Romans Lesson 11: 13.1-14 - CITIZENS
LAST WEEK: In Rom 12:1-2, 9-13, we heard Paul talk about how, as Christian believers, we are to become a "living sacrifice," which means giving our lives up for service to God as living, breathing, and walking sacrifices. Paul made it clear that it isn't about earning salvation but the natural and sensible response toward a holy God for everything He's already done for us, like justification by faith, our eternal status before Him, our glorification with Him, provision of the Holy Spirit, just to name a few. Paul gave us some very important practical steps that will turn us into mature believers who will know and apply the will of God to our lives. The will of God isn't a great mystery but is simply what God has revealed about Himself in His Word. As believers, God expects us not to conform to this world but operate on a completely different set of values-values that are clearly lined-out in His Word. As in Paul's other writings, love for others a central theme, specifically agapé love, which is objective, Biblical love without a selfish, me-first agenda. In the church especially we are obligated to love every believer, even when we don't agree with them or particularly like them. In another way of putting others first, Paul tells us to focus on satisfying the other person's need for approval-to help him or her achieve their success. When we undertake responsibility in a Christian ministry, our work should never be slack or sloppy. Whatever form it takes, our efforts should be timely, conscientious, and complete. Finally, when Paul says we should devote ourselves to prayer, he means we should make it a habit. We need to keep an open line with God day-to-day because it's central to our life and the life of our church-think of it as staying tuned to God's channel.
THIS WEEK: In today's lesson, Rom. 13:1-14, Paul turns to the issue of how Christians who are saved by God's grace should interact with our present governments. Verses 1-7 describe the responsibility of Christians to live in submission to the human authorities in government. The reason given is that every government leader has ultimately been established by God for His own purposes. Generally speaking, human government serves to rein in and punish those who do evil and does it on God's behalf. What's more, Christians are obligated to pay their taxes in order to support the work God is doing. Importantly, as Christians, we owe respect and honor to the authorities that God has put in place over us. In verses 8-14, Paul transitions from discussing what is owed to human authorities, including respect and honor, to what is owed to everyone. In these verses, Paul describes the Christian obligation to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and doing this fulfills the law of Moses, since love itself never hurts anyone. The time has come for believers to cast off any works of darkness, including drunkenness, immorality, and jealousy and instead, live as people who walk in the light, taking on the spiritual armor of light and Christ Himself.
Read Rom 13:1-7 - BE SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT
1 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. 2 Therefore whoever 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 on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore 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.
v. 1a: "Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities" - This makes it clear that Christians are to submit to "governing authorities," which, by definition includes national, state, and local government entitles. The principle is that Christians owe loyalty to both God and government.
v. 1b: "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" - This statement signifies that all governmental authority comes from God. No human government comes to power unless God's allows it, so that any government power is delegated power. The issue isn't whether the government itself is good or bad but that God, who is sovereign over all secular activities, placed it in authority.
v. 2a: "Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God" - This statement clearly indicates that opposition to human government equates to opposition to God. The word "resists" points to outright civil disobedience. The Greek word for "ordinance" (tasso) means to keep order, and the principle of maintaining social order is at the heart of this idea.
v. 2b: "and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves" - This carries a double meaning: Ultimately both God and government will judge those who break the law; however, in context, it refers to punishments imposed by human governments.
TRUTH 1: God's design for government is to maintain the principle of social order. Those who resist authority of government resist what God ordained. Because Christians recognize that God gave the government authority, they should be model citizens by accepting and obeying that authority.
v. 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" - In other words, civil government should be seen as a blessing from God. Without civil authority, there would be anarchy, evil would run rampant. To do "what it good," means obeying the law, and you'll be respected for it.
v. 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 on the one who practices evil" - This plainly informs us that the governing authorities are God's servants who are ordained to carry out His wrath on those who do evil. The "sword" is both a symbol of police power and a metaphor for capital punishment, which included more crimes than murder in Paul's day. The idea here is the forceful restraint of evil by government, because the individual Christian does not have the authority to seek revenge or otherwise use physical force to deal with his adversaries.
v. 5: "Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake" - Christians should obey government not only to avoid wrath (punishments) but because it's the right and honorable thing to do, "conscience" being our sense of moral integrity.
TRUTH 2: The police power of government is a social necessity determined by God. The governing authorities are servants of God who are ordained to carry out punishment on those who do evil. The principle here is that the forceful restraint of evil by government is necessary because the individual Christian has no authority to seek revenge or use physical violence to deal with his adversaries.
v. 6: "For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing" - Ouch! Yes, the IRS is a servant of God. Understand that Government agencies are agents of God who function for the benefit of society in general. Christians can't refuse to pay taxes because they disapprove of what the money is being used for. In Paul's day, the Roman government surely did not use its tax revenues for godly purposes; it used them to fund its empire
v. 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" - The term "Render...what is due" implies that we are simply paying the government back for valuable services received. The term "custom" refers to the duties paid on imports, another type of tax. To "honor to whom honor," means that that beyond simply obeying the laws and paying their taxes, Christians owe respect to their government and its officials because they are God's appointed agents, even if they aren't people who are always admirable.
TRUTH 3: Christians have both legal and monetary i to government. We should never regard our political system as our enemy. Christians owe the government appreciation for a broad range of services such as military defense, transportation systems, water, power, sewage, police and fire protection, and many other things we take for granted. Without these institutions, our lives will be filled with chaos and crime. Even in Paul's day, Pax Romana in the Roman Empire made it possible for the Gospel to be spread throughout much of the known world.
