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Submit
to
Authorities
Rom
13:1,2 Everyone
must
submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no
authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that
exist have
been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against
the
authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and
those who
do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Likewise Paul instructs Titus, "Remind the people to be subject to
rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do
whatever is
good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and
to show
true humility toward all men." Titus
3:1,2
And Peter writes, "Submit
yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted
among men:
whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to
governors, who are
sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those
who do
right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should
silence the
ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use
your
freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show
proper
respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear
God, honor
the king." 1Peter
2:13-17
Civil
Authorities God's Servants
Rom 13:3,4 For rulers hold no terror for
those who
do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free
from fear
of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will
commend you.
For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong,
be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s
servant, an
agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Evil doers generally live in fear of legitimate authority. "There is no fear in love. But
perfect
love drives out
fear, because fear has to do with punishment." 1John 4:18a So if you want
to be
free from such fear, practice love, do what is right.
Of course human authority only has a limited
realm of authority, but within that realm they are legitimate
God-ministering
authorities. And in this sense Paul is speaking of these civil
authorities.
If they are rewarding evil and punishing good, they are acting
outside
their legitimate realm of authority. But that does not nullify
their
God-given
authority to reward good and punish evil. The Old Testament has
many
examples
of God even using pagan authority figures as his ministers, and
punishing
them
if they overstep their authority. "Woe
to the
Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of
my wrath!"
Isaiah 10:5 (niv)
Subordinates, whether they be children, wives, citizens,
employees or
the like often are rebelliousness and contemptuous of those who
are in
legitimate authority over them in reaction to discipline and
restrictions to their freedom. But God has ordained authority to
limit
the destructive influence of the sinful nature upon oneself and
others.
And thus such authority is necessary for the benefit of society.
Notice also a couple of other things here. It is the authority's
responsibility not only to dispense justice, but also to reward
good
behavior, though the latter is often neglected. Furthermore
notice that
the dispensing of justice is not about reform, though reform may
occur.
It is primarily about pay back - more literally it says, "he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath
on
him who practices evil."
Taxing
Issues
Rom 13:5-7 Therefore, it is necessary to
submit to
the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but
also
because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the
authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to
governing.
Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay
taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if
honor,
then honor.
While ideally when we reach maturity we will do what is right
just
because it is the right thing to do. But in the mean time God
gives us
motivations based upon positive and negative incentives. And
with
regards to conscience, "The
integrity of the upright guides them" Pr 11:3a and "Righteousness guards the man
of
integrity" Pr 13:6,
but
we should also be sensitive to the conscience of others. "Be careful to do what is
right in the
eyes of everybody." Rom
12:17
Now some attempt to read these commands as limited only to
spiritual
authorities, but if it hasn't been clear enough yet Paul's
mention of
taxes makes it perfectly clear that he's primarily referring to
secular
authority. Regardless of whether they're believers or godly,
civil
authorities are God's servants, and it's God's will for you to
pay your
taxes, and Christians should obey the law where it does not
violate
their conscience to do so. This is a good topic for a discussion
group.
I would particularly challenge those who are illegal aliens and
those
who hire them, whether they are in God's will in this regard.
"Show proper respect to
everyone:
Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."
1Peter 2:17
"I urge, then, first
of all,
that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for
everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may
live
peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." 1Tim 2:1-2
Love
Fulfills
the Law
Rom 13:8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding,
except
the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his
fellowman
has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do
not
murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever
other
commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as
yourself." (Lev
19:18)
Love does no harm
to its
neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Concerning love, that is a debt which can never be fully
paid off.
The obligation remains forever. There are relationships based
upon an
enlightened self-interest in which one does good to another so
that
those other person may feel obligated to reciprocate. But that's
not
love. Jesus said,
"If you
love
those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’
love
those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good
to you,
what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you
lend to
those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to
you? Even
‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.
Love your
enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting
to get
anything back." Luke
6:32-35
The particular commands he's pointing out have to do with our social relationships. And while the overriding principle of the law with regards to such relationships is to love your neighbor as if he were you, another way of viewing this is to make it one's intention to do no harm to one's neighbor. Each prohibition of the commandments have to do with not bringing harm to one's neighbor. That is clear from "Do no commit adultery", "Do not murder" , "Do not steal", but even coveting a neighbor's property apparently does the neighbor harm.
This gives us a way to view the, approximately, 500 particular regulations of the law of Moses. Each has to do with not harming one's neighbor, but rather doing good to one's neighbor. If we embrace the general principle, there is no need to impose regulations upon us. For love
fulfills the law.
An
Urgent Message
Rom 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the
present
time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because
our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The
night is
nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the
deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of light.
The salvation he is referring to is not our justification. We
have
already been justified. For it is by grace you have been saved,
through
faith. But rather the salvation he is referring to is our being
delivered out of this present world into glory, to occur on the
day of
the Lord.
"The day of the
Lord
will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a
roar; the
elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and
everything in it
will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this
way, what
kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and
godly lives
as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."
2Peter 3:10-12a Likewise
Paul writes
concerning the present crisis,
"What
I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those
who have
wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if
they did
not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy
something,
as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of
the
world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its
present form
is passing away." 1Cor 7:29-31
There are unnecessary weights, materials things,
responsibilities which
we take on, and more significantly are the sins we commit.
"Let us lay aside every
weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the
race that is set before us" Heb
12:1b All these passages contain a sense of urgency
which
should be characteristic of the Christian life.
As for "the armor of light", he alludes to this also in
Eph 6:14-18. And also
to the
deeds of darkness here
"Have
nothing
to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose
them." Eph 5:11
Enlightened
Behavior
Rom 13:13,14 Let us behave decently, as in
the
daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual
immorality and
debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe
yourselves
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to
gratify the
desires of the sinful nature.
"You are all sons of the
light and
sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the
darkness. So
then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be
alert
and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and
those who
get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day,
let us
be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a
breastplate, and the
hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to
suffer
wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Th 5:5-9
Interesting to note the motivation he gives in both passages. He
doesn't motivate right behavior out of fear of condemnation. For
that
would be contrary to the idea that salvation is by faith and not
attained by means of behavior. Rather he motivates Christians to
behave
well in view of who we are and in view of the hope we have.
Furthermore, right behavior is simply characteristic of those
born of
God.
"Those who belong to
Christ
Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and
desires."
Gal 5:24 So
"walk by the Spirit, and you
will not
carry out the desire of the flesh." Gal 5:16