WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.000 We're gonna dive right in today. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:11.839 We've been in Romans as a community, and I'm gonna encourage you if you did not get we do have notes every week, and some weeks they're just like blank papers. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:13.839 This week there's a whole lot of fill-ins. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:24.399 I'm gonna try to be faithful to it, but we are gonna cover a lot of ground this week, so I'd encourage you to take some notes to wrestle with what we talk about. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:30.960 Um but because of that we're gonna dive in pretty quickly today, but just a real brief review. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:41.759 We've been in the letter to the Rome written by Paul, and we've been studying it for about six, seven months now, and it's been a wonderful journey. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.960 If you remember, Romans is often broken into two parts. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:55.840 There's Romans 1 through 11, which is gospel instruction, and then in Romans 12, there's it's often noticed as like a pivot that we are now into gospel application. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.039 What do we do in the light of these mercies? 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.640 And actually I want to read again Romans 12, 1. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:13.359 Therefore, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:26.560 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:33.040 And so Romans twelve is this pivot, and we're in the second half of Romans, and we've been going through with Paul. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:41.840 He's kind of been fleshing out in the light of the gospel, in the light of God's mercies and all that God has done, how do we live? 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:56.079 And he says that we have our minds renewed in the light of these mercies, and and then he's begun to go through these different areas of life and society, and he's he's really asking the question, what is God's will in these areas? 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.560 If you have your mind renewed, you're gonna know God's will. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:01:59.439 What is God's will? 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:08.400 And he started, we talked about about a month ago, he started with how we view ourselves and having sober-minded judgment, how we see ourselves in community. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:17.439 For a couple weeks he talked about genuine love, how we care for each other, and then he sort of pivots with this phrase practice hospitality. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.479 God's will is that we have a love for the outsider. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:28.319 And then last week we talked about what is God's will when bad things happen to us, when evil happens to us. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:31.759 And so today is going to be a continuation of last week. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:43.120 It's it's still wrestling with the question of injustice, and it's it's really pivoting, though, and it's asking the question: what is our relationship as gospel people with governing authorities? 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.439 Which I know is everybody's favorite topic. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.560 Uh we talk about this in church all the time, right? 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:54.960 How our relationship with the government should be and politics and all those good things, and so that's where we're gonna be today. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:56.000 We're gonna dive right in. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.879 Let's pray together, and then I'll read the passage. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.439 Lord, we welcome you in this place. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:03.680 We acknowledge your presence here. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.919 We pray that you would speak to us this morning. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:20.080 We do ask, Spirit of God, that you would renew our minds with your word and help us to not just be hearers of the words, but doers of the words. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.240 We thank you, Lord. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.560 It's in the name of Jesus we pray. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:25.520 Amen. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:30.960 I'm gonna read Romans thirteen one through seven. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:41.039 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there's no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:47.599 Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God's appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.520 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.400 Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:00.080 Then do what's good, and you'll receive its approval, for it is God's servant for your good. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:05.680 But if you do what's wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.360 It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:15.039 Therefore, one must be subject not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:21.519 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:32.800 Pay to all what is due to them, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:33.439 Amen. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:34.800 This is God's word. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:35.600 Right. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.759 Is this anybody's life verse now? 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:42.000 Maybe somebody in government's in here thinking, I love this passage. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.680 This has really helped me maintain power as a king. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.240 Um I remind people of this all the time. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.439 No, we we typically read through this pretty quick. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.199 Um, and so I've kind of broken today into three main sections. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:07.439 We're gonna talk about just sort of the plain meaning of the text and the words, then we're gonna talk about when we're called not to submit, and then we'll end with sort of what does this mean for us today as gospel people living in America? 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.720 What does it mean for us? 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.800 And so we're gonna follow along with the outline and we're gonna begin in verse one. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:17.199 And in verse one, he talks about the call for submission. 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:23.360 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there's no authority except from God. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.000 And for those authorities that exist, they've been instituted by God. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.439 He calls, Paul calls for submission. