Our Obligations as Christians
The Christians’ Obligations to the Powers that Be
We should Submit to them
The Christians’ Obligations to the People by Me
We should Love them
Video
Slide
Good morning.
It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since America was attacked by terrorists on 9/11.
For any of us that are 15 or over, there is no doubt that it is a day that you will never forget.
Over the past 10 years, we see that it is not only a day we remember, but a day that has had effects in our everyday lives.
Many of us don’t look at tall buildings the same anymore.
For some, the loss of a friend or family member continues to affect you.
For our country as a whole, there have been changes in the way that our government seeks to protect us.
New laws have made for longer lines at the airports and have given new surveillance powers to government officials who now have the ability to watch and spy on individuals without many barriers.
Some of these changes have been good even though they may add new burdens to our everyday lives. Other changes have made many people uncomfortable.
In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, our country experienced a unity like we had not seen in years, to a place today that has brought a lot of distrust of our government and government officials.
As Christians, what should be our view toward our government and government officials?
How should we view them?
How should we conduct ourselves in relationship to them?
As providence and God’s sovereignty would have it, we are at a point in our study of Romans where Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit addresses just some of those questions.
So if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 13
Slide
Let’s see what Paul has to say about this.
Let’s read Romans 13:1-7
Romans 13:1-7
1 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. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 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. 4 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. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Pray
Ok, Paul starts out talking about
The Christian’s Obligation to the Powers that Be
Slide
And one of the first things he says is that
We should Submit to them
Submit ourselves to the government? That seems so un-Christian since we claim Jesus as Lord and not any man or manmade institution.
But Paul tells us here that the authorities that exist have been established by God.
That is a pretty bold statement.
All the authorities that exist have been established by God?
And we should submit to them?
I want to look at this in 2 pieces, because we have seen instances in the Bible where people do not submit to the civil authorities.
But first, I want us to consider the statement that all authorities have been established by God.
We have seen throughout history and throughout the Bible, in fact, some not very nice people who have been the leaders of nations and governments. Are we to believe that God is the one who has established them?
Yes, He has.
Now this does not mean that He condones everything that governments do, but He has used wicked governments in the past.
Let’s look at a couple of Biblical examples.
Babylon
Babylon was an evil nation with evil leaders. At that same time, God’s people, Israel, were wicked and disobedient to the Lord as well.
In Habakkuk, the prophet cries out to God about the injustice and wickedness that he sees in the land Israel and listen to what God says about the wicked Babylonians.
Listen to this oracle from Habakkuk
Habakkuk 1:5-7, 11
Slide
5 "Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor… [They are] 11 …guilty men, whose own strength is their god."
God says that He is raising up Babylon, and He acknowledges that they are wicked and not at all godly. Why does He raise them up then?
Habakkuk says in verse 1:12
Slide
- O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
God raises up the Babylonians and uses them to execute judgment on Israel.
Now, again, even as we spoke of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibilities several weeks ago, God in His sovereignty has raised up and established Babylon, but Babylon and their leaders still do bear responsibility for their wickedness and God eventually judges them for their wickedness but He also uses them.
We see another example in the New Testament at the time of Christ
Jesus and Pilate
When God’s One and Only Son is standing before Pilate facing crucifixion, listen to what Jesus tells him.
John 19:10-11
SLide
10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.
Jesus in His humanity is about to face death to pay a penalty that we deserved and He acknowledges that Pilate’s authority is only from God.
Jesus knows that there are ultimate plans. Jesus as God understands this.
We as humans must learn to trust in the sovereign will of God and that He can use civil authorities to accomplish His ultimate will.
Proverbs 21:1
Slide
says “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
Not just good leaders or kings, but every leader and kings heart is in the hand of the Lord.
Ok, so God establishes them, but we are to submit to them? Even Wicked governments?
For the most part, yes.
We need to obey laws and authority, even if we may disagree with them, that are not in direct conflict with the will of God.
We have no authority as Christians not to obey laws that do not conflict with the clear will of God. And we should do it not only for fear of paying the penalty when we don’t, but Romans 13:5 says we should also submit “because of conscience.”
We should submit as an act of trust in the Lord.
Jesus submitted to death, trusting the Father to use the corrupt authorities for His will, even though Jesus didn’t do anything wrong or break any law they had.
He even submitted to paying taxes and Paul says here that
We should Pay taxes to them as well
Not just to governments that we think are doing a good job, but to those who have authority over us.
For us, when our leaders in Illinois increase our taxes 67%, we should pay, trusting the Lord to provide for our needs as we seek His kingdom and righteousness.
This doesn’t mean that we need to overpay, or that we can’t vote for other people. We happen to live in a democratic republic, so in authority to this form of government, that God has instituted here, we take our civic responsibilities seriously and vote wisely in accord with how we believe the Lord will best be glorified.
And to an extent, I believe that we get what we persevere in asking for as a whole.
