"How to Be A Christian in Times Like These"

Couple Receives Mixed Messages about Watering Their Lawn

During a severe drought, a couple in Glendora, California, receive mixed messages from two levels of government. The city threatened to fine them up to $500 if they didn’t begin watering their lawn, whereas the state threatened to fine residents up to $500 for wasting water on outdoor use. The couple didn’t know what to do. If you’re fined if you do and fined if you don’t, decision making can be difficult. When Peter and John received conflicting commands, one of the commands came from God. The command from local authorities went unheeded.

Sermon in a Sentence

Righteousness is essential for every Christian. The word righteousness mean right living, right with God and right with our fellowman. To be righteous, we must have the proper relationship with our Lord; we will resist sin and temptation. Our own righteousness does not please God; we must be clothed with His righteous—John 3:1-8. We should have a holy life—Hebrews 12:14; 1 Corinthians 6:17; 7:1.

Christian Respect— “Christianity must be seen in the culture as well as the church.”

Being a Christian is not a “church thing,” it is a “lifestyle.” Paul says in Philippians 3:20, the reality is that we have to be Christians not only in the sanctuary, but in the store too. Paul discussed the divinely sanctioned role of government and the believers’ responsibility to those in power. Christians, like everyone else, are to submit to the governing authorities. Allegiance to God does not negate responsibility to secular authority. In Paul’s day all those serving as public officials probably were nonbelievers. That is to make no difference for the Christian because there is no authority apart from that which God has established. He alone is the sole source of authority, and it has pleased him to delegate authority to those in charge of the public well-being. Paul clearly stated that “the authorities that exist have been established by God.” When Pilate told Jesus that he had power to set free or to crucify, he was reminded that he would have no power at all if it had not been given to him from above (John 19:11). It is important to remember that government is God’s way of maintaining the public good and directing the affairs of state.

Christianity is experienced at the altar, but not practiced afterwards...

Christianity is seen in the sanctuary, but hidden at the store...

Christianity is heard when we clap, but silent in our cubicles...

Christianity is flawless in the building, but flawed in our families...

It follows that the one who resists authority is resisting what God has ordained. Those who act in this manner will bring judgment upon themselves. Rebels against authority malign the Giver of authority. The reality is that how we subject ourselves to our natural supervisors is a direct reflection of how we spiritually subject ourselves to God through Christ. For the most part, people do not challenge supervisors because the fear of losing gainful employment, but they will challenge spiritual authority because there is no fear of losing their position or their salvation. When the “boss” enacts a new policy, or makes changes, it is rare that they can barge in and tell the “boss” to change it back because that is not how we do things here. Yet, people today feel embolden and empower to tell the spiritual authority to change things, and then create a list of consequences is the leader does not make changes. People have good ideas with bad intentions, and the quicker you learn that the better of you and your ministry will be. “You minimize what you receive from your spiritual leader when you dismiss, disregard, and disrespect him or her.”

It is a dangerous thing to set oneself in opposition to a divinely ordered process. Those who rule pose no threat to those whose lives are marked with good deeds. It is the one who does evil who fears authority. Returning to the diatribe style, Paul asked his readers whether they would like to be free from fear of the one in authority. The answer was simple: practice doing what is right. This brings the approval of secular society (cf. 1 Pet 3:13). Obviously this does not happen in every instance. Government sometimes oversteps its rightful domain. When this happens, the believer will find it impossible to obey the ruler. Two clear examples of civil disobedience are found in Acts. When Peter and John were told by the Sanhedrin not to preach in the name of Jesus, they replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God” (Acts 4:19). Upon being released they resumed their work and consequently were taken into custody. To the charge of the Sanhedrin that they had filled Jerusalem with their teaching they replied, “We must obey God rather than man!” (Acts 5:29). The believer’s ultimate allegiance is to God. Wherever the demands of secular society clearly violate this higher allegiance, the Christian will act outside the law. This, of course, must not be done in a cavalier fashion.

The ruler serves as an instrument of God for the benefit of society. We are reminded of Cyrus, the Persian emperor, whom God anointed to carry out his will (Isa 44:28; 45:1; cf. also Jer 25:9). It is the person who makes it a practice of disobeying who has reason to be afraid. The ruler serves as the agent of God for the punishment of the one who does wrong. The text says that “he does not bear the sword for nothing.” The sword is a symbol of the power delegated to governing authorities to enforce acceptable social conduct. Here we have the biblical basis for the use of force by government for the maintenance of law and order. The power to punish has been delegated by God to those who rule.68 To disobey the laws of the land, except where they contravene the express will of God, is to violate the purpose of God himself. Obedience to civil law is necessary not only for fear of punishment but also for the sake of conscience. As Phillips puts it, one should obey “not simply because it is the safest, but because it is the right thing to do.”1

Part of what it means to submit to the authorities is to pay taxes. Believers are to carry out this particular civil obligation because those who levy taxes are servants of God.71 They devote their time and energies to governing. They are “God’s servants” in the sense that it is God who has granted them the authority with which they secure and maintain civil order. Believers are under obligation to those in authority in government (cf. Mark 12:16). They are to pay taxes where taxes are due and “import duties” (TLB) where such charges are appropriate. They are to respect and honor governing authorities, “not because they are powerful and influential men, but because they have been appointed by God.” The social benefits that come from a properly managed state place the Christian under obligation to abide by the accepted regulations. Undergirding all secular law and order is the authority of God delegated to those who rule.

