SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: October 12, 2012
Date Preached: October 14, 2012
Church: Oak Park BC (AM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: A Series In Romans
Title: Fleshing Out Godly Living
Text: Romans 13:1-14
ETS: Paul gave the church in Rome continues to instruct in godly living.
ESS: This passage gives believers today the essentials for True Christian living
Introduction:
Last week we completed our look into chapter 12 where we found Paul instructing believers that they should become living sacrifices to Christ…
However, in the latter part of that chapter we find Paul teaching these believers… that to become the living sacrifices they should be… that there were some basic essentials that must be present in their lives!
We looked those essentials last week and saw 1st how every believer needs the essential of the right kind of affection in their lives…
This type of affection is found in the Greek word for love, which is agape! This type of love loves without condition… this is the love like God has for the world. This type of love is essential for believers…
We also looked and saw that a 2nd essential for the believer and it was the essential of the right attitude… in other words we take our walk with Christ and our witness to the world serious and it become THE priority of our lives…
Finally we looked a 3rd essential Paul laid out and it is the essential of the right kind of ACTION! This essential is how we flesh out the 1st two essentials in our lives! It is how we LIVE OUT our lives IN CHRIST.
Last week we only looked at v13 for examples of these ‘actions’, but, Paul continues giving examples thru the rest of ch12.
Paul gives us many examples of those RIGHT actions. These are things Paul teaches that are essential to enhance our witness to the world around us!
BUT in these remaining verses of ch12 as Paul lays out the ‘right’ actions for believers…we find that it represents the ATTITUDE of AFFECTION all believers should have…
As I said before these ‘actions’ are the result of FLESHING out our beliefs and convictions within the body of Christ AND to the world around us!
Before we move onto ch13 I want to briefly go over what Paul tells us in the last of ch12…Paul says…
15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. [when they are sad, join them…when they are happy, join them… support those in your life!]
16Be in agreement with one another. [you can disagree with others but still be agreeable in spirit – sometimes we have to agree to disagree] Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. [pride is the downfall of ANY believer…]
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. [rise above the fray and take the high road is what Paul is saying here…don’t stoop to the pettiness of others]
18If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. [this means that you do what you possibly can to be at peace with others, but you cannot MAKE them be peaceable, but you can do all in your power to make it happen…and if they are not peaceable, you still extend the olive branch to them and seek peace…]
19Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.
[you’ve heard, ‘I don’t get mad, I get even…’ well here Paul lets us know that sort of attitude is DEFINITELY NOT the Christian attitude or action! The focus of the believer MUST be on forgiveness and reconciliation… NOT VENGEANCE]
20But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
[Jesus commanded us to love those who spitefully use us and mistreat us… this is no different. When you see your enemy down, reach down to give them a hand up… and what Paul is saying here is that sort of attitude and action on our part will literally blow their minds!]
21Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. [When we return GOOD for EVIL the world takes notice… it is NEVER going to be easy and it will go against everything we have ever heard or believed, but it is our calling… these things are essential to fleshing out our Christian walk in a lost and broken world]
So we can see that Paul makes a solid effort in these verses to clarify what were the proper actions for believers… what Paul is teaching here is that these 3 crucial characteristics are the 3 basic essentials of what your life should look like in Christ!
But Paul does not stop there; as Paul begins ch13 he begins to assign more to the believer… Now I want us to remember that in the beginning of ch12 Paul shifted gears… from the what and why (doctrine)… and began to focus on the who and the how (living out your faith)
Paul taught believers how they are to live their lives and as we move to ch13, Paul continues this teaching… Turn with me & look at chapter with me… we will be looking at it as 3 distinct & separate sections…
Paul used a descriptive approach in this chapter, in fact it is almost as if Paul was instructing the Roman believers on how they should dress: spiritually speaking.
