In America, that means that we are to obey the laws of the land no matter if the Republican party or the Democratic party is in power, as long as those laws are not contrary to the Word of God.
Illus: One case in point is the legalization of abortion. According to the laws in most of our states, a woman can have an abortion and neither she, nor the doctor, will be convicted of a felony. However, in the sight of God, she and the doctor have committed a gross sin, and will have to give account for this horrendous act. The thing that is heart-breaking about abortion is that when the Supreme Court legalized it, many women began killing children who would never have thought of doing this before.
People get themselves into trouble by obeying bad laws. We should never listen to the advice of anyone, not even the Supreme Court, when it has to do with legalizing the breaking of God's laws laid down for us in the Word of God.
We should follow the example of the apostles, who said in Acts 5:29b, "…We ought to obey God rather than men." Those who do follow bad advice need to realize they have done a terrible thing! Then, they also need to realize that God is ready to forgive them if they will reach out to Him.
Now we have learned in verses 1-7 that we must submit to the "higher powers," and that these powers "...are ordained of God." One of the sins that we, as Christians, tend to be apathetic about is the disobeying of the teachings concerning being submissive to AUTHORITIES, and to the LAWS of this land.
Illus: It was reported in the news that in the 1992 L. A. riot, people smashed windows, raped women, looted stores, and burned cars and buildings. Why? Because, when a certain trial took place they did not like the verdict. The law says that our justice system, using a jury of our peers, lets the jury decide guilt or innocence after they have heard both sides of the story. The decision is made without regard to anyone's personal opinion or feeling, and this is our government's way of settling differences. We cannot maintain peace in our nation unless people abide by the law. If we reject this system, and burn and destroy EVERY TIME we do not AGREE with a verdict, we will become a nation of anarchists.
A nation has to be governed by leaders and laws. The leaders over us are there because God allows them to be there. We may not understand why God places certain ones there, but He, Who knows more than we do, has a will that He is accomplishing. In the remaining part of this chapter, Paul deals with a different kind of governing law. There are two things that should motivate Christians to obey the Lord.
I. THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD - Verses 8 - 11
"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
Paul is not establishing the fiscal policy of paying only cash for everything, although that is a very good policy. People who are setting up housekeeping are wise indeed to get out of debt as soon as they can after marriage, but in this verse of scripture, Paul is not giving a lesson in financial matters. However, when Paul says, "Owe no man anything...", we immediately relate his statement to fiscal matters. What he has in mind here is something that you and I will always owe. Paul says, "Owe no man any thing, BUT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER..." The homes, communities, and churches of our nation are in a mess because people are not paying this legitimate spiritual debt they owe. Perhaps they used to faithfully pay this debt of love, but are no longer paying it. We are commanded to let this love govern our lives.
Let us look at...
A. THE COMMITMENT OF LOVE
Look at verse 9, "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Notice that as Paul talked about our Christian commitment, he spoke to us about the ten commandments. The ten commandments are divided into two parts.
• The FIRST part deals with our relationship with God. That is, they are God-ward. Each of those commandments emphasize, "The Lord thy God."
All of the commandments that are related to God are later reduced to this, "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength..." If a person does this he can keep all the commandments that relate to God.
• The SECOND part deals with our relationship to each other. Each of these commandments emphasize the phrase, "Thou shalt..."
All of the commandments that relate to our dealings with each other are reduced to, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself..."
If a person does this, he can keep all the commandments that relate to his fellow man.
Illus: If people were committed to being governed by loving others as much as they love themselves, there would be no more:
• ADULTERY
• MURDER
• ROBBERY
• LYING
• COVETING
In fact, that would solve all the major problems that plague this country. Why do I say that? Notice...
B. THE CONSTRAINT OF LOVE
Verse 10, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Illus: The story is told in Matthew 19:16-22 of the rich young ruler who approached Jesus, wanting to know how he could inherit eternal life. The Lord quoted the five commandments that deal with our relationship with each other, and the young man responded, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Jesus knew, however, he had not done these things out of a heart of LOVE. He told the young man, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me." The Bible tells us this young man, who claimed he had kept all those commandments from his "youth up," "...went away sorrowful..," because although the Lord had blessed him with "great possessions," he was not willing to give them up for anyone or anything. He claimed to have kept the commandments that related to his fellow man, but he was not going to give anything to help his fellow man. The Lord revealed to him and to us, that he did not love his neighbor as he loved himself.
When we have the kind of love that makes us love others as we love ourselves, it CONSTRAINS us to do good. The Word of God says, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor..."
Not only will THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD constrain us to do right to our neighbor, but also so will...
