T Romans Responsibility of the Believer ~ Part 1 Chapter 13:1-7 here is quite a bit of discussion within Christendom about the relationship of the Church to government. There is a wide range of positions as to what that relationship is. The range from, we are a Christian nation and we should take back and take over the government, to, the government is the enemy and should be overthrown. Of course the problem is neither position is biblical. At one end of the spectrum we find Christian Reconstructionism. This approach believes that Christians, and depending on the individual spokesman, Jews, should be the only ones allowed to serve in the government. It sees government as God-ordained, which it is. But, it goes further, believing it should therefore function on biblical principles. Reconstructionism wants to take the United States back to Old Testament law as the only basis for government. There is no scriptural support for this position. But this view is generally held by people who are sincere Christians, and so we can agree to disagree. At the other end of the spectrum is a position that is not only unbiblical, but at its most extreme, non-christian. This isn t a philosophy on which believers can agree to disagree. This position is put forth by those who call themselves Christians but are no more so than any other group using scripture to support ungodly teachings. The view here is that government is the enemy and it must be overthrown at all costs and by any means necessary. Consider the following quotes in the discussion of the Christian Identity movement. For more than a decade, federal lawmen have sternly advised all visitors not to go near the place. When US marshals tried to fly surveillance missions across the nearby hills, the pilot suddenly pulled away when he saw what he thought were muzzle flashes from the ground. Rumors hold that everyone who lives there, down to the smallest child, is trained and armed; that great underground bunkers hold vast stores of munitions, even chemical and biological weapons. It is a place that federal informants seek to infiltrate, and for which federal agents have laid out secret contingency plans for a Waco-type siege. And it is a place where everyone knows that to appear uninvited risks being shot on sight. The place is Elohim City, an isolated religious community in the Ozark Mountains of eastern Oklahoma. Led by a bearded former Canadian Mennonite preacher named Robert Millar, it is home to seventy-five men, women, and children who are true believers in the religious doctrine known as Christian Identity. Clearly, this is a religious community with a difference. Its members believe that government is the enemy, that America's secular, multicultural society is a present-day Gomorrah, and that Elohim City is a bunker in a great battle between the children of darkness (the Jews) and the children of light (the Aryan race). 1 Baldly stated, the white supremacist movement seeks to undermine federal authority and bring about the collapse of the United States of America. The destruction of federal power is the prerequisite to 1 Ridgeway, James, Christian Identity, 1998 Institute for First Amendment Studies, Inc., James Ridgeway is a journalist with The Village Voice.
establishing a new racial nationalist state. It is highly unlikely that such a thing is within the means of the small number of militant racists, but it is certain that they will continue to use all means at their disposal to pursue that unrealistic goal. These means include bombings, sabotage, undermining discipline in the armed forces, counterfeiting, tax evasion, bank robbery, subversion of local governments and law enforcement, fraud, and attempts at nuclear, chemical, biological and psychological warfare. Instances of all of these acts have occurred and with the exception of an incident involving nuclear or chemical material each of these tactics have been employed in the last twelve months. 2 If we want to understand God s view on our responsibility to government we need to turn back to Paul. And, here in Romans, he spells out the biblical position on the Church and including all forms of government. I Introduction II Responsibility to Government Verses 1-7 III Responsibility to Others Verses 8-10 IV Reason for Responsibility Verses 11-14 V Conclusion As I noted last week, I had intended to take one session to deal with chapter thirteen, but as I was going through it and thought about my approach, I realized I needed to take this morning to just talk about verses one through seven. The Church and government is a topic that often generates more heat than light, so I though I d stir up a little bit of something. But first, As we are moving through the later chapters of Romans, it s appropriate that we take a moment to remember two aspects of their context. First, Chapter 12, verses 1-2 are the pivotal verses of the letter. Based on the doctrinal truths of the first eleven chapters we are to have a transformed mind. We are no longer to look at life through the lenses of worldliness but through godly ones. Second, especially related to this chapter, we need to look at the historical context of Paul s day, at the time Romans was written. Rome was the imperial capital, the seat of the empire s civil government. As residents in Rome, Paul s initial readers were aware of both the glory and the shame of that city in the days of Nero, who reigned from A.D. 54 to 68. 3 Mills explains the believers context this way. Perhaps verse 1 was especially addressed to the Jewish Christians at Rome. In those days it was a disdainful thought to a Jew to have a Gentile in authority over him. The Jew longed for a Jewish government with a Jew in authority. Moreover, it is contrary to the teaching of the Torah to have a Gentile 2 The War of Republic Versus Democracy 3 Witmer, John A., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Volume 2, Romans, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1986, p. 490. ) 234 (
