Three-Self-Church
Short answer: The term Three-Self Church refers to congregations shaped by a policy of self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation, often tied to state-registered churches in China. Romans 13:1-7 commands submission to governing authorities, because, as Romans 13:1 says, "there is no authority except from God," and governors are described as servants for good and avengers of wrath. That passage does not demand uncritical obedience to everything a state commands; Scripture also records the apostles refusing to stop teaching in Jesus' name. Acts 5:29 states, "We must obey God rather than men." The Three-Self situation therefore raises real questions about registration, conscience, and faithful witness, and Christians have reached different conclusions about how to apply these texts. This article examines what Romans 13:1-7 actually establishes and where it must be read alongside the rest of Scripture.
What the Three-Self label actually means
The phrase Three-Self usually describes a set of principles for church life: self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation. In the mid-twentieth century, these principles became associated with a national Protestant body in China, and congregations connected with that body are commonly called Three-Self churches. The underlying ideas, however, are older and broader than any single country or era. Mission-minded Christians have long argued that mature churches should govern their own affairs, pay their own expenses, and raise up their own teachers rather than remain permanently dependent on outside bodies.
Those three ideals, considered on their own, are not objectionable. Paul planted churches and appointed elders, and he insisted that local congregations should be led by qualified men from among them. He also worked to avoid being a burden, and he expected churches to support the work of the gospel. The controversy around the Three-Self Church is not mainly about whether self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation are good ideas. It is about what happens when a state registration system or a government-approved body becomes the gatekeeper for who may preach and where a church may meet.
So two questions must be kept distinct. First, is it wise for churches to be self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating? Often, yes. Second, may a government define the boundaries of Christian teaching and worship? That second question is where Romans 13:1-7 and passages such as Acts 4:18-20 come into direct play. Confusing the two questions leads to muddled conclusions on both sides. This article keeps them separate.
What Romans 13:1-7 says and how it argues
Romans 13:1 begins, "Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God." The command is addressed to every soul, meaning believers are not exempt. The reason given is not that authorities are always good, but that God stands behind their existence. Paul then warns that resisting authority brings judgment, and he calls rulers servants for good and avengers of wrath against wrongdoing. Submission, in Paul's argument, is not merely fear of punishment but also a matter of conscience.
Paul writes this near the end of a letter that has just described Christians as living sacrifices and as those who overcome evil with good. He is not suddenly changing subjects. He is telling believers how to live peaceably within a world they do not control. He does not say that rulers are righteous, nor does he claim that every law a government passes is just. He says that governing authority as such is ordained by God and that believers should ordinarily submit to it, pay what is owed, and live without provoking needless conflict.
The passage is also specific about the forms submission takes. Romans 13:7 mentions taxes, revenue, fear, and honor. These are concrete, ordinary obligations rather than a blank check for every possible state demand. Nothing in the text says a government may dictate what a church believes, whom it ordains, or what it preaches. The passage establishes the general duty of civil obedience, and it leaves room for the rest of Scripture to define the limits of that obedience.
Why Acts 4 and Acts 5 are not contradictions
Acts 4:18-20 records that the council commanded the apostles "not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus." Peter and John answered that they could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard. In Acts 5:29, after being arrested again, Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men." These are not marginal texts. They establish a principle that runs through the whole Bible: human authority is real, but it is never absolute. When a command directly contradicts what God has commanded, obedience to God takes precedence, and the believer accepts the consequences.
Notice what the apostles did not do. They did not organize a rebellion, curse the council, or deny that the council had legitimate authority in other matters. They submitted to arrest, stood before the court, and accepted punishment. Their disobedience was narrow and specific. They refused to stop preaching Jesus. That is a crucial model. Civil disobedience in Scripture is not a general posture of defiance; it is a particular refusal when a specific command of men contradicts a specific command of God.
