As the apostles preached in Jerusalem, the church continued to grow as “all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number” (Acts 5:14). Yet the rulers were not happy about this. They were “filled with jealousy” and had the apostles arrested (Acts 5:17-18).
When the apostles were brought before the Council, the high priest said, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28). However, instead of complying with their orders, Peter and the apostles said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Why would they answer this way? They knew Jesus had been raised from the dead and were “witnesses” of this fact (Acts 5:31-32).
This proved two things. First, Jesus was a greater authority than these rulers who ordered them not to preach. Second, Jesus had power over death, which meant that even if they were killed for their faith, they still had hope of eternal life through Him. As rulers today become more hostile toward the followers of Christ, we need to have the same conviction as Peter and the rest of the apostles.
So remember that we must obey God rather than men. If any law is contrary to or interferes with our responsibility as the Lord’s disciples, we are free to ignore that law. Even if the authorities punish us for that, they cannot take away our hope in Christ.