What Your Life Could Be-Romans 13

The Message of Romans 1. The Authority of the State (1–3)

Whenever laws are enacted which contradict God’s law, civil disobedience becomes a Christian duty. There are notable examples of it in Scripture. When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the newborn boys, they refused to obey. ‘The midwives … feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.’ When King Nebuchadnezzar issued an edict that all his subjects must fall down and worship his golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to obey.21 When King Darius made a decree that for thirty days nobody should pray ‘to any god or man’ except himself, Daniel refused to obey. And when the Sanhedrin banned preaching in the name of Jesus, the apostles refused to obey.23 All these were heroic refusals, in spite of the threats which accompanied the edicts. In each case civil disobedience involved great personal risk, including possible loss of life. In each case its purpose was ‘to demonstrate their submissiveness to God, not their defiance of government.’

Series Intro: What Your Life Could Be

We have been going through a series in Romans since September and we have entitled this part of the series, “What Your Life Could Be” because the section of Romans we are exploring is . is a response to . Paul begins the section in with the words, “therefore.” Because of what you have just heard, because you are gripped by the grace of what you have just heard in , this is now how you will live. This is what a free life looks like. This is what your life could be if your heart where gripped by the radical grace of Jesus. So for five chapters, Paul unpacks a description of what our lives could be when we are truly living nothing but Jesus lives. Paul said I want to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. shows what our lives could be when we truly know nothing among ourselves but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Our lives go off the rails, and we go back to bondage and chains when we read without first basking in .

And in , Paul talks about what our lives could be if we had a proper understanding of the authority structures of this world, specifically the governments.

(I will talk through it)

Romans 13:1 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Let some people be subject to the governing authorities….

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities that you agree with.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities who earn your trust and respect.

I want you to notice the absolute terms that Paul speaks in.

Verse 1: let EVERY person. Not some people. EVERY person. Be SUBJECT…as in every person is a subject of the governing authorities.

Verse 1B: for there is NO authority except from God. That means that every authority system in place was put there by God.

Not just American presidents.

But communist presidents.

Not just great bosses, but lousy bosses.

Not just good teachers, but bad teachers.

Verse 1B: and if you don’t get the hint, Paul says, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

That is just verse 1. How many more absolute statements could Paul have made.

*Every person.

*You are a subject.

*No authority except from God.

*All authority exists as instituted by God.

Paul goes on in verse 2:

Romans 13:2 ESV

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

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

*Whoever resists the authority…if you forgot, that God has appointed. Will incur judgment.

Romans 13:3–7 ESV

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, 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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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.

Verse four: servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath.

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

Verse four: servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath.

Verse 8: be in subjection

Verse 6: ministers of God. Ordained.

How much Can we Disobey Authorities? God’s Law/Satan in Garden

Now, what do you think the most asked question is about this passage? The biggest area of debate?

When can I disobey the authorities God has put into place?

Isn’t that amazing?

Isn’t that just like us?

It’s like, you got THAT question, from THAT passage? Really?

After all those absolute commands to obey those in authority who are ministers of God, ordained, that you are subjects, that they were put in place by God…over and over again, our response is…so when can I disobey them?

There is a place for civil disobedience. When laws contradict with God’s law.

*When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the newborn boys, they refused to obey.

*When King Nebuchadnezzar issued an edict that all his subjects must fall down and worship his golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to obey.

*When King Darius made a decree that for thirty days nobody should pray ‘to any god or man’ except himself, Daniel refused to obey.

*And when the Sanhedrin banned preaching in the name of Jesus, the apostles refused to obey.

We must obey God rather than men.

But in each case, there was great personal cost. These were heroic refusals that cost them something. In spite of threats. Personal risk, loss of life.

To demonstrate their submission to God, not their defiance of government.

We need to ask ourselves when is it REALLY and TRULY that time. And are you even an activist for that particular issue. Do you do anything at all besides have an opinion to help in that area. If you are against abortion—you can take in a pregnant single mother. You can volunteer at a pregnancy center. Pulling a lever and writing a facebook status about it doesn’t show that you truly have a conscience issue.

