No man should think he is giving less service to the one God when he obeys human laws, pays tax, or bows his head to accept any other burden.
By God’s own sovereign decree, presidents, kings, prime ministers, governors, mayors, police, and all other governmental authorities stand in His place for the preservation of society. To resist government is therefore to resist God. To refuse to pay taxes is to disobey God’s command. By God’s own declaration, to pay taxes to Caesar honors God [Rom. 13:15; 1 Ti. 2:1-3; 1 Pet. 2:13-15].
Matthew 16-23, Moody, 1988, p. 322.
Jesus…declared the divinely ordained obligation of citizens to pay taxes to whatever government is over them. Paying taxes is a legitimate duty of every person, but is specially binding on believers because they are specially bound to God’s Word. Jesus made no qualifying exemptions or exceptions, even under rulers such as the blasphemous, pagan, idolatrous government that in a few days would nail Him to the cross. The government that executed the Son of God was to be paid taxes by God’s people. The state has the divine right to assess taxes that are within its sphere of responsibility and its citizens have the divine obligation to pay them.
Matthew 16-23, Moody, 1988, p. 321.
That Jesus calls us to pay our taxes doesn’t make all taxation moral any more than His telling us to obey our parents makes them sinless.
Twitter Post, April 15, 2014.
