13:1-7
Is government a good thing or a bad thing?
When the topic of ‘government’ is brought up people often have a less than enthusiastic response…most generally…anger…disgust…rebellion…frustration and despair often characterize our response to those who rule over us.
Last week the Senate passed a $433-billion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act that the Congressional Budget Office says will actually have a negligible effect on inflation…but The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) suggested that Americans in almost every income category would see their taxes increased. SO…Is government a good thing or a bad thing?
After writing for eleven chapters about what justification by faith is…Paul turned his attention to how it transforms the lives of believers.
Paul is not saying that all who are born again are living transformed lives…quite the opposite…He’s saying that believers can live transformed lives…a process accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit.
For the past two weeks we have looked at the results of what living a transformed life looks like…ONE is thru the use of spiritual gifts that God has given to every member of His church so we can serve others.
The SECOND result of living a transformed life is reflected in the traits [12:9-21].
In Romans 13:1 Paul continues to describe what it means to be ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind’ …directing us that as Christians we are to be subject to the governing authorities.
In chapter 13 of Romans Paul give guidance regarding how we are to react to the government.
13 1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on wrongdoers.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Some Bible teachers believe that these first seven verses in Roman’s 13th chapter contain the clearest and most specific New Testament teaching on a Christian’s responsibility to civil authority.
Let me start off by saying … there are occasions in which Christians may disobey civil authorities … any time government requires a Christian to do what God forbids or forbids them to do what God commands … then the Christian must disobey.
There’s the always popular Romans 13 scenario used in Seminary … you’re living in Germany in the 1930’s and the Nazis come to your house and want you to turn over any Jews you may be hiding. Knowing their fate, do you subject to the governing authorities and turn them over or defy the directive and continue to hide them?
But … our basic posture toward government according to the New Testament is to be submissive and obedient citizens of the state.
Now…my job as a Pastor is not to get into politics from the pulpit…my opinion is no more important than those Hollywood celebrities or the man cleaning the restroom at the Quick Trip.
I am not called to give my opinion or change the emphasis from the gospel to politics…OR to support legislation at the expense of teaching the Bible.
In the first seven verses of Romans 13 Paul lists five principles:
1) [13:1] – That every person be subject to the governing authorities because God ordains all human governments.
Sometimes when reading Scripture, it’s good to remember the circumstances the writer was in when they wrote the Bible… I can’t help but believe that when the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this chapter…based on the persecution Christians were suffering at the time…that Paul wasn’t seriously questioning God’s reason.
Remembering that Paul wrote this during the reign of the two worst tyrants known to history…Roman emperors Nero and Caligula.
Despite the brutality they were suffering under Roman rule…Paul is telling Christians to be subject to the government…to not resist governmental authority.
What Paul says in 13:1 is not something specific to Romans…being subject to governing authorities is a common theme throughout the New Testament regarding how we are to react to and regarding our allegiance to government.
In writing to Titus Paul directs him (Titus 3:1–2).
Remind them [believers] to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient
Peter echoes the same sentiment [1 Peter 2:13, 14, 15].
Be in subjection to every human institution, where to a king as one in authority or to governors…for such is the will of God.
Paul was not claiming that earthly governments must be obeyed because they are good or trustworthy…that’s never implied…most generally they’re not.
Many of them are immoral…unjust…and ungodly…but…regardless…Paul was establishing the principle that we should be subject to earthly governments because in spite of their faults:
1) There is no authority except that which God Himself has permitted, and the powers that exist do so by God’s sovereign appointment. [Rom 13:1]
Civil government is by divine decree…there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.
That is in full agreement with what I read last week in my daily Bible reading from Daniel …written thousands of years ago…it is God who ‘sets up kings and removes them.’ [2:21] He doesn’t need our help.
2) Human government is one of the way God restrains the influence of evil in the world. [2 Thess. 2:7]
There are FIVE restraints:
ONE… Government… God has ordained governments to have authority on the earth to punish bad behavior and encourage good behavior (1 Peter 2:14) …government in any form is a gift from God to restrain evil.