But the rare instances aside…

Isn’t this whole discussion just like us when it comes to God’s Law? When can I disobey? What can I get away with? Did God really say that? Did God really mean that?

This goes all the way back to Adam and Eve when Satan said, did God really say you must not eat of any tree in the garden. And we have been asking the same kinds of questions ever since…did God REALLY say that.

Some people just want to ignore this passage.

Context of

Some have said, well the context of the book is that it was written before the time of Nero so you have to look at later writings such as Revelation to see how God REALLY feels about submitting to authorities…in Babylon is overtaken by God, etc.

Let’s say it’s true that Nero wasn’t yet the Emperor when this was written (he was) but let’s say that’s true.

Founder was Crucified

The founder of their religion was just crucified. Jesus was just crucified by this government that Paul is saying was insitutted by God, given authority by God, are ordained by God…how much more oppressive can you get? How much more unjust can a government be…they crucified an innocent man, not just an innocent man, but a man who did the right things, thought the right things, said the right things, and had the right motives for all of that all the time. That government cruficied him and Paul says, they are instituted by God.

Peter and John Imprisoned for Preaching

If that weren’t enough, two of Jesus’ inner circle, Peter and John kept getting thrown in prison for preaching about Jesus…if we think that we have an oppressive government, and they are taking MY rights away, and we need to get back to the good old days when my rights were sacred, if we think that we have it bad, Paul is writing to Christians in Rome who are living under constant fear of persecution. Big persecutions, like losing your life, and systemic persecution, like being fleeced by a local tax collector.

Why is this so important. Why would Paul include this really long section of Scripture to submitting to authority? Because he is showing us what a life gripped by the radical grace of Jesus will look like. He is showing us what our lives could be…FREE. It’s counterintutitnve, but it’s freeing to live this way. I’ll give you an example.

Go with them Two Miles

During the time of Jesus, there was a law that a Roman soldier could compel any person to carry his armor, his backpack, his food, his stuff, whatever they had back then for one whole mile. The Jews hated this law because just by touching a Roman soldier, just by touching his filthy stuff, a Jew was rendered unclean. That meant they had to go through this whole process in order to even worship again. The real reason they probably hated it was because what a degrading law…who wants to carry someone’s stuff for a whole mile. How humiliating. That’s not fair. And by following this Law they were made unclean—so this law was going against their religion.

That was the context when Jesus said in , if they compel you to go one mile, go two miles. That changes the way we see that verse. It goes from being something you use with your kids to make them stop fighting to…wow…what an incredible statement Jesus made. If a Roman soldier uses this law to make you drop everything you are doing and carry his unclean stuff, instead of burning in your heart with anger, instead of refusing to do it because it goes against your morals, don’t just go one mile, go two miles. Don’t just bake them one cake, bake them two cakes. We have the whole thing backwards. There are issues of conscience and I am not taking that away…but statements like the one Jesus made are what got him cruficied. Religious and political people hated that stuff.

Freeing to Live this Way (if every guy was your guy, transformers)

Ironically, living this way is what freedom in Christ looks like. It is what your life can be. Just think about how not freeing it is to think you have to fix everything.

Randy Voight

How freeing is it to sit and watch the news, hear a biased take on it…get angrier and angrier….your blood pressure goes up…I was talking to a friend of mine, I won’t say who it is… his name is Randy and his last name is Voight…everyone flood his facebook page today and tell him I used him as an illustration today…without his permission…he is the worship leader at our Fair Hill Campus…but he was telling me that years ago he would listen to political talk radio in the car, read political magazines, debate with people over politics, thanksgiving meals, isn’t it great to go to your families house and yell at each other about politics…has anyone ever changed anyone’s mind with that? And he said he decided to stop…cold turkey. He got the cold chills of withdrawl. No, that didn’t happen. He said you know my life became happier. Freer. I wasn’t as angry as I was.

Because everyone is so angry. Paul is saying you can be free from that. Anger is right under the surface isn’t it. Men we struggle don’t we.

