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1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
All Authority Comes From God
All Authority Comes From God
This is not a new teaching
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Not only to God the Father allow Jesus to be delivered into the hand of Pilate, It was all according to His perfect will.
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Just because a governmental authority does something dreadfully evil doesn’t mean they they are not fulfilling God’s purpose.
If we don’t have a solid understanding of the sovereignty of God then we will struggle to ever grasp Rom 13:1
All authority belongs to Jesus.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
This is all inclusive. There has never been a governmental authority anywhere that God did not ordain. Including Hitler, Stalin, Kim Jong Un, and yes even Joe Biden and Jacinda Adern. They are in authority because God ordained it and raised them to power. This does not make then good or bad it just means that the fact that they are in power in no accident, and it’s does not mean that God losing control of the World.
What it does mean is that we (Christians) should submit to their authority. What if we resist their authority?
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
To resist their authority is to resist what God has ordained. It is to stand in opposition to God’s purpose and Paul says it will bring judgement on ourselves.
They Praise Good Works and Execute God’s Wrath on Evil Works
They Praise Good Works and Execute God’s Wrath on Evil Works
Paul says that the...
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
I can hear some say “this is an easy message when the rulers are good, God fear folks and you are living in a Christian country But what about when the rulers are evil and they are a terror to good works?” The fascinating thing about Paul writing this to Rome at this time is that Paul himself was no stranger to persecution from governmental authority. At the time Paul wrote this letter Nero was made emperor of Rome. A ruler who certianty hated persecuted Christians and was in fact a terror to good works.
So why is it that Paul would write that rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil?
I believe Paul is saying this this is what ought to be. It ought to be that rulers praise what is good and punish what is bad. As we see in the following verse they are ministers of God and as such they ought to represent God.
But of course that is not always the case which I’ll comment on in a moment.
But for now Paul tells us if you do not wish to fear punishment from the government then do that which is good. Don’t break the law, be a good citizen and you will have nothing to fear. In fact he says you will receive praise instead.
But if you do break the law, he says, be afraid, because they do not bear the sword in vain. In fact they are ministers of God for our good but also to execute wrath on those who practice evil.
There is a clear link hear to 12:19 where Paul says
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Now in..
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
He tells us at least one way that God’s vengeance is carried out. By God’s ministers the governmental enforcers of the Law who are there to execute God’s wrath on evil doers.
So if you do evil and break the law of the land God may send one of His ministers to execute His wrath on you.
And for this reason Paul says we should obey the government both for conscience sake Because it would be resisting the ordinance of God who appointed them and because of the wrath which you may incur.
But is just want to jump back to the first part of verse 4
Romans 13:4 (NKJV)
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
They Are Ministers of God to You For Good
They Are Ministers of God to You For Good
It’s difficult to imagine at times but the leaders of our country are ministers of God, even if they do not acknowledge God. Even if they hate God, God has put them in power and they serve Him and His purposes. This is where we must understand God sovereignty and by sovereignty I mean His absolute power and control of every situation. God wields even His enemies to accomplish His purposes. Even Satan and his demons are subject to God’s authority.
And God uses the rulers He raises to power for the ultimate good of His people. This links right back to
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
God has a purpose for His people in New Zealand right now Jacinda Adern is His minister that means His servant to bring about that good for the church in New Zealand. Sometimes His good purpose requires a trail by fire.
The question that has been glaring at us all through this message is
Is there times when we do not submit to the government and when is that time?
To answer this I’d like to look at four examples in scripture.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;
16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
These are three Biblical accounts of people disobeying the rulers because there was a conflict with their own conscience. So in aswer to the question. Yes there is a time for civil disobedience. When the rulers ask us to do something that is immoral or in violation to God’s word we must refuse. If the government tells us not to do something that for our conscience sake violates our faith and worship of God we disobey. This is true of every authority over us from parents to employers. It is right in the sight of God that we obey Him over all others.