Submission to Authorities and Social Responsibilities

Yeah, Today we are arriving at this really painful section on the Christian relationship with the state, the government, authorities. And I think we all had dealings with the government before with authorities, with bureaucracy, formalities. It's not always super pleasant and sometimes gets really painful. And this is a really long section here. Suddenly, surprisingly, in the letter to the Church in Rome, where Paul is just talking quite extensively about the relationship between Christians and the government and people have different theories why Paul was prompted to actually teach that much about this topic here.

And maybe you remember that there was a situation in Rome around the year 1849, when the Jews were expelled by Claudius the emperor, because there were some tumults going on and very likely between Jews and Christians. There's a certain Gestos mentioned in the, in the historical documents that was part of this kind of tumult that's very likely referring to Christ, that there was a division between the Jew among the Jews, between those who followed Jesus and those who didn't accept him. And this led to the fact that the Jews, Jews were expelled from Rome for a certain time. And you remember that Paul actually met Priscilla Aquila in Ephesus, and they were expelled from, from Rome in Corinth. And you also know that the Jews never really liked to be under the yoke of the Roman Empire.

They thought that God is our king, Yahweh is our king. And now we have this pagan corrupt person claiming to be our king, and they always have this tendency to revolt to get rid of this Roman yoke. Then in the next chapter, Paul will talk about that we are as Christians under the law of Christ. In many epistles, he talks about the fact that we are now citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven.

So how does that fit with being still under a human earthly government? So there are many facts maybe that prompted Paul to really zero in on this topic of government. But I think really the what frames the entire section or introduces the section I think is probably what he has told us at the beginning of chapter 12, when he had finished this doctrinal, all these doctrinal chapters in Romans, he reaches the time where he's actually admonishing and teaching the congregation about the practical affairs, what it means to follow Jesus. And he puts an end to this wrong dichotomy, that there's a spiritual life, a spiritual realm for the Christian and then the realm of the ordinary life. He says, use your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Everything that you do day in and day out should be a living sacrifice, should be an Expression of worship of God that's acceptable to God. And. And then Romans 12:2, he talks about the transformation, the renewal of the mind. So we have to also think differently now about what is really good, what. What helps society.

Also, I think in this context here, Paul makes clear there's no dichotomy also when it comes to the Christian and the state, even paying taxes as an act of worship, an act. Act of honoring God, an act of obedience.

The whole series here we titled the Gospel Transformation. So he actually, the transformation might be to change your view of the government. And we will learn we worship God or disobey God, also dependent on how we treat the state or the people in authority over us. And I think we all have this temptation to say, yeah, that's very general, that relates to a good government. And we put some conditions maybe on our obedience.

We say, yeah, if the government reaches a certain level of competency, if they reduce the number of their mistakes that they're making, then may submit. Or if what they say seems to make sense and improves my quality of life, and I might submit to the authorities, or if these people in these places of authority were people of integrity that could serve as role models for society, then I might submit to those authorities. But these are all wrong attitudes. And we will study this passage. God has put a government in place, the sovereign decision of God.

And they derive their authority actually directly from him, from God himself.

I was dealing with the bureaucracy recently when our dog died and we adopted two new dogs. And it's painful, all the bureaucracy. You have to then deregister your dog. You have to communicate to the tax office because of the dog license fee. There's also a register in Berlin for dogs.

You have to communicate to them, get their feedback. And then there's an annual liability insurance for your pet. You think all this because of one pet that I'm having at home to go through all this bureaucracy. But it's just part of the government. And they are trying to do their best to set us up well as a society.

So we will see that the government fulfills the role of God's servant. That's a pretty strong expression. The government, these authorities are God's servants in this current world, in this age. And they derive the authority from God. And this should shape our entire attitude when it comes to the Christian relationship with the government.

Let's pray before we dig into the text. Father, we thank you for your goodness that you are the sovereign ruler of all this creation of the entire universe. And we sense there's so much wrong with this universe. There's so much wrong with this creation. There's so much destruction, so much rebellion.

But you have given us also a government and people who exercise authority over a nation, over a region. And we thank you for your wisdom. We thank you for your providence, that you are guiding all this, all these affairs, and that we can trust in your goodness and in your good plans, Lord. And we ask that you would give us understanding today when it comes to this text. May it reshape our entire attitude in a way that is pleasing to you, that fulfills your purposes in our age.

Amen.

Yes. Just seven verses, very easy. Presents a statement, and then reasons, provides reasons why we should believe this or accept this and act accordingly. And we learn first, whoever submits to the state submits to God because the state derives its authority from God, acts on behalf of God in this age. Romans 13:1.

