Sermon Tone Analysis

In Dallas, the Delta Air Lines reservations office received a call from a troubled dog-owner.

“Can I take my dog on the same plane with me?” the woman asked timidly.

The agent assured her that she could.

Then he asked, “Where do you plan to go?”

“Well,” came the worried reply, “I’m thinking about going to Mexico City.

What I really want to know is this: if I take my dog with me and she has puppies while we’re down there, will they be American citizens.”

Well, citizenship is an important matter.

And of all the places to live and have residence, I am thankful to be an American.

Now, as we unpack this passage this morning, it is important to remember the context.

Paul is writing to a group of Christ followers who are living in the capital city of the mighty Roman Empire.

This cultural and political setting made for some interesting struggles for believers.

Rome was primarily