Text: Romans 13:1-7
Title: Politics 101
Romans 13:1-7 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.
I. The Command:
a. Submit to the governing authorities
II. The Reasons:
a. God has established the government
b. Rebellion against the government is rebellion against God
c. Government serves to restrain evil
d. The government will punish evil behavior
e. Submission is morally right
f. Taxes support God’s servants
g. We are called to show respect and peace to the government
I have to make a confession… I have a growing addiction… to cable news shows. I don’t know exactly why, but for some reason I just can’t stop watching those political talking heads shows. I started watching during the primaries, and now I can’t stop. I’ve never been particularly interested in politics, aside from a passing understanding of things. But for some reason I have just become enthralled with cable news.
Honestly the most interesting aspect of watching political coverage for me is how they handle the issue of religion. Each politician has to meet with certain evangelical groups to try and secure the conservative Christian vote. It is clear that Christianity still plays a huge role in American politics. The question I have is, “What role should we as Christians have in politics?”
This is a question that I have been wrestling with for awhile. Especially as a pastor, I have wrestled with what my role should be with politics. There are so many different opinions out there about what our role should be. Let me give you two examples…
At the pastor’s conference I attended a few months ago I attended a seminar on “how to shepherd your congregation during an election year”. That was the title of the seminar- “How to shepherd your congregation during an election year”. I was expecting some practical information about what to say and what not to say about politicians. Maybe some info on different propositions. You know, some practical advice that I could bring back home and share with you.
Instead the thrust of the seminar was- “Don’t worry about politics, just preach the gospel.” I appreciate that emphasis on the importance of preaching the gospel, but some practical advice would have been nice.
So one extreme is to just completely ignore politics. The pastor’s job is just to help get people to heaven. This earth is corrupt and sinful. Satan is in control. So all we should worry about is our heavenly citizenship, and not worry at all about our earthly citizenship. I don’t think this is a biblical approach to our culture.
The other extreme comes in the form of some of these Christian lobbyist organizations. Many of them do good work and are committed to furthering positive moral laws. But there just seems to be something unbalanced about a Christian organization whose sole purpose is to establish laws or change government. Their purpose isn’t about preaching the gospel or sharing Christ or changing lives from the inside, but changing behaviors of people from the outside.
This week Joan Weiss brought in this great DVD called “Pastors, Pulpits, and Politics”. It was very helpful and very practical. It talked about what pastors can and can’t say from the pulpit. It dealt with issues of church and state. It focused on the importance of holding to a solid moral standard. But it was all grounded on a solid foundation of the importance of sharing the gospel. The main goal isn’t to change people from the outside, but to change society from the inside though faith in Jesus Christ.
The passage that we will be looking at today is one of the most detailed and specific passages in the entire Bible that deals with politics. The Bible isn’t silent when it comes to our relationship as believers to the civil authorities. And if our desire is to truly live our lives in light of the guidance and direction of the Word of God, than I think we have a responsibility to really pay close attention to what these verses teach us about politics and Christianity.
Follow along as I read 13:1-7…
This passage of scripture is set up in a very simple way. It starts with a command, and then gives a bunch of reasons why we should obey that command. The command is for everyone to be in subjection to governing authorities. All of us are to be in submission to the government. This is a fairly simple command. Make sure that you obey the ruling government.
That may seem like an easy thing to do for those of us who live here in America, where we have lots of religious freedoms and little government opposition. But would this still apply if we lived in a communist country? Would this still apply if we lived in a dictatorship? Would this still apply if we lived in a monarchy?
This command says nothing about the kind of government that we are supposed to obey, only that we are to be in submission to whatever the government is. When Paul wrote this the emperor was most likely Nero, who was one of the evilest and most anti-Christian world leaders to ever live. Yet Paul’s instruction was for people to submit to that authority.
Now it is important to note that Paul isn’t advocating a mindless subservience, or unquestioned obedience to a government. Paul is talking about having the appropriate level of respect and peace and submission. There are clearly some situations where a person would not be able to submit to the governing authorities.
For example-
1. If the government was forcing you to violate God’s commands we would not submit. We have to submit to God’s authority first and foremost. In Acts the disciples where arrested and ordered not to preach the name of Jesus Christ. Of course they continued to preach and were eventually arrested again. The Jewish officials said, we gave you strict orders not to preach about Jesus. Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than men”.