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. Therefore, whoever resists, resists the authorities, resists what God has appointed. Or you could translate ordained. And those who resist will incur judgment.

Yeah. What stands out first is that this absolute language, now there's every person should submit to these authorities, and there's no authority except from God. Very absolute language here. But we also learn that these governing authorities are from. From God, and they exist because of God's will.

They have been instituted, come alive as an institution through God's own will. And when you read the New Testament, then you come to the knowledge that there are probably four realms, four areas of authorities, four realms of where we should recognize this authority over us that we have to submit to. And these realms are the state, which is the subject here, the government, the governing authorities. And then there's the realm of the church, and there are spiritual leaders, and we are submit, supposed to submit to them. There's a realm of the family.

You know, children should obey their parents, honor their parents, and the wife should submit to her husband. And there's probably even a fourth area when often the New Testament talks about slaves and their masters, or you can say the economic or the work environment. Also an area where people exercise authority and others have to submit to that authority. And it seems that all of this authority has been established by God. So it's not my decision if I want to submit or not.

That's already decided by God giving us these authorities in this life, in this age here. It's part of God's purposes for this Age that we function under different authorities. But we should also recognize these. The authority that these governing authorities exercise that comes from God. It's not independent from God.

They can only claim claim that authority because it has been given to them by God. And they should also stay within the realm of the authority that has been given to them. And it's so beautiful that God is interested in and cares for the control of entire nations and the maintenance of civil order within these nations that God has given us these authorities, the government.

So all human authority in the government is also then delegated and ministerial. It's meant to serve God's purposes and it's determined by his providence. We see in the Bible, God raises up kings leaders and he destroys them. He humbles those in high places, brings them to nothing, and then he elevates others to be rulers and nations and societies for a season.

But all claim to obedience is actually founded on the will of God here.

Yeah. Why is government necessary? You probably realize it quickly when you live in a failed state or a failed region. Within your nation, everything, nothing is functioning anymore. You have gangs maybe controlling certain areas of the city.

We also have nations that are completely divided and going through civil wars like Sudan. Millions just without resources. Millions that had to find a new place to live because of a division within society. Because there's nobody who has the power to. To promote peace and to reconcile people under one law.

It reminds us of the. The last verse in the books of Judges when it says in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Yeah. Although they had the law of Moses.

But it seems that there was no common law and no law enforcement, although they had this law of Moses. But people like acted in religious ways contrary to the law of Moses and nobody was hindering them. People took the law into their own hands and nobody was stopping them. So in those days, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Was it?

What a dysfunctional, corrupt, evil society.

So Paul here and the word of God. Yeah. Admonishes us to submit to governing authorities for our own good because they have been given to us by God. So Paul Also in Titus 3, verse 1, he same statement remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. Yeah.

The context of doing good works, honoring the name of the Lord in this age by doing good works. One of these good works is that we submit to the government that we are functioning as good citizens, maybe even serving within the government, exercising Some government functions. That's not only Paul. Even Peter makes the same point when he says in 1st Peter 2, verse 12 to 14, Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds again. The good work, the good deeds submitting and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Be subject for the Lord's sake. That's not because it's fun or whatever. For the Lord's sake. Be subject to every human institution or creation, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. Very similar thoughts here expressed by another apostle, Peter.

It seems that this was the culture, the shared understanding of how a Christian relates to the government that we submit for the Lord's sake because they have been given to us, instituted, established by God. Government authorities, you can say, are part of God's common grace. We all benefit from government functions.

Let's just stop for a moment and think about the government at this time. When Paul's writing this letter or Peter is writing his letter, these authorities were pretty corrupt, pretty selfish, very ineffective as politicians. Just one example here. Nero. He was the emperor at the time of Peter's and Paul's writing.

And I found this just AI here, just a summary of Nero's reign for these years. He was very effective, it seems, as a emperor with lower taxes and giving the Senate more independence. But because of his corrupt nature, it always comes through at some point. Then he systematically eliminated political rivals and family members, even murdering his own mother or his former tutor, Seneca. Then there was this fire in Rome and he was really providing housing and food for the homeless then.

But right after that, he built a gigantic palace for himself, which annoyed the citizens in Rome, actually. And then you know about this fire in Rome and how it affected the Christians that he found this scapegoat. The Christian community was just brutally persecuting and killing Christians. So, and this is probably true for many people and in government positions as these authoritarian rulers, that there's a lot of their corrupt nature represented in society, but there's also often much good. There's still a structure, there is still a Roman law that he upholds and that he enforces, although he's a pretty wicked, evil person himself.

