Romans Series # 53 September 11, 2002
Title: 2 Reasons the Christian Should Obey the Government
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 13 of Romans as we continue with message #53 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 13:1-7
Opening Prayer
Today I will be sharing with you two reasons for the Christian to obey the government. Every person has to deal with the government in one way or the other. We each must decide what attitude and response we will have towards government in general, weather local, state, or national, and towards the government’s leaders and government rules (taxes, jury duty, traffic laws, building codes, business laws, criminal and civil laws, etc.)
Sometimes we’re inclined to be disrespectful to certain government leaders because we believe that they’re not worthy of respect or because we do not accept the legitimacy of their authority. Sometimes we’re inclined to disobey or ignore certain laws and rules of government because they seem ludicrous or unfair to us or simply because these particular rules would be very difficult for us to keep. Some people go even further than disobeying or ignoring the government’s laws and actually fight against the government through various means, including terrorism.
As Christians though, we’re not free to deal with the government, or its laws and leaders, as we choose. We have a God-given mandate to respond to the governing authorities in a specific way. According to verse 1 of this text, we are to "submit to the governing authorities." The word "submit" means to recognize the authority of the government and to yield to that authority. In practice it means to obey the person or institution we’re submitting to. It is important understand that one cannot truthfully claim to be adhering to this biblical injunction of submission if they are at the same time actively disobeying the laws or leaders of the land.
The Christians, to whom Paul originally wrote this letter, were in a situation where it was difficult to submit, obey, or respect those in government. There government leaders were even more immoral than ours are today. Some of their laws and rules were even more ludicrous, unfair, and difficult to keep than ours are today. Because of this, the Christians of the day would have been resistant towards Paul’s exhortation to obey the government. With this in mind, Paul gives us, and them, two very good reasons for obeying the governing authorities.
1. Obey the government because it is the right thing to do.
2. Obey the government because it is the smart thing to do.
In essence, these two points are how Paul summarizes his message in verse 5. He says that it is necessary to submit to those in authority because failure to do so would violate our conscience, which helps tell us when we have done right or wrong, and because of possible punishments for disobedience, i.e. disobeying is stupid because it leads to unpleasant consequences. With that said, let’s look at this passage verse by verse.
Read Romans 13:1
Paul starts off in verse by telling us who should obey the governing authority, and why this is the right thing for the Christian to do. First he says that "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities." Everyone means everyone! There is no one who has an exemption from this command. Some religious people of Paul’s day felt that they were the exception. They felt that, since they were God’s people, they didn’t have to listen to the government. They were saying that they did not have to obey the government because they recognized no authority except God’s. Some so-called "Christian militias" still propose such ideas, but the Bible is clear, everyone is commanded by God to obey the governing authorities.
Paul then goes on to explain why it is the right thing to do for Christians to obey the government. He says, "There is no authority except that which God has established." The attitude of many people both past and present is that some governments and government leaders are evil or illegitimate, so they do not have to be obeyed, and that some laws do not apply because either the laws are stupid and selectively enforced or because the laws were established by atheistic, unbelieving, or evil government’s. The Bible will allow no such excuses or reasoning. According to God’s own word, there is no government that was not established by him. This includes democracies, monarchies, Communist governments, and dictatorships. This means we are to obey the governing authorities whether they are Democratic or Republican, moral or immoral, Christian, Buddhist or Atheists, homosexual or heterosexual, etc... Obeying the government is the right thing to do because these authorities are established by God.
1. Obey the government because it is the right thing to do.
Does this mean that everything various governments do is approved by God? No! Many times the government, which is composed a sinful men, will do the wrong thing. Does this principle mean that we’re to obey the governing authorities if they tell us to do something that God in his word tell us not to do? No, we’re to obey authority, but the highest authority is God. His commands supersede the governments in the same way that national law supersedes state law. In Acts 5:29 Peter refused to obey the Sanhedrin’s command to stop speaking about Jesus. He said "We must obey God rather than men." There are a few other examples of when believers rightfully disobeyed the government, such as when the Israelite midwives refused to kill the male children, or when Daniel refused to pray to King Darius and was thrown in the lions’ den. Having noted that we can sometimes be right in disobeying the government, we should be careful not to use this as an excuse to disobey government leaders and laws that do not directly conflict with the clear word of God. 99% of the time, obeying the government’s laws will not require us to disobey God! This means we should obey the government in matters such as taxes, business and building codes, traffic and criminal laws, gun control, prohibition against publicly led prayer in public schools, etc...
1. Obey the government because it is the right thing to do.
There is also a second reason that Christians should obey the government, which is found in verses 2-4.
