Render Unto Caesar...
Render to Caesar
The questioners:
Sanhedrin
the Pax Romana kept the whole world of that time around the Mediterranean at peace. There were benefits provided by that and in the purposes and plan
Peter puts it this way, 1 Peter 2:13, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and the praise of those who do right, for such is the will of God.” Honor the king. God has ordained civil authority. That is a common grace, folks, isn’t it? That’s a common grace. Civil authority is a common grace. There’s no such thing as a sacral society. There was a sacral society, the theocratic kingdom of Israel where God was the ruler. The theocracy, God is the ruler. There was one sacral society, it has been obliterated by the judgment of God. There will be in the future another sacral society where God will be the King and that will be the reign of Jesus Christ in His Millennial Kingdom on earth. In between there is no such thing as a sacral society. There is a separation between the people of God spiritual, and the civil authorities. Civil authority, civil law is a common grace for the well-being of men, like crops, like water, food, all the common graces. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, that’s the idea of common grace.
We should be thankful for government, that’s how you got here today because there’s a government. And you all drove on the right hand of the street and you drove on a street. Civil government has a role to play. That’s why you can live healthy in your house and you’re not sitting in a sea of sewage. That’s a common grace. And we live, in a sense, at the pinnacle of common grace’s development in the sense of civil comforts provided for us by government. We don’t … I don’t expect my government to act in a Christian way. They have nothing to do with the church. There’s no such thing as a Christian government, no such thing as a Christian nation, never has been, never will be until Christ establishes a worldwide theocratic Kingdom.
All I expect out of my government is that I can get here when I want to get here, and not get shot in the process and that the water comes when I turn the faucet on. That’s all part of common grace. What did Caesar do for Israel? Build bridges, aqueducts, brought in water, provided protection, provided a military presence, increased the benefits of life, gave peace, the Pax Romana kept the whole world of that time around the Mediterranean at peace. There were benefits provided by that and in the purposes and plan of God, as a judgment as well as having benevolent elements of it, the Romans were there. Part of that was judgment on an unfaithful nation, but there was benevolence with that.
Payment of a tax to an earthly government, even to idolatrous, blasphemous, pagan people who are about to kill Jesus is still the right thing to do. Give it to them. Pay the tax. But they’re going to kill Jesus? Pay the tax. Caesar has a sphere. By God’s design he has a sphere. And not to pay him is to rob.
Now I want to hasten to put a footnote. Don’t pay anymore than you have to. Don’t get carried away. Don’t say, “Oh, take more, take …” No. Jesus affirms the role of government to collect taxes for its support because it is God’s ordained means for man’s protection … man’s protection and benefit, well being.
You say, “Well what about if the government asks you to do something that God forbids you to do?” Then you do what God wants you to do. That’s Acts 5:29, “Obey God rather than men.” If … if the government says “Don’t do this,” and God says, “Do it,” then you do what God says you should do and take the consequences. And that happens. It’s called persecution, sometimes ends up in martyrdom. But since the end of the theocratic Kingdom of Israel and until the establishment of the future theocratic kingdom of Christ, there is no sacral society, the church is not to take over civil government. That is one of the reasons I cannot tolerate post-millennialism, this crazy notion that the church is somehow supposed to take over the governments of the world, either by war, civil disobedience, liberation, theology, political power. No … no, that’s a completely different entity, government … pay your tax. They don’t have to be consistent with your Bible. Pay your tax. That’s an institution that God has ordained.
So render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. But here’s the real important statement. “And to God the things that are God’s.” That was the issue with the Pharisees, wasn’t it? They were making a big stink about having to give Caesar what Caesar wanted and they were completely disregarding, giving God what God wanted. You owe God. This is far greater.