TWO…our conscience…this is a personal restraint…People have a sixth sense to know right from wrong…every human being has the law of God written in their heart…every human being comes into this world knowing the difference between right and wrong [Rom. 2:15].
THREE…the third restraint is family. One of the reasons God gave marriage and told them to populate the world was so people would be born into families where the father and mother would invest in the training up of their children.
FOUR…the Holy Spirit…He is the restrainer…according to God’s timetable the Day of the Lord and the accompanying judgement will not start until what is keeping evil in check is taken out of the way.
The one holding evil in check and will continue to do so until the proper time is none other than the Holy Spirit [2 Thess. 2:6-8].
FIVE…fifth restraint is a spiritual restraint…biblical churches are a restraint against evil because they are filled with people who teach the truth… pastors who proclaim how people can be saved…and preaching God’s Word that changes sinners into saints [Rom.. 10:9-10].
Unfortunately, over the last century our country has been on a trajectory to remove these restraints from society.
….When families are broken society will see the rise of wickedness because the restraint against evil has been weakened.
…When the government becomes corrupt, then morality will not be enforced.
…When the country is filled with false churches then people will not be restrained spiritually from their sin., and the country will descend into chaos.
Many times, to be subject to the governing authorities is not a black and white issue.
The term…be subject to the governing authorities…in [13:1 / Titus & Peter] includes a lot of ideas other than just paying your taxes…it’s consenting to legal regulations…it’s obeying legal authorities…it’s following societal rules…it’s being obedient to speed limits…stop signs…curfews…building codes…fishing and hunting licenses and many other laws.
In the sixties all I wanted to do was go to college…run track…and drink beer… the government decided it best that I should take a boat ride to a country I couldn’t even find on a map and engage in a miliary conflict with people I didn’t even know.
People who had never done anything to me …and as far as I knew all they wanted was to be left alone which was fine with me because all I wanted was to get back home to Beverly.
BUT…for me to defy the government’s directive to go into military service… as a Christian…would I have been in violation of God’s directive to…be subject to the governing authorities?…would I have been resisting governmental authority which God established?…if you’re familiar with that time a lot of people did just that…and went to Canada.
Imagine you’re a Christian farmer living peacefully in colonial America…word comes that a bunch of politicians in Philadelphia have declared independence from Great Britain.
Knowing what Paul says in Romans 13 about being in submission to governing authorities…what should you do? Remain loyal to England or side with those rebellious colonialists?
INTERPRETATION 1
Many evangelicals believe that the American Revolution was wholly justified …they believe that the rights to life…liberty…and the pursuit of happiness… not only are divinely endowed but justified at whatever the cost…including an armed rebellion if necessary…therefore the American Revolution was justified.
INTERPRETATION 2
Many evangelicals—John McArthur—strongly believe that the Revolutionary war was forbidden by God and our founding fathers were in direct opposition to God… that the United States was born out of a violation of Romans 13:1.
In Paul’s day the Romans severely persecuted Christians…they could have easily taken Jesus’ teaching about the coming kingdom of God as a reason to take up arms and rebel against the Romans….would it have been justifiable based on Nero’s actions to kill Christians?
How could Roman Christians be loyal to a government that persecuted them… denied them their civil right…stole their property…and had them executed simply for being Christians?
So the question to the church in Rome was…how shall we think about Caesar… do we support him or not…Paul believed that the civil authorities were ordained by God and Christians were obligated to obey the laws of the land.
As Christians our basic posture toward government…according to Scripture…is to be submissive and obedient citizens of the state [12:1] …in addition…we are also to pray for earthly governments to fulfill the tasks God has given to them [1 Tim. 2:2] …even those we believe are in opposition to God.
Someone asked me ‘should we pray that bad things happen to evil rulers?’…after all the Bible has some pretty terrible things to say about evil people.
