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Psalms 81:1-16 A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud
unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm,
and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the
trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For
this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This
he ordained in Joseph for a
testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that
I understood not. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were
delivered from the pots. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I
answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of
Meribah. Father God, bless us and those on the east
coast that have suffered loss with Hurricane Sandy. We give you all the glory
and praise. Amen!
Romans
13:1-7 NKJV
Chapter
13 is all about honor and authority. The first half speaks of authority meaning
civil government. Paul tells us how we are to act toward government in abiding
by laws and paying taxes. The second half of the chapter goes on to state that
we should owe nothing to anyone and to love all.
Respecting
and honoring government as well as authority in general is taught in the Bible
in many places, but our society today doesn’t show that. Society today is all
for one and one for all, and that one being self in many cases. Did you realize
the Bible taught us these things pertaining to our government? Many people
don’t, they think government just evolved, but government is from God. If we
call ourselves Christians then we need to abide by the laws of Government, but
only if they don’t go against God’s moral laws. If we are asked to do something
by authority that is against God’s laws then we as Christians have the right to
say no. Or if we experience wrong doing by authority we need to point these
things out, but I must warn you that in doing this one may suffer consequences
that may not be good. These consequences can come back on one as a form of
persecution for standing up for God and his moral laws. If a person takes a
stand they need to be in God’s grace and guided by the Holy Spirit in the
matter. In fact before doing anything one must seek God’s guidance through the
Holy Spirit. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood up to Nebuchadnezzar and
when they were thrown into the fiery furnace God protected them. Because of
their faith in God, Jesus was by their side in the furnace and they were
unharmed. You can read about this in Daniel
Chapter 3.
I will
give an example of a personal experience I had at a place of past employment. I
was asked to implement a safety program for the whole plant and I accepted. I
went for the Train the Trainer training and became a certified trainer. I then
sat down with the Plant Manager and we discussed how to accomplish the training
with the three shifts. During the course of the conversation I stated we needed
to purchase enough copies of the training material for all that would be
trained (approximately 500 copies). The Plant Manager told me the company could
not afford that and that we would make photo copies. My reply to the manager
was that I couldn’t do that because of my Christianity and it would be stealing
by violating a copyright law. The manager looked at me with an astonish look of
not believing what I had just said. I suggested that I make up Power Point
presentations to teach from and that we purchase the various handouts of bullet
points and banners to distribute and post throughout the plant. This was
acceptable and worked very well. It could have been ugly, but the Holy Spirit
was present.
Another
area to stand up for God and his Commandments is abortion and homosexuality.
These go against God’s moral laws and as a Christian, one must stand and be
against these. I give the Catholic faith a lot of credit for their fight against
abortion, and we as Christians, if we claim to be, need to back this movement
of putting a stop to murder. If one
supports these two topics, according to the Bible then they are against God and
are not Christians. These people will spend eternity in Hell based on God’s
Holy Word.
I hope
you now have an understanding in what this chapter is going to be about and how
to proceed in life pertaining to authority. I don’t want you to think we can be
disrespectful of authority and hide behind God’s word to get our way. Sometimes
it is very difficult to be respectful of authority when they violate God’s laws
and what we as Christians are trying to live by. As a Christian we need to
analyze the situation and make sure it is a violation of God’s law and not revenge
to satisfy our flesh. We need to seek the correct action from God. If we are to
stand up for God then we need to do it with respect, love, and grace which can
be very hard because our flesh tends to get in the way. The best thing we can
do is point out the wrong and then pray that God will move upon the situation
and His revenge will prevail. If the situation is one that can’t be lived with,
then the Christian will need to remove themselves from the situation, whether
it is different friends or different employment. God will honor this in a
Christian’s life because the Christian did what was required by stating the
facts and then moving on out of love for thy neighbor.
