Authority

In Acts 5, we encounter a picture of people endowed with the Spirit of God doing mighty exploits in the name of Jesus. Peter is mentioned by name, but other apostles were participating, as well. They were arrested, put in prison, then supernaturally freed, much to the chagrin of the religious leaders. We can find these words in that chapter:
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."

The apostles recognized that they were in submission to a higher authority - that they were followers of Jesus, and they were determined to obey Him.  They proclaimed the gospel in their defense and were bold to recognize what Jesus had done. When we humble ourselves before the Lord and place ourselves under His mighty hand, we can see the power of the Holy Spirit flow through us, so that by they way we live, we testify to the presence of Jesus within us.

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In Matthew chapter 21, just days before He was crucified, Jesus confounded the religious leaders of the day, who had set up a legal framework of laws and regulations with a religious veneer, but that was not consistent with the Law of the Scriptures. They did not acknowledge nor respect the authority of Jesus. He called out their hypocrisy, and they sought to trap Him and bring Him down. In that chapter, we can read:

23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25 The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'
26 But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."
27 So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The central theme of these verses is authority - the religious leaders of His day did not recognize that He was sent from God; much less that He was, and is, the Son of God. 

We find leaders today who do not recognize the authority of Jesus and are hostile toward Him and to those who call upon His name.  Consider what is occurring in the nation of Canada, where a new law is being proposed that would silence certain expressions of Christianity. A CBN.com article says:

Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern (ICC), a religious persecution watchdog, told CBN News proposed Bill C-367 “amends the criminal code and it takes away some religious exemptions that protected Christians.”

He referred to a bill that never passed Congress called the Equality Act, which, according to the article... 

...sought to prohibit “discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system,” but ignited religious persecution concerns.

Similarly, Canadian Bill C-367, King said, would create potential problems for people making biblical claims or basing objections to certain issues on the Quran or other religious sentiments.

The CBN article notes:

A description of the proposal reads as follows: “This enactment amends the Criminal Code to eliminate as a defence against wilful promotion of hatred or antisemitism the fact that a person, in good faith, expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”

It does appear that parts of the Commonwealth are increasingly hostile toward Christianity.  In the United Kingdom, The Christian Post reports, a new definition of "extremism" has emerged; a recent article notes:

The new definition says that "extremism is the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to" among other things "negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others."

Christian Concern said that Christians who are pro-life, gender-critical or have traditionalist beliefs about marriage might fall foul of the new definition.

As the article notes, there is a group called Prevent that is described as "the government's counter-terrorism scheme that aims to stop individuals from becoming terrorists." But, according to Christian Concern:

"Christians who are pro-life could be seen as being opposed to an assumed 'fundamental right' to abortion and thus to be 'intolerant' and so extremist. It is already the case that being anti-abortion is on a Prevent list of ideologies seen as potential signs of extremism," the organization said.

"Christians who are opposed to same-sex 'marriage' could also be seen as wishing to 'negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others' and to be 'intolerant.'"

The article contained some examples of Christians who had been reported to Prevent; it related:

Christian Concern pointed to examples of Christians who have already been reported to Prevent for their beliefs, including school chaplain, the Rev. Bernard Randall, who was referred over a sermon in which he told students they didn't have to agree with LGBT ideology. In another incident, Christian teacher Svetlana Powell was reported to Prevent after saying "God loves you" to a lesbian pupil.

A piece on the Christian Concern website declared:

Christianity has been the bedrock for our nation and Christians must be welcomed at the heart of government. By its vague terminology, this definition risks excluding genuine Christians from influencing government policy now or in the future.

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of Christian Concern, is quoted as saying this:

“The government needs to clarify that ‘fundamental rights’ do not include abortion, same-sex ‘marriage’ or identifying as the opposite sex.

“Without this clarification, Christians who express their legitimate belief that marriage is between a man and a woman would risk being deemed ‘extremist’ by the government.”

“We urge the government to urgently clarify what ‘fundamental rights’ are intended in the definition of extremism.”

Unfortunately, it is very easy for those who are hostile toward Christian beliefs to brand Christ-followers as "extremist," to draw a circle around them and punish them for holding to those beliefs. Whether Christians are being described as purveyors of "misinformation" for stating their beliefs or being accused of "Christian nationalism" for stating their beliefs publicly, there is certainly an intimidation factor at play.  There are those who don't honor God nor respect His authority who are now attempting to silence His people. 

But, we who operate under the authority of Scripture do not have to be held captive by fear. If we are in a right position with our Savior, we can be confident in Him.  There will be those who will attempt to ridicule us because of what we believe, but we can continue to hold fast to our convictions.  Jesus knew who He was and who sent Him - and He lost His life for it. We can know who we are in Him and who has sent us and be ready to give an answer to those who would come against us, and...as 1st Peter 3 suggests, to give an answer about the reason for our hope.