In 1 Samuel, the people wanted a king to lead them. God told them all that kings would do to them in taking their sons to fight battles and daughters to be his attendants, and he would tax them, etc. And God told them there would come a day when they cry out for relief from the king, but that in that day the Lord would not answer them but they wanted a king anyway, so God gave them a king.
And even though we do get what we ask for to an extent, at least temporally, God has made provision for us eternally, and when we keep our focus on that and submit to the powers that be, we glorify the Lord.
But are there times we should not submit?
There are.
We should not submit
Slide
When Man’s Laws contradict God’s Will
When the Apostles were ordered to no longer speak in the name of the Lord, they said, "We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29)
When Daniel was confronted with a law that said don’t pray to anyone but King Darius, he did not obey and prayed openly to the Lord (Daniel 6:10).
When Daniel’s 3 friends were confronted with a law that required them to bow down and worship a statue of the King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:6) they did not. When ordered to, listen to how they responded in
Daniel 3:16-18
Slide
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
In deep humility before God, they did not submit to the law of the land, but trusted themselves completely to the Lord.
They did not submit to laws, but did submit to consequences
Notice, however, in all of these cases, while they did not submit to these laws that would have been in opposition to the Lord’s will, they did submit themselves to the consequences of not following the Law.
Nearly all the apostles were put to death for proclaiming Jesus as Lord and His resurrection.
Daniel willingly submitted to being thrown into the Lion’s den.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego submitted to being thrown into the fiery furnace.
And Jesus submitted to a death He did not deserve.
They submitted themselves to the authorities whom God had established unless following the law meant disobeying God’s will, and then they remained submitted to God and the earthly consequences that might follow because they were looking to their eternal future.
So, as Christians who follow the Lord, we have a public obligation to submit ourselves to the Powers that be fully trusting in Christ and His ultimate authority over them unless following the law would put us in clear and direct opposition to God’s will.
Paul moves on from our obligation to the powers that be and in this next section, he talks about
The Christian’s obligation to the People by me
Slide
That is our neighbor, those whom the Lord has place in our lives, that are around us.
He says
Romans 13:8-10
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 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." 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Our obligation to the people by me is that
We should love them
Slide
If we love a person, we won’t commit adultery with them or against them.
If we love a person, we won’t murder them.
If we love a person, we won’t steal from them.
If we love a person, we will be happy that they have what they have, even if we don’t.
If we, in the power of the Spirit, love people, we don’t have to worry about following the law and not breaking the commandments. We will be too busy, glorifying the Lord and living out love for people, to harm anyone.
Paul says this is something that because of what Christ has done for us, we should never stop seeking to give to others.
Now submitting to the authorities and loving others can both sometimes be very hard to do.
How can we do those things?
How do we fulfill our Christian obligations?
Slide
Listen to what Paul tells us
Romans 13:11-14
11 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. 12 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. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
We can fulfill our Christian obligations when
We Clothe ourselves in Christ
Slide
We can really only be submitted to authorities and love others ahead of ourselves, when we are clothed with Christ and understanding that the day of Christ’s return is getting nearer and nearer.
Being clothed with Christ requires, however, that we be growing in our knowledge of Him so we can trust Him more to do the things that don’t come naturally to us.
Submission and loving others does not come naturally.
Rebellion and selfishness, due to our sin nature, come naturally.
Yesterday in our men’s Bible study we began our study of Philippians.
Paul is in prison, submitted to the authorities, but experiencing great joy and He wants this same joy for others.
And in that first chapter, He tells of his prayer for the Philippians, and I think it is a prayer that we should be praying for those in our lives as well as ourselves.
Philippians 1:9-11
Slide
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
We need to grow more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that we can love and submit and discern what is best and live to the glory and praise of the Lord.
This is the sanctification process and it does not just happen when we become a Christian. We need to apply ourselves.
Paul tells the Galatians in
Galatians 5:25 - Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
We are only going to be able to grow in knowledge and depth of insight and keep in step with the Spirit as we continue to study His word and have opportunity to let God speak into our lives through His word and through other Christians.
This is why we you should make it a priority in your life to be a part of one of the Connection Bible studies we are offering. If we are not growing in our knowledge and depth of insight, we will not be able to love and submit and glorify the Lord.
It will help us keep focused and growing so that we continually have our eyes fixed on Christ and His return.
The day is almost here.
How will Christ find you?
Living for yourself, or living for Him?
We are going to close in worship as we normally do,
Worship team come up
but I want to encourage each of you to immediately after this service, to sign up for one of the Discipleship and Connection Group options we have.
If you are a newer Christian and have never been in a study, I want to encourage you to check out our Sunday morning option led by Steve Crumb and Tom Anderson called Growing in Christ. They will be going through some of the assurances we have as Christians as well as some of the basics of living the Christian life.
We also have several options for women and our Saturday study for me our college study on Sunday nights and groups throughout the week.
Make sure you sign up for one so you can be growing in knowledge and depth of insight and submit to the authorities that God has instituted and love others to the glory of God.
Let’s worship.
