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Good morning friends, as we begin a new week “Walking with Jesus” together.
We’re in Romans 13 today, a chapter that must have been quite challenging for the Christians in Rome to read. Then, as now in many parts of the world, the government was strongly opposed to Christians and Christianity.
You may recall on Paul’s first visit to Corinth, a few years earlier, he had met a couple named Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:2). They had lived in Rome, but had been run out of Rome, by an edict from the Emperor, that all of Jewish descent must leave Rome. Such anti-Jewish actions have been part of almost every century for the past 4000 years.
So for Christians living in Rome, Paul’s opening verse of chapter 13 must have been difficult. “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for these is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted…” (Rom. 13:1,2)
My friends, sometimes when reading God’s Word we need to take a full scope perspective. What exactly is Paul saying here, and how does it fit with all of Scripture? We know there are many celebrated examples where God’s people did NOT obey the governing authorities, and God honored them for that action. Remember Daniel refusing to stop his daily praying to God even though a law had been issued that prayers should only be offered to the King? But Daniel continued his daily praying to God, even with his windows open (Daniel 6). He was thrown into the lions’ den for disobeying the government, but God spared him, and the King reversed his law, and declared Daniel’s God to be the one true God.
The same thing happened in Daniel chapter 3, when his 3 friends refused to bow before and worship the 90 foot statue of King Nebuchadnezzar. Do you recall they were given a second chance, with Nebuchadnezzar thinking perhaps they had misunderstood the order to bow, but they responded “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18).
Do you remember what happened? The furnace was heated 7 times hotter, they were bound and thrown into the fire, and soon a fourth man was seen walking around in the fire with the three men, who were unburned. The king ordered them to walk out of the fire, and they were unscorched and did not even have a smell of smoke on them! The king then reversed his position and declared their God to be the only true and all powerful God, and that all people throughout his empire should worship their God!
So how do we square Paul’s writing with Daniel’s experiences? When the commands of man counter the commands of God, we must prioritize the commands of God, even if it means disobeying the commands of the human authorities over us.
Paul wanted the Christians in Rome to understand that while the Caesar was not God honoring in his life or his leadership, God, in His Sovereignty, had permitted the Caesar to be the ultimate human authority in the Roman empire. Thus he was due the appropriate human respect as the Emperor. Rebelling against the emperor, Paul says, was rebellion against God’s Sovereignty.
Thus, as you see, Paul urges the Roman Christians to pay their taxes and give appropriate respect and honor to the authorities. However… as history shows us, when those authorities demand that Christians renounce their allegiance to Jesus Christ or do things which are contrary to God’s commands, we draw the line, and with proper respect, we refuse to obey, and we prepare to suffer the consequences as martyrs.
History tells us thousands of men and women have been tortured and many have died at the hands of those who hate God and seek to eliminate Him from their society. Revelation 6:9-11 “When He opened the 5th seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.“
Oh that is so hard to read, isn’t it, my friends? I have some very dear friends among those who have been killed only because of their allegiance to Jesus Christ… how about you? So what do we learn here?
(The man in the picture was one of my dearest Haitian pastor friends, brutally killed by those strongly opposed to a church being established in their ‘controlled’ part of Haiti!)
We learn that living our lives to honor Holy God and His commands, following Jesus Christ and living indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, will sometimes put us at odds with and even in opposition to the authorities who seek to eliminate God or God’s truth from society. In those times we face hard choices which may come with a high price for standing firm in our allegiance to Jesus and God’s truth.
It’s a call to serious consideration isn’t it my friends? What is your level of commitment to your Savior, who gave His life so you could have eternal life? What is your commitment to Holy God and His commands?
We are called to walk a fine line in America. Honoring the laws of our land as long as they do not counter the laws of God. When that occurs… we are called to choose whom we will obey. For Christ followers, the choice is clear… we honor God, we follow God, and in our disobedience to the governing authorities, we do so with respect for their position of authority over us, but God’s authority over them.
You’ll see in the rest of Romans 13, Paul calls his readers to “Love your neighbor as yourself…” (13:9) and to “…put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently… and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (13:11-14)
Have you found it so interesting that even though Paul was writing nearly 2000 years ago, his letters are so relevant to our world today? That’s part of the miracle of the Bible. As the Holy Spirit led the Biblical authors, He led them to write in such a manner that it applied directly to their day, but also to situations so very similar, centuries later. As those in responsible positions entrusted to make laws in our land continue to lead us further and further from God and His truth, the challenge to us, God’s people, increases amidst the growing need of our society for God’s people to stand courageously for what is right, what is true, what is God honoring.
Lord Jesus we honor YOU today…
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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