord has issued orders that those who preach the good news shall get their living out of it. But I myself have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this just to make it so in my case, for I had rather die than do that. No one shall rob me of this ground of boasting. For if I do preach the good news, I have no ground for boasting of it, for I cannot help doing it. Yes, indeed, I am accursed if I do not preach the good news. For if I do it of my own accord, I get my pay; but if I am unwilling to do it, I still am entrusted with trusteeship. Then what is the pay that I am getting? To be able to preach the good news without expense to anybody, and so never to make full use of my rights in preaching the good news.

When one of you has a grievance against his neighbor, does he dare to go to law before a heathen court, instead of laying the case before God's people? Do you not know that God's people are to judge the world? And if the world is to be judged before you, are you unfit to try such petty cases? Do you not know that we Christians are to sit in judgment on angels, to say nothing of the ordinary cases of life?read more.
So if you have the ordinary cases of life for settlement, do you set up as judges the very men in the church who have no standing? I ask this to make you blush with shame. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could settle a grievance of one brother against another, but one brother has to go to law with another, and that before unbelieving judges? To say no more, it is a mark of moral failure among you to have lawsuits at all with one another. Why not rather suffer being wronged? Why not suffer being robbed?

Food will never bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat it; we are no better if we do. But you must see to it that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block to overscrupulous people. For if somebody sees you, who have an intelligent view of this matter, partaking of a meal in an idol's temple, will he not be emboldened, with his overscrupulous conscience, to eat the food which has been sacrificed to an idol?read more.
Yes, the overscrupulous brother, for whom Christ died, is ruined by your so-called knowledge. Now if in such a way you sin against your brothers and wound their overscrupulous consciences, you are actually sinning against Christ. So then, if food can make my brother fall, I will never, no, never, eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from falling.

Everything is permissible for people, but not everything is good for them. Everything is permissible for people, but not everything builds up their personality. No one should always be looking after his own welfare, but also that of his neighbor.