No images? Click here Earthly Laws under a Heavenly Order Pt. 2 Romans 13:1-7 April 28th, 2024 Romans is about the righteousness of God. In Romans 13, we see that we are looking at the Gospel in a different way. As we started in chapter 12 and continue in chapter 13, we are learning what it means to put on our righteousness and how we are to put it into practice in how we respond to authorities in our lives. All authority is a formal presence of God’s righteousness, the very reason God has established it.
The duty of everyone in authority is to uphold God’s justice, all authority coming from the divine mind of God. One day, just as the earth will be made new, we will see authority in its true divine, perfect state. Until then, God gives no precedence for disobedience and commands us to be in submission to the authorities over us, imperfect as they may be. Despite these imperfections, Peter still teaches believers to respect and submit to authority God has established (I Peter 2:13-14).
Today, we find ourselves looking at the second part of the message, “Earthly Laws under a Heavenly Order”. These first seven verses of Chapter 13 are vital, containing much in the form of Christian ethics, underscoring Biblical teaching that all earthly governance and its legal systems operate underneath the sovereignty of God. We need to have a “governmental reset”, to see the government in its proper light, to be reminded of its purpose in order for us to be able to live out righteousness in our own hearts. Human laws are part of a larger God-ordained framework. We need to see the earthly laws we daily follow in the context of a heavenly order, the context of the Divine, as we are citizens of Heaven, not of this world. Our obedience to civil laws is not merely a moral, civic duty, to which we default but, our submission to authority is a spiritual act of worship.
In Part One, we looked at three reasons for which we must bring ourselves under the subjection of ruling authorities in God’s ordained structures: subjection is a command and is the life of the believer, the very heart of the Gospel; all authority comes from God, with the refusal to submit being rebellion against God; and, rebellion will incur God’s judgment. This week, we continue with three more principles under which we must bring ourselves into the subjection of ruling authorities: Conscience, Stewardship and Integrity.
a. Through Distress
We all have a conscience, that conscience having one such function being to cause duress. We see in verse 5, “one must be in subjection”, which carries with it the idea of being forced or compelled with distress, something riling up within us indicating all is not right and the need to address whatever it is that is not right. Our compulsion, what we must do, is to be in subjection, to bring ourselves under the line of someone else, such as under a military officer that has been placed over us. Under duress, we willingly bring ourselves underneath subjection to our authorities.
b. Through Potential Wrath
In verse 5, Paul revisits wrath, first used in verse 4, where he mentions authorities over us do “not bear the sword in vain”: their purpose is to dissuade us from breaking the law. To “have a sword” carries with it the idea of a fear or intimidating factor but, symbolically authorities have a right to take a life. We must bring ourselves under subjection of government and there should be a God-ordained fear stirring within us. God puts this into the mind, the conscience of everyone: He wants order to be maintained. Those that patrol our communities are there to dissuade those whose conscience is bearing witness against them and about what they are doing or about to do.
The person who is in authority is held accountable for their actions based on explicit instructions found in Scripture, where we see that the role of governors, sent by God, is “to punish those who do evil and to the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14). God has put these people in authority and He has put it into the hearts and minds of humanity to know this. What we see developed throughout Scripture is God’s use of authority is to praise what is good, to keep order, and to extend His righteous wrath against those who do evil. On every level, authorities, by God’s design, are ministers of His wrath.
From the very beginning, immediately after the rebellion of Adam and Eve, God placed the Cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24). Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away, Peter having just cut off the ear of the soldier, letting Peter know He could call down legions of angels but, He would not. God uses authority to govern His people, to keep order. In today’s context, earthly authorities hold the same position. We have laws in place and civil authorities established to uphold them and to maintain order. In the church, we have leadership established by God to uphold His standards for the church. God created an orderly world and He wants that order maintained.
c. Through Moral Obligation
In Romans 13, if the law is broken, we have personal warning of wrath that can be administered at the hands of the established authorities. God uses authoritative structures to execute His justice, which includes His wrath, closely tied to the conscience. Our conscience testifies to our moral obligation. Paul brings this up because our conscience needs to be continually informed due to the sin nature resident within us.
“Conscience” is discernment, knowing the difference between right and wrong. God has given every human an innate moral perception, a moral awareness of what is good and evil. It is an internal moral compass, given to everyone at birth, guiding our behavior according to the right understanding of morality (Romans 2:15-16). Our conscience reacts when our actions, thoughts and words rightly conform to the image of God and rightly according to the word. Also, it reacts when our actions, thoughts, desires and words are against what we understand to be morally right or correct because it is written on our hearts; thus, Paul says to submit “for the sake of conscience”.
So, we have this ruling authority, we have our conscience, and when it comes to authority, God, in His infinite wisdom, has established these structures. A quick look through Genesis will reveal many such established authoritative structures.
All authority was established by God’s divine and special instruction but, also in the way we were created. From the beginning, mankind was assigned as an authority over God’s creation. As humanity enters into creation, humanity is also a formal presence of God, with humanity given the job to maintain order and to put these structures in place, especially necessary after the fall when the human heart is tainted and enthralled with sin.
Humanity is now without excuse regarding authority because our conscience is well informed. Our conscience originates in our hearts and minds, shaped by the revealed will of God through His word. God, through Paul, is appealing to this warning system, beginning with the sword and with the wrath, repeating the reference to wrath because the way in which we live our lives, understanding the sinfulness of man, we sear our conscience (see I Tim 4:2 and Jer 6:15), and we need to be reminded why this authority exists and why it is necessary.
This searing of conscience being true, Paul is able to appeal to his own conscience as a reliable witness because he strove to live a consistent, obedient life, continually reminding himself of the truth of Scripture, continually bringing himself under the submission to God, continually filling his mind with God’s precepts, desires and commands. In doing this, Paul says, “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God” (2 Cor 1:12) and, my conscience is “perfectly good” (Acts 23:1).
