Render...

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.

Introduction

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This past week, while riding my bicycle, I listened to a podcast by R.C. Sproul. R.C. was a Reformed scholar and pastor who went to be with the Lord last year. He was known for his wonderful preaching.

In the sermon I heard this past Tuesday, he explained that he raised some eyebrows in the state. He was invited to speak the invocation at the swearing in of the new Governor of the State of Pennsylvania. He began by telling those gathered:

God has ordained two different spheres of authority with to distinct tasks: The Church and the State.

It is not the responsibility of the Church to be the state; The church is not given the sword. It is not given to the state to administer the sacraments or proclaim the Gospel. It has a different set of responsibilities.

The NT makes it clear that God has instituted both the Church and the state. And each one has its own sleight of responsibilities. A few years ago I was asked to give the inaugural message at the inaugural breakfast for the governor of the State of Florida. On that occasion I mentioned something that some people thought was somewhat strange, in fact some were quite hostile about it. As I spoke directly to the governor I said, “I remember vividly the day of my ordination where I was set apart in the Church for the vocation of the Gospel Ministry and ordained as a minister of the Church. Today is your ordination. Today you will be ordained as a minister and your ultimate ordination is not coming from the officials from the Court of the State of Florida. But your sanction as governor of this state, that which authorizes you to rule is the ordination to you to this office is the ordination of Almighty God and you are accountable to Him for this ministry.

Martin Luther and the Reformers speak similarly of the government, calling the Church “The Kingdom of the Right Hand” and the government “God’s Kingdom of the Left hand.”

As we delve into this text we ask the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon us as we consider the theme, “Render.”

Separation?

You may have heard the phrase, “Separation of Church and State.” It’s bandied about a lot lately with the political climate in which we find ourselves. What you may be surprised to know is that you will not find this phrase in either the Declaration of Independence, nor the United States Constitution. It was a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter that he wrote, attempting to sum up the position of the United States government vis a vis the governments in other countries where there was a “State Church”. Even today, Germany and Sweden have state Churches, both of which are Lutheran. They are tax funded organizations, and if you are a citizen of one of those countries you are automatically considered to be a member of the Lutheran Church.

The phrase today is not used in this way, but with an illicit understanding to silence the voice of Christians. However, this doctrine is a one-edged sword. That is, it is meant to keep the state out of the affairs of the Church, not to keep the Church out of the workings of the State. Too many today simply assume that it works both ways. But, when the Founding Fathers met in Eastchester, New York and formed the Bill of Rights later on in the 18th Century, they guaranteed the right to free speech and freedom of religion. So be smart when you hear people referring to this saying of Thomas Jefferson. If you hear those saying that the church is not allowed to function or influence the government, know that they are dead wrong.

The truth is, there was never such a thing as the “Separation of Church and State” when God was the God of Israel. It became an accommodation of Judgment against Israel.

1 Samuel 8:4–6 ESV

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

Samuel was against this. Israel was a theocracy. God, and God alone was their king. But the people rose up against Samuel because they didn’t like the way that he guided the people of Israel as Judge, they held his family life against him, and they coveted the leadership that ruled over the Gentiles. Samuel intercedes to God to stop them. But God decides to give them what they want. He turns them over to their own passions, which is God’s wrath:

1 Samuel 8:10–21 ESV

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.

Ever since, there have been kings and leaders over God’s people who rule and take, not give as God did.

This has now all changed, and now God bestows civil authority to the government. Jesus acknowledges this Himself. One of the charges both against Him and the early Church was that they refused to pay taxes. Of course, this is not true. When presented with a coin Jesus inquires whose likeness is stamped into it. It was Caesar’s. And He tells those who would entrap Him, “Give to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is God’s. Two Kingdoms.

In today’s text, Paul speaks of our duty to the Government which He Himself has now duly established.

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.

This is very important to acknowledge. The Government belongs to the Lord. It is charged primarily with the power of the sword. That is, it has authority in the civil and criminal , and military realm. We continue with the text:

Romans 13:2–7 ESV

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

The government’s main function, as described by this verse is to be “God’s servant for your good.” Leaders, whether they realize it or not, are ordained by God to function under Him. One of the issues today is that they have done away with Him. They have declared “supreme independence” in that they are under no one. And we see how well that worked out for Israel, which vanished from the earth. Today’s Israel is not the same. No tribes. No kings. They did wind up with a split in their kingdom . The did wind up going into exile. All because that is the path that they chose and the Lord allowed it that some might repent.

The main way that the government takes care of us is by protecting us from harm and danger. The government does not bear the sword in vain. This includes all punishment right up to Capital Punishment. God has given them that right and authority. When the state judicially takes a life it is not murder. It is not wrong. Though there are other options. A Christian can be against capital punishment as a matter of his or her own conscience, but cannot claim this on the basis of faith or God’s word.

Notice what is not included here:

Taking care of the poor

Supporting widows and orphans.

Healthcare

Feeding the hungry.

It is not a part of the Kingdom of the Left to do these things. But God does assign these tasks. He gives them solely to the Church. For centuries Churches ran the hospitals. The orphanages. The soup lines. Taking care of widows, mothers with child, shut ins, etc. But the Church has failed and the government stepped in, hopefully out of mercy, because we cannot let these people go without. But it’s not their job. It’s yours. It is time that the church takes these tasks back!

Remember Jesus words on the Last Day? He doesn’t ask them of the government. He asks them of you:

Matthew 25:34–40 ESV

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

We need to do better! Taking care of other souls is one of the tasks of loving our neighbors and is a part of the Kingdom of the Right hand, not the left. Just watch any of the upcoming political adds from all sides and you’ll see this grave misunderstanding. Please pray about this. Pray that the Lord would use us better in caring for those in need.

The government, with all of its warts, is a blessing because it is created by God. We must acknowledge this.

We are to obey the government, pay taxes, and live in peace within our communities, states and Country. The only time when this would not apply is if and when the government commands us to go against the Lord— like Daniel in the Lions Den, Shad rack, Me-shack, and Abed- nego, or the apostles being commanded by the Sanhedrin and told not to speak the name of Jesus. “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

When things go wrong with the government, what are we called to do? Rebel? Good or evil, the government still has the power of the Sword. It is still ordained by God. No. The next verses make clear our response:

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 13:8–14 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 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. 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.

Governments on earth- good or evil— are temporary. Through Paul the Lord lifts our sights to our true home: Heaven. So, while we are here, unless there is cause, we live in humble submission to the government, for they are God’s servants for our good. We love our neighbor as we love ourselves, thus fulfilling the Law, whether that be toward those in government, or toward our neighbor in need.

But we love because God first loved us . Jesus experienced the complete and total failure of the government. He suffered false charges at the hands of the government. He suffered the injustice of a death sentence. But like a lamb led to the slaughter, He opened not His mouth. He did this for you. He could have called the government out for their injustice: He was God. But He doesn’t. He submits, even though everything they do is wrong. He could have ended the crucifixion on the cross by calling down angels from heaven, as the malefactor suggested, but He doesn’t. He allows the unjust sentence to be carried out. He does it because He knows that the sentence that we are under IS just. We are guilty of all charges. We deserve that sword of the government. Worse, we deserve that Cross. And not just the death it dispatches, but the hell that is required. By suffering grave injustice Jesus’ blood covers us and saves us.

He’s coming back.

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. 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.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.