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Theme: The Believer owes his or her highest allegiance to Jesus Christ, and thus there may be times when the believer must disobey the civil authority.
Theme: The Believer owes his or her highest allegiance to Jesus Christ, and thus there may be times when the believer must disobey the civil authority.
Date: 04/30/17 File name: Romans_2016_39.wpd
ID Number:
Date: 04/30/17 File name: Romans_2016_39.wpd
ID Number:
Several weeks ago I preached from the same text as I’m preaching from this morning.
The title of the message was Obeying God by Obeying Caesar.
This morning’s message will seem like a contradiction — it’s title is Obeying God by Disobeying Caesar.
Several weeks ago I preached from the same text as I’m preaching from this morning.
The title of the message was Obeying God by Obeying Caesar.
This morning’s message will seem like a contradiction — it’s title is Obeying God by Disobeying Caesar.
How are Christians to respond to governmental authority when the governing authority is at odds with our faith?
When do we refuse obedience to Caesar to maintain loyalty to Christ?
Let me begin by reminding you of some the general principles Paul teaches in this passage regarding Christians and government.
I. OUR DILEMMA: Christians Are Citizens of a More Significant Kingdom
1. the early Christians emphasized that their true citizenship was not on earth but in heaven
heaven
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,” (, NIV)
• “But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (, NIV)
“But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (, NIV)
a. these are not reference to our future state, but our present condition
b. in Hebrews, the apostle Paul tells us that Abraham was a pilgrim of faith who understood that his citizenship in this world was only temporary
understood that his citizenship in this world was only temporary
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (, NIV)
inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (, NIV)
A. HERE’S THE DILEMMA: OUR TRUE CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, BUT WE ARE ALSO RESIDENTS OF EARTHLY NATIONS
ALSO RESIDENTS OF EARTHLY NATIONS
1. the question is: How do believers function in a lost and pagan society that is frequently hostile to the believer’s agenda?
frequently hostile to the believer’s agenda?
a. this is a question that Christians have had to wrestle with for two millennium
2. Paul here outlines three basic attitudes believers are to maintain in their relationship to the state
to the state
a. 1st, All Governing Authority Has Been Ordained or Instituted by God vs. 1
1) wherever you find a government in place, God established it
2) that does not necessarily mean that government is ruling righteously — they often do not
often do not
b.
2nd, A Person Who Resists or Opposes Governing Authorities Is Resisting God’s Authority, vs. 2
Authority, vs. 2
1) government exists for the purpose of maintaining order, encouraging well-doing, and punishing wrong-doing
and punishing wrong-doing
2) the state exists for the purpose of human flourishing
3) when a government no longer does these things, it is a failed or failing government
government
c.
3rd, To Avoid the Wrath of the State, We Are to Be Subject to the Governing Authorities vs. 5
Authorities vs. 5
1) imagine the tidal wave of evil that would break out the world over if there were no civil authorities to restrain it
no civil authorities to restrain it
3. we obey the civil authorities for two fundamental reasons
a. God loathes anarchy, and so should His people
b.
God has called us to be ministers of reconciliation, and we cannot accomplish that if we are regularly opposing the government or antagonizing the state
if we are regularly opposing the government or antagonizing the state
4. but what do we do when those governing authorities would command us to deny or hide, or abandon our faith?
or hide, or abandon our faith?
a. as long as authorities punish only what is evil and praise only what is good, submission to God will always conform to submission to the civil authorities
submission to God will always conform to submission to the civil authorities
1) but if the authorities ever begin to punish the good and reward the bad (as has repeatedly happened in church history), then submission to God will bring us into conflict with the authorities
repeatedly happened in church history), then submission to God will bring us into conflict with the authorities
2) this means that the command to be subject to earthly authorities in vs. 1 & 5 is not absolute
not absolute
ILLUS.
In 2014 the owners of Hobby Lobby refused to implement part of The Affordable Healthcare Act known as the "contraceptive mandate."
Hobby Lobby, a company solely owned and run by the Green family was already providing healthcare that covered contraceptives that prevented pregnancy.
They refused to cover contraceptives that ended pregnancy — commonly called abortifacients.
The federal government said, "you will" cover abortifacients, and Hobby Lobby said "we will not" and they filed a lawsuit against enforcement of the contraception rule based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
It went all the way to the Supreme Court which ultimately ruled in Hobby Lobby’s favor.
The dissenting opinion from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg reveals the massive ideological divide on the Court that mirrors the divide within the nation at large.
Ginsberg had the audacity to write that “ ... the Christian convictions of the Green family was too insignificant to be important.”
b.
Jesus himself warned us of the world’s hostility toward us and our faith
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
That is why the world hates you.”
(, NIV)
5. that’s our dilemma
B. WHEN FACED WITH CONFLICTING CHOICES BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE SAVIOR WE SHOULD HAVE NO DILEMMA
B. WHEN FACED WITH CONFLICTING CHOICES BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE
SAVIOR WE SHOULD HAVE NO DILEMMA
1. the bible gives us a number of examples where the people of God defied the civil authorities in order to maintain their allegiance to God
authorities in order to maintain their allegiance to God
a. Example #1: The Hebrew Midwives — the Israelites had lived in Egypt under the rule of the pharaohs for several centuries.
They became very numerous, so the king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the baby boys born to the Israelites ().
But, in we read, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”
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