Acts 25:9-12 “But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favour, answered Paul and said, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?" (10) So Paul said, "I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. (11) For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar." (12) Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, "You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!”
We have seen in this section that the Lord expects His saints to submit to the ordinances of men for His sake. However in this life, not all laws are just and not all prosecutions are justified. So what should believers do when they are confronted with either unjust laws or wrongful prosecutions? If the societies in which they live allow its citizens to challenge in court, laws that are perceived to be unjust or wrongful prosecutions, then that is exactly what the saints should do. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that exact principle being practiced by the apostle Paul, for the Jews had falsely accused him and were attempting to have him wrongfully put to death. And so in response to the corrupt prosecution against him, Paul used the Roman legal system to appeal his case to the highest court in the Roman Empire, which was presided over by Caesar himself. We know that this was the Lord’s perfect will for His saint, for He is the one who was directing Paul’s actions so that he could witness to Caesar (Acts 27:24). And so, the outcome of Paul’s case is that he eventually won his appeal and was released from prison, and he went on from there to minister the gospel in Spain (Romans 15:28). As an aside, when the church is made aware of believers that are being persecuted in this way and are unable to provide direct legal support, then where possible and if needed, they should provide financial support for their fellow saints (Titus 3:13-14). The church should also not keep silent when they see this form of government abuse taking place, but rather they (especially the leadership of the church) should publically speak out against such abuses (Philippians 1:14).
Michael E.B. Maher
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