THE CHRISTIAN LIFE – RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD GOVERNMENT – PART 2 (Romans 13:1-5)
INTRODUCTION:
Do you trust God? Do you believe God is sovereign and in control? Is this trust and faith strong enough for you to obey Him no matter what may happen? We began Romans 13 last week and only got through the first verse. This morning we will continue where we left off. As I asked last Sunday, I ask again this morning, as you listen to this message will you examine your heart? Will you examine it not as an American Christian, not as a citizen of the United States, but as a child of God and a citizen of His kingdom, knowing that your true home and your true citizenship is not on this earth, but in heaven?
Last Sunday we began to look at the first of two principles that Paul teaches in the first 7 verses of this chapter. Both principles deal with the disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian’s responsibility toward government. The first principle is to be in subjection to the governing authorities and the second is to pay taxes.
We began looking at the first principle which Paul put forth to us as a command from God, to be in subjection to the governing authorities, which means more than just obeying the laws, mandates, and restrictions that the governing authorities have handed down to us but to also show the respect and honor due them for the office that they hold. Paul then began to give us seven reasons that we are to be in subjection to the governing authorities. We only looked at the first one and this was the primary reason and if no other reason were given, this would be reason enough. The first reason is that God is the One who put people into positions of authority and power, God is the One who created government, He is the One who establishes government, He is the One who ordains those who are in government. For this reason alone, we need to be in subjection to the governing authorities. This morning we will look at the six other reasons God gives us through Paul to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Let’s pray and then get into the Scripture passage again this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 13:1-5. I will read all five verses again this morning, but we will be focusing on verses 2-5 for the remainder of the message. Please stand, if you are able, in respect and honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 13:1-5,
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.” (Romans 13:1–5, NASB95)[1]
GOD’S REASON FOR OUR SUBMISSION (Romans 13:1b-5)
As I already mentioned we looked at the first and primary reason for you and me to be in subjection to the governing authorities. These other six reasons strengthen the first giving further cause for us to be in subjection, for the disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian to fulfill his responsibility to the government concerning what God has commanded us to do through these two principles given to us in the first seven verses. Let’s begin looking at verse 2.
Rebellion to Human Government is Rebellion to God (Romans 13:2a)
Paul gives us the second reason for submitting to the governing authorities and it is tied closely to the first one. If we honestly believe that God is sovereign and in His sovereign wisdom has put certain people into positions of authority and power, if we honestly believe that He is the one who created and established human government and He is using those whom He has put into the positions of power and authority to bring about His purpose on the earth, then we must also believe what Paul writes in the beginning of verse 2. He writes, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God…” (Romans 13:2a, NASB95)[2] In other words, to resist or rebel against the governing authorities that God has established is the same as rebelling against God. The evangelist Robert Haldane wrote concerning this verse in his commentary on Romans, “The people of God then ought to consider resistance to the government under which they live as a very awful crime, even as resistance to God Himself.”[3] Remember that Paul was writing to believers in Rome during the reign of Nero, an evil, wicked man. Yet Paul does not bring up the wickedness, the temper, or the murders or corruption of Nero’s reign of terror, but that we need to be in subjection to the governing authorities because they are ordained or appointed by God and they receive their authority from Him. To rebel against them is to rebel against God.
Now this past year and right into this new year the governing authorities have placed many restrictions on us that we do not like and that may seem senseless to us. One side says they do not make a difference, the other side says they do. Whether they do not make sense or do make sense is not the issue, the issue is obedience to God. You can rebel and resist the governing authorities, you can slander them, demean them, deride them, and complain about them, but in doing so remember who appointed them to their place of power and authority and established them there for His purpose and when you rebel, when you resist, when you slander and demean and deride and complain about them you are rebelling, resisting, slandering, demeaning, deriding and complaining against what God has established, what He has ordained. Paul says that by doing this we oppose the ordinance of God. I don’t know about you, but that is one side of the fence I do not want to be on. How do we avoid opposing the ordinance of God, by being in subjection to those whom God has established in the positions of power and authority and showing them the honor and respect due them. By doing as Paul commanded Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1–2, NASB95)[4]
Rebellion will be Punished (Romans 13:2b)
Paul goes onto to speak of the consequences of those who resist authority and oppose the ordinance of God. He writes, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” (Romans 13:2, NASB95)[5] This verse could be referring to divine punishment, especially when we are speaking of God’s children. God disciplines His children when they disobey Him or oppose Him to bring them back into right relationship with Him. Hebrews speaks of God’s discipline of His children for our good. The author writes in Hebrews 12:7-11, “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:7–11, NASB95)[6] God disciplines His children to draw them back into a right relationship with Him when we give into sin, so that we may share in His holiness as we fellowship with Him, that we might be trained by His discipline which yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, a righteous life displaying that we are at peace with God.
