Text
D. The righteous
man and his civil relationship 13:1-7
1. The character
of authority 13:1-4
Chapter 13
1 Let every person be in subjection
to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from
God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore he who resists authority has
opposed the ordinance
of God; and they who have opposed will
receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 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;
4 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 upon the one who practices evil.
2. The control of
authority (our subjection) 13:5-7
5 Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not
only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes,
for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very
thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is
due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
E. The righteous
man and his public relationship 13:8-14
1. The standard of
conduct 13:8-10
8 Owe nothing
to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor
has fulfilled
the law.
9 For this, "You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not
covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up
in this
saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
10 Love does no wrong
to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment
of the law.
2. The crisis of
service 13:11-14
11 And this do, knowing the time, that it
is already the hour for you to awaken
from sleep; for now salvation is nearer
to us than when we believed.
12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let
us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of
light.
13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality,
not in strife and jealousy.
- But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Thought
questions for chapter 13
- Have you ever driven at 4 in the morning and come to a red light when not one car was in sight? What did you do, and why?
About 90% of the time I wait for the light to change,
but not all the time. If I’m in a real hurry – well, I just go.
- What single guiding principle should control the Christian’s life in society? See verses 8-10
Love.
- How would we rank the six sinful actions of verse 13 today?
Sexual promiscuity Sensuality Strife
Jealously Drunkenness Carousing
- Who are the authorities in my life, and how well do I submit to them?
God, Government, and my employer. Spotty submission
at best.
- How does the law help us to know what it means to love?
Love is more interested in others than self. Love is
not about rules and therefore does not hedge as lawkeepers do.
For
further thought
When would it be right to refuse to
obey a law?
If that law was in direct opposition to God see Acts
5:29
What potential problems was Paul trying
to prevent (or solve) by what he says in verses 1-7?
To
prevent (or refute) the concept that Christians are enemies of the
state.
What three reasons are given in verses
1-7 for submitting to civil authority? How will this submission be
expressed practically?
Its from God 1 If you don’t submit, you are
opposing God 2
Do right – no fear.
Submitting to civil authority means being a model
citizen.
In verses 11-14, Paul mentions the
“armor of light”. What is this, and what will it do for us?
The armor of light see Eph 6:13-17
To what degree are the statements of
verses 11-12 still true today?
Whether Christ comes
today or 60 years from now, it is still a short time, for our life is
like a vapor of smoke.
be
not of an evil life
pp.
Prov 23:30; Lk 21:34; 1Pet 4:3; 1 Cor 6:9; Eph 5:5; Jas 3:14
We
are to walk in newness of Life
Rom
6:6, 11; also Phil 4:8; 1Thess 4:12; 1Pet 2:12; Gal 5:16
Put
on the aromor of light Eph 6:13; 1Thess 5:8
Walk
in the day Phil 4:8; 1 Thess 4:12; 1Pet 2:12
Put
on the Lord Jesus Christ Col 3:5-15; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:24; Col 3:10
Every
soul to be in subjection
Resistors
(evil doers) Government The Christian
1. Withstand God’s
ordinances 1. Of God 1. Subject to the government1,5
2.
Against God’s minister 2. Ordained of God 2. Fears (respects)
authority 3
3.
Brings self-appointed 3. Of rulers 3. Does good 3-4
condemnation
4. Vengeance and wrath
results 4. Avenger of God 4b 4. Does good not only because
of
wrath
5. Obey for wrath + conscience
5b Pays tribute (taxes) + debts
Owe no one anything
pp.
for above Tit 3:1; 1 Pet 2:13; Prov 8:15; Dan 2:21; 4:32; Jn 19:11; 1
Pet 2:14; 3:13
By
way of illustration
I
desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at
the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost
every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left,
and that friend shall be down inside of me.
-Reply
to Missouri Committee of Seventy Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865)
Denying oneself is not
to be equated with losing one's uniqueness or becoming of no value.
There have been great people in each generation who modeled
self-denial as they made significant contribution to humankind. One
such man was General Robert E. Lee, commander-in-chief of the
Confederate troops during the Civil War. Few eagles soared higher
during these darkest days of our nation's history than General Lee.