Christian Requirements — “Our vertical relationship with God determines the effectiveness of our horizontal relationship with people.”

The Christian is to allow no debt to remain outstanding except the one that can never be paid off—“the debt to love one another.” The obligation to love has no limit. We are to love not only those of the family of God but our “fellowman” as well. People today have “debt communication” that is they speak from a place where a person owes them something. As God’s love extended to all, so must our concern reach out to believer and nonbeliever alike (cf. Matt 5:44–45). Obviously love will take different forms depending on the recipient, but the decision to “place the welfare of others over that of our own” may not be limited to those of like faith. Paul added that whoever loves his “fellowman” has satisfied all that the law requires.

Verse 9 explains the previous statement. The Commandments (cf. Exod 20:13–15, 17; note the order—seventh, sixth, eighth, tenth) against adultery, murder, theft, covetousness—and “whatever other commandments there may be”—are all summed up in the second great commandment (Matt 22:38), “Love your neighbor as yourself” (cf. Gal 5:14; Lev 19:18). As Jesus taught us in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), our “neighbor” is anyone we encounter in life who needs our help. Love is the inevitable response of a heart truly touched by God. God’s love manifests itself through the loving acts of his children. Where it is absent, any claim to a family relationship is merely pretense. In our present culture, enamored as it is with the cult of self-esteem, it is necessary to point out that Jesus’ words are “not a command to love oneself but a recognition of the fact that we naturally do so.” Stott observes that Jesus spoke of a first and second commandment but never of a third. He also argues that agapē is selfless love, which cannot be turned in on itself, and that self-love is the essence of sin. What is commanded is that we are to have the same loving regard for others that we have instinctively for ourselves. Love never wrongs another person. It fully satisfies all that the law requires (cf. Matt 22:40).

Christian Righteousness — “Christians should live everyday as if Christ is on His way.”

The need to love is supremely important in view of the critical age in which we find ourselves. Paul wrote from the perspective of the closing period of the present age. The fact that the fullness of the kingdom is upon us calls for godly living (cf. Jas 5:8–9; 2 Pet 3:11–14). The world lives as though human history were destined to continue for ever. The Christian knows that God is in control of the events of people and nations and is directing history to a predetermined end. Since the end is near, we are to arouse ourselves from sleep, to “wake up to reality” (Phillips). The critical nature of the hour calls for the Christian to be wide awake and ready for action (cf. 1 Thess 5:6). Salvation, that is, our final deliverance at the second coming of Christ, is nearer to us than when we first believed. Every day brings us closer to that final day when all that we have anticipated in Christ will become a reality. The long-awaited kingdom is about to be unveiled fully and completely.Since the night is nearly over and the day is about to dawn (v. 12), it is critical that believers rid themselves completely of the works of darkness (v. 12; cf. Eph 5:11). It is time to clothe ourselves with the weapons of light. Our conduct is to be decent and honorable (v. 13). It must be acceptable in the open light of day. One example is Augustine. In his Confessions Augustine tells of his conversion to Christianity (viii.12). In A.D. 386, at a time when he was deeply moved by a desire to break from his old way of living, he sat weeping in the garden of a friend in Milan. Suddenly he heard a child singing Tolle, lege! Tolle, lege! (“Take up and read! Take up and read!”). He picked up a scroll lying there, and his eyes fell on Rom 13:13–14, “Not in orgies and drunkenness …” Immediately his heart was flooded with a clear light, and the darkness of doubt vanished. No other theologian has made a greater contribution to the theology of the Western world.The conduct of darkness is described as “orgies,” “drunken bouts,” “sexual immorality and debauchery.”91 In John’s Gospel we learn that people prefer darkness to light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). Darkness hides, but light discloses. Evil flourishes in darkness because its perpetrators assume, although incorrectly, that what they are doing cannot be seen. The desire for darkness is itself an admission of the wrongness of the act.Along with the more socially repugnant acts of drunkenness and debauchery we find, rather unexpectedly, quarreling and jealousy. These too are acts of darkness. Unfortunately, the church is considerably more tolerant toward such sins. Quarreling and jealousy, while not especially polite, are more acceptable than sexual immorality. This is not to make a case for immorality but to remind ourselves that Paul placed them together as deeds of darkness.Instead of maintaining a lingering relationship to all such activity, believers are to put on as their armor the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14). The verb calls for a decisive action. The critical nature of the day in which we live demands that we separate ourselves unmistakably from all that belongs to darkness. Jesus Christ himself is our armor against wickedness. Those who are “in him” know what it means to experience victory in spiritual warfare. There is no other place of security (cf. Eph 6:11, 13).As a final word of advice, Paul counseled the believer against allowing any opportunity whatsoever for gratifying the evil desires of the lower nature. New life in Christ stands diametrically opposed to the old life controlled by earthly passions. To clothe ourselves with Christ is to take off and dispose of the old clothing of sin. While the appetites of sin remain until the glorious day of our complete transformation into the likeness of Christ (1 John 3:2; Phil 3:21), we are to deny them any opportunity of expression. We are not even to consider the possibility of allowing them to fulfill their evil intentions through us.