II. THE COMING OF THE LORD - Verses 11-14
We could ask each Christian here if you believed in the imminent return of Christ, and you would all say you do, but are you living today as if Christ could come today, or would you have some things you would want to change first?
Illus: There are some who claim to know Christ, who would need to go home and clean that booze out of their refrigerator if they thought Jesus would come today. Others would clean up the book rack and throw away things Christians should not be reading. Some would call the cable television people and have them cut off that garbage that is being piped into their homes. Some would clean those indecent clothes out of their closets and throw them away. Do you have anything in you, on you, or around you, that God would not be pleased with?
Very few Christians today are looking for the imminent return of Christ. The imminent return of Christ will cause a Christian to purify himself. Paul instructs us to live every day with this in mind.
A. OUR WATCHFULNESS
Verses 11-12, "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."
There is no doubt about it, Paul is absolutely correct. A lot of Christians who are spiritually asleep need to "...awake out of sleep..." Why?
Illus: When a person is asleep he is not aware of his surroundings. This is why evil men will usually wait for people to go to sleep before they go in to rob, or kill someone. The criminal knows that when a person is asleep, he can walk in and do whatsoever he desires because the sleeping victim is unaware of what is going on.
When we see all the things happening that God said would happen to let us know He would soon return, it should wake us out of our sleep. If Paul thought it was "high time" to wake out of sleep when he was here, how much more should we, in our age, realize that it is "high time" that we wake up before the Lord comes back and finds us asleep!
The Lord's coming will be a surprise for every child of God, but it is going to really be a surprise for some, because they are not even looking.
Those who are looking will do two things. Verse 12 tells us these two reactions.
1. "...let us therefore cast off the works of darkness..."
Sinners cannot understand why Christians are concerned about their lost souls. Why? Because they are in "darkness." They cannot see the danger around and ahead of them.
Illus: Those who are in sin are spiritually blind. A physically blind person could almost step on a very dangerous snake and not know it, because he cannot see. The lost person stands on the brink of hell and can see no danger. He is one heartbeat away from eternal hell, and he cannot see the danger!
As Christians, we have cast off the darkness. We refuse to live like that. We know that Christ is coming, and we want to live as if He may come today. Look at the words, "cast off." This simply means that we as Christians, do not wear spiritually what the lost world wears.
Illus: Suppose a young man joins the army. He signs all the papers that officially make him a member of the U. S. Army. He is given a uniform that will identify him as a U.S. soldier from then on. He lines up with the rest of the recruits for his first inspection. All the other soldiers have their complete uniform on, but he wears his khaki trousers and a yellow shirt, pink tie, a windbreaker and a pair of tennis shoes. The sergeant major spots him and tears into him, and tells him in no uncertain terms that he is a U. S. soldier now and he had better get rid of those civilian clothes!
Basically this is what the apostle Paul did. He tells us to "cast off" those things we had in our lives before we knew Christ as our Lord and Savior.
2. "...and let us put on the armour of light"
While the lost world lives in darkness, we as Christians live "in the light." He told those Christians who had been living in darkness, to "...put on the armour of light." That armor of light protects us from living like those who walk in darkness. It affects...
B. OUR WALK
Verses 13-14, "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."
The word "walk" speaks of the outward life of the Christian. Can you walk in the "day" (light), and stand the close scrutiny of the world? Can they see that you are honest? You do not just MAKE A CLAIM to love the Lord, YOUR LIFE SHOULD PROVE that you love the Lord. We are to "cast off" those things that will hurt our testimony for Jesus, and "put on" those things that are becoming to us as Christians.
Illus: A dry cleaning business had a sign outside of their business that read, "If your clothes aren't becoming to you, they should be coming to us!"
In verse 13, Paul tells us of the things that are not becoming to Christians. "...rioting, and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying." We must remember those Christians were former pagans. Paul was reminding them that since they had accepted Christ, there should be a noticeable difference between how they lived in sin then, and how they were living after accepting Christ.
He told them in verse 14, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereo." Paul recognized that one's flesh is more than willing to reach out to sin, thus his admonition; "...MAKE NOT PROVISION FOR THE FLESH, TO FULFIL THE LUSTS THEREOF!"
Conclusion:
These are the two things that Christians have to motivate them to obey the Lord.
I. THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD - Verses 8 - 11
A. THE COMMITMENT OF LOVE
B. THE CONSTRAINT OF LOVE
II. THE COMING OF THE LORD - Verses 11-14
A. OUR WATCHFULNESS
B. OUR WALK
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach on Youtube. Go to Youtube Lykesland