But just keep that in mind, as Paul and Peter are writing this during the reign of this emperor. It's even more outstanding how in this absolute sense, without any exception, Paul can say, submit, not making any mention of like resist or start a revolution. Get rid of this guy. No. Submit to this authority.

And we learn that in the next paragraph. The reason for submission to the state is these people are servants of God. They serve God's good purposes. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority?

Then do what is good and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out wrath on the wrongdoer. The ESV insorts here God. That's clearly meant it's God's wrath that comes upon these wicked people through the servants in the government.

So even this wicked man Nero, at the time of his reign, he was a servant of God in his function as emperor, as the head of the state, as he enforced Roman law and holding the empire together under the same law. We also learn there's God's wrath to come. But even in this age, God is inflicting wrath on evildoers and wicked people through the use of governing authorities.

Maybe next picture. Yards. You often find this picture here of justice. And it's not only this attempt to rule just with a scale here you try to do, you do your best to come to a good judgment, but it's also you have to enforce then that law. It has consequences that is symbolized here by the sword.

So when Paul talks here about the sword that these people are carrying, he actually says this is a symbol of, or the right of capital punishment, punishing people with death penalty symbolized here in the sword. But actually that's what Paul means. There's a capital punishment also that executed by these government officials.

Find it interesting that we often look at the Middle Ages as maybe a cruel dark age, cruel society. But if we had a person from the Middle Ages, maybe among us, they would probably think this is a really cruel age. The image bearers being killed and they are not really punished. Or somebody rapes a woman, kills the woman, gets to prison for a few years, gets some therapy, gets out, kills another woman. Sounds pretty horrible.

Pretty cruel age actually. And it's not upholding actually God's law, that we are made in the image of law. So if you murder someone, you actually have to receive capital punishment. That's symbolized here in the sword. They are servants of God even as they execute wicked people in society and protect society.

And finally we see that supporting God Given authorities as a matter of personal conscience. It's not because we fear consequences that we obey the government and submit notes because of our conscience before God that we realize we have to submit. Verse 5. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities.

Are ministers of God attending to this very thing? Pay to all what is owed to them. Taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. And then this would be the first verse for Enrico. Owe no one anything except to love each other.

Yeah. In all these realms of authority, as God has established the state, the family, the church, workplace, honor, respect, obedience, support of those authorities, they have a God given authority, a place that was given to them by God and that requires our submission, our support. So we should not only submit out of fear that I have to pay a fine or I may end up in prison. No, it's because of our conscience, because before God we are acting in accordance with our conscience, not because of fear. We understand what God's will for us is.

And it is God who rules over the conscience of people, not the emperor. God is the final ruler over our conscience and conscience. Morality and religion are beyond the jurisdiction of civil governments. Every government is subordinate to God. And it's really helpful that we have this division or separation between government and the church, because we should keep them separate as much as we can.

The church is not the jurisdiction of the emperor, of the chancellor or the president. It's good that it's this way. God has not delegated some of the authority to this government, but to other people.

I like what Charles Hodges said about the effect of religion. As I said, we are not called to rebel to start a revolution. But Hodges speaks about the sweetly constraining influence of the Christian. As we live out our conscience before God, applying his law, submitting to authorities, serving, supporting government and society, there's a sweetly constraining influence that will change and transform society. The change, he says, by silent operation on the heart and conscience, rather than by direct denunciation Him.

But here in this final, in these final verses, we also have to embrace that there's no state can function without resources. Paul says, we owe those authorities our support. We owe them our taxes. We owe them these indirect taxes, the revenue revenues.

And that's probably, probably a direct allusion to the words of our Lord himself in Matthew 22:21. Therefore render to Caesar the Things that are Caesar's and to God. The things that are God's. Yeah. There's a realm where we serve God and then there's the authority of the government.

And they deserve resources, support. Don't withhold taxes from them. Even if on this coin there's an image of the emperor and maybe a pagan slogan, this emperor, in order to function, they need your taxes. So don't withhold your support, financial support, from these authorities. It's actually an act of worship.

Paying taxes, you could say, is of sacred nature and it should be done cheerfully. It's probably not what we associate with paying taxes, but let's go to Lidl and pay you, I don't know, 7% on your groceries. And think about this as an act of worship, supporting the government and to enable them to do what they are doing.

The Bible tells us to seek the best for all people, especially the best of our own city. This famous word in Jeremiah 29:7. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

And especially the rich people among us, they often use tax evasion. They find a residence in Monaco or Switzerland. And it's really important for the state to really figure out where does this person actually live. They maybe receive all the benefits from Germany. They live most of the year in Germany, but they are officially in Monaco with the lower tax rates.

