Rom 13:1-7

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

9-16 transformed relationships within the church

17-21 Transformed relationships with people outside the church

Today we are going to talk about:

13:1-7 Transformed view of government

Remember the context of Romans

Written the church in Rome: a very diverse mix of jewish and gentile believers of all social and economic backgrounds.

Roman Empire -

Rome is VERY unchristian. Poly theism

Rome was the absolute authority they had a complex and advanced set of laws.

there had not yet been extreme persecution of the church by Rome.

It was not a perfect society by any means. There were sinful lifestyles, injustices, violence etc..

There are similarities AND differences to our current .

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

Jesus says the same thing: submit - pay your taxes, Peter: Submit - pay your taxes

There has been a lot of ink used over the centuries to explain this And address all the “yeah but what about _________?” Questions

What about authorities I did not vote for?

What about authorities from the other party?

What about authorities who have different beliefs than I have?

What about authorities who are bad people?

What about authorities who aren’t completely honest?

What about authorities who are not completely just?

What about authorities who are actively involved in perpetuating systemic injustice and abuse?

What about authorities who victimize the powerless for their own personal gain?

What about authorities Who say that What is good is bad and what is bad is good and celebrate that?

What about authorities who make laws for bidding the good and commanding evil?

Those are all very good questions and we’re going to address some of them but simply put what Paul says stance “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities”

First, let’s define who are the authorities

Who are the authorities?

Local, state, federal government

AND also, depending on where you are in your life:

School

Workplace

Family

Organizations

Church

Why should a transformed believer in Jesus obey the governing authorities?

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Thats all well and good when we have authorities we like BUT God allows imperfect, sometimes evil rulers.

Revelation 13:5 ESV

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

Revelation 13:7 ESV

7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,

1 Samuel 24:10 ESV

10 Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’

Daniel 5:21 ESV

21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.

Pharaoh

Herod

Pilot

We do not submit to authorities because they deserve it but we submit to them as as expression of our obedience to God

What are the ramifications of that reality?

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Some of the justice spoken of in chapter 12 “Vengeance is mine I will repay Says the Lord” comes at the hand of God-appointed governments

God uses earthly authorities to bring a level of justice (but not final justice)

1 . earthly punishment does not make you justified before God

Justification by grace through faith does not free you from consequences in this life.

Paul goes on to explain in more detail in the next couple of verses:

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

As God’s ministers, authorities are accountable to God for how they wield that authority.

That’s not fair. They’re getting away with it. They’re getting reelected they’re getting wealthy.

Like we talked about last week, God will hold them accountable and Justice will be done.

Romans 13:5 ESV

5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

I would take this back to “as far as it depends on you, be at peace with everyone”

You can’t control what other people do to you, but as we talked about last week, other peoples is never an excuse for your sin

Christians can live lives obediently to God under oppressive unjust governments

submission to human authority Does not require perfection from that authority

The Bible calls us:

Submit to pastors

Submit to husbands

Submit to parents

Submit to organizational leaders

Submit to each other

remember:

We do not submit to authorities because they deserve it but we submit to them as as expression of our obedience to God

For Example: Pay your taxes

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

That brings us to the “what abouts” I cant address them all but I want to talk about a few:

The “What About_______”s

What about pacifism?

Pacifism discussion

There is a question about weather a christian should be a radical pacifist.

The simple cut and dry answer is yes, we should be pacifists. This is God’s original design. God’s design has been marred by sin so we live now in an imperfect world, the question for me becomes more complex.

Some denominations teach that pacifism is the only biblical lifestyle

The more complex issue comes in areas of self/family/“the innocent” defense, certain sports, work in law enforcement, security or the armed forces, Involvement in government where capitol or any type of corporal punishment is practiced. Discipline of children. War.

What is clear?

We are called to be radically peaceful.

What about truly evil governments?

Our primary citizenship is in heaven Phil 3:20

Love the Lord your God

Love your neighbor as yourself

Phil 1:9 Love abounding with knowledge and discernment

Many governments do not believe that God is the ultimate authority in word or in the way they are administered. When the government tells you to sin OR tells you you can not obey God, then you must disobey the government

If we suffer at the hands of the government it should be because of obeying God 1 Peter 4:15-16

Acts 5:29

Hebrew midwives

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

Daniel

3 wisemen

Joseph and Mary

Esther

civil disobedience

Political involvement

Protests

rebellion

Out of unselfishness and desire to love our neighbor and honor God, as a supplement or outflowing of a life of obedience and participation in the church.

Be an active participant in our community

Proclaimed the gospel and be a prophetic voice

Pray for the community

What about Separation of Church and State?

So What?

Is my relationship to authority being transformed?