WWUTT 1357 Be Subject for the Sake of Conscience (Romans 13:5-7)

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Be subject to the human institutions, the governments, that God has established, the scripture tells us.

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But understand that the government cannot give you anything better than what Christ gives when we understand the text.

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You're listening to When We Understand the Text, committed to sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com

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and don't forget our website www .tt .com. Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. Romans 13 is where we are this week. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there,

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I'm going to start off here by reading the first eight verses the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome.

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Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

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For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?

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Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval. For he is

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God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

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For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

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Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

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For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.

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Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed.

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Respect to whom respect is owed. Honor to whom honor is owed.

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I guess that's the first seven verses there, but that's as far as we're going to go today. I would encourage you to go back and listen to yesterday's broadcast if you haven't listened to it yet, doing an exposition of the first few verses here of Romans 13.

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Here is a summary. We are being told in this section of Romans what it means to live as a

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Christian in this world. In Romans 12, we were instructed on how we live before God, how we live with one another, and even how we are to conduct ourselves among those who are not of the body of Christ.

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Those who would even come against us and persecute us. If your enemy is hungry, feed him, it says in Romans 12 20.

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If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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Then we go from there into Romans 13. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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What we will get to at the end of Romans 13, which I read the whole chapter yesterday, is that we must be in subjection to God's commandments.

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The commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. So we go from being in obedience to God in Romans 12, submitting our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the

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Lord, for this is our spiritual act of worship. We go from that to being subject to governing authorities to coming back to talking about loving our neighbor as ourself.

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So as this section on submitting to governing authorities falls in the middle of this, first of all, the priority is that we are in submission to God.

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Why do we submit to governing authorities? Because we first and foremost submit to God, and understanding that God is sovereign, and even kings have been positioned by God, we are subject to governing authorities because God has appointed them to those positions of ruling authority.

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They do not have an authority inherent in and of themselves, it is an authority that has been granted to them by God.

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So we are in subjection out of fear of God, but it is because we are first and foremost obedient to God.

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Hence why you have in the book of Acts, when the apostles were being persecuted, they would reply as Peter did in Acts 5, we must obey

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God rather than man. And they were able to say that consistently because our obedience is first to God before it's to man.

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So that's an understanding there in Romans 13. All of this is even given in the context of being in subjection first unto the

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Lord, because the governing authorities are the Lord's servant to carry out justice on the wrongdoer, promoting what is good and punishing what is evil.

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That's the primary function of government. Our whole world would be in chaos if it wasn't for the fact that God has appointed even these human institutions to keep order.

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But that's as far as the government can go by promoting what is good and punishing what is evil.

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The government cannot change the hearts of its citizens. It cannot reform the evildoer.

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It cannot develop morality. Now that doesn't mean that the government shouldn't be concerned with morality.

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It most certainly should be, but it cannot create it. There is no law that can be created by man that is better than what

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God has already established in his law. And if we start to think that governments created by men can come up with laws better than what

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God has already established in his good law, and we've already seen here in the book of Romans that Paul has called the law good.

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There's nothing wrong with the law. If we try to develop morality by keeping the law, or we try to develop righteousness, we'll get that way.

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If we try to justify ourselves by keeping the law, then it awakens sin. We just end up falling into sin and into death when we try to be good by keeping the law.

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That was the argument that Paul made back in Romans 7 and Romans 8. So we cannot be good by keeping the law, but the law is still good, even though it brings about sin.

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Our inability to keep it reveals our sin and brings about death. That does not mean that the law is bad.

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The law is good. Mankind cannot come up with law that's better than what

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God has created in his law. And if we think that mankind is able to do that, then we're actually saying human governments, human institutions are able to write scripture.

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They are able to establish laws that have just as much power as God's law.

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So once again, I say to you that we're supposed to get from Romans 13 that our subjection is first to God before it is to man.

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And the reason we are to be subject to human institutions is because we're subject to God. But these human institutions cannot come up with better laws, and the laws that they come up with cannot develop in its people morality, a moral people, or a moral good.

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And we're seeing right now even certain evangelical leaders saying that these leaders of our nation are better than these leaders of our nation because they're going to bring about unity and peace among its people.

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No, they're not. The Bible says they cannot. They cannot develop morality or good in the citizens of the people that are under them.