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.319 He calls for a posture of coming under. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:39.600 The word submission doesn't mean blind obedience, as some have tried to make it mean. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.600 It does mean to become subject to, to respect as over. 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:49.680 It means to acknowledge that the authority above you is legitimate. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.319 He's saying our basic posture should be to submit to authorities. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:03.920 Governing authorities would have been Caesar, it would have been the magistrates and governors, it would have been military forces and the administrative apparatus of Rome. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:09.759 He's writing to this group of people and he's saying our general posture should be to submit to these people. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:16.720 The phrase authorities actually means somebody who has jurisdiction, somebody who has like the right. 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:29.680 It actually conveys a sense of superiority, meaning like it's qualitatively different, somebody who is sort of actually worth submitting to. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.040 Somebody who is under authority. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.720 Notice he says they are under God's authority. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.000 The authority they have is a delegated authority. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.800 They don't just have unlimited power, but they have authority from God. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.920 Philosophically, we might define authority as the ability to describe reality. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:55.439 It's the ability to say what is so and to align with God. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:04.000 Now, a lot of people have wrestled with what the word submit means, and one thing it clearly doesn't mean is blind obedience. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:06.720 And we know this because we can actually look at the life of Paul. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:09.120 Paul did not blindly submit to authorities. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.319 I'm going to flip over just real quick to Acts 16. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:22.639 Some of you know this story, but but Paul's in Philippi, and he has an unfortunate incident where he spends the night in prison, and he doesn't come out quoting Romans 13, shockingly. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:41.920 He comes out after his unfortunate night in prison, and he says, These magistrates sent word that we're to go out and be peaceful, but Paul says, You've beaten us in public, you've condemned men who were Roman citizens, and you've thrown us in prison, and now you're going to try to dismiss us secretly? 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.199 He's enraged. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:50.480 He clearly has a category for these people who are supposed to be just, and when they're not just, he's going to call them out. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:56.160 It is the same thing with the Jewish Sanhedrin a few chapters later, when they're not treating him right. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:57.839 He has this category. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:11.920 It's not a blind obedience, it's not like we're called to do every single thing that the government says you are to do, and we'll talk a little bit more about that later, but but there is a general call to submission. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:18.800 And then we see in verse 2 and 3 a theological reason or the need for submission. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:24.160 He says in verse 2, whoever resists authority resists what God's appointed. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.040 And for those who resist, they'll incur judgment. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.560 For rulers are not tarrers to the good conduct but to bad. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.960 The theological reason he gives, the need for submission, is that these people are appointed by God. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:38.720 This is not a new thought. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:47.600 Throughout the entire Jewish scriptures, there's this understanding that kings and people in power are appointed by God and removed by God. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.159 And Paul's giving a theological need. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.679 He's saying, look, God is sovereign. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.159 These people are appointed by God. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:03.200 So that is why there's this general call that we are to be in submission to these authorities. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:09.039 He goes on, though, to give some practical reasons for submission in verses three through five. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:12.879 He says, rulers are not a tear to good conduct, but to bad. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.840 Do you wish to have no fear of authority? 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:21.279 Then do what's good, and you'll receive its approval, for it is God's servant for your good. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.240 But if you do what's wrong, you should be afraid. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.960 For the authority does not bear the sword in vain. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.480 It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:35.120 Therefore one must be subject not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.759 He gives a very practical reason. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.919 You'll stay out of trouble. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:44.799 Look, if you don't want a speeding ticket, you cannot speed, right? 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:45.440 We all know that. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:52.159 If you're on 161 and you're going 80, it's possible that you're going to incur the wrath of a state patrolman. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:10:00.480 It's possible if you're in downtown Granville and you're going 26 and a 25, you could incur the wrath of a police officer. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.600 We all understand this at its most basic level. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:13.200 If the authorities are doing what they're supposed to be doing, then of course, if you are doing what you're supposed to be doing there, there shouldn't be a conflict. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.039 There shouldn't be a conflict. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:23.519 In verse 3 through 5, though, he also gives us some of the purposes and the methods and even the limits of government. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:24.799 He gives the purpose. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.720 They're to punish what's good. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:31.279 They're punishing what's good and therefore, or punishing what's evil, and therefore are good. 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:32.799 The government has a purpose. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.000 The governing authorities are supposed to be about justice. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:46.240 He's picking up the theme he was just talking about a few verses earlier, about how we don't seek vengeance for ourselves, but there is this appointed apparatus for judgment. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.960 And so he gives sort of the scope, he gives the method. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:51.360 He says the government wields the sword. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.320 The government has coercive power. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.679 The government has the ability to punish. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.840 He also, in these verses, gives the posture of government. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.159 He says, the government are servants. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.000 The government posture, government authority should be servants. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:09.679 They should wield the sword. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.120 They should punish what's evil, reward what's good. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:19.759 And of course, the tool, the sword, gives us a clue as to the limits of government. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 What is a sword good for? 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:28.960 A sword is good for restraining evil and punishing evil that's already occurred. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:35.759 Paul gives no suggestion here that the government is going to somehow eradicate evil. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:46.399 In fact, if we follow along in Romans, we see that the problem humanity has, the sin problem, is much, much deeper than what the government can deal with. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:53.679 In fact, Paul's whole case has been that only the gospel is capable of overcoming the human dilemma. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:12:00.080 The human dilemma is that we have not pursued God, we have not wanted God, we have set ourselves up as gods. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:08.000 And so Paul clearly does not think that the government is going to somehow do what he's been preaching that the gospel is going to do. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.960 Instead, he offers this limited role. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:13.360 They're going to punish evildoers. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:22.240 Even the phrase evildoers, he doesn't say they're going to punish all evil, he says they're going to punish the wrongdoings of evil, the fruits of evil. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.960 And that'll be important when we come back to that later. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.600 And then fourth, he also shows us the proper way of submission. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:47.440 He says in verse 6 and 7, For the same reason you pay taxes to the authorities, because they're God's servant, busy with this very thing, pay to all what is due to them, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.159 He's picking up and expanding on one of the famous teachings of Jesus. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.879 Jesus was asked, they tried to trick him, like, should we pay our taxes? 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:04.720 And he asks whose inscription is on the coin, and it was Caesar, and he famously said, Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:06.879 Paul is saying basically the same thing. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:11.840 He's saying, Render unto Caesar, render unto governing authorities what is theirs. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.960 They need revenue to do their job, to do their vocation. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.519 Their vocation is meant to be good. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.919 And so you should render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:30.559 So the proper way to submit is to do certain things, to act in a certain way, to give to Caesar what is required. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:36.720 And so that's the basic meaning of these verses, but like everything in Scripture, there's a context. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:44.559 He's not writing an interesting theological paper as a third-year seminary student. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.279 He's writing a letter to real people. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.200 And so what is the context for these instructions? 00:13:51.360 --> 00:14:00.159 Paul's writing to a group, a minority group in Rome of Jews and Gentiles, many of whom are former slaves. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.039 He's writing to people who are oppressed. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:08.320 He's writing to people who are who are under the thumb of Rome. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:14.240 He's writing to many Jewish Christians who have been expelled or lost their businesses. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:21.519 He's writing when the emperor is Nero and his tax policy is incredibly unpopular. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:28.480 He's writing to a government authority that will ultimately be the one that kills him. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:41.679 The taxes and the plunder from the Jewish community largely will be used to build a Colosseum that will be used to persecute Jews and Christians and many, many others. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:47.200 He's writing in an era where revolution is in the air. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:55.200 In fact, many of the people in this church community, they would know of the occupation of Jerusalem. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:00.720 They would know and they would probably even be tempted to support some of the unrest in the area. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.960 About ten years after he wrote this, there would be a Jewish rebellion. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.480 And that's when Rome would come in and destroy the temple. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:14.080 So he's writing to a group of people that would have been super easy to say, you know what? 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:15.519 Fight back. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:18.240 Have a revolution. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:20.799 Instead, he doesn't say that. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.919 He also is probably aware that Roman authorities are going to read this letter. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.399 That this is not going to stay a secret. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:35.360 And so he's aware that what he says could be very inflammatory. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:49.279 And so what he basically writes to this small minority of people that have very little power and are persecuted, what he basically writes is as far as you can, submit to these leaders. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:51.519 Submit to these leaders. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:16:00.639 And at the same time, build this alternative community right in the midst of Rome, this Jesus community. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:05.200 And this community is wonderfully subversive. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.559 But it's not an open revolt. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.080 I think Paul's concerns are probably pretty practical. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:17.360 He knows that they have no chance of winning a revolt, for one. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:21.360 And two, he doesn't want this community to be destroyed. 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.799 He wants them to have this certain posture. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:35.279 And I think as we begin to dive in a little bit in a minute to when we shouldn't submit to governing authorities, I think we need to pause and not rush past. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:43.360 A lot of times when there's a rule in the Bible, we immediately go to the exceptions, and some of the reason we do that is because we don't like rules. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.159 We don't like the plain instruction. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:57.360 So the plain instruction, to summarize, the plain instruction is Paul is not anti-government, he's not an anarchist, he believes it's a real vocation, position, appointed by God. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:02.159 It's meant to be a servant, it's meant to bring some of the justice here and now. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:07.119 He's writing in an ancient Near East where the problem was never really too much government. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.079 It was that cities were constantly in chaos. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.359 Government is not the enemy in Paul's mind. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:20.160 And he's writing this knowing full well that governments are not just all the time. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:26.319 We read this and our immediate reaction is like, what if it's a bad ruler? 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:33.279 Paul is writing to people living under far worse leadership than most of us will ever live under. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:52.640 And these are his words, his basic posture, your posture, my posture, our basic posture is to recognize that authority is from God, to try to live at peace with it, to try to honor it, to give it all that it's due, because we have a hope in something else. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:59.519 So how do we know, or when do we know, we should not submit to governing authorities? 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:09.359 If it's true that this verse doesn't mean blind total obedience to governing authorities, what are the exceptions? 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:15.920 What is outside the bounds of normal Christian submission to governing authorities? 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:26.720 I think to dive into this, we have to first acknowledge that if you're here and you're a follower of Jesus, we have an authority above all other authorities. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:32.880 That before governing authorities, we are loyal and we are allegiant to Jesus. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:40.400 And this means that there can be times where we are called to not submit to governing authorities. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:47.599 The first two, which are on the back of the notes, these are just a list of questions that help us process when we should not submit. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:56.880 The first two are governing authorities commanding what God forbids, or are governing authorities forbidding what God has commanded? 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:13.039 If it's true that governing authorities are under authority, if it's true that they do not have unlimited power, but they have delegated authority, then governing authorities themselves are under God's law. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:22.720 Samuel Rutherford in 1640s wrote a famous book called Lexerex, which is basically saying the law is king, not the king is law. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:29.279 And his basic argument is when he exposites Romans 13, he's saying their authority is borrowed. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.839 Their authority is borrowed. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:40.960 Not every authority, every authoritative act that they do, not every act is authoritative that an authority does. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.240 You might think of a police officer, he pulls you over. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:50.160 If he gives you a ticket for speeding, that's within his calling. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:52.079 That's within his responsibility. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:20:02.400 If he steals your wallet, while giving you a ticket, just because he's an authority doesn't mean stealing your wallet is authoritative. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:05.200 He can actually step outside his vocation. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:08.240 He can actually be an anti-authority. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.559 He can actually rebel against the very gift he's been given. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:26.240 And so we have this category of the government can actually be against what God has commanded, they can forbid it, or they can command what God has forbidden, or they can forbid what God has commanded. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.799 We see this throughout the scriptures. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:35.119 From Egypt and Exodus, the midwives rescuing babies out from Pharaoh's nose. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.160 To Daniel refusing to stop praying. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:48.000 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego not bowing down to the king, the apostles and Acts chapter 5 saying, You can't command us to not preach. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.720 We have to obey God rather than you. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:58.880 There's a long history of if the Lord has commanded something, then the governing authorities cannot forbid it. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:04.559 And to be honest, this is probably the easiest case of when we should not submit. 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:07.200 The easiest case is really simple. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:12.640 Is something being commanded or forbidden that God is against? 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.440 But it gets trickier than that. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:21.200 What happens when the injustice is not perpetrated on us? 