13 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
MacArthur summarizes this well....
government is by divine decree. To resist is to resist God. And to resist is to bring upon oneself punishment, not only from the government, but from the Lord as well......government serves to restrain evil. Therefore, to go against the government is to go against the restraint of evil....
the truth stands in spite of the fact that there are those times when government oversteps its bounds, when government goes beyond its limits. There are those times when there is injustice and inequity. Still, the principle stands....
We are to be submissive because government serves to promote good....
we who are evangelical fundamental Christians who really hold the name of Christ up should be the model of what a citizen should be in society.....
rulers are empowered by God to inflict the severest punishment......Very strong verse. If you do what is evil, be afraid. You have every reason to be afraid because God has given to government the right to bear the sword, and he does not bear the sword for nothing. He bears the sword for something. And it doesn't take a Phi Beta Kappa to figure out what you do with a sword. You don't spank people with a sword. You don't fine people with a sword. You kill people with a sword. And what he is saying here is that government is given the right to inflict final punishment, irremedial and irreversible punishment ... the punishment of death.......when this is not satisfied, a nation comes under blood-guiltiness....
When Cain killed Abel, Abel's blood cried out to God. It was unrequited blood. It was unsatisfied. It was a life taken with no life given. There was no retribution. And the blood cried out to God....And so God later on puts down the principle that a murderer is to lose his life. ...That and that alone will satisfy God....
One of the reasons, and a primary reason that God brought judgment on the nation, Israel, and the Babylonian captivity was because the nation was full of bloody crimes. In other words, murders for which there was no retribution. And the blood was crying out to God. And the city is full of violence. You show me a place where they don't deal with murderers, and they don't execute those who commit severe crimes, and I'll show you a place full of violence....
It is required that those kinds of crimes be paid for with blood.
Now why does God do that? Because God hates people? No. Because God knows that that, when executed properly, becomes a terror to evildoers and restrains them from doing evil. And men need restraints because men are basically so vile and wicked.....If you make the law of the land according to the law of God, it restrains the criminal. And therefore, there are not victims, and there are not perpetrators. That's the whole point. But where there is bloodshed, and where that blood is unrequited blood, the nation becomes guilty, and God moves in to judge....
You ask yourself why America is in the mess that it's in, and I could give you a myriad of reasons. One major reason is that this nation is under the judgment of God for unrequited blood. The ground of the United States of America cries out to God for retribution against murderers, robbers, and those who are worthy of death. And were they properly dealt with, there would be the minimizing of victims and perpetrators. But instead, we do the very opposite, and our land is blood-guilty.
And friend, I want to tell you, I believe with all my heart that abortion is murder, and that we are guilty to an absolutely inconceivable extent in the matter of massacring unborn children...
Finally, we are to submit to the government for conscious sake.....not only because you fear the consequence, but because you know what is right...because we know it is right ... because we have a conscious regard for love for the law, a conscious commitment to obey God. This is a higher motive. This is a purer motive....
And yes, we're supposed to pay our taxes.
Give them money when it's due, and give the respect.
So, as Christians, we're called to pay our taxes, respect our leaders, give them the honor that is due to them. So we wanna do the things that are right in terms of giving honor to whom honor is due and respect to whom the respect is due, paying our taxes and our duty, and living as Christians should live for the glory of our Lord.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 13:8-10
1 comment:
Very good post!
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