Read Romans 13:2-4
2. Obey the government because it is the smart thing to do.
This is the main message of these verses. Paul is encouraging Christians to obey the government because they could avoid the severe consequences of disobedience by doing so. Obeying the government is the wise thing to do because those who disobey God will be punished, and those who disobey the government are, in a sense, disobeying God, according to verse 2. As Paul says, those a rebel "against authority are rebelling against what God has instituted. . ." When you cheat on your taxes, you’re not just cheating the government, you’re also cheating God. When you refuse to obey the U.S. Supreme Court because you do not like their decisions, you are also refusing to obey God in a sense. This is because the government authorities have been instituted by God.
If I hire a babysitter to watch our children, while Amy and I go to dinner, they had better listen to her and obey her because her authority comes from me. They may not like her rules, which may be different from mine, but since I appointed her, disobeying her is nearly the same as disobeying me, and that would not be a smart thing to do it. It is the same with the Christian and government. God has established the governing authorities and it would not be wise to disobey the authority God has instituted.
2. Obey the government because it is the smart thing to do.
Paul explains in verse 2 that those who choose to disobey the government "will bring judgment on themselves." In other words, you will be punished if you do not obey the governing authorities. It is not clear whether Paul is saying that God will punish you directly or that the governing authorities will punish you. Verse 3 seems to indicate to the punishment comes via government channels in the form of fines, imprisonment, or sometimes worse. Whether punished by God directly or by the governing authorities, the main point is that the smart thing to do is obey the government and avoid punishment altogether. The only exception to this would be when obeying the government would require you to disobey God.
Many people have always had a negative view of government. This negative view of government has only increased for Christians since the events surrounding David Koresh and his cult group in Waco Texas. Many Christians now fear and promote a fear of the government in America, but it should be noted that even an extreme group like that of David Koresh’s would have had nothing to fear if they had obeyed the rule of law. The government’s response was certainly excessive, but it was that group that was disobeying the government’s laws on gun control that brought the government’s response.
In verse 3, Paul’s point is that, in general, the government is not a negative thing but a positive thing for those who will simply obey. In general, those who do the right thing by obeying the laws of the land, will not be harmed, but rather commended. I will not fear getting a traffic ticket if I obey the traffic laws. I do not need fear an audit from the IRS if I did not cheat on my taxes. Paul’s understanding of even the idolatrous and immoral Roman government is not that they are out to get you, but rather that they are God’s agents to punish evildoers while rewarding those who do good. In general, government is seen as a positive institution. It is also powerful institution, as Paul notes in verse 4.
Paul’s point in this verse is that God has not left the government powerless to act against those who disobey its authority. Those who disobey should be fearful because the government "does not bear the sword for nothing." This last phrase refers to the government’s power to get and punish you if you do wrong. That is a God-given power and therefore you should not want to tangle with the government anymore than you would want to tangle with Hulk Hogan. The government does not bear the sword for nothing! Those who rebel against the government’s authority will be punished and this includes Christians. Therefore the intelligent thing to do is to yield to the government’s authority, whether on a local, state, or national level.
2. Obey the government because it is the smart thing to do.
In the last sentence of verse 4, Paul says that the government is "God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." This is a reminder that one of the government’s responsibilities is to punish the wrongdoer. This is why it is not wrong for the government to seek vengeance or to be severe in punishing those who do wrong, while it would be wrong for individual Christians to do so. Do not get upset at the prosecutors, legislators, and judges who carry out and enforce severe punishment on criminals; this is the government’s responsibility according to the Bible.
Read Romans 13:5
This verse serves as a summary of the two reasons Paul was giving for Christians to obey the government. He says that we should obey the government because of "possible punishment and conscience." In essence we should obey the government because it is the smart thing and the right thing to do. So verses 1-4 serve as an explanation of why the Christian should obey the government, and verse 5 serves as a summary of that explanation. Now let’s look to verses 6, 7, which serve as an application of the principles that were just taught.
Read Romans 13:6, 7
Paul brings up the issue of taxes because this was the primary area where people were likely to disobey the government. Paul says the same thing that Jesus said, "Pay your taxes!" (Mark 12:17) Taxes are not some evil that was that were thought up by Satan, but rather are approved of by God, and are just as mandatory as tithing. The Bible says that we are to "Give everyone what you owe him." This means paying all of our taxes and revenues, which refers to the various other monetary fees the government charges.
In verse 7, Paul also notes that it is not enough to obey the government if you show disrespect to the government’s leaders. We owe them respect and honor by virtue of their God-given position, regardless of their character or political and spiritual ideas. This means it is not all right to be derogatory, contemptible, or rude toward political leaders, law enforcement officers, IRS agents, etc...
This principle does not mean we always have to agree with those in authority. This principle does not mean that we cannot voice our concerns and opposition to the agendas of those in authority. However we must always do this with an attitude of respect and honor.
Conclusion: How should a Christian respond to the government? They should obey the government except in those rare cases when it would require disobeying God. Why should the Christian obey the government? Paul gives us two reasons.
1. Obey the government because it is the right thing to do.
2. Obey the government because it is the smart thing to do.
Closing Prayer
