In the West, we live in a time of ever-growing government control and power. Both sides of the political spectrum appear bent on the belief that a government solution is never far away, whatever problem appears in society. Christians are faced with the impact of ever more incursions into the church's sphere of influence by ever-increasing numbers of edicts, however well-meant they might be. Increasingly these edicts touch on matters of the central message of Christianity, the gospel.

As believers, we need a response that both affirms the gospel and encourages us and our fellow man to follow after a life of peace. The central passage in the New Testament on how we as Christians should live out our gospel witness concerning what we commonly call "the government" is in Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 13. In this book I argue that Romans 13 is about legitimate government. Christians have a moral duty to resist tyranny. This is seen all throughout scripture and Romans 13 is correctly interpreted in that light.