In fact none of his biographers have overlooked his trait of
self-denial when describing the qualities of that Southern gentleman.
Douglas Southall Freeman, in fact, concludes his lengthy volume, Lee,
with these moving words that illustrate the extent of the General's
humility:
Of humility and
submission was born a spirit of self-denial that
prepared him for the
hardships of the war and, still more, for
the dark destitution
that followed it. This self-denial was, in
some sense, the
spiritual counterpart of the social self-control
his mother had
inculcated in his boyhood days, and it grew in
power throughout his
life. His own misfortunes typified the fate
of the Confederacy
and of its adherents. Through it all, his
spirit of
self-denial met every demand upon it, and even after he
went to Washington
College and had an income on which he could
live easily, he
continued to deny himself as an example to his
people. Had his life
been epitomized in one sentence of the Book
he read so often, it
would have been in the words, "If any man
will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow
me." And if one, only one, of all the myriad
incidents of his
stirring life had to be selected to typify his
message, as a man,
to the young Americans who stood in hushed awe
that rainy October
morning as their parents wept at the passing
of the Southern
Arthur, who would hesitate in selecting that
incident? It
occurred in Northern Virginia, probably on his last
visit there. A young
mother brought her baby to him to be
blessed. He took the
infant in his arms and looked at it and
then at her and
slowly said, "Teach him he must deny himself."
An interesting thing about flight in outer space
is that you must "slow down in order to catch up." If two
satellites, or spacecraft, desire to rendezvous, the one that is
making an approach cannot accelerate, it must decelerate. If it
increases its speed, the craft goes into a higher orbit, but if it
decreases its speed, it will drop into a lower orbit and actually
gain on the craft ahead of it. Most rendezvous are designed so that
the approaching craft comes in from a higher orbit and "slows
down, in order to catch up." As a result, it drops into place by
decelerating. In a sense this is how we best discover God's will for
our own life. If we struggle spiritually and emotionally to please
God, we only make it hard on ourselves and will probably move further
away from God's perfect will. The best way to serve God is to submit
our lives to his control. The more we yield ourselves to his power,
the more power is available to use for service. It's a case of "If
you lose, you win; if you give in, you won't give out."
The Christian way is
different: harder, and easier. Christ says "Give me All. I don't
want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of
your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self,
but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut
off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree
down. I don't want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but
to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires
which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked -- the
whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will
give you Myself: my own will shall become yours." -- C. S.
Lewis
In the Reader's Digest,
December 1982, a marvelous little piece of philosophy appeared that
may be helpful to you this year. It is entitled "Anyway."
People are
unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good,
people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are
successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed
anyway.
Honesty and
frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The good you do
today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
The biggest people
with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with
the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor
underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway.
What you spent years
building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
Give the world the
best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the
best you've got anyway.
Romans chapter 13
- Is the statement “Caesar is Lord” approved by Romans chapter 13?
- We are to be subject to governing authorities
Dt.
17:12; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet 2:13-17; 2 Pet 2:1-10
- No Authority but from God
1Sam
2:6-8; Psa 62:11; Prov 8:12-16; Jer 27:5-8; Dan 2:20-21; 4:32;
5:18-23;
Matt 6:13; Jn 19:11; Rev 1:5; 19:16
- What about Acts 5:29, 16:25; 2Cor 11:18-24; Daniel chapt 3?
What
about a government that ordered the murder of innocents, or funded an
unjust war, or passed a law that was against every moral truth we
hold dear?
Is
there a difference in our attitude between governmental actions that
relate to the physical as opposed to the spiritual?
- Should we pay taxes to a corrupt, ungodly government?
Matt
17:24-27; Matt 22:15-22; Mk 12:13-17; Rom 13:6-7
- Is Romans 13:8 talking about Christians being debt free?
Examples—Ex
22:14; 2 Ki 6:5; Neh 5:1-12; Matt 5:42
Collateral
-- Ex 22:26; Dt 24:6; Job 24:3
Surety—Prov
6:1; 11:15; 17:18; 22:26
What
about the context? See vs 7 and 9ff. of Romans 13