2. If the government was forcing you to participate in immoral acts you would never submit. In the book of Daniel Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire because they refused to bow their knees to the golden stature of King Nebuchadnezzar. They were unable to submit to the ruling authorities because they could never practice idolatry.
There will no doubt be times when we might not agree with the political agenda of our leaders, or when some of their decisions might go against what we would believe. And fortunately in this country we have great freedom to lobby our leaders and vote them out of office. But on the whole, regardless of who is in office, we have a responsibility as believers to give a great deal of respect to the political leaders.
Even with all our freedoms here, we need to be careful to maintain a healthy respect for the different offices and the officers who serve.
Now it is likely that some of Paul’s readers would have been saying, you are crazy. Why on earth should I submit to these oppressive Romans or this crazy Nero guy? How do you expect us to live in submission to a government that is completely godless? Where is this command coming from?
Well, Paul must have anticipated this because the rest of the chapter is totally devoted to different reasons why we need to submit to the governing authorities.
First and foremost on that list of reasons is because God has established the government. Look at the last half of verse 1… “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
I don’t know about you, but I find this to be an amazing revelation. Apparently every civil authority and governmental regime has been established by God. Now the idea that the government is ordained by God is fine if we are talking about the nation of Israel, or the U.S., or even Canada(they seem harmless enough). But is this still true when you start talking about Nazi Germany, or Communistic Russia, or some other evil empire?
The answer lies in our understanding of God’s sovereignty and our understanding of human sin. First of all God is in control of everything. He is not detached from this world, or merely an outside spectator. God has a plan and a will and a direction that He is moving His creation. At this point He is working hard at overcoming evil with good and bringing to a close His plan of the redemption of the faithful.
God is totally in control. Even over governments that are controlled by evil people, God is ultimately in control. Every government is under His supervision. Now that doesn’t mean that some world leaders won’t still act in an evil destructive way. But it does mean that those people are not outside of God’s control.
Our ability to submit to ruling authorities says a lot about our confidence in God. It says a lot about our ability to trust Him for everything. This leads us to the next reason why we should obey the government, because rebellion against the government is the same as rebellion against God.
Look at verse 2…
“2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”
So the line of reasoning goes: God has established and ordained the government. If we rebel against the government you are rebelling against God Himself and you will be judged accordingly. WOW, that is hard core. There have been many government uprisings and revolutions throughout the course of human history. There was even one here in this country a few hundred years ago.
What Paul is saying here is that we have a responsibility to respect and serve the government just like we respect and serve God. If we view our government as a divinely ordained institution, a gift from God, than we should treat it with the proper respect. How many of you here see the government as a gift from God? That just isn’t the mindset we normally have.
Just like we see commands to respect our parents, respect elders in the church, and respect our neighbor, we also have a biblical calling to honor and respect the government. We are not to be hostile towards the government or rebellious, but submissive.
Paul even goes so far as to point out that there will be a punishment from God for those who disrespect the government. That is a pretty good reason to submit to governing authorities.
Next, another reason we need to submit is because the government is designed to restrain evil in the world.
“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; for it is a minister of God to you for good”
The purpose of any government anywhere is to establish order and rule of law and to protect its citizens. Our speed limits, criminal laws, and even property laws are all designed for our own good. And as this verse points out, it’s not the people who obey the laws that have to fear the government, but those who break the law.
If you are going the speed limit, than you never worry about getting pulled over by a cop. But if you are constantly going 75 through school zones, than you will constantly be checking your mirror for flashing lights.
You never have to fear the rules if you have good behavior, but only if you are a lawbreaker.
You need to obey the laws, even the ones that you don’t like. As believers we have a responsibility to obey the laws of the land. Keeping in mind that those laws and our government are ordained by God and designed to restrain evil.
Governmental systems will always have flaws in them. After all, they are run by flawed human beings. But any governmental system is better than the alternative, which is anarchy and everyone doing whatever they want with absolutely no consequence or control.
The description of the government here in verse 4 is interesting. It calls the government a minister of God for good. The government is a servant of God for our ultimate good. The government is not separate from God’s control or above God’s power or independent of God in any way. It is a servant of God.