Romans 13 tells Christians to submit to governing authorities. Acts 4 and 5 tell Christians what to do when submission would require them to sin. These two truths sit together in the New Testament without embarrassment. A believer can honor the state, pray for its leaders, pay its taxes, and still say with the apostles that God must be obeyed first. The tension is real, but it is not a contradiction, because the scope of each command is different.
How Matthew 22:21 frames the question
When asked about paying taxes to Caesar, Jesus asked whose image was on the coin. Matthew 22:21 records his answer: "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." This single sentence does two things at once. It affirms that Caesar has a legitimate sphere, which includes taxes and civil order. It also implies that Caesar does not have unlimited claim, because some things belong to God alone. The coin bore Caesar's image, so it was his. Human beings bear God's image, so they are his.
That distinction governs the Three-Self discussion. A government may legitimately regulate property, registration of organizations, taxation, and public order. Those are Caesar's sphere. But worship, doctrine, the ordination of ministers, the administration of the sacraments, and the preaching of the gospel belong to God. When a state claims authority over those things, it has crossed from Caesar's sphere into God's. The believer is not being rebellious by recognizing that boundary; he is being faithful to Jesus' own words.
Of course, applying this line is often difficult in practice. Registration requirements may be entangled with doctrinal statements, leadership appointments, and restrictions on preaching. A believer may have to decide whether a particular regulation is an ordinary administrative matter or a demand for spiritual allegiance. Scripture gives the principle, but it does not give a checklist for every case. Christians should make these decisions prayerfully, with counsel, and with a clear conscience before God.
What 1 Peter 2:13-17 adds to the picture
1 Peter 2:13 says, "Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme." Peter, of all people, knew what it was to stand before rulers and refuse to stop preaching. Yet he still tells believers to submit to human ordinances, and he gives the motive: for the Lord's sake. Submission is not cowardice or compromise; it is a way of honoring Christ in ordinary life. Peter goes on to tell slaves to endure unjust suffering, and he points to Jesus, who did not retaliate when he was reviled.
The surrounding verses command believers to honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king. Peter holds together what we are tempted to split. Honor the emperor, and fear God. The order matters. God is feared; the king is honored. When the king's demands rise to the level of what only God may claim, the believer's allegiance is already settled. Peter's own example in Acts shows what that looks like when the pressure comes.
For Three-Self churches, this means that a congregation's willingness to cooperate with lawful requirements can be a genuine expression of Christian submission, not a sign of weak faith. At the same time, cooperation has a limit, and that limit is defined by what God has commanded. The question is never whether a church can get along with the state, but whether it can do so without denying Christ or silencing his word. Where those goods conflict, 1 Peter does not tell believers to choose peace at any cost.
Praying for rulers and living quietly
1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men," and it goes on to name kings and all in high places. The purpose given is that believers may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. This is a striking command in a context where the ruling authorities were not sympathetic to the church. Paul does not tell believers to protest first; he tells them to pray first.
That does not mean political questions are unimportant or that injustice should be ignored. It means the church's first response to hostile or difficult government is intercession, not agitation. A church that prays for its rulers is already doing more than many of its critics. Prayer also shapes the heart, preventing the bitterness and paranoia that can distort a church's witness. Three-Self congregations and unregistered congregations alike are called to this same discipline, whatever their stance on registration.
The goal Paul names is a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness. That is a legitimate Christian aim. It is not the same as silence about the gospel, and it is not the same as conformity to the world. A church can live quietly, pay its taxes, honor its officials, and still preach Christ crucified. The quietness Paul describes is the calm of a people who trust God's providence and are not consumed by political anxiety. It is a posture, not a policy.
Where faithful Christians differ
Honest readers of Scripture reach different conclusions about how to apply Romans 13:1-7 to specific registration systems. Some believers conclude that registering under a state-approved framework, as many Three-Self congregations do, is a legitimate exercise of submission to governing authorities and a way to keep meeting publicly. They point to Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 and argue that the state is not asking them to deny Christ, only to comply with organizational rules. They see their congregations as genuinely self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating in spirit, even within a regulated structure.