When we look at the entire chapter it is broken out into these 3 very distinct sections where Paul describes to believers on to ‘adorn’ themselves with particular characteristics… all of this instruction points back to ch12:1 where Paul had called on them to present themselves as ‘living sacrifices’
In ch13 - v1-v7 actually describe what it is like for the believer to put on the put on the respect of Christ in their lives…
v8-v10 speaks to the believer about putting on love, here is that word again…the word agape! We must remember that love is central to everything in our walk with Christ! But finally we see in…
v11-v14 how it speaks to the believer about putting on the full garment of Christ… and wearing Christ in ALL of their lives. This speaks to the entire package… to emulate Christlike behavior in all we do and say…
So let’s begin by looking at the 1st 7 verses where Paul instructs these believers to:
Put On Respect [v1-7]…
1Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. 2So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience. 6And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks. 7Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.
We can find this section divided into 2 sub-sections itself… v1-5 speak about submitting to the government, while v6-7 give us a specific example of how we can submit as we are called to submit…
v1-4 speak about the Christian submitting to the ruling authorities, not out of the authorities right or moral stance… but simply because God has allowed them to have this power. They are only in power because God has allowed it… or because God has ordained it…
Do you know that there is NOTHING more obnoxious than a pious, rebellious believer? If you want to drive people AWAY from Christ… just start telling them how right you are and how wrong they are…
Don’t get me wrong… we are right, but we are only right because of the grace of God. Our lives must point toward God’s grace and love… NOT to our being right OR toward someone else, such as our leaders being wrong. There will NEVER be a perfect leader…
This means that there are going to be rulers who will do the will of God… and even care about God… but it also means that there are going to be leaders that WILL NOT do God’s will and will NOT care about God!
So we have to realize it is NOT about the leaders in our lives, but it is ALL about the fact that God is in control, even when we cannot see it!
So preacher, what does this mean for me today? Well with an election on our horizon what this means for us as believers is simply this… REGARDLESS of who wins we are called to submit to the authorities within our nation!
This is not because they are all powerful or because they deserve it, but simply because God has called us to be in submission because it is God who has ordained their power…
Paul also says that our submission cannot be false or insincere, but that it must be genuine! The ‘respect’ we reveal for our government cannot be lip service, but must be fleshed out in the essentials of our lives… which means that our attitudes and actions must reflect honor and respect for our leaders!
But just how do we show respect for the authority of our government? It is really very simple, we become model citizens, living by and obeying the laws of our country and doing what good citizens do…
Paul tells us in this section that if we want to escape the wrath of the government… don’t do evil… but strive to do good because those in power don’t seek to bring the sword against those who do good…but only those who do evil…
This is Paul’s way of saying that our actions and attitudes in life must be respectful of recognized authorities… NOT because of the value of those authorities BUT because of our respect 4 God & because of His grace that placed our leaders in power…
So this means that for us to go against the authority God has ordained… we are actually going against God… and when we do that we will suffer God’s wrath because we are rebelling against His called servants…
Preacher how can these irreligious, God haters be God’s servants… Well we read many times within the OT where God uses godless king after godless king to be His servants and to achieve His will…why should we believe it to be any different today?
For the believer it comes down to who do we trust? Do we place our trust in government OR are we going to place our trust in Almighty God?
We must understand that we cannot trust in ANY government or administration, but our trust must be in God! We must rely on Him being in control, just as He tells us that He is…even when we cannot see it or understand the situation!
However, I want us to understand that Paul is not advocating our blind submission to civil authority when that submission would means surrendering our beliefs or convictions.
Just as Peter and John told the Sanhedrin, “We must serve God rather than man” I believe that today as Christians we must remain firm in what God’s word teaches!
However, we must exhibit a respect for those in authority, even if we disagree and seek to change things. This respect we are called to show is not a fear of these authorities but it is MORE about revealing the love and grace of Christ to the world…
Think about Jesus before Pilate… when Pilate told Jesus that he had the power to set him free or crucify him… Jesus was quick to tell Pilate, that he held NO power that was not given to him by God…
Our approach has to be the same… we may suffer on the behalf of a godless ruler, but our calling is to be the light of Christ and a faithful servant to the Lord… we are NOT called to ‘rise up’ against an evil kingdom!