1 Let every
soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Let every soul; meaning every person. The apostle discusses the
subject of the duty which Christians owe to civil government, a subject which
is extremely important, and at the same time very difficult. Christianity was
designed to extend throughout the world, and with this, Christianity would face
many forms of government. The big question is, “what kind” of allegiance they
were to render to earthly magistrates.
there are times when it is right to
resist the laws. The Christian religion clearly teaches this, and in cases like
these, it is necessary for Christians to take a stand. When the laws interfere
with the rights of conscience, when they commanded the worship of idols, or any
moral wrong, then it is a Christians duty to refuse submission. However, the
main danger is, the Christian might error in refusing submission leading to
violence and hate encounters. This is the line one must draw in the sand and seek
God for guidance on whether one is to cross. Is it a battle He wants you to
pursue, is it the battle of our flesh that drives us to pursue, or should we
step back and give it to Him? One has to be prepared to suffer the consequences
no matter what they are.
Be subject; submit; the word denotes that kind of
submission which soldiers render to their officers. It implies obedience, a
willingness to occupy our proper place, to yield to the authority of those over
us. The word does not designate the extent of the submission, but merely gives
direction in general. The general principle is that we are to obey in all
things pertaining to the Law of God.
To the governing
authorities; This is referring
to the Roman magistracy or our Government. It has no relation to God, the
Supreme Authority. Matthew
28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to
them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me
in heaven and on earth.
For
there is no authority except from God;
Paul gives a reason
why Christians should be subject, and that reason is that magistrates have
received their appointment from God. As Christians we are to be subject to God
and to honor God by honoring the arrangement which he has instituted. We may
not like our present government leaders, but one must keep in mind that God is
in control and he has a purpose for our present situation. God allows certain
things to happen to bring about his will. Just think about Joseph’s life and
Job’s life and how things turned out. All we can do is put our trust in God,
pray for our leaders, and preserver. I feel the end is very near and what is
going on in the world, God is allowing, to bring an end to evil. Psalms 75:7 But God is
the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another. Daniel
2:21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and
raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have
understanding.
The
authorities that exist are appointed by God; All magistrates/rulers/kings/presidents are
appointed/ordained by the permission and providence of God. God sets them in
order, assigns them their location, changes and directs them as he pleases.
This does not mean that he originates or causes the evil dispositions of rulers;
or he approves their conduct; or what they do is always right; but that he
directs and controls their appointment. This does not mean we are to submit to
their evilness, but to submit to the system.
Their
requirements may be opposed to the Law of God, and then we are to obey God
rather than man; Acts
5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said:
"We ought to obey God rather than men. Paul may have had another object in mind when he wrote
this Epistle. The Roman Empire was agitated with civil dissensions. One emperor
followed another in rapid succession. The throne was often seized, not by inheritance,
but by crime. Different kings would rise, and their claims would excite
controversy. The throne had been usurped by the reigning emperors, and there
was a prevalent disposition to rebel against a tyrannical government. Claudius
had been put to death by poison, Caligula in a violent manner, Nero was a
tyrant. The object of the apostle was to prevent Christians from entering into
those disputes, and from taking an active part in political affairs.
2 Therefore
whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who
resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Therefore whoever
resists the authority resist the ordinance of God; This phrase
is referring to anyone
that rises up against government and resists its authority is resisting God.
This means we are to regard government as instituted by God and it is his will
that the government be present. We are not to be agitated about rulers, enter
into contentions, or to refuse to submit to them, because we don’t like the
party, person, their values, they came out of nowhere and gained office, etc. If
the government is established, and if its decisions are not a clear violation
of the laws of God, we are to submit to them.
Those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves; The
word “damnation” is used in the KJV instead of “judgment.” These words give the
impression of the punishment of hell, future torments, but this is not
necessarily the meaning of the word which is used here from original text. The
original word is κρίμα “krima”,
often simply denotes punishment. In this place the word implies “guilt” or
“criminality” in resisting the ordinance of God, and affirms that the man that
does it shall be punished. Whether Paul means that he shall be punished by God,
or by the government, is not quite clear, but looking ahead to verse 4 Paul is
probably referring to the government.