Other believers conclude that the requirements attached to registration compromise the church's freedom to preach and to appoint its own leaders. They point to Acts 4 and 5 and argue that when the state controls the pulpit, submission has become complicity. They choose to meet in homes or other unregistered settings, accepting the risks that come with that choice. They do not claim that registered believers are unbelievers, and registered believers should not treat unregistered ones as rebels. Both groups are trying to be faithful to the same texts.
This article does not pretend to settle the dispute for every context, and it should not. Christians in different countries and under different legal systems face different questions. What can be said with confidence is that Romans 13 commands real submission, Acts 5 permits real disobedience when God is defied, and Matthew 22:21 draws a line that every generation must apply with prayer, counsel, and a good conscience. Where believers differ, they should differ with charity and continue to recognize one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Biblical fidelity check
Romans 13:1-7 establishes that governing authority is ordained by God, that believers should ordinarily submit to it, and that rulers are God's servants for good and avengers of wrath. It does not establish that every command of every ruler must be obeyed without exception. It does not say that a state may regulate doctrine, worship, or the appointment of ministers. It does not promise that rulers will be just. And it does not cancel the plain example of the apostles, who refused to stop preaching when ordered to do so. The passage must be read with the rest of Scripture, not as a standalone license for unlimited state power.
A common misreading treats Romans 13 as if it settled every question about church-state relations, so that any refusal to comply with any government demand is rebellion against God. That is wrong because it makes the passage contradict Acts 5:29, where Peter and the apostles say, "We must obey God rather than men." The same New Testament that commands submission also records faithful disobedience. The correct reading holds both together: submission is the norm, disobedience is the exception, and the exception is triggered when human authority commands what God forbids. The Three-Self debate should be conducted within that framework, not by quoting one passage against the other.
Other passages that speak to Romans 13:1-7
Several related studies help fill out the biblical picture of authority, holiness, and Christian conduct. For a closer look at the call to sober-minded hope in a hostile world, see What Does 1 Peter 1:13 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application. For the call to holiness that shapes how believers live under any government, see What Does 1 Peter 1:15 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application. For the redemption that grounds Christian identity and courage, see What Does 1 Peter 1:18 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application. And for the electing grace that sustains believers through pressure, see What Does 1 Peter 1:2 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application. Each of these passages speaks to the same calling: to live faithfully as God's people within a world that does not always welcome the gospel.
Frequently asked questions
Does Romans 13 require Christians to obey every government command?
No. Romans 13:1-7 commands submission to governing authorities and describes rulers as God's servants for good. But the same New Testament records the apostles refusing to stop teaching in Jesus' name. Acts 5:29 says, "We must obey God rather than men." The ordinary Christian posture is submission; the exception is when a human command directly requires disobedience to God. At that point, the believer obeys God and accepts the cost, as the apostles did, without becoming a general rebel against all civil authority.
Are Three-Self churches genuine Christian churches?
Many Three-Self congregations confess historic Christian doctrine, preach Christ crucified, and gather for worship, prayer, and the sacraments. Nothing about registration itself makes a congregation unchristian. At the same time, the setting may impose real pressures on preaching and leadership. Believers should not pronounce blanket judgments on entire groups of churches, many of which contain faithful pastors and members. Scripture warns against judging brothers prematurely, and it calls believers to love one another even where their judgments about political arrangements differ considerably.
What is the difference between submission and disobedience in this debate?
Submission is the normal Christian posture toward civil authority: paying taxes, honoring officials, and living peaceably. Disobedience is the narrow exception when a specific command of men contradicts a specific command of God. The apostles submitted to arrest and trial while refusing to stop preaching. They did not resist the council's authority in general. Believers today should follow that pattern: cooperate where conscience allows, refuse where it does not, and accept the consequences without hatred or violence toward those who oppose them.