Are we able to say the same about our own consciences, that they are perfectly good? Are we able to discern what is evil and what is right, doing so with the authority of God to back up every decision and everything that I do? It was not Paul’s conscience on its own that made it reliable but that it was redeemed, informed and in submission to God. This is how we keep our conscience clear and why Paul constantly warns believers to cultivate a sensitivity to it.
How are we to cultivate a clear conscience?
If we work at cultivating a sensitive conscience we, too, can appeal to our conscience as a witness to our integrity, just like Martin Luther, who said: “I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.”
In the context of Romans 13:5, Paul is emphasizing that obedience to governmental authorities should not only be out of fear of punishment but also because of a moral obligation informed by conscience. There is a moral obligation that we should innately know and to which we should be sensitive, if we have been diligent to cultivate a sensitive conscience.
As much as the creation of God testifies to His existence, the presence of authorities in our lives testifies they are of God because our conscience bears witness: God’s order and our conscience testify to the necessity and validity of the established authoritative structures.
Embedded within this passage is a warning for us and for authority. People are provoked to sin in one of two ways when justice is not met: when they witness justice administered improperly; and, when they witness the misuse of authority. We are not given a license to sin, to excuse ourselves because of the corruption/sin we may witness in our authoritative structures. Yet, our sinful response to sin committed against us is what plagues most of our Christian lives demonstrated in multiple ways.
In many ways, our conscience testifies to the lack of subjection in our lives. God says we have these authoritative structures in place, our consciences bear witness, knowing they bear the sword and God causing our consciences to put us under duress to remind us we are to come under the subjection of authority.
2. We are Stewards of God’s Justice (v6)
a. Through Payment of Taxes
Because of this subjection and conscience, believers are to pay taxes. We are to respond as good stewards of God’s justice, with no qualifications mentioned with respect to paying taxes. Society must be funded to maintain the order God desires. The paying of taxes helps society function in a way that gives glory to God.
Taxes have always been a point of contention. During the Roman occupation, the burden of taxation was heavy and a significant source of discontentment, the very reason Paul is addressing it. Also, it was not just the financial strain that caused contention but also the symbolic nature of these taxes violated the consciences of the people. Paul simply says “pay it”, do all in the way of taxes that is required of the civil authorities.
The sin addressed is the temptation to evade taxes, to respond sinfully because of being sinned against. The evasion of paying required taxes is disobedience and an affront to God’s authority. In Matthew 22:15-22, Christ taught that we are to fulfill civic duties where they do not conflict with divine law saying, “...render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s” (22:21). In Romans 13:6, Paul reiterates the same principle.
b. Authorities as Ministers of God’s Justice
Appealing to informed consciences and hearts, Paul goes on to say as a way of reminder that rulers are an extension, ministers even in the formal sense, of the authority of God, representing the formal presence of God, providing structure, both establishing and maintaining God’s desired order. Authorities are to be devoted to their work and we, as believers, in our being devoted to God’s work, are in no way to hinder their work. They should feel supported by the Christian community especially given our understanding of the difficulties of being in authority, even more in our understanding of the heart of man and of God’s.
3. Our Integrity Demands Honor (v7)
As believers, we honor God by honoring His appointed leaders. If we are to live in obedience to God, this demands we honor God’s ordained structures. “First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” (I Tim 2:1-4) This passage underscores the importance of honoring leaders and God-ordained structures by urging prayers for “kings and all who are in high positions”. Because God directs them, God exhorts us to pray for them.
Believers should know governments rise and fall at the hand of God. It is for the sake of the Gospel that we pray because our lives lived out in obedience to God is a way God has ordained there to be a platform for the Gospel in our communities and for our officials. Justin Martyr, a second century theologian and church father, wrote to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, “Everywhere we (Christians) more readily than all men, endeavor to pay those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Jesus…. Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve your kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment.”
a. Render Honor to All
As Paul closes out this section, he summarizes for clarity, telling believers to give honor to these people first and foremost in paying their taxes, both direct and indirect. The wrong usage by the government of our taxes has no bearing on this instruction. Our responsibility is to pay and remember that “vengeance is mine” says the Lord, who will punish those that reject the conscience God has given them. We can have peace in willfully submitting, understanding that God’s ways are better than ours and that His judgments are more severe than anything we can think. His judgments are righteous. Additionally, we are to honor authorities in our attitude and we are to do it with respect and through placing a high value on them, esteeming them in their positions. Our integrity demands that we honor authorities, even leaders with evil intentions in their hearts.
Why do we have this instruction? Our goal is to spread the Gospel, not creating peace through policy. As believers, our hearts and minds are informed and God orchestrates the rise and fall of governments, even employing non-believers to achieve this purpose. In Isaiah 45:1, “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may note be closed:”, we have a clear example of God sovereignly using rulers, regardless of beliefs to achieve divine purposes.
Today, God says to us He wants our main focus to be the Gospel. To stay “Gospel centric”, the way to uphold God’s righteousness, is to honor authorities and to pay our taxes. There may be times when we suffer unjustly but God is keeping account; there will be judgment for them and reward for us (I Cor 3).
Our lives are to be lived in submission to our authorities: “Earthly Laws under a Heavenly Order”. Paul shows us that we are not merely subject to uncontrollable, tyrannical rulers but rather, we serve a God of order who has established authorities for our good and for His glory. This is a true understanding of government: a God-ordained authoritative structure. With this understanding, we are equipped to engage the world, armed with the Gospel and the example of obedient life. When people turn to us and ask us why we pay our taxes, we tell them, “because Jesus”!
Selah
|