rule over the Jews (Deuteronomy 17:15; see also Matthew 22:17). Also present in the minds of Jews was the hope of a Messianic Kingdom with their Messiah as King. be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The Christian is the subject or the citizen of the state. He must aide by the rules and regulations of that state. In fact, a Christian should be a better citizen than the unbeliever. Righteousness, virtue, morality and integrity are the attributes that society admires and respects. The unbeliever, although he may not always covet these virtues for himself, nevertheless has a right to expect the Christian in his midst to possess them. 4 Or as Jesus put it: Give to Caesar what is Caesar s, and to God what is God s. ~ Matthew 22:21 Verses 1-2: It is in this context that Paul tells we are to submit to the government. Clearly he is only speaking to believers. Our responsibility is to submit, which is not synonymous with obey. Harrison explains it this way: Here and in v.5 he seems to avoid using the stronger word obey, and the reason is that the believer may find it impossible to comply with every demand of the government. A circumstance may arise in which he must choose between obeying God and obeying men (Acts 5:29). But even then he must be submissive to the extent that, if his Christian convictions do not permit his compliance, he will accept the consequences of his refusal. Peter and the other apostles replied: We must obey God rather than men! We need to be very careful when we try to avoid our responsibility. We must make sure we have strong biblical grounds for doing so. And why are we submit? Because all government is ordained by God. For Paul, this meant Rome. And This is the sticking point for many people. We certainly can understand why. But to make sure there is no misunderstanding, Paul says to refuse to submit is to choose disobedience to God. And this is the case no matter which government is being considered. There are some interesting implications to this. What does this say about the American Revolution? Some would argue that because God has blessed this country, He obviously supported the revolution. Of course there are some major problems with this conclusion. From Romans 13:1-2 we could draw the conclusion that Christians who were royalists were more in line with scripture than the revolutionaries. But, conversely, once the new government was in place, believers were required to submit to it. Second, we can see all through history that when people seek the Lord, He will bless them. Yes, it can be argued believers should not have supported the revolution. But once estab- 4 Mills, Sanford, C., A Hebrew Christian looks at Romans, American Board of Missions to the Jews, New York, NY, 1971, p. 428. ) 235 (
lished, the new government is a servant of God. (It would be interesting to see how much more this country would have been blessed if our leaders had sought the Lord and chosen to submit to the crown.) And as a servant of God, as the new nation followed godly principles, it would be blessed. Verses 3-5: And if what has already said is hard to accept, what follows makes even less sense. Paul, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, doesn t seem to be concerned about the evils of government. It would only be a matter of time until Rome would become a great persecutor of Christians. The Emperor Nero, contrary to popular belief, was not a rabid anti- Christian. Nero s persecution of the Christians stemmed from his desire to serve his country and do his job, which was to protect the Roman system from outside threats. So, how do we deal with Paul s apparent lack of concern over the nature of government. Some would argue that Paul is speaking of the norm here. This passage speaks to what government is intended to be, a servant of God. As such, government s duty is to protect people and serve as a hedge against anarchy. And when government doesn t fulfill this norm, people should have the right to reject it and refuse to submit. Do you see a problem with this? When has any government consistently fulfilled this role? And isn t the evaluation of the government s success or failure (except in the extreme of a Stalin or Hitler) somewhat subjective? After all, a major reason for the American Revolution was taxation without representation. And didn t all the people being taxed by Rome in Jesus day have governmental representation? Yeah, right! I doubt taxation concerns fall under the criteria of justification for rebellion. So, we can see the problem with this approach. Therefore, how else can this passage be understood? I think it is more consistent to understand this as tied to Paul s principle: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Remember, even in the sin of Egypt and the resulting plagues, God was glorified. This was because He established a nation, showed His righteousness, and demonstrated his superiority over pagan gods. Even with this approach, there is allowance for lack of submission and even direct disobedience. This occurs when government calls us to disobey God. We will see obvious examples of this when we begin studying Daniel later in the year. But the criteria for rebellion is very limited. It is only justifiable when we are instructed to disobey a system that is contrary to God s commands or standards. Paul s primary concern is to avoid evil and do good. And if we do, we don t need to be afraid. The implication is we don t have to fear government s behavior. The properly running government will recognize our proper behavior and will protect. But the real point is we don t have to fear the corrupt government because our trust is in the Lord, not in any man or system. He loves us, He is in control, and He doesn t make mistakes. Therefore, we need to always assume we must be submissive. It is only in extreme circumstances and with the clear leading of the Holy Spirit that we are called to act differently. And ) 236 (