Psalm 137 ends with: “dash their babies’ heads against the rocks” …if you’re familiar with the ‘imprecatory Psalms’ they ask God to curse…destroy…invoke judgement and calamity on people…how can we pray things like:
Let his years be few…May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes. May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned. Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children [Psalm 109:8-12]
The imprecatory psalms help us to understand the hurt and outrage that the Jews were experiencing…so what is our directive? TWO THINGS:
FIRST…To pray an imprecatory prayer is to pray as Jesus taught us to pray…as Christians we long for God’s kingdom to come…that it will be on earth as it is in Heaven. [Mat 6:10]
Praying the imprecatory psalms is not a call for violence…but a call to faith… we pray for God either to convert or curse the enemies of Christ…notice that the judgment and the destruction is left in the Lord’s hands.
It is the Lord who brings about judgment and it’s not for us to take judgement into our own hands…imprecatory psalms do not promote an attitude of hatred, but an attitude of desiring God’s justice.
If we’re going to submit to Paul’s command—to be in subjection—imperative voice in Greek…a command that applies to every believer in whatever part of the world and under whatever form of government you’re living under…then we have to figure out how this kind of prayer fits into our lives.
The problem comes in when those who are less than receptive to God’s Word want to marginalize Scripture because it doesn’t fit their agenda…they say verses like this too often are used to crush dissent…stifle protests…and discourage civil disobedience that Christians should be engaged in.
They want to tell you the Greek word for ‘be in subjection’ (ὑποτασσέσθω) is ‘submit’ and it does not always meant to obey…it does mean obey.
For them staging protests…sit-ins on the floor of their local government representative’s office…chaining themselves to a bulldozer to protest environmental injustice…or standing outside of abortion clinics harassing women is acceptable. Angry protests against women having abortions is not the way to win hearts.
Will there be times when we as followers of Christ are called upon to stand up and say “NO” in the face of evil and injustice?…probably…but
God never condones that we use violence…looting…rioting…killing…or the destruction of public or private property for any reason or purpose.
For the first time in U.S. history the FBI conducted a search at the residence of a former President…as a result some radicals are calling for violence…even suggesting a civil war…again…it is God who ‘sets up kings and removes them.’ [2:21] He doesn’t need your help.
People willing to break laws they deem are unjust to promote Christian ideas is wrong. [Rom. 13:1-5 / 1 John 3:4] …God is a God of order not chaos [1 Cor. 14:33].
Let me just say this…you can certainly disagree with me…but…if you believe that protesting unjust laws by using violence is the right thing to do…then as a Christian you should be willing to submit to the punishment for breaking such laws.
2) [13:2] – When you resist government authority which God has established you are actually opposing God Himself and you’ll come under His judgement.
Over the past couple of years in this country it seems violence has become the acceptable way of expression.
3) [13:3-4] – the purpose of civil government is to protect law-abiding citizens and punish lawbreakers.
4) [13:5] – there are two reasons to be in subjection to the government …fear of punishment and for conscience’s sake.
What does that mean…for conscience’s sake…your conscience is part of your personality that helps you determine between what is morally good and bad.
Your conscience is what makes you feel guilty when you do something wrong …actually it’s the working of the Holy Spirit that causes you to ‘feel’ bad… and who encourages those who follow God to do what Paul demands in [12:9] ‘hate what is evil…hold fast to what is good.’
5) [13:6-7] – we should pay taxes because government officials are servants of God. Another painful obligation.
Again…last week the Senate passed a $433-billion-dollar legislation that some say will increase your taxes…SO…is government a good thing or a bad thing?
Paul…through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is reminding Christians that we are to be model citizens…known as law abiding…obedient rather than rebellious …respectful of government rather than demeaning of it…BUT…not forgetting that as Christians we should speak against injustice…immorality… and ungodliness but all within the framework of civil law.
We must do it with respect for civil authorities…doing good and living peaceable within an ungodly society…so that the power of God can be seen in our transformed lives.