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The only one who can change the human heart and the human condition is Christ. And that's why

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Paul is laying this out the way that he does in Romans 12 and 13, that we continue to turn to Christ and not think of the government as being able to make people good.

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It can only go as far as promoting that which is good and punishing that which is evil, but it can't make anybody good.

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So we are to owe no one anything. This is verse eight, except to love each other for the one who loves another is fulfilling the law.

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The commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

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So what the government should be punishing is that which does wrong to a neighbor. What they should be promoting is that which does right to a neighbor.

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Love is the fulfilling of the law, the divine law that God has set, that he has established.

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And remember back in Romans 3, 31, Paul says, we do not overthrow this law by our faith.

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On the contrary, we uphold the law. We fulfill the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law.

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And we're only able to love in a way that is fulfilling of the law if we have the love of Christ poured into our hearts.

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If we are followers of Jesus, the divine King, he is the one who transforms the heart, not the laws of man.

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And so then we go on in these instructions as to how we are to live and conduct ourselves in our present context.

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Verse 11, besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

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The night is far gone. The day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the

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Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

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That there is summing up everything that we've read from Romans 12, 1 up to this point, because remember that Paul said there,

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I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

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This means that we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and we make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires, but rather we are in subjection first and foremost to the

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Lord. Now, I've skipped way ahead here. I've missed a whole middle section that we're yet to cover here in Romans 13.

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So let's do that coming. This really would have been better for my lesson tomorrow, because I said we were going to apply better application tomorrow.

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But I've recorded this much so far. I'm going to leave it. Let's come back to verse five. This is where we should be picking up where we left off yesterday.

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Romans 13, let me read verse four again, referring to the government, the governing authorities that God has established as God's servant for your good.

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But if you do wrong, be afraid, the scripture says, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out

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God's wrath on the wrongdoer. That's Romans 13, four. Consider also these words from Peter in first Peter to starting in verse 13, and I'm going to read the rest of this chapter.

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First Peter to 13, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good.

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For this is the will of God that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear

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God, honor the emperor. Let me pause there for just a moment, because in verse five of Romans 13, it says, therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid

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God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. So we're bearing a good witness before people around us.

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We are subject to human institutions, not just to avoid God's wrath, which would certainly be upon the person who is a lawbreaker, who is even conducting themselves in rebellion against the laws of the society that they live in.

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God's wrath would be upon that person if that's the way that they're going to live. But rather, we live in subjection to God, keeping a clear conscience so that we bear good witness among the people that we live with, that they may see that we are are generally law abiding people.

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And we are this way. This conduct is reflected in our behavior because we trust that God is sovereign.

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So he is the one who reigns over all things. We trust in the Lord. Going back to Romans 12, where it says, do not do not take vengeance, never avenge yourselves.

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Romans Romans 12 19. Sorry, I'm getting my thoughts together here. So Romans 12 19. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written vengeance is mine.

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I will repay, says the Lord. If we know that God is sovereign, then we trust him. Even when it comes to the the human institutions that we live in, we're going to be subject to those human institutions, knowing that those who who rule within those institutions are ultimately subject to God.

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So they're going to have to answer to God for their own conduct and the way that they handled the authority that they were granted by God.

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They're they're answerable to the Lord. We live as law abiding citizens because we trust in God, because we believe in his sovereignty.

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So we go on here, verse five again. Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid

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God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. We bear good witness among the people around us that we don't come across to the people around us that we're just we're just reckless lawbreakers, like like nothing applies to me because I'm subject to God, which is why the arguments about like Christians don't have to wear seatbelts or or obey speed limit signs are so ridiculous.

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We should not be having those kinds of arguments because it looks to the world like we're just rabble rousers, like like we're just trying to cause a ruckus.

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It doesn't look to the world like we're rational civil people. Consider that in Titus three nine,

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Paul said, but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions and quarrels about the law.

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For they are unprofitable and worthless. That's not how we are to be as Christians constantly quarreling about the law, but rather we are to love one another for love is the keeping of the law.

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Let's continue on here in first Peter chapter two. I'm picking up in verse eighteen servants be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.

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Now, that word servants is a softening word. It has softened the word slave because that's really the word that appears there.

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Slave be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle masters, but even to the unjust masters.

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So even when the Bible says for a slave to be subject to an unjust master, don't you know that we who are to be subject to governing authorities have that much more responsibility to be in subjection when we are free?

