The Christian’s Relationship To Governing Authorities | Romans 13:1-7

Scripture

• Romans 13:1–7

About this sermon

Introduction: From the very first days of the church’s history, until this day, the people of God have been faced with an inescapable issue. How does the believer relate to the governing authorities of this world? That’s a question full of tension. The tension represented in that question is real and unavoidable because of several factors. • The believer’s ultimate allegiance is to God. We have a dual citizenship, and our eternal citizenship is in God’s kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. When faced with the choice, we obey God rather than men. Acts 5:27–29 (ESV) 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. • The governments of this world are not godly. The standards of earthly governments (outside of OT Israel), when viewed from the perspective of God’s standards expressed in Scripture, are not God’s. The wisdom is not God’s, the motivations are not godly, and therefore the outcomes are often ungodly. • The governments of this world often attack the church of Jesus Christ in specific ways. When we say “attack the church in specific ways” we want to be clear that the attacks are not always intentionally targeted, rather they are indifferently targeted. That is, we are brought into conflict with governing authorities because they are indifferent to what God commands of His people. For them there is a firm divide between the secular and the religious. The religious is private, not public. The religious is personal, not collective. The religious is optional with respect to what is public and collective, even if one considers it essential with respect to what is private and personal. The thinking that inform secular governments, the morality that characterizes secular governments, the judgments that are expressed by secular governments, are not those of the Lord’s church. Yet • The Word of the God to whom we owe our ultimate allegiance, commands us to obey our governing authorities while at the same time providing us with examples of instances when obedience to God makes obedience to men impossible. All these issues are not theoretical for the Lord’s church. We are living with these questions every day. There are believers suffering, all over this planet, at the hands of governing authorities for the very reason that they have obeyed the Bible instead of obeying the laws of men. Some have suffered for simply possessing the Bible. Some have suffered for professing faith in Christ. Some have suffered for sharing their faith in Christ. Some have suffered for gathering as the church, instead of limiting their gatherings by the command of their governing officials. WHAT IS MOST AMAZING, HOWEVER, WHEN THESE REALITIES ARE CONSIDERED, (ISSUES THAT WERE AS REAL IN PAUL’S DAY AS THEY ARE OUR OWN) IS THAT WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER ROMANS 13:1-7, YOU DO NOT MEET WITH A SINGLE WORD ABOUT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. RATHER, EVERYTHING WE READ HERE CALLS THE CHRISTIAN TO SUBMISSION. I want us to begin there. Why does Paul not provide any caveats in verses 1-7? Why does he not emphasize or even acknowledge the exceptions that might exist when called upon to obey governing authorities?

Topics

• Relationships