Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

A man was discussing the fragility of many marriages with his girlfriend and posed the following question, "What if you wake up one morning and don't love me anymore?"

She immediately responded, "There's always obedience."

Obedience in a situation that one is not happy with is not easy.

This type of obedience is only possible because of a knowledge of it being right.

This is the obedience that we will learn about today.

This is an obedience to the authorities and government.

This is a touchy topic and one that is not easy to speak on.

There are cautions to be taken but one thing we see in the text we will look at is that the Lord states we are to be subject to the governing authorities.

We are to be subject to the laws that are established and only break them if they are against God and specific commands He has given for us.

When the governing authorities, that have been established by the Lord, resist what the Lord has commanded they too will face judgment.

They will not go free from their crimes and wickedness.

In the previous section in Rom.

12:18-21 Paul writes that we are to live peaceably with all as much as possible.

We are not to avenge ourselves because the Lord is the one who will take vengeance.

That we are not to be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.

We do this by living a God-fearing and righteous life before all people.

We do this by Living with the Government even when we cannot stand what they are doing.

We seek to make change by the method of how we are governed to do so.

We only revolt and stand against the government when it stands against God.

But even then we must be prepared to receive the judgment and wrath that will come.

But as Peter wrote, “when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is gracious in the sight of the Lord” but right before this he wrote, “what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?” (1 Pet.

2:20).

If we are to stand against the governing authorities at all, we must do it by the basis of what God has said.

We must do it by what our laws say.

We must be prepared for the repercussions of these actions too.

It is God’s will that His children are faithful to Him and obedient and not trouble makers.

That is what this text is about.

It is not telling us that government is perfect and the way they run is how it is to be.

No, it is telling us that in our living in this world we are to be well-behaved and by that some may believe.

Let us look at the text today, Rom.

13:1-7

What we see in this first is:

Respectful Living (1-2)

When Christ was crucified and the chief priests said they had no king but Caesar (John 19:15 “They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”).

This thought carried on and developed into the “followers of Jesus have another king and are subversive, treasonous.”

Many still say this today about believers.

They say that all we want is a Theocracy: a society ruled by God.

The people saying this do not even know what we as Christians desire in the world.

They just sling this out and try and cause grief for anyone who is a Christian.

Also, there are those who are trying to force Christian laws into effect for non-Christian people.

We see in 1 Cor.

1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

So many people attack what we believe because they do not understand it and when some try and force this on others as laws, we get attacked even more and more.

This will never work because people who are not saved will not see the wisdom or virtues of such aspects.

Paul is saying that we are not to be subversive but obedient because we know that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me [Jesus Christ]” (Matthew 20:18).

We are obedient because we know where the real authority is.

As believers we are to live our lives as lives of love.

We will look more closely at this aspect of God’s will for us next week.

We see this in the chapter preceding this section and in the section immediately following.

If one is living the Christian ethic of love out correctly, then they will be able to submit to the authorities.

Even though these authorities are part and parcel of a world system that rewards evil and opposes God.

How, then, is obeying them honoring God?

It is, as Paul explains, because they are only in power because God is in power.

They are where they are because God has allowed them to be.

They only have a limited amount of autonomy and authority which they frequently use in a poor and bad way.

These authorities are in place by God as agents of law and order.

God created the government.

He did so because He is an organized God and He knows that people cannot rule themselves correctly.

He has a purpose for every created thing.

Governments establish laws and order.

This is done even if imperfectly.

This means that government is a divinely established institution much like family and church are and it is essential to society as are those two.

They only thrive with His permission and they cease when they no longer serve His plan.

Daniel 2:21 tells us that “He [God] changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings...” Also, Jeremiah 18:5-10 “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?

declares the Lord.

Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.

And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.”

Even evil governments are in place by the Lord.

Simply, God ordains all governments, even the wicked and evil regimes.

Simply, no governing agencies equals anarchy.

Anarchy is not good for anyone because that becomes Judges 17:6 “In those days there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

When all do what is right in their own eyes, there is chaos and wickedness a muck.

Look at our world around us today.

Many people are running around for themselves and we see evils committed to the extreme.

Even bad government helps to keep the evils down.

Even evil governments help to keep bad down.

We must know and understand the government we live under.

If we know it and know the laws that it has then we can properly submit.

Submission is not saying you stand by and let someone run over you with falsities.

If the authorities have vested power in the people then the people best know what powers they have in the government before the governing authorities seek to take them away.

This is proper submission to the authorities because we know the authorities.

But even if things are bad and life is hard in the government we are under we still need to show respect and love because we are believers.

Ranting and raving and cussing and screaming does not win anyone to Christ.

If we were made slaves we need to live our lives for Christ because regardless how bad it is here, we have Him and eternity.

Most others do not.

This means we are to:

Live Rationally (3-4)

This means we do not go around terrorizing the world and stirring up strife.

In the time of this writing the Christians were being expelled from areas and being cast out of others because they were refusing to pay taxes and other things.

By being cast out they were missing the opportunities to witness and share Christ with the pagan culture and the lost.

This is why submission to authorities is so important.

It is not because we are weak, but because we are strong in the Lord.

His glory and salvation from Him is more important than what we desire in our lives in the here and now.

If we behave correctly we will not be cast out or have other smears said against us that ruin our opportunities.

We can only rightly submit when we have transformed our minds by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we have done this we hate evil and love good.

We share Christ and seek to have others believe and by this the government may change for the better.