This is not the only discipline that Paul speaks of in Romans 13:2, he also speaks of the consequences of opposing the government, the condemnation that men suffer from the governing authorities as punishment for crime. Now I understand that our justice system is not what it used to be and some in positions of wealth and power seem to be above the law or at least can hire the lawyers to keep them for being punished for their crime. Also, the wheels of justice in this nation seem to grind slowly and even though our laws call for a speedy trial that is seldom the case. Is our justice system the deterrent to crime that it should be? No, and I believe that is due to the corruption within the system and how slowly it works. With that said, God has established human government and put men and women into positions of power and authority to maintain order and justice in human society. In just a few verses the apostle will inform us that civil authority “…is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” (Romans 13:4b, NASB95)[7] The corruption of the system is due to sin and the influence of evil on those in authority.
Government is to be a Restrainer of Evil (Romans 13:3a)
When God instituted human government one of the purposes of it was to restrain evil. Paul writes in the first part of verse 3, “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil.” (Romans 13:3a, NASB95)[8] Paul is speaking in general terms here as he had been mistreated by rulers for no other reason than his godly good behavior, because he stood on God’s Word solely and preached the truth. But if we are to look from the beginning of history and down through the ages to the present even the most wicked governments were a deterrent to murder, theft, and many other crimes. That in no way justifies autocratic, dictatorial government, but understand that under those types of governments the crime rate is much lower than in the free world.
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they entered into that knowledge and passed the knowledge of good and evil down to all their descendants from their immediate children right on down through history to the whole human race. It is this knowledge that forms the basis for conscience, even that of the unsaved. Paul has already spoken of this in Romans 2:14-15 where he writes, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,” (Romans 2:14–15, NASB95)[9] When man sins it is not because he does not know the difference between good and evil because God has made that known to them through their conscience, why then do we sin instead of doing what is right? Paul also spoke of this in Romans 1:18-19 where he wrote, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” (Romans 1:18–19, NASB95)[10]
God has made known to man through conscience and reason and by the common grace that He bestows on all mankind the difference between right and wrong, and because of this those whom God places in authority should understand that part of their duty is to promote good behavior and punish bad behavior. One of the reasons our nation is in such upheaval is because we have allowed immorality take over basic morality which is essential to a workable society. No society can exist for long when there is unchecked murder, theft, dishonesty, sexual immorality, and violence. Good behavior by the majority is essential for any nation’s self-preservation. As we are seeing in this nation, without it society will self-destruct. This is where we are headed because even though our governing authorities instinctively know what is good and what is evil, they have chosen the evil by suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
Even though human government was instituted by God and established by Him to be a deterrent to evil, I believe that because of our blatant disregard for God (Romans 1:18-23), He has given us over in the lusts of our hearts to impurity (Romans 1:24-25), He has given us over to degrading passions (Romans 1:26-27), and He has given us over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:28-32). When God has done this as seen in history, it is not long before the nation self-destructs. We are not far from that place.
Government is to be a Promoter of Good (Romans 13:3b-4a)
Not only did God intend for governing authorities to be a deterrent of evil, but also to be a promoter of good. Paul writes, “Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good.” (Romans 13:3b–4a, NASB95)[11] For the most part throughout history, civil authorities have treated law-abiding, peaceful citizens fairly and favorably. Because of this, citizens in good-standing with the government have no reason to fear authority. As long as we do what is good, as long as we are in subjection to the governing authorities we should not be mistreated, but the opposite we should receive praise from those same governing authorities for doing what is right and good.
It is not wrong for us as citizens or as Christians to look to the governing authorities for protection of our life or our property. Paul did this when he used his Roman citizenship to secure justice in the accusation against him by the Jews by appealing to Caesar. At another time, Paul allowed the town clerk to take him into protective custody in Ephesus when a riot broke out against him for preaching the Gospel.
Paul refers to the governing authority as a minister of God, because in his role he represents the God ordained and established government that God has placed him in. This is regardless of his personal beliefs about God or any relationship he may or may not have with God. This governing authority is doing the Lord’s work whether he realizes it or not, and that role should include promoting peace and safety among men, women, and children regardless of religion, status, wealth, or position. He is to promote this peace and safety for all law-abiding citizens.