3 For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid
of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil; This is pretty simple in what rulers
and government are suppose to do. It is to protect and serve the people who are
good and abide by the laws, and oppose and punish the evil people that break
and abuse the laws. 1Timothy 1:9
Do
you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have
praise from the same; Here
again this is pretty straight forward in meaning Civil Government should be
respected, and all should fear breaking the Law. In other words do what is
right, and you will have no need to fear the laws. 1Peter
2:14-15
4 For he is
God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not
bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices
evil.
For
he is God's minister to you for good;
he referring to servant of God, is appointed by God to do his will, and to
execute his purposes. That is, to protect you in your rights, person, or
property, and to guard your liberty, and secure your safety.
But
if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; if any citizen should do evil, they
should fear the just vengeance of the laws, because the judgment system is from
God. The magistrate bears the sword which is an instrument of punishment and
not just an emblem of war. Princes were accustomed to wearing a sword as an
emblem of their authority, and the sword was often used for the purpose of
beheading, or punishing the guilty. The meaning of what Paul is saying, is that
he, the servant, does not wear this badge of authority as an unmeaningful show,
but that it will be used to execute the laws.
For
he is God's minister, an avenger to execute
wrath on him who practices evil;
Vengeance is said to
belong to God. Yet he executes his vengeance by means of human servants. When a
magistrate inflicts punishment on the guilty, it is to be regarded as an act of
God taking vengeance, and on this principle it is right for a judge to condemn
a man to death. It is not because one man has any right over the life of
another, or because society has any right, but because God gave life and
because he has chosen to take it away when crime is committed. Where human laws
fail, he often takes vengeance into his own hands, by plagues, or some type of
judgments, and sweeps the guilty into eternity.
5 Therefore
you must be subject, not only
because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.
Therefore
you must be subject; The KJV has the word “needs” between
“must and be”. This commands us as Christians we are to be subject to the Law
of the Land, provided it doesn’t violate God’s Word.
Not
only because of wrath but also for conscience sake:
This obedience to government
isn’t just pointing to our actions and fear of punishment, but also to our
conscience as a Christian. God has appointed it, and made it necessary and
proper. A good Christian yields obedience because it is the will of God, and a
Christian makes it a part of his religion to maintain and obey the just laws of
the land. A believer has a higher conscience level than a non-believer. Matthew 22:21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." And He
said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Ecclesiastes 8:2 I say, "Keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath
to God.
6 For
because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending
continually to this very thing.
Civil servants of the
government are appointed by God, the taxes we pay are needed for their support
and become an act of homage to God. This act performed in obedience to his
will, is acceptable to Him. In a larger sense, the word “tribute” means any tax
paid on land or personal estate for the support of the government. As these
servants devote their time and talents, it is proper that they should receive a
suitable not excessive support. It becomes then a duty for the people to
contribute cheerfully to the necessary expenses of the government. If the taxes
and wages should be unjust and oppressive, like other evils, we as Christians are
to pray and live with them until a remedy can be found. Romans
13:1, 2
7 Render
therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to
whom honor.
Render
therefore to all their due;
all people including Christians are to pay taxes. Matthew_17:25-27; 1 Peter_2:13-17; Proverbs_24:21
Taxes
to whom taxes are due; we are to
pay what is owed and not cheat on our taxes if we call ourselves Christians. Matthew
22:21
Customs
to whom customs;
refers to hidden or all taxes like sales, local, state, federal, import,
export, luxury, etc.
Fear
to whom fear; refers
back to verse 4 above.
Honor
to whom honor; the
government we have is an institution of God. We are to respect all from lowest
to highest rank, provided all aspects are within God’s Holy and True Words. If
not we need to pray and seek God for direction.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes…...
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a
steadfast spirit within me.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most
assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Achsa?
Answer: Achsa was Caleb’s daughter and was
promised as a bride to the man who captured Debir in 1440 BC. Othniel took the
town and claimed Achsa as his prize. She shrewdly persuaded her father to throw
in some fresh springs for water in addition to her other dowry of lands. Joshua15:16, 17; Judges
1:12, 13; 1 Chronicles 2:49
This week’s Trivia: Who was Adalia?
