With this in mind, it is true that at the moment Peter is focusing our attention on the proper function of human government, that it is established "to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right" (v. 14). Under the control of evil and godless men, a government will fail to fulfill this function, and it might even do the opposite – that is, to punish those who do right and commend those who do wrong. However, as Peter will soon point out, an unjust government is not necessarily to be disobeyed. Instead, he calls us to suffer under it.

So if there are exceptions to the Scripture's command to obey human government, the principle for determining such instances should be carefully defined. We will first consider an instance when Peter himself disobeyed the authorities. When he, along with John, were commanded "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18), they replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (v. 19-20).

Of course, the phrase "judge for yourselves" is an expression that does not necessarily imply submission to the hearer's opinion. Instead, it indirectly asserts that the speaker's position is evidently correct, as when we say, "You decide" or "You tell me!" Indeed, the apostles were not waiting for a verdict, since they said, "For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." To paraphrase, they were saying, "It is evident that we should obey God rather than to obey you. So, although you have told us not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, we must continue anyway." Later, the apostles were brought before the high priest, who confronted them and said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood" (5:28). They answered, "We must obey God rather than men!" (v. 29).

Several examples appear in Daniel. Although the Jews were under the rule of a pagan king, they submitted and served under him. However, when they were told to worship idols, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused. They were thrown into a blazing furnace (Daniel 3). Later, when they were forbidden to petition or worship any god or man except the king, Daniel disobeyed and continued his daily prayers to the one true God. He was thrown into a lions' den (Daniel 6). God delivered his people in both cases, but the most relevant point for our purpose is that they had the same reason that Peter had for disobeying human authority.

It is clear from these examples that the time to disobey human authority is when to obey man means to disobey God. When a human authority issues a law that is not only inconsistent with God's commands and precepts, but that requires believers to neglect or violate them, then we must disobey the law. That is, we disobey human authority not just when we prefer not to obey it, but when we are forbidden to obey it by the command of God.

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