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We're not even slaves to the governments that we are under. Yet we are to be subject if the slave is to be subject to the unjust master.

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So we must be subject to the governing authorities in the human institutions in which we live going on into verse nineteen for this is a gracious thing.

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When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

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It's gracious that we suffer unjustly being subject first and foremost unto the

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Lord going on to verse twenty for what credit is it? If when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure what credit is it?

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If you sin, if you are rebellious and you're beaten and punished for it, what credit to you is that?

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But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of God verse twenty one for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

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He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled.

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He did not revile in return when he suffered. He did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

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He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.

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You have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

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So knowing that in Christ's suffering, we have been healed. We've been forgiven our sins and we have fellowship with God.

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That is the greatest thing that we could ever be given. So what more could the government possibly give us than what we have already received in Christ and the promise of his kingdom?

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We should not be relying upon the government for, well, even liberty when the greatest freedom that we've ever been given has been granted to us in Christ.

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We should not be relying upon the government to give us health and wealth when the greatest healing we could get is given to us in Christ, the healing of our sins and our transgressions, the healing of the wages of sin, which is death, the spirit of death that lived within us until Christ healed us of that sickness and has made us new.

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We have been set free from the bonds of sin. So, yeah, sure, we can have the freedom to do certain things, certain rights and privileges and stuff like that as granted to us by the government.

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But the true freedom, the greatest freedom we can have is that freedom that we have received in Christ.

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So be careful not to be dependent upon and reliant upon the government for things that cannot even match what we've been given in Christ.

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We should be subject to the governing institutions, but ultimately our freedom comes from God. Let's go on to verse six,

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Romans 13, six, four. Here's where we have verses six and seven. Because of this, you also pay taxes because you are to be subject to the human institutions, the human authorities.

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You also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing. How is it that the government is able to have the money that it needs to do what it needs to do because of taxes?

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So you must pay your taxes, pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed.

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Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed. Honor to whom honor is owed.

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Now, you know about Jesus encounter with the Pharisees and talking about paying taxes to Caesar, right?

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You know about this. Matthew 22 is where I'm going to draw from verses 15 through 22. The Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle

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Jesus in his words, and they sent their disciples to him along with the

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Herodian saying, teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God faithfully and you do not care about anyone's opinion for you are not swayed by appearances.

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They're buttering him up here. Verse 17. Tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

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So they're trying to catch Jesus. If he says don't pay your taxes, well, then Rome is going to come down on him.

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If he says pay your taxes, then the people of Israel are going, what? We're supposed to pay taxes to Caesar. But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, why do you put me to the test?

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You hypocrites show me the coin for the tax. And they brought him a denarius. That's the

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Roman coin. And Jesus said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? They said

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Caesars. Then he said to them, therefore, render to Caesar the things that are

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Caesars and to God the things that are gods. And when they heard it, they marveled.

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And then they left him and went away. Now, oftentimes when we quote this passage, we we get from this that the lesson is supposed to be pay your taxes.

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That's certainly what Jesus is saying, because Paul says it directly here in Romans 13, six through seven, that we should pay our taxes.

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But there's something else attached to Jesus answer as well. And this is the part that we don't dwell on as much.

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He says, render to God the things that are gods. What belongs to God? Everything.

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What what image is on the coin that you're supposed to pay in taxes? Caesar's image, whose image is on you?

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God's image. So you are to render yourself unto

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God. We finish up with Romans 13, seven, pay to all what is owed to them.

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Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed.

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Honor to whom honor is owed. And we will talk more about the application of these things that we've read here in Romans 13 tomorrow.

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Let us pray. Heavenly Father, you are a good God who gives us good things.

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And I pray that we would recognize that even the government that we live in, though it is sinful and corrupt because there are sinful, wicked people that exist in government.

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It is still for our good that the government exists because it keeps things peaceful and civil that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way.

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This is good and pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

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As Paul says in first Timothy two, verses three and four, help us to be subject to you in all things.

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And you have desired that we be subject to human institutions. May we understand what that means in our present context to still honor

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God, but also be in subjection to the laws that govern us. Give us wisdom in these things.

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Help us to rely on one another for more direction and knowledge when it comes to understanding what the

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Bible says about how we live in these contexts. And help us to always be holding forth the gospel, for it is not the laws of man that change the heart, but faith in Jesus Christ.