And it's kind of unfair. And the government really is also trying to solve this. So if you benefit from all the services in your society, you have your residence somewhere. If the government functions on your behalf, blesses you with the work, then they also deserve your full support. So don't.

Yeah. Try to escape this situation.

Yeah. I want to just summarize maybe the ideas in this passage. I think it's a very positive. Paints a very positive picture of government authorities, that they're a blessing, they reflect God's good purposes. So we should view the government not as an enemy or a constant pain in our lives, but actually as an ally and a helper.

We should support the government authorities so that they are able to fulfill their mandate from God. And this means our money, our tax money, revenues, but also our service. And I know that in the Anabaptist tradition they usually said, this is just all evil. This is the dirty stuff, work. We want to separate ourselves from this.

But actually, as Christians, we're also called to serve. Like we have people here with the military, people in government offices. Actually, why not serve. Why not support the government in a more direct way, as maybe even the prison ward or even an executioner? When you read Martin Luther, even the executioner has a purpose.

He fulfills God's purpose. Purpose to punish the wicked. And I would say we should honor the government and shouldn't slander them on social media or in private conversations, no matter if they are left wing or right wing, if they are competent or incompetent. The Apostle Peter wrote during the reign of Nero, fear God, honor the emperor, probably in the broader sense, honoring, submit to him, obey him. First Timothy 2, verse 1.

We shall pray for those in authority first of all. Then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life.

Yeah. And you wonder, is that really all that we can say about government? Isn't there a situation, a scenario where we should not obey, where we should stop submitting to a government? Especially in Germany, with our history, we know something about this, how evil and wicked an entire government can be.

And Paul speaking here would say of a legitimate design of government. And he is not addressing the abuse of power by wicked men. And we see in the New Testament that Peter says in the Apostles we must obey God rather than man. If there's a collision, a clash of loyalty, then we have to obey God and not the authority.

There's an interesting book, very influential book by Luther, written just two years after the Diet of Worms, when he was under the ban in most countries in Germany. He's writing to the Prince of Saxony in the typical blunt Luther like style, like lecturing him. It was Johann, the sweet spirited or so the gut mutage. So maybe he could handle that harsh criticism well, but basically he's telling him, you do your job as an, as a prince, but don't like, get out of the realm of your authority. If you are withdrawing religious literature from people who need a Bible, then you are not acting in the realm of the authority that God has given you.

Exercise your authority, but don't overstep your boundaries. It is extremely direct here and really a long, long lecture for this prince how we should actually exercise his rule in Saxony. But so much truth in this. His authority as a prince is derived from God and only in the realm of this authority he is called to operate, but he's not called to interfere with the church or to withhold German Bibles from people. And he had to confront him.

Luther here in this way so there are certainly situations where we have to confront the government, where we have to maybe not obey the government. The classic example is these midwives in the exile in Egypt. They were basically ordered to commit a genocide on the Israelites. And they were then not obeying. And they were even lying to the pharaoh and says God bless them because they feared the Lord more than they feared Pharaoh.

Well, there's a point when we have to disobey.

And probably each case must be decided on its own merits. I think of COVID big discussion. Wearing a mask, not a mask. Who can go to a church service or not. And it always requires a lot of wisdom.

Should we submit to the authority? Or is this a case where the government actually oversteps their boundaries, interfering with God's realm?

And maybe there's a place, I think Hodges puts it this way of obligation to obedience rests and the obligation ceases. When the I would say the divine design is systematically, constantly and notoriously disregarded. When there's only wickedness and no law and laws not derived from God's moral law law. Then maybe we also have to disobey and not submit to the government. I want to ask the worship team to come forward and I want to pray with us.

Father, we thank you so much for your goodness. We all struggle with government authorities. We struggle with payments. We that yeah out of our pockets, Lord, but we gain a new understanding here of your good purposes. That this is a necessity.

That this is established by your own will. Lord, help us to be loyal in this realm of the government authorities submissive, but also help us to see you as the ultimate one, the sovereign ruler of the universe. That every authority in heaven on earth is derived from you. Lord, may our heart look to you in all circumstances and try to please you only. Amen.

Yeah. Please remember the refreshments in the cafeteria is not so attractive to go outside maybe today, but we can hopefully manage the space. I want to dismiss us with this benediction that relates to good works in this age. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace. Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Jesus Christos Zeps Abba on the hair on God on the Father day on sleep don't shanked amutigo of a hats non gabor so ye them Gutenberg on what? Amen.