Justin Taylor points out some helpful distinctions to make when discussing the issue of civil obedience. “Someone might ask you if you believe in ‘civil disobedience,’ but it helps to know what form of injustice requires disobedience — is it when the government prescribes evil, promotes evil, permits evil, or prohibits the good?”

John Calvin explains why Jesus was condemned as a criminal. “If [Christ] had been murdered by thieves or slain in an insurrection by a raging mob, in such a death there would have been no evidence of satisfaction. But when he was arraigned before the judgment seat as a criminal, accused and pressed by testimony, and condemned by the mouth of the judge to die—we know by these proofs that he took the role of a guilty man and evildoer.” (Institutes, 2.16.5)

Ligon Duncan reflects on the ultimate difference between heaven and hell. “Hell is eternity in the presence of God without a mediator. Heaven is eternity in the presence of God, with a mediator. Hell is eternity in the presence of God, being fully conscious of the just, holy, righteous, good, kind, and loving Father’s disapproval of your rebellion and wickedness. Heaven, on the other hand, is dwelling in the conscious awareness of your holy and righteous Father, but doing so through a mediator who died in your place.”