Read Rom. Rom. 13:8-10 - OWE NOTHING TO ANYONE EXCEPT LOVE
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; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Note: Verses 8-10 focus on the Christian's relationship to the Mosaic Law.
v. 8a: "Owe nothing to anyone" - This links back to the idea of rendering what is due in v. 7. The command, "Owe nothing," doesn't prohibit Christians from borrowing or lending but means all debts should be settled promptly within whatever time-frame was agreed.
v. 8b: "except to love one another" - This principle is the opposite: while financial dealings should be concluded promptly, the obligation to love is ongoing. Just as we receive the ongoing love of God, as God's agents we are to give ongoing love to "one another," which doesn't limit itself only to Christians but should be extended to all with whom we come into contact.
v. 8c: "for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law" - The Mosaic Law prescribed in great detail how the Israelites owed both moral and social responsibilities toward each other and with others outside their community.
v. 9a: For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET - Here, Paul quotes four of the ten commandments that deal with our relationships with people rather than God. Scholars say that Paul selected these four because of their particular relevance to the urban environment of Rome where interpersonal relationships could be full of temptations and provocations due to life in crowded conditions.
v. 9b: "and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" - Quoting Lev. 19:18, Paul is not commanding self-love-" as yourself"-but is recognizing that we tend to love ourselves in the sense we try to act in our own best interest (at least that's true for healthy people), which translates that we should act in our neighbor's best interest.
v. 10: "Love (agapé) does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" - A person who agapés his neighbor will not commit adultery with, will not murder, will not steal from his or her neighbor, or covet his or her possessions, and the reason is simple: any action that would harm the neighbor is completely inconsistent with agapé love.
TRUTH 4: For Christians, love of others is a permanent and universal obligation. Using a financial analogy, love can be termed a debt that can never be discharged, because we can never repay the debt of love that we owe to others. It doesn't matter if we disagree with or don't especially like the person to whom love is shown. God has given us the spiritual resources to make this payment wherever it's needed. This is a love of the will rather than emotions, and it is our love of God that motivates it. It's a love that puts others first and gives more than what it owes.
Read Rom. 13:11-14 - SALVATION IS NEARER TO US THAN WHEN WE BELIEVED
11 Do this, 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 near. Therefore let us 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. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
v. 11: "Do this, 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" - "Do this" refers to everything Paul told us in vv. 1-10. The word he uses for "time" (Gk. kairos) refers not to chronological time but a very significant moment in time, one that will shape our destiny. When Paul tell us to "awaken," he's warning us to be on be alert for the coming of this special time. The "salvation" that is "nearer" is our ultimate salvation, the time period when Jesus comes again. Although Paul believed Jesus' Second Coming was imminent, he never claimed it would happen in his lifetime but said He "comes like a thief in the night" (1 Thess. 5:2). The point is that every day brings us nearer and we need to be ready. Are you?
v. 12a: "The night is almost gone, and the day is near" - The phrase, "the night is almost gone," tells us that the spread of the Gospel is already bringing light to a dark world and "the day is near" means that even though we're experiencing the dawn of Jesus' Second Coming, the light is not yet shining in full force.
v. 12b: "Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" - This part of the verse informs us that it's not enough for us to only "lay aside the deeds of darkness" but that we also need to "put on the armor of light" to prevent the darkness from returning. The "light" is a metaphor for our spiritual lives and the "armor" is what we wear to wage battle against the spiritual forces of darkness around us. We've seen a lot of darkness encroach the past 50+ years-no prayer in schools, legal abortion, a steep decline in morality, etc. We need to don the armor and shine the light of truth around us. Do you see it?
TRUTH 5: As Christians, we must make a commitment that the Second Coming of Christ is near. We are closer to it today then we were yesterday, yes? It isn't enough for us the lay aside the deeds of darkness; we must also put on the armor of light to keep the darkness from returning. We still need to bring the "light"-the Gospel of Jesus Christ-to a lost world.
v. 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" - Paul is cautioning us to behave with honesty and decency-to be above reproach. Why? Because anything less will seriously damage our Christian witness to the world. He mentioned specific sins: carousing and drunkenness (party animals), sexual promiscuity and sensuality. On the first pair you might say, "Of course not, we're Baptists!" But you have to remember Paul was writing to Romans where this kind of behavior was commonplace. But notice that Paul also includes "Strife and Jealousy" along with them. They are relational social sins that can divide, demoralize, and tear down a church. Have you seen this in a church? This church? Paul says these sins are just as damaging to our witness as the first pair.
v. 14: "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts" - The conjunction "But" is used to contrast the sins listed in v. 13. When Paul says to "put on," it conveys an image of clothing ourselves. If we "clothe" ourselves in Jesus, we are effectively deciding to allow Him to be Lord-be in control--of our lives, and when we do this-with faith-temptation loses much of its power over us. He will help make major decisions and guide us to avoid the snares and pitfalls we will likely encounter along the way. It will enable us to avoid hurting others and damaging ourselves. Also, as part of this, we must decisively erase from our being any and all lusts of the "flesh"-bodily indulgences-that discredits this image. See Gal. 5:19 for a detailed list.
TRUTH 6: As Christians, we need to continuously dress ourselves in proper spiritual clothing. The clothing prescribed is Jesus Christ as Lord (i.e., ruler of our lives). When we do this, we allow Jesus to be in control of our lives, with the result that temptation loses much of its power over us. It helps make major decisions and avoid the snares and pitfalls. At the same time, we must cast off any dirty clothing (sins related to the lusts of our flesh) that stains our spiritual image.
