notes by Rhyne Putman

God Blessed America
Romans 13

In God We Trust…

·        The government had persecuted the church at Rome, just as the Jews had been since Roman rule in Palestine.

·        Tiberius and Claudius, Roman emperors, had exiled the Jews out of Rome under royal edict.  Jewish Christians who returned to the church after edict had been done away with didn’t believe that the government was of God, and therefore they had to rebel. 

·        Christians faced the threat of execution because of their faith.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those, which exist, are established by God.”

Romans 13:1 (NASB Update)

·        God gives all the authorities that exist, Christian or non-Christian, permission to rule.[1] 

·        We are called to be the light to that authority.  Not like that preacher!  In “Jesus Freaks,” there is a story (and many like them) about a woman in the USSR who had been arrested for her faith.  They were torturing her until she would renounce her Jesus or reveal the names of other believers, and she never relented.  One night, she began smiling to the man who was whipping her. When he asked why she was smiling, she spoke to him about the love of Jesus.  Filled with compassion, the man who was placed in authority over her walked away a changed man. 

For there is no authority except from God… What are some authorities in your life?

·        Every individual is subject to the government God has given him.

“Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good.”

Romans 13:2-4a (NASB Update)

·        When we rebel against government, we rebel against God. 

Gib Martin paraphrases the passage beautifully, “Do you wish not to worry when you see a policeman in an unmarked car? Well, drive the speed limit, stop at all the stop signs, and you won’t have to be afraid of getting a ticket.  You might even get a compliment for good driving.”[2]

·        Government, whether good or bad, is a gift from God. Without government, there is anarchy.[3]

“But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it [the governing authorities] does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.”

Romans 13:4b-6 (NASB Update) 

·        God uses authorities as vessels of his wrath towards sin.  This isn’t always the case... 

·        Our authorities are God’s servants; that’s why we pay taxes. 

In Matthew 22:17-22, Jesus converses on the subject of taxes. The Pharisees asked, “Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”  Then Scripture replies, “But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?  ‘Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?"  They said to Him, ‘Caesar's.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's.’”

·        Jesus Himself was under the submission of Pilate’s God-given authority (John 19:10-11). 

·        Jesus submitted to the authorities placed over Him by paying taxes (Matthew 22:17-22), and taking a cross.  

Love, Jesus Style…

“Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’[4] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Romans 13:7-10 (NASB Update)

·        Don’t owe anything to anyone. 

Different types of debt:

1.     Monetary  “…taxes,” “…custom (or revenue)”

2.     Respect  “honor…”  “Respect…” Who deserves this honor?  The Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:12, 5:16) give us “Honor your father and mother” (Eph. 6:2 says that it is the first command with promise?)

3.     Love  “the continuing debt of love…”

What is this debt of love? 

“The law [love your neighbor as yourself] is not written on tablets of stone but is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us.”[5]

--St. Augustine

·        The debt of love is the only debt that can never be paid off.

“In other words, make the measure of your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving. The word ‘as’ is very radical: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  ‘As!’ It means: If you are energetic in pursuing your own happiness, be energetic is pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are creative in pursuing your own happiness, be creative in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor.  If you are persevering in pursuing your own happiness, be persevering in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor.  In other words, Jesus is not just saying: seek for your neighbor the same things you seek for yourself, but seek them in the same way—the same zeal and energy and perseverance.  Make the measure of your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving.  Measure your pursuit of happiness of others by the pursuit of your own.  How do you pursue your own well-being?  Pursue your neighbor’s well-being that way, too.”[6] 

--John Piper

Desiring God

·        With this command, God states the obvious, that we are by nature pleasure-seekers (notably our true, lasting joy can only be found in King Jesus). The same way we seek our pleasure (which should be in Jesus), we should seek that others share the same pleasure.[7]  This is what evangelism is all about!  I’m in love with Jesus, and I want everyone around me to know the same awesome God. 

People Get Ready, Jesus Is Coming…

“Do this, knowing the time[8], that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”

Romans 13:11 (NASB Update)

·        The word “salvation” here refers to the final, total deliverance (or judgment) from sin when our Lord Jesus returns.  

“The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Romans 13:12-14 (NASB Update)

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith.  Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.  We are far to easily pleased.”   

C.S. Lewis

The Weight of Glory

·        Sexual immorality and drunkenness are only temporary satisfactions.  They do not have what it takes to please our ultimate longings.