Computer Lady

I have this thing that I do…so I can’t stand automated customer service stuff. You call in, you jump through all their hoops, to finally get someone on the phone and the first thing they ask for is your name. Are you kidding me? I just said my name, my phone number, my social security number, my address, my mother’s maiden name and my best friend from school to your stupid computer lady. Real godly. And so when I am jumping through the customer service hoops giving all the answers to the computer lady…what is your name…Chuck Betters…Chuch Betters? Press 1 if that is correct press 2 if that is incorrect….chuck Betters….Chuck Baiters….Chuck Betters….

…so every time I call I know this is coming…so I’m already angry before I call…

And so instead of being patient with the computer woman…it’s almost like I have to be a good witness to the computer lady…no I don’t…this is my chance….

So I start yelling at the computer lady….so for each question, I say, I want to speak to an operator…representative…you are a moron…I did not get that…that’s because this system stinks…I did not get that, but I will connect you to a customer service representative…and one time I was doing that and just for fun, and you don’t think anyone can hear you, and then your son says, Daddy who are you talking to that way? Can I do that too? That’s funny.

Other Areas of our Lives

That’s what taking on responsibilities that we were never meant to take on causes in our lives…we think it will lead to more freedom and it just leads to more bondage.

And this spills over into other areas of our lives. The way we view authority can rear it’s head in all areas of life. It just does. It makes us judgmental, it makes us angry, it makes us controlling because it’s all riding on us, it causes a lack of submission to authorities.

And God says I’ve got this.

That you have to take back the government. For what?

We are to be transformers of culture for sure, but the way that we are transformers of culture isn’t by getting angry, and watching news, the way we transform culture is by pointing people to the only one who one day won’t transform culture but will make all things new.

If every politician were your kind of politician…let’s say all of them were the kind of guy or girl you like. All branches of government, all the judges were your kind of people. Ok. Then what?

Stale mate. God isn’t into stale mates. God is in to total victory.

Me Movie

Last week Pastor Steve spoke about the me movie. That we are all the stars of our own movie all day long. That the rest of the people in our lives aren’t even co-stars, they are extras. The me movie. This whole section shows us how constricting that is. It is all riding on you, and on whether your church makes a difference with the government, or whatever. Paul says that is slavery. This whole section is about forgetting yourself. Martin Luther calls it self-forgetfulness.

God’s got this.

Romans 3:8–10 ESV

And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Carries over into other areas of life

Carries over into other areas of life

Instinctually divisive with your neighbor.

is a notorious passage. It is the textbook on how we should interact with government. And the second part is on a famous theme—loving our neighbor.

But the last few verses seem out of place. And are somewhat obscure. But you will see in a moment if you miss these verses you miss the point.

Romans 13:11–12 ESV

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

In other words, watch your own life. You could be an angry person, an activist, someone who is busy, busy, busy…but Paul says, wake up from your slumber. That’s slumber.

Augustine

There was once a young man, his father was a politician but his love for his country and his politics were more like a religion than anything. The young man’s mother was a devout Christian named Monica. He was very bright so his parents did everything they could to send him to a great college. He studied literature and poetry, was a great orator, and he was searching for truth. As he became a man he tasted of all the world’s pleasures, but mostly he was interested in philosophy, mythology, paganism…if there was a religion, he tried it…he became such a prolific communicator that he became a political spokesperson for the most powerful country on earth. He loved his country. His father was a patriot, now he is following in his footsteps. But something was still missing. He moved out of politics, and he began listening to a preacher…he loved the way he preacher explained things, he mostly loved his rhetorical skills. But he didn’t believe in that Jesus thing.

His life was bottoming out. He had a son out of wedlock. He was pressured into marrying another woman. He was tortured in his thoughts because he was searching for truth. Loose living and a search for answers to the meaning of life.

He was at a friends house, sitting on their porch by himself. There was a Bible sitting on the end table. He heard the voice of a child saying or singing, “pick it up and read it.” He thought someone was playing a trick on him. He looks around. “Pick it up and read it.”

So he did what we do many times. He picked the Bible up, opened it up to a random page, and read the first verses he saw. The verses he read were the last two verses of chapter 13.