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:30.319 What happens when it's not me that's suffering or being made to do evil, but when the government is doing evil to somebody else? 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:33.119 Which leads to the third question. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:42.640 Would my compliance make me complicit in grave injustice or prevent me from fulfilling a clear obligation of love? 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:48.799 Would my compliance make me complicit in injustice? 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:54.319 What do we do if the government is unjust or injust to our neighbors? 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.599 Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a famous paper soon after Hitler came to power. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:13.200 Called Christians and the Jewish Question, and he was wrestling with the responsibility, and he gave three escalating responsibilities of the church when the state is being unjust. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:18.319 The first one he gave is the church is to question the state. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.799 The church is to question whether the state is acting justly. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.319 As Christians, we are to question whether governing authorities are being just. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:36.400 The second escalating responsibility he gave is that we are to help those who are the victims of injustice. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:58.079 If the state is being unjust to people, and there's people being run over by the wheel of injustice, we are called to care and to help them, to be on their side, to support them, whether they are Christians or not, whether they're in our tribe or not, we're called to love them as our neighbors. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.480 The state cannot command me to not love my neighbor. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:07.279 And if my neighbor is in need, there is an ethical obligation of love. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:19.440 And then the third escalating action, he says, sometimes we're called, and he uses a famous phrase, we're called to put a spoke in the wheel of injustice itself. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:25.839 Sometimes you can't just keep watching people get run over by the wheels of injustice. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.279 Sometimes, he argues, love breaks the wheel. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:31.200 Breaks the wheels of injustice. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:33.200 It actually resists. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:46.160 And he used this thinking, this paradigm to wrest with the question, how should the church exist at the beginning of the Third Reich, at the beginning of this German state that was persecuting people? 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:59.759 I think for us in our context, we we have to acknowledge that even though not every injustice is going to rise to that level, we have to acknowledge that there are injustices in our country. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.160 We live in a world with injustice. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:10.240 If what Paul is talking about all through Romans and his doctrine of sin is true, then we live in a world of injustice. 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:14.400 Sin has pervaded the human heart, it's gotten everywhere. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:28.559 I think one of the things that I often see and feel is in middle class America, middle and upper class America, we get defensive if people say that our governing authorities, our state, is not just. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.119 The state is not your mom. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:41.039 You should expect the state to be unjust because it is filled with people whose hearts, Paul say, are bent, twisted, who have idols. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:46.720 We should expect sin to affect individuals, we should expect sin to affect systems. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.200 We should look for and see injustice all around us. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:25:16.720 When we see immigrants who are not being given due process, when we see toxic waste being dumped in poor communities who have no ability to fight back, when we see violent rhetoric from people in power, which is a form of injustice, which does cause people to view other people differently and wrongly, we have an obligation to ask the questions ourselves. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.400 Am I speaking up? 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.039 Am I questioning the state? 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:27.440 We have an obligation to ask, am I on the side of those being run over? 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.440 Am I supporting them? 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:34.240 Are there needs on my mind and in my awareness? 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:41.519 And then ultimately at times we even have to ask the question: do the wheels of injustice need to be broken? 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:52.400 The fourth question that can help us when we should not submit to governing authorities, can I resist in a way consistent with Jesus? 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:57.759 We're not just called to resistance, we're called to resist in a way consistent with Jesus. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.519 Martin Luther King Jr. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:12.079 wrote often about this, and one of the most famous sections in his letters from a Birmingham jail, he talks about how we have this obligation to obey just laws and an obligation to not obey unjust laws. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.960 But we don't obey in a certain way. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.039 We are followers of Jesus. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:23.039 And he gives us some keys that I think are really helpful in thinking about resisting in the way of Jesus. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:27.119 First, he says resistance must be morally serious. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:32.640 It's not that speed limit irritates me or that tax law is annoying. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.720 It has to be morally serious. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:38.079 Are people's dignity being violated? 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.119 Are people suffering unjustly? 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.240 Is it a morally serious resistance? 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:47.119 Second, it is not deceptive. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.119 Resistance is open. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:53.200 He says we should say, I am resisting, and here is why. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:58.000 I'm not secretly resisting, but I'm openly resisting. 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:06.720 This is a way, he argues, of not obeying the government even as a form of submission, of honoring the government. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.440 Third, he says it must be nonviolent. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:13.599 Nothing in Romans 13 overrides Romans 12. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:16.559 We don't repay evil for evil. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:19.440 We don't become the thing we're resisting. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:24.960 Instead, he argues that we are to resist nonviolently. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.720 We're not to let our anger come back on them. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:34.799 We are not to make the other person the enemy, but we are trying to eradicate evil and injustice itself. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:51.680 And then forth, not only are we to resist nonviolently, not only are we to do it openly, not only are we to do it in a way that Jesus would do it, but we're doing it in a way that accepts the consequences. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.640 This is probably one of his most powerful ideas. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:05.200 He argues that resistance in the way of Jesus says, I'm going to resist this unjust law, but I'm also willing to accept the consequences of my resistance. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:16.480 And in this way, I'm still honoring the governing authorities by accepting their consequences while at the same time I'm resisting what is unjust. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:28.559 You and I, as followers of Jesus, we have an obligation to have a basic posture of submitting to government authorities, but we also must obey what God has commanded. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.079 God has commanded us to love our neighbors. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:35.039 He's commanded us to fight for justice. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:38.960 He's commanded us to support those in need. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:50.319 And so there are times where we must resist, but we can do it in a way that is honoring of governing authorities while also honoring the Lord. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:52.240 So what does this mean for us? 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:54.160 What does this mean for gospel people? 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:58.160 How does this all connect with what Paul has been talking about in Romans? 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:03.279 He's been talking about living in the light of the gospel, what the gospel produces in us. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:08.400 And so, how does the gospel produce our relationship to government in a different way? 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:09.920 How does it form that? 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:11.680 I just want to offer four things. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.000 These are not exhaustive, but we're going to land the plane on these four things. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:22.400 It says, one, we're to seek the common good through government without putting our hope in government. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:25.599 We're to seek the common good without putting our hope in it. 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:27.200 This is tricky. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:33.519 I think one of the implications of what Paul is saying is, he's saying government's good. 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:40.960 It can restrain evil, but it's the sword. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.160 The sword can only get us so far. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.599 It can't build the kingdom of God. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:55.759 It can't build or do what the gospel we've been talking about for months, and what Paul has been writing about, what the gospel is going to do. 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:04.319 The kingdom of this world, the governing authorities, it can restrain evil, but it can't change the human heart. 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:17.759 And so we acknowledge that this apparatus, it should work for the common good, and we can even be a part of that work, but at the same time, we acknowledge that we can't put our hope in it. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:20.640 Our future can't rest in it. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:26.240 Our hope is not in who's on the Supreme Court, not in what political party is in power. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:29.039 That is not what shapes our future. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:32.960 That is not where our heart puts its weight. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.480 And because of that, the gospel frees us. 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:37.920 It frees us. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:46.319 One good litmus test of whether the gospel has freed you politically is how devastated you are when politics don't go your way. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:31:00.799 If you're devastated when politics don't go your way, might I suggest to you that you've put too much hope in this restraining, ordained by God apparatus. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:07.920 Second, though, we use political power to serve our neighbors, not to control our world. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:10.960 First, we use it to serve our neighbors. 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.759 Government is an important function. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.599 In fact, some of us in here are already serving in government roles. 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:19.359 You're already public servants. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:21.519 And some of you, you're called to that. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:24.640 It's a valuable, meaningful vocation. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:27.920 And our posture in that should be to be servants. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:32.160 Imagine gospel people shaped by the gospel serving. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:35.759 People who speak kindly of their enemies. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:43.039 People who do not use their power to benefit their tribe, but seek the common good of all. 00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:48.240 The world needs gospel people serving as governing authorities. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:50.480 We need judges and magistrates. 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:54.240 We need prosecutors and defenders, we need politicians. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:58.559 Some of us were called to that role and it's noble and it's good. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:08.640 And it's an incredibly challenging vocation, too, because you're called to serve in it with all your heart while also keeping in mind the limits of the role. 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:10.880 It won't bring the kingdom of God. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:13.359 It won't bring complete justice. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:16.000 But it does have a power. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:23.119 It can bring a little bit of the judgment and justice of the future into the here and now. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:27.119 And because it can bring us that foretaste, Paul's saying it's good. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:28.559 It can be good. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:36.079 At the same time, though, we don't use these powers to control our world. 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:45.440 I think in every environment where there's a majority Christian or it's a representative form of government, there's always going to be this temptation. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:59.599 Temptation is going to be to cozy up the church and the state and to begin to work for some project where the government's roles, its powers are expanded to fulfill some sort of Christian project. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:07.839 We have people using phrases like, I want a Christian government, I want Christian laws, I want Christian rulers. 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:18.559 And the idea in our mind, the project, is that somehow we should have some form of Christian nationalism where somehow the gospel is a form of dominion. 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:20.640 It's taking over this sphere. 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:26.960 And we think, because we believe we're right and we're true, that we would administer justice better. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:34.880 But I think when we really look at this passage, Paul is, he's cutting that down pretty sharply. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:41.839 There's nothing in these texts suggesting that that's the role of government. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:45.920 And I think we make a number of missteps when we try to do that. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:34:07.119 One, it is true that while we all have different views of human flourishing, it is true that we as Christians, as gospel people, if we're in political office or we're in a representative democracy, it is true that we can bring our vision of flourishing into the conversation, into the public dialogue. 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:09.679 We can help laws be more just. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:14.239 We can help governing authorities use their power for good. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:19.440 But the tool of the church has never been the sword. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:23.599 The tool of the church is persuasion, not coercion. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:33.840 The tool of the church is to offer up the gospel, to offer up and to try to persuade men in the vision and the way of Jesus, to tell people what God has done. 00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:36.320 And that doesn't mean we shrink back. 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:42.079 But there's a very big difference between Christian supremacy and Christian influence. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:52.880 A second misstep we come to all the time when we see this merger of church and state, we see this misstep of whose Christianity? 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:59.199 I mean, when you say you want Christian influence, do you want the Catholics to run the country or the Presbyterians? 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.639 Do you want the Methodists to be in charge or the Amish? 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:07.039 Whose vision? 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:16.000 See, the Bible might give us principles, care for the poor, fight against economic injustice, but there's a variety of ways to do that. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:19.840 A variety of legitimate ways to do that. 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:28.480 And so just saying we should have Christian this or Christian that and to use it as an adjective, it doesn't actually answer the political question. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:33.119 Third, it overrides what we talked about or the limits of government. 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:37.760 The government is able, and in political theology, this is wrestled with. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:45.840 Should the government punish people who are greedy? 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:48.079 People who are prideful? 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:49.840 People who boast? 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:54.079 I think this text suggests that the answer to that is no. 00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:57.039 The people punished are wrongdoers. 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:00.320 The context is not seeking revenge for yourself. 00:36:00.559 --> 00:36:03.440 The government is limiting people, hurting each other. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:05.920 It's not purging evil. 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:20.719 There's nothing in this text that suggests that in Paul's mind that the church in Rome was to grow in influence and power until they would control the state and make it advantageous for Christians. 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:32.400 Furthermore, the gospel given in Romans, I think, actually argues against this idea that Christians would always be better in office. 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:39.840 Paul's view of sin seems to be that it affects us all equally and devastatingly. 00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:48.559 His argument in Romans 2, if you remember, he goes in on the Gentiles, the non-religious people, and then he goes in on the religious people and says, What? 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:50.719 You're the exact same. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:54.159 You have the same idols of the heart. 00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:57.840 You'll use power the same way wrongly. 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:05.119 So he has a devastating critique of sin and humanity, but at the same time he has this view of common grace. 00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:08.400 He says, Some of you obey the law even though you don't know the law. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:09.920 It's written on your heart. 00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:12.880 Why should a Muslim be able to run for office? 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.960 Because of common grace. 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:20.400 Because the law of God is written on all of our hearts, because we're all made in the image of God. 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:26.079 There is no form of Christian supremacy in Paul's argument. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:36.960 Furthermore, we have to contrast or hold intention Romans 13 and what else the Bible says about the state. 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:44.320 Probably one of the most poignant contrasts is Romans 13 and Revelation 13. 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:48.880