Governing Authorities are God’s Ministers to Punish Evil Doers (Romans 13:4b)
If governing authorities are to promote peace and safety among her citizens, then they must be ready and willing to punish evil. Because of this Paul writes, “But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” (Romans 13:4b, NASB95)[12] If the governing authorities are carrying out their God-ordained duty then those who do what is evil need to be afraid because they will be punished for their evil deeds.
Paul writes that they do not bear the sword for nothing. The sword was an instrument of death, as used here Paul says that the governing authorities have the right under their God-ordained duties to inflict punishment, including capital punishment for crimes that deserve it. Capital punishment or the death penalty was first instituted right after the flood, it was part of the covenant that God made with Noah. The Lord said to Noah in Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.” (Genesis 9:6, NASB95)[13] When Peter drew his sword in the garden of Gethsemane at Jesus’ arrest, Jesus said, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52b, NASB95)[14] Jesus was reminding Peter that the penalty for killing one of those who came to arrest Jesus would be death, which the Lord makes clear here that if would be justified. Paul when making his appeal to Caesar said to the Roman governor Festus, “If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” (Acts 25:11, NASB95)[15] Paul by saying this acknowledged that capital punishment is sometimes justified and that he would be willing to die if he were found guilty of a capital crime.
Since capital punishment is what is ordained by God for the most serious crimes, those which take the life of another human being, when a society rejects capital punishment, they come under God’s judgment for not carrying out their God-ordained duty. They become blood guilty before God. As we have already seen God established capital punishment for murder right after the flood. Under the Mosaic Law, God declared, “‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.” (Numbers 35:33, NASB95)[16] When a nation does not administer justice, that nation will fall under God’s justice.
The most heinous of all crimes is abortion, this is simply murder of unborn children. Any nation that allows this to happen and even encourages and promotes this execution of the most innocent and helpless of those created in God’s image cannot and will not escape His judgment. Our nation is guilty of the blood of millions upon millions of massacred babies, Judah went into exile for the sacrifice of their children in the fire to idols, are we any different in the sacrifice of our children to the idols of immorality and lust? God will answer, God will judge. Those God has ordained to the role of government have a duty to punish evil doers, they will answer for their failure to do so.
Be in Subjection for Conscience Sake (Romans 13:5)
God’s final reason for us to be in subjection to the governing authorities is not only because of wrath and the fear of that wrath, but as Paul writes, “Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.” (Romans 13:5, NASB95)[17] What does this mean “for conscience’ sake”? For the disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled Christian, our own conscience’s sake is for the Lord’s sake. Remember what Peter wrote to those Christians who were scattered across the then known world, he wrote in 1 Peter 2:13-15, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” (1 Peter 2:13–15, NASB95)[18] As Spirit-indwelt and Spirit-controlled children of God, we should know with the spiritual wisdom and instinctiveness in our own conscience because we are Spirit-controlled that disobedience to governing authorities and the disrespect of them is wrong, whether or not they are carry out their God-ordained duty, and that obedience to the governing authorities and the respect of those whom God has placed in those positions of power and authority is good and right, whether we are personally protected by them or not, and whether we are personally commended by them or not. As Spirit-controlled Christians we can only have a clear conscience when it is solidly and firmly in line with God’s Word.
CONCLUSION:
I know that I have gone long this morning, but I wanted to finish up this first principle of being in subjection to the governing authorities. Paul gave us this principle as a command, it not something that we can choose or choose not to do. God’s Word commands us to be in subjection to the governing authorities. God through Paul then gives us seven reasons to be in subjection, first and foremost because government is created, ordained, and established by God and He is the One who put men and women into positions of power and authority. That is to say, the power and authority that any person possesses comes from one source only, that one and only source is God. The second reason is that if we resist or rebel against human authority we are rebelling against God. Third, rebellion against God will be punished, and civil government as created by God can and should punish rebellion and wrongdoing. Fourth, we should submit because government should be a restrainer or deterrent to evil and fifth, government should be a promoter of good. Sixth, as created and established by God government has the duty as God’s ministers to punish evil doers. Seventh and finally we submit and obey the governing authorities for conscience’ sake, that is a conscience that is in line with God’s Word and stands firmly on it and obeys it no matter what. We have a responsibility to government if we are to be the disciplined, obedient, Spirit-controlled children of God that the Lord wants us to be, that responsibility is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. Do you trust God enough to live according to His Word? Do you believe that God will give you the grace and strength to obey no matter the cost? Those are questions that must be answered as we navigate this difficult time in our world.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]Haldane, Robert, An Exposition of Romans. McLean, VA : MacDonald Pub.Co., n.d., page 579.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis mine)
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. (Emphasis mine)