WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.000 Well, there is a British expression about elections. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:09.039 It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:15.839 And I think that is a true expression, even in our own American context. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:21.120 Doesn't matter which party wins, the government is going to take their seats next year. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:29.280 Now, Americans and Christians have the luxury of overlooking one of the Bible's main facts about service to one's country. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:38.560 Service to your country and patriotism, in a sense, is virtuous regardless of the virtue of the country in which you reside. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:42.640 All countries have a function in God's sovereign plan for the world. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:52.079 All countries have a function in how they check evil and how they fulfill God's purposes on earth, regardless of the actual morality or virtue of any particular nation. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:53.920 I'll say it differently. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:01:02.479 Christians have the exact same responsibilities in a righteous society as we do in an unrighteous one. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:11.519 And to make that point even more clear, I want you to imagine with me the most undemocratic form of government you can. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:19.439 Conjure up a vision of a totalitarian leader who wields absolute power over his citizens. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:25.599 Give him a massive army with which to terrorize his subjects and expand his empire. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:29.200 He attacks neighboring nations and those that oppose his aggression. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:33.040 He simply enslaves and resettles in a different part of the world. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:42.480 He's so brutal and monstrous that he tortures even Christians, feeding them to lions and often simply burning them alive for no reason other than his own entertainment. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.799 Of course, I'm not describing a hypothetical situation here. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:48.480 I'm describing Nero. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:51.359 This is the world in which Paul lived. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:53.280 He was a brutal dictator. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.840 He exercised his brutality over all of the world he could reach. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.640 He did feed Christians to lions. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:05.840 He did burn them, turn them into torches for his own entertainment. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.800 It would be hard to exaggerate his wickedness. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.120 And yet he is reigning when Paul writes these verses. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:21.039 Romans 13, verses 1 through 7. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:22.639 I'll read them for us now. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.599 Let every person be subject to governing authorities. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:30.960 For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:39.360 Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:44.319 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.879 Would you have no fear of the one who's in authority? 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:51.759 Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.159 But if you do wrong, be afraid. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.560 For he doesn't bear the sword in vain. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.680 For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:07.120 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.000 For because of this you also pay taxes. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:24.400 For the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing, paid all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:33.199 This was not written by Jonathan Edwards to the British king. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.159 This is not written by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to themselves. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:47.280 This is written to people that were suffering under a very unrighteous ruler. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:55.280 Christians would have been tempted to apostasize because of the persecution they were facing. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.360 Initially, when Christianity began to spread, they were protected. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:03.759 If they were identified as Jews, Jews had a certain amount of limited protection. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.080 But about ten years after the book of Romans was written, that would change as well. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:17.439 But for now, when Paul wrote the book of Romans, if the believers claimed they were Jews, they could have been protected by Rome, but they would have been persecuted by the Jews then. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:28.079 If they proclaimed that they were aligned with King Jesus, they were subject to persecution by both Rome and the Jews, subject to beatings and martyrdom, a fate that would await Paul. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:30.000 Paul himself faced many of those. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.279 He was beaten. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:35.600 He was seized and arrested by Jewish leaders, handed over to Roman leaders. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:39.120 He was beaten as a Roman citizen. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:44.639 He was put on trial before governors and kings, ultimately appealing to Caesar. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.240 And of course, his life ends with his own martyrdom. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:55.040 And it is along that entire path that he tells believers to be subject to the authorities that are placed above them. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:59.439 He tells them not only to be subject to them, he tells them to honor their king. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:05.279 He says in verse 13, chapter 13, verse 1, be subject to the governing authorities. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.839 Down in verse 7, pay them your actual money that you owe them. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.839 Respect them, even honor them. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:21.839 Now these are fallen authorities, and no human authority, of course, is going to be a perfect representation of God's morality. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:36.560 I think of that when people say they can't vote for this candidate or that candidate of you, I have very much sympathy with, but when they say I can't vote for this candidate or that candidate because they fall short of biblical ethics in this area or that area, okay. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:48.879 I mean, in this side of the kingdom, there's not going to be a candidate in our own country or in any country that reflects as we would see it biblical ethics, because we live in a fallen world. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:50.399 We are outside of Eden. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:52.480 We've been banished from paradise. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.439 The garden has been closed and flooded out. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:08.720 And now we're in a new world where God does not walk with us, where we are strangers, pilgrims, aliens, exiles, in a sense traveling through this world. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:14.560 And so, of course, our handbook, our guide for kingdom ethics, is seen in the New Testament. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.959 It's not lived out in our society. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.040 So we do respect the government and honor the government, and this is what Romans 13 is written to describe. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:26.720 And so I want to give you an outline tonight about the main teaching here in Romans 13. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:31.759 I want to use my heading, how Christians and Government Relate. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.399 How Christians and Government should relate. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:40.959 And the way I'm going to break this down as we go through it tonight is with these four little subheadings here. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:49.120 I'm going to talk about the imperative in this passage, the reason for the imperative, the purpose behind it, and then the limits of it. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:51.600 So those are kind of the four headings we'll work through it this way. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:59.199 So I guess in a sense, it'll be less of a sermon and more of an instruction time, a teaching from God's word tonight as we work our way through these four headings. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.680 Each of these four headings will have subpoints underneath them. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.120 I'll try to leave the headings on the screen as much as possible so you know where we are. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:08.079 You won't get lost along the way. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.040 We're going to begin tonight by looking at the imperative. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:14.160 The imperative itself and the others will come back up there. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:16.000 Hey, no cheating, don't look ahead. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:17.360 The imperative itself. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:22.240 There's two different imperatives in here, and there's there's obviously more than that, but you can bracket this as really two imperatives. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:31.199 What Paul is actually commanding you to do is to be subject in verse 1, and it's bracketed by the end with paying your taxes, revenue, as it's described. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.120 But the idea of be subject is to allow others to rule over you. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:40.879 There's no place where the Bible is the law of the land. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:48.720 We have authority that is placed above us, authority that is often contrary to the Bible, and nevertheless we are called to be subject to it. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:08:08.079 I have read even this very week articles by uh different so-called theologians arguing that Christians don't owe allegiance to government because our allegiance is only to God and his word, and when you obey any kind of law that is uh different than God and his word, you're subjecting yourself to a different authority than God and God's word. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.560 And you can't subject yourself to an authority that is out of God's word without committing idolatry. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.600 That was kind of the logic he uh was working for there. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:18.959 And there's different views of that argument that you've seen bandied around. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:28.639 The idea that um that a government's laws uh uh need to reflect biblical ethics before Christians can feel complied to submit to them would be another example of that. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:35.440 Um that kind of teaching fails to account for Romans 13, which commands you to be subject to authority. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.000 Be subject even to ungodly authority. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.679 I mean, when you're talking about earthly authority, is there any other kinds? 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:47.919 Be subject to the governing authorities, those that have authority over your life. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:52.720 Now, the phrase governing authority there, it's going to be expanded on in these seven verses. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.360 The governing authority, you're not called to be subject to all governing authorities. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.720 You're not called to be subject to the authorities in countries that you're not a citizen of or where you don't reside. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:06.240 When you go to Canada, you better be subject to Canadian authorities. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:09.919 But that doesn't mean you're subject to Canadian authorities when you're living here. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:12.159 You are subject to the authorities where you are. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:19.120 And what defines the governing authorities are those that provide your militia, those who punish wrongdoers, and those who collect your taxes. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:20.480 That's the governing authorities. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:26.960 So who you pay your taxes to and who will throw you in jail if you don't, that's your governing authority. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:37.200 Now I mention that because I think it is important we look at the way nations can claim authorities over other nations, the way nations try to uh rival other nations. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:48.320 I remember when Iraq invaded Kuwait, they immediately uh published new maps that showed Kuwait as a simply another providence of Iraq, like we published the maps and we got them out quite. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:49.440 This is before Google Maps. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:51.519 So we updated the map, so everybody's got to agree. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.080 Look, of course Kuwait's part of Iraq, it's on the map. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.799 But that's not what makes you subject to somebody. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:02.000 Finding yourself under their jurisdiction on a map doesn't make you a citizen of that country. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:08.000 I remember when the oh, I don't remember, but I saw a display in the museum about how the 13 colonies were originally settled in the United States. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:32.399 I do not remember it personally, but I have been reliably informed and uh received a tour uh down in Colonial Williamsburg, and they put the map on the wall there that George Washington would have had in his pocket as he was surveying out on the western frontier of Virginia and was sent to go shoe the uh the French and uh away and um subject the Indians there. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.000 He had a map of what the territory that many of the colonies claimed. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:45.600 And basically it took the lines that are the uh parallels used by many of the American states now, even for their north-south borders, and just extended them all the way into infinity. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:50.080 So imagine the line of Virginia going, oh, California would be part of Virginia right now by that line. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.000 It goes all the way across until it hits the ocean. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.159 All of that, because they printed the map. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:02.960 And so you can imagine as Washington rides in on the French and the Indians and shows them that map, that's going to be less than a compelling argument about why he's the lawful authority there. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:04.240 Look, I've got a map. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:05.600 It goes forever. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.399 No, your authority that you are subject to is not ones that print you on a map. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:13.039 It's not ones that claim to have authority over you. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:20.879 Your authority that is over you, that you're subject to, are the ones to whom you pay your taxes and the ones who will arrest you if you don't. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.120 They punish the wrongdoers. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.399 You're a citizen or a subject of them. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:34.559 And Paul is writing, not with a mind that Christians will be determined in that, not that Christians will choose which of the authorities they prefer. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:41.360 He's simply stating the fact there is going to be authority that is going to be taxing you, and they will throw you in jail if you don't pay. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:44.960 That's your authority, and you ought to be subject to them. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:55.279 What that means to be subject to them is that you submit to them, you submit to their leadership, you follow their rules and their laws, you pay to them, verse 7 says, what is owed to them. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.279 Verse 6, he says, Because of this you pay taxes. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:03.279 And this here is that they have the law enforcement powers. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:07.759 They are the ones who are arresting those who can't uh who go against their own laws. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.480 God has dispatched them for that purpose. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:11.360 It says in verse 6. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:12.399 We'll look more at that later. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:13.679 That's why you're paying them. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.200 So this is the point in verse 6. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.879 You are paying taxes so that they can arrest you if you don't. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.159 It's circular logic, but it makes the world go round, so just embrace it. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:31.200 You're paying your taxes so that they have the power to arrest you and build gels to throw you in if you refuse to pay. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:35.039 Now, of course, they punish other crimes beyond tax evasion. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.720 But Paul says, because of this you pay taxes. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:45.360 Because they have the capacity to punish, you must pay what is owed them, and you pay everything that is owed to them. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.399 Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.960 Now, we'll talk about limits to this later, but everything, of course, is on a sliding scale. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:13:00.159 There is obviously a point where taxation becomes theft, and that is not a certain dollar amount or a certain percentage amount that is spelled out in the scriptures. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:08.799 That's not what Paul is dealing with here in Romans 13, nor do I think Nero would be particularly interested in a Christian's view of laissez-fier economics. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:15.279 The point is if the government taxes you, you pay it, and if you don't pay it, you go in jail. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:20.799 But to be a good citizen, Christians ought to pay their taxes. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.960 And being subject has the implication to it that when you disoblay disobey, you take the penalty. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:34.080 Part of being subject to authority is knowing that if you contravene their authority, you will receive a punishment and you embrace that punishment. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.279 That's what it means to be subject to it. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:46.000 Well, this is the imperative that you're a good subject by being a subject and by paying the taxes that are owed. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.399 Now, Paul gets to the reason behind that imperative. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:53.679 He gives you three of them theological, prudential, and moral is what have come up with. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.399 And I'll walk you through those real quickly and then we'll look at it one at a time. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:02.080 The theological reason that you're supposed to be subject to the authority above you is because God made this authority. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:03.279 That's the theological reason. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:04.240 God made it. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:07.679 He also gives you a prudential reason, which means you'll go to jail. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:12.320 In other words, it's prudent for you to obey them because if you don't, you'll find yourself in the clink. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:16.879 And the third reason is the moral reason, that your conscience will condemn you. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:18.559 Your conscience will condemn you. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.120 And those three will stay on the screen for a while, so don't fret as we go through them one at a time. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.559 First, let's look at the theological reason Paul gives. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.000 He says in verse 1, there is no authority except from God. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:34.320 And those that exist have been instituted by God. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:39.440 Now, this is speaking of God's absolute sovereignty over human affairs. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:45.200 He rules the world through his providence, and everything that happens happens under his authority. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:15:04.399 So every king that is on his throne, every emperor who reigns over an empire, every gut every governor who occupies a governor's mansion, every mayor, every police officer, every sanitation worker, we're talking all the way across the spectrum of municipal government to federal government. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:08.159 Those who operate in it are there by God's providence. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.039 Now, this is true not just of government workers, this is true of every person in every walk of life. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.360 You have your occupation by the providence of God. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.759 He opened up the opportunity for you to have your job. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:19.440 You got hired by his will. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.080 He is the one who created a world and told you to work in it. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:24.720 You're now working in it according to his will. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.120 His providence directs all of this. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.679 And government workers are no different. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:37.519 So whether or not you work for the government, you in a sense are working under God's sovereignty, under his providence. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:44.000 But there's more particular ways that this that Paul describes this as that God made authority. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:45.360 We looked at this last week. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:50.159 In a very particular instance, there is no authority, Paul says, except from God. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.639 In other words, the categories of authority that exist in the world were designed by God. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.360 God is the only real authority there is. 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:00.159 He alone is the real authority. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:04.320 There is no authority outside of God anywhere in the world. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:12.960 But God chose to mediate some of his authority into the world through different authority structures. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:18.320 So, for example, in the family, you have the husband who is the head of the family. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.679 He is the authority figure in the household. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:23.279 This is by God's design. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.519 God designed the family for that person. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:29.279 A husband, for that reason, to demonstrate that authority. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:35.120 There's benefit to that, as there's families care for children, and there's provision and protection and all that. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.039 That's by God's design. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.159 So that would be one example of authority that comes from God. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:41.360 It is designed by God. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:48.639 We'll learn more about that in our study of Ephesians when we get to chapter 5 in six or seven years, probably, but it's it's on its way. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:51.200 There's other kinds of authority in the world. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.279 There's authority in the workplace. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.799 You have bosses over you. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.039 This is also going to be described in the book of Ephesians. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:59.360 It's a common experience of everybody in life. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.840 There's always somebody else in charge. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:05.680 That's by God's providence, and you respect those people. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.960 Another category of authority is, of course, government. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:10.880 And it was God who designed government. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.759 And we looked at this last week in Genesis 9. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:20.400 God invented government and instituted government to be an authority for the purpose of checking evil. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.279 God designed authority for that reason. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.440 He designed governments to constrain each other. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:32.880 Do you remember without governments there was wickedness growing and growing and growing in the world, so much so that God had to flood the world? 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:40.720 So to keep that from happening again, he designed the authority structure of governments to bear the sword and punish wrongdoers. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:50.480 Now Lemech, if Lemech says, you know, I'm going to kill one person or seven people or 77 people, Lemech in theory would be killed by his government before he crossed that line. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.400 That is the effect of checking evil. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:58.319 At the Tower of Babel, you see that people are collaborating, they're conspiring, they're using government for evil. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.400 They figured that out by Genesis 11. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:13.599 They figured if they pool their resources and they have some kind of authority structure on earth, they can circumvent God's law and they build a tower to perhaps escape a future flood or perhaps to get up to heaven to be like God, or all those reasons. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:22.400 And so God brings the tower down, confuses their languages, and designs it so nation will check nation now. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:24.720 Governments check each other. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:34.559 If one man can't become particularly evil before the government intervenes, now one nation can't become particularly evil before other nations intervene. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.119 Now this is a stunning reality. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:46.720 Remember that Paul is writing this in Romans 13 to people who are being persecuted by the very government that God in Romans 13 says he instituted. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:19:03.200 Now God did not institute government to persecute believers, he instituted government to check evil and restrain wrongdoing, to allow human flourishing in the family, to allow human property through business and commerce and the food chain. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:07.359 We looked at this last week, to protect the children, which is what the family structure is for. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:20.160 And then government steps in to protect the family structure and ensure the right sequence of passing down property and wealth, and all of this is in God's design to protect people and society. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:24.640 On top of that, whoever sheds man's blood by man's hand shall his blood be shed. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:26.720 God institutes capital punishment for that reason. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.039 That's what government was designed to do. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:33.039 When government turns that sword against believers, that becomes persecution. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:41.359 Nevertheless, just because an authority is wrongly used doesn't mean that the category of authority is not from God. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.039 Of course, abuses of authority are sin. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.000 Of course, sin is not from the Lord. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.400 With God, there is no variation due to change, there's no shifting shadow. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.279 God is holy and you shouldn't accuse him of sin. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:04.160 And so you've heard it said, you know, a husband can't be an authority figure in the home because there is an abusive husband, and therefore that kind of authority is not from God. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:05.279 Well, correct. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.400 Sin and an abusive husband is not from the Lord. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.920 That is a serious sin because it's a twisting of God's authority. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:17.759 Nevertheless, the concept of authority in the family is indeed from God. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.319 Ditto with nations. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:30.720 Just because one nation is persecuting believers doesn't mean that that nation nullifies the very concept of nationalistic authority. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:40.400 God establishes governments to bear the sword and check evil, even though some nations abuse that, and their governments abuse that and sin with that authority. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.559 Genesis 9 is still in the Bible. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:44.799 God still ordained governments. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:52.160 And of course, universally speaking, whether home or family or business or commerce, there is no authority except from God. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.960 And all authority that exists has been instituted by God. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:58.720 I mean, it's Paul's, I don't think, trying to go that profound in verse 1. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.839 He's almost making what in his mind is an axiomatic statement. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.519 God is sovereign over all authority, so there is an authority anywhere. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.599 Of course it is from God. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.559 Therefore, this is the key in verse 2 whoever resists that authority resists God. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:15.680 Because God appointed this authority. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:18.720 And those who resist incur his judgment. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:23.440 We'll look more at his judgment, what that looks like next week in Ecclesiastes chapter 8. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:29.200 But for now, so I won't steal too much of that, I'll save some of the judgment you incur next week for those who resist the government. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:36.559 Just know for now, tonight resisting government is bad because it produces bad things in your own life. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.920 The government has the capacity to punish those that resist him. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:50.000 What's staggering about this though is that Paul says that those people were put in authority for God's purpose to do good, he says. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.759 That word for servant there, it's the Greek word. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:02.559 We get our word deacon from that. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:07.440 I mean, Paul is saying that government workers are God's deacons. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.200 We're getting ready in January to recognize our deacons for the new year. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:17.680 Our church puts a list of people out that our church recognizes as kind of super servants in the life of the church, and we put that list up. 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:22.160 Paul's saying here is that every government worker in that sense is God's deacon. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.119 They're serving him by serving their country and by serving their government. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.720 They're doing his purpose. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:39.759 Because government function should be to make life better, to be an expression of common grace for the stewardship of financial resources and family and the protection of life and human flourishing and all that that we looked at last week. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.920 So every person who works for the government, in that sense, is the deacon. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:46.799 In that sense, is recognized as a deacon by God. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:59.359 Whether, like I said earlier, they work in the sanitation department, they're the customer service hotline for one of the public utilities, a law enforcement officer, a tax collector, an IRS auditor is God's deacon. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.559 So hand over your receipts and triplicate, amen? 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.559 They're working for the Lord. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:10.160 And again, this doesn't hinge on how righteous the country is. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.440 This is true regardless of the righteous element of that country. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:21.519 So God here, through Paul, is calling Nero a servant or deacon of God. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.119 I mean, there's nothing that's not offensive in that verse. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:29.119 The God part would offend the Jews, and the servant part would offend Nero. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:39.039 The Jews would be offended that Paul says that God appointed Nero on the throne, and Nero would be offended that Paul says he's doing good in the world. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:45.519 But that's the reality of this passage, that theologically, all authority in the world comes from God. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.640 And he's speaking particularly here of government authority. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:57.920 Well, the second reason you should obey, and the reason there has to be more than one reason on this, by the way, the reason that just Paul keeps going with two and three is that these are not absolute. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:00.240 Your obedience to government authorities is not absolute. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.759 We'll talk about limits later. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:08.720 But if it was as simple as you obey all things the government says at all times, you wouldn't need number two and three on this list. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:13.519 And we'll talk more about why you need number two and three in this list, why you need more reasons at the end tonight. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:17.279 But for now, just know that Paul's giving you different reasons to obey the government. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.079 The first reason is because God appointed them there. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:22.880 And that's a good enough reason for most instances. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.480 But sometimes the government steps outside of God's appointed boundaries. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:30.880 Sometimes the government commands things that do not fall under the Genesis 9 category. 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.480 The government commands things that aren't for your good or to punish evildoers. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:41.839 In that sense, you're not obeying government because you're obeying God, because the government has stepped outside its lawfully prescribed boundaries. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:45.759 But you still might want to think about obeying them for two more reasons. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:50.319 The second reason is what I call prudential, because they can throw you in jail. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:25:00.000 Then he says this here in verse 4 if you do wrong, be afraid, for he doesn't bear the sword in vain. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:04.559 Verse 3 rulers are a terror, not to good conduct, but to bad. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:06.880 Do you want to fear the one that's in authority? 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:08.880 Then if you don't want to fear him, do good. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:10.559 You'll receive his approval. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.039 In other words, you'll be approved by the government if you follow their laws. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.799 You will be punished by the government if you don't. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:25.039 So, pretend there's a law that is passed by Congress. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.559 It just barely squeaks over the finish line. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:42.000 It has a filibuster-proof majority and it sails through the Senate, which would be surprising, but it happens because of all the lobbying here, and the law that is passed says that everybody must drive a white car. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:43.519 Okay? 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.759 It passed through Congress because who knows what Congressmen think at any time of day. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:58.079 And it sails through the Senate because the automotive industry was lobbying the you know eight-hold out uh Republicans or whatever that were on the fence about this and they convinced them this is a global warming issue. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.599 White cars you see reflect less heat than black cars. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:05.359 And so it's actually better for the environment that you drive a white car. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:09.359 And through their massive lobbying, they got it up to 60 votes and it passes. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.920 And the president signs it, signs it into law. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:18.160 So you are now required by federal law to drive a white car. 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:27.839 And you say, I'm not convinced that that is for the checking of evil or the promotion of common good. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:32.240 I'm not sure I buy this as a Genesis 9 function of government. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:35.839 So I'm going to exhaust all of my legal recourse first. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.160 This is a violation of the Commerce Clause. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:43.039 The federal government does not have the authority to legislate what color car I drive. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.559 I'm filing a lawsuit right now. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:46.240 Alex will be my attorney. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:47.039 He'll represent me. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:49.039 Pro bono, this is going to be great. 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:52.880 And we get swatted to the cheap seats. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.559 The court system, because probably Alex, you know, didn't do the right research. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:00.559 It gets shut down. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:04.160 The judge says, no, it is a valid use of the commerce clause. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:05.680 It's regulating interstate commerce. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.559 The government has the authority to mandate you drive a white car. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:10.400 All right. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.079 My wife, on the other hand, is in trouble. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:19.680 She drives a silver minivan. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:21.279 It's oh, it's in trouble now. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.759 It's a nice-looking minivan, but it is not white. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:26.160 So she's in trouble. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:29.039 Does she need to get a white car because God tells her to? 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:33.680 We'll talk more about this later tonight, but probably not. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:38.720 I don't think that would be God's expression of rule over the world by the color of car that you drive. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:48.880 However, if she decides that she's gonna roll in her silver minivan, there's a second reason she might want to think twice about that. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:51.920 That second reason is she could go to jail. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.039 They could arrest her and throw her in the jail. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:56.799 And my wife is precious. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:58.720 She's a precious treasure given to me. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:01.119 I don't know if she'll do well in jail. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:09.200 So maybe, maybe she should drive my truck and I should roll in the minivan. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:11.920 That's Paul's point here. 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:24.240 That government is established by God, and even if the government goes beyond the boundaries that God gave them, you should still probably obey them because otherwise you will suffer in jail. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:28.559 And if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:37.359 Now, this is why, I mean, I make light of it, but this is why there are unjust laws that are passed. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:43.680 And this is why the idea of peaceful protesting has always been a staple of Christian civic environment or interaction. 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:51.039 When Christians resist the law, they resist the law not by running from the police that come to arrest them, not by fighting the police. 00:28:51.200 --> 00:29:01.359 When Christians resist the law because of an unjust or immoral law, they do so peacefully and they willingly go to jail, they willingly suffer the consequences for their disobedience. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:07.440 It's a basic part of Christian civic disengagement, is that sometimes you do disobey the law. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:14.319 And when you do that, you do so fully knowing that you will accept the consequences given to you. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:17.839 The police officer that arrests you isn't siding with injustice over justice. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.559 He's doing his job that the Lord appointed him to do. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:27.039 And there you are, off to jail for driving the silver minivan. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:30.319 Well, Paul gives a third reason why you might want to obey the government. 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:34.240 I'm calling it a moral reason, but it's the sake of your conscience. 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:39.200 You know, it's against Scripture for believers to go against what their conscience says. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.440 When your conscience convicts you of sin, listen to your conscience, even if your conscience is wrong. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:46.880 The conscience is a guide given to all people to restrain evil. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:51.759 The Bible speaks about this in Romans chapter 1, 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, as well as other places. 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:55.440 The conscience is a gift to you to restrain evil. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.920 That doesn't mean the conscience is infallible. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:02.319 Sometimes your conscience might convict you of things that are not sin. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:07.839 So you might, your conscience, the example Paul gives, is eating meat offered to idols. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:13.599 There's nothing wrong with eating a meat off meat offered to idols because the idol is not a thing, it doesn't exist, it didn't actually taint the meat. 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:16.480 So you can eat the meat that was offered to idols with a clear conscience. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:26.160 However, if your conscience does bother you about it, then Paul says, don't, because for you, it would be a sin for you to eat if your conscience convicts you of it. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:27.920 So don't eat the meat offered to idols. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:37.119 It is better, in God's estimation, and in Paul's estimation, for you to refrain from doing something that you could lawfully do if your conscience convicts you. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:43.039 Because it's better for you to train yourself to listen to your conscience than it is for you to train yourself to go against your conscience. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:47.759 So for a Christian, always listen to your conscience, even when it's wrong. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.559 However, you also have to know that your conscience is sometimes wrong. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:56.480 And the solution to that is not to ignore it, but to teach it. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.079 You give your conscience the word of God, and so you grow your conscience. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.559 This is 1 Corinthians 8 and 1 Corinthians 10. 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:05.119 It should be okay for you to eat meat offered idols. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:05.759 It should be okay. 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:11.680 However, if your conscience convicts you of it, then don't do it until you've grown more mature in your faith and you're able to do it. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:12.240 That's the point. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:16.480 Well, Paul is borrowing that logic here, down in verse 5. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:25.039 Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, so not only to avoid jail, but also for the sake of conscience. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:27.680 So? 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:33.200 They stop me. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:38.400 They can have my niece on quest when they pry it from my cold dead fingers. 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:39.519 That's what she says. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:43.200 I'm willing to go to jail. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:45.599 And Paul says, Okay, a third reason. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.240 Maybe your conscience will convict you. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:51.200 You drive around, you start to feel guilty for what you're doing. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:52.559 So just think about that. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:54.240 Put that into your calculation. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:58.000 Not that you should, but just that you might. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:31:59.839 So factor that in. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:03.920 Those are the three reasons for you to obey the government and for you to pay your taxes. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:08.640 Well, this all leads to we've seen the imperative, we've seen the reason. 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:10.799