Romans 13:13–14 ESV

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

He was converted on the spot. He left his life of sin, was baptized by that crazy preacher he liked listening to, and became one of the greatest leaders in history, and one of the most important church fathers to this day. His name was Augustine.

13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[c]

He was converted on the spot. He left his life of sin, was baptized by that crazy preacher he liked listening to, and became one of the greatest leaders in history, and one of the most important church fathers to this day. His name was Augustine.

His mother, Monica, who had fervently prayed for her son when he was in all about rebellion, said, “a son of this many prayers cannot possibly be lost.” She prayed him into the kingdom.

But it was the passage he turned to, …it was a specific passage, two specific verses from one of the most obscure and puzzling sections of Romans.

Tried it All

Augustine had tried to it all…he had been looking for grace, peace, meaning in all the wrong places. He was a citizen of Rome…one of the greatest nations in the history of the world. Some have done studies and have demonstrated that if adjusted for today, Rome would be one hundred times more powerful than all the nations of the world combined. One hundred times more powerful…if one were to transfer the discrepancy of their armies, their economy, their oversight in today’s terms. Rome was it. And Roman citizens loved their country. Augustine continued to love his country after he became a Christian. But now that love was different. That love had changed. That love was now situated much differently.

He tried it all, but it all came back to nothing but Jesus.

Romans 13:14 ESV

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Other versions say clothe yourself with Jesus. Don’t clothe yourselves with political stuff.

Jesus meets a woman from Samaria…married and divorced five times, living with someone not her husband. She was trying everything to fill the void in her heart. She had no faith.

So Jesus encounters he sitting by a well, she would go there to draw water at that time, noon, because none of the others wanted to see her or have anything to do with her. So she was alone. But not today. Jesus was waiting for her there to change her life, just as he did for Augustine.

So Jesus asks her for a drink of water.

John 4:9–10 ESV

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus was using the well using as a metaphor, saying, “If you drink of this water, you will thirst again.”

John 4:9 ESV

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

He was waiting there for her, and he asked her for a drink of water.

The woman said, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” (verse 9 NLT).

Jesus answered, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water” (verse 10 NLT).

Jesus was using the well using as a metaphor, saying, “If you drink of this water, you will thirst again.”

If you drink from the well of politics, you will thirst again. But if you drink

If you drink from the well of materialism, you will thirst again.

If you drink from the well of lust and sexual immorality, you will thirst again.

If you drink from the well of getting even with your neighbor, you will thirst again.

If you drink from the well of speaking your mind, and falling out of submission to authority, you will thirst again.

You could say that about every area of your life that is not Nothing But Jesus.

Paul said in verse 14, clothe yourself with Christ. That is the most intimate possible way. Make Jesus your second skin. Not even your outer armour—we do that too—put on the armour of God, but make Jesus your clothes.

Because when we do that? We can move calmly through life. We don’t have to freak out like everyone else does. When we take on a responsibility that God never intended us to assume—that is bondage, but when we clothe ourselves with Christ?

The only political statement Jesus made was that his kingdom isn’t of this world, but that he will eventually reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So many times we are like the disciples in the boat.

Remember that story? Jesus is in a boat with his disciples. A storm comes up. The disciples fear for their lives. And Jesus is doing what? Sleeping. Resting. The disciples are panicking. It’s understandable. But we panic at far far less. There is a meme that I think pictures the way we respond

SHOW MEME of Emma Stone

So many times when we don’t understand something, or don’t have all the facts,

And so many times we say the moral of that story is not to panic, don’t be like the disciples were in the boat, be like they were later on when they were bold for their faith. And that’s true…but it isn’t the moral of the story.

And so many times we say the moral of that story is not to panic, don’t be like the disciples were in the boat, be like they were later on when they were bold for their faith. And that’s true…but it isn’t the moral of the story.

The moral of the story is not a parallel between us and the disciples, but between us and Jesus.

I am crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live but Christ lives in me. We are Christ in the world. The moral of the story is that we can rest the way Jesus was resting when all around us gives way. That doesn’t mean we sleep through life. But we can calmly move through life as Jesus.

Jesus in boat

Substitute

Check for illustrations