as already noted, taxation is not an issue which allows for rebellion. And considering Jesus words regarding taxation, the circumstances that actually do allow for rebellion are probably few and far between. They will always be the exception, never the rule. One example where the exception is the case is that of the Hebrew midwives who refused to kill Jewish babies. Here obedience to God demanded disobedience to Pharaoh. The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live (Exodus 1:15-17). In Germany it was appropriate for Christians to disobey the governments injunction against associating with and supporting Jews. Actually the very fact one was a believer required standing up for the Jew. While it wouldn t have been appropriate to overthrow the government, it was vital to save the Jews from being slaughtered. Getting back to Paul, he tells us how we should submit ourselves to government. We are not to do so just because of fear of consequences. We are to submit because of our consciences. This means we need to do so because we desire to please God and this is what God expects of us. Speaking of conscience Christian Maurer states: Syneidesis is responsible awareness that the ultimate foundations both of one s own being and also of the state are in God. Members of the community are to have neither a higher nor a lower estimation of the state than as a specific servant of God (TDNT, 7:916). 5 Harrison expands: In other words, the Christian, by virtue of divine revelation, can have a clearer understanding of the position of the governing authority than an official of the government is likely to have. Let that knowledge guide him in his attitudes and decisions. This usage of the word conscience is found again in 1 Peter 2:19. 6 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. Verses 6-7: Finally, Paul lists the specific application of the call to submission. And it is interesting that the very first thing he mentions is taxation. It appears we have always hated taxes and have looked for ways to avoid them. It doesn t matter how the government uses them, we have to pay them. We are to meet our responsibilities and we are to treat those over us with honor. Harrison explains the list this way: The word for taxes means tribute paid to a foreign ruler (it appears in Luke 20:22 in the incident concerning paying tribute to Caesar). Revenue pertains to indirect taxation in the form of toll or customs duties. It forms a part of the word for tax gatherer (telones, Matt 10:3). Respect is defined 5 Harrison 6 Ibid. ) 237 (
by Liddon as the profound veneration due to the highest persons in the state. He characterizes honor as respect due all who hold public offices (in loc.). 7 In understanding our responsibility to government it may be acceptable to make the distinction between individuals and institutions. We have had the opportunity over the last two hundred years to distinguish between the presidency and the specific president. But even here, just as government is the servant of God, so are those who make it up. Nevertheless, individuals come and go, but government will always be with us. Fortunately we have a day to look forward to when we will have a one world government. No, not that one, the one where Christ will sit on the throne of His father David. We are blessed, for we live in a society that allows for us as Christians to have an influence and since we can, we should. This means we are to be informed and intelligent voters. Our lives aren t to be focused on conforming government to our perspective, but we should be salt and light, benefiting both the government, society and the citizens of this country. But this needs to be done respectfully and within the system. We are not called to remake or overthrow government, for finally we are citizens of the kingdom and ambassadors of that kingdom in this world. Let me summarize this section by quoting Ironside. When speaking of Paul s teachings of our responsibility to government it simply means this: That God, who sets up one man and puts down another for His own infinitely wise purpose, ordains that certain forms of government or certain rulers shall be in the place of authority at a given time. As the book of Daniel tells us, He sets over the nations the basest of men at times as punishment for their wickedness; but in any case, there could be no authority if not providentially permitted and therefore recognized by Himself. To resist this authority is to resist a divine ordinance. It will be observed that all the instruction we have here puts the Christian in the place of subjection, and not of authority; but, if in the providence of God, he be born to the purple, or put in the place of authority, he, too, is to be bound by the word of God as here set forth. 8 Next week we will continue our discussion of the believer s responsibility, This time we will focus on our responsibility towards others. Finally, we will look at Paul s explanation of what motivates our obedience in these areas. 77 Ibid. 8 Ironside, H. A., Romans, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., Neptune, NJ, 1928, p. 157-158. ) 238 (
Romans Responsibility of the Believer ~ Part 1 Chapter 13:1-7 I Introduction II Responsibility to Government Verses 1-7 III Responsibility to Others Verses 8-10 IV Reason for Responsibility Verses 11-14 V Conclusion I Introduction: (Deuteronomy 17:15, Matthew 22:21; see also Matthew 22:17) II Responsibility to Government verses 1-2: (Acts 5:29)
Verses 3-5: (Romans 8:28; Exodus 1:15-17; 2 Peter 2:19) Verses 6-7: (Luke 20:22; Matthew 10:3) Personal Application: One of the most obvious ways in which we can be demonstrate a Christian like attitude towards government it to pray for our leaders. Prayer for the Week: Lord we life up those in authority over us, praying that they will seek Your will and live and act in fear of You. In Christ s name, amen.