God’s desire is for there to be order and peace and obedience to a moral code. The government is one of the means that God has established to accomplish that goal. It serves God’s purposes. Again, not in a perfect way, because we aren’t perfect people.
Submit to the government because it is a servant of God to restrain evil and promote good in the world.
Next, Paul offers a very practical reason to submit to the government. Because if you don’t the government will punish you…
“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.”
Don’t fight the law because the law will win. They have courts and prisons and electric chairs for a reason. If you disobey the law, you should be afraid, because you will be punished for it.
There is a very popular sentiment out there that I hear on those cable news shows all the time. It usually is stated in relation to abortion laws or same-sex marriage. It is the statement that you cannot legislate morality. Have you ever heard that? You can’t legislate morality.
To me, that is one of the most absurd statements I’ve ever heard. In fact what Paul is saying here in this whole passage is that the government is there for the purpose of legislating morality. They exist to bring wrath on those who practice evil. The primary purpose of the government is to legislate morality. The idea that the government can’t tell people what is right and what is wrong is just silly.
We have laws about murder, stealing, using cell phones in the car, all because we have determined that these things are morally wrong.
The real question is, “whose morality are we going to use?” This country was founded and established on the clear moral code of the Bible. But that solid moral foundation is being eroded and replaced with a much more relativistic moral compass.
We will talk a little more about this during the SS hour. Please stick around for SS today, even if don’t usually attend. We will be having a discussion about some different political issues in relation to the church. Eric Osborn and I will be asking you a few questions and answering any questions you might have. I’m looking forward to it
Next, it is necessary to subject ourselves to the government because it is the morally right thing to do.
“5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
Don’t just obey because you have to in order to keep from going to jail. Obey because your conscience compels you to. Obey because you know it is the right thing to do. Obey because you know that it honors God.
The last two verses have to do with showing respect and obedience when it comes to paying taxes. This is an area where it really hits home. No one likes to pay taxes. But according to the Bible taxes are important because they support God’s servants.
Even though it often seems like the government is greedy and corrupt and wasteful, that doesn’t give us the right to stop paying our dues. The US government is a servant of God just like I am a servant of God. You give faithfully to this church to support me and the other pastors and as an act of worship to God. Your taxes aren’t a free gift, but there are another way in which you give to further God’s servants and bring glory to Him.
I don’t know about you, but this is really a radically different perspective on taxes than I have ever had. This section of scripture was a real eye-opener for me personally. I can honestly say that I have never viewed paying taxes as a way of supporting the ministries of God. But as someone who totally believes that God is in control, this makes perfect sense.
Giving the government what they are due is just another way in which we show respect and demonstrate peace to the government.
Verse 7 says,
“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.”
Give what is due. If taxes are due, pay them, if custom or tolls are due, pay it. Show the proper amount of respect and honor for those in positions of leadership, even if you disagree.
This verse sounds a lot like Jesus instructions about paying taxes over in Matthew 22:20-21. In that passage some of the Pharisees had come to trick Jesus. They asked him if you should pay taxes to Caesar or not. It was one of those questions where if he just said “yes” he would have enraged the Jews. If he said “no” he would have been branded a traitor to the Roman rulers.
Jesus’ answer amazed them. He simply asked to see a coin with Caesar’s image on it, and then said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesars and give to God what is God’s”
Jesus’ answer here was a slight affirmation of paying taxes, but much more than that it was a strong exhortation to the Pharisees about the importance of truly honoring God.
A piece of metal with the image of the Caesar impressed on it belongs to Caesar. But we have the image of the almighty God impressed on us. We are made to honor and glorify God. We are made to serve God. We are made to worship God. Jesus is saying, who cares about paying taxes, honor God! Give God what is due to Him.
Paul offers a lot of different reasons why we should submit to our ruling authorities. But we won’t be willing or able to really do it unless we fully believe that God really is in control. If we have a true understanding of God’s power and sovereignty and control over this world, than obey the governing authorities is a piece of cake because we understand that it is a gift from God.
What a blessing it is to know that no matter who is president, no matter who gets elected to what office, no matter what laws get passed, God is in control. God is working all things together for our good, even politics.