What is one way this can be accomplished? As in Paul’s day, it is still true today… one way to be a good citizen and for the gov’t to NOT come down upon you is when we pay our taxes… Paul says pay ALL of what you owe!
We need to understand what Paul then says on what it means to be a good citizen…pay tribute to those you owe… pay respect where respect is due… this reveals the heart of Christ in us!
Jesus understood that as citizens of heaven our obligations to this world and its governing authorities was limited to our physical life and that we were really FREE from them…
However, Jesus instructed his disciples to pay their taxes as a witness to the world… their actions were ESSENTIAL in revealing their hearts for Christ and their respect for the authority was a direct reflection of their love for God…
What do respectful attitudes and actions on our behalf lead to for the believer? Well, it gains respect with those who may disagree with us!
However, the essentials for living a Christian life do not end at merely showing respect to authority. Paul also says it is essential that we…
Put On Love [our primary duty]
8Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder;
do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
Some want to pervert this verse to mean that we should NEVER borrow anything, but this verse is NOT really about money…
In this verse Paul’s focus is not on our debt situation, but it is squarely focused on how we love! How we love one another and how we love the world around us…
He says owe nothing except for love for one another… Paul goes on to say that in the loving of each other the law will be fulfilled and then Paul mentions the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10 commandments… which can be boiled down to the Great Commandment by Jesus for us to love others as we love ourselves.
The fact of the matter is that when we are intentional about loving others, we will be in debt to no one! Putting on the intentional love of a Christ honoring believer is going to make you a model citizen and is going to lead you to be an honorable citizen!
But on top of that, it is going to reveal to the world the Savior you profess to serve! It will give the world a picture of Jesus! This will glorify God and raise you in the eyes of those in the world… for they will see God in you!
Paul says for us to put on love at all times; especially in the face of opposition. This type of life is not easy & it is clear that in our own humanity we cannot achieve this noble task…
We cannot love as Paul has called us to love… and we cannot respect those in authority when we disagree with them on our own power…
So Paul goes on to teach that even as we respect the authority placed over us and seek to love those around us…we cannot do this without being willing to…
Put On Christ [totally SOLD out to Christ]…
11Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk with decency, as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires..
Here Paul really gets to the meat of his teaching in this section! The attitude Paul has called believers to leads the believer to specific actions within his/her life that is going to glorify God and further His kingdom! When we PUT ON Christ, we become that ‘living sacrifice’ God calls us to be…
In v11 we see Paul warning believers who may be going thru the motions and NOT fleshing their lives out through service to God… he is warning them that the night is almost over! It’s time to WAKE up and get started serving God.
Paul encourages believers to put aside ALL of the things that drags them down & be the ‘living sacrifice’ that God has called them to be… Paul says for them to put away the deeds of darkness and walk in the soul-protected armor of the light!
Here Paul stressed that they are to live decent lives… as in the daylight! This was Paul stressing to the believers in Rome that ALL of their actions should be accomplished as if they would be able to be seen by all in the light of day…
In other words, have nothing to hide or be ashamed of… OR that we would have NO issues lingering in our lives!
Paul calls on believers to put aside the desires of the flesh and the pettiness of the heart and adorn ourselves with the Christ that is perfect… Essentially Paul says for us to stop seeking our own selfish desires and cling to Christ!
Believers we are called to instill within ourselves thru the power of the H.S. the basic essentials for our Christian walk… but we also see Paul calling us to clothe ourselves with respect for others and Christ and his love… so that the world will see Jesus and come to know him!
How are you walking with the Lord this morning? Is your walk what it should be with Jesus? OR are you refusing to submit to Christ?
Today I want to open this altar for you to know Christ and His fullness and for you to receive His forgiveness and grace!
Come as Bro Ken comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation… you are invited to come and pray about where God wants you to be… come and surrender to Christ this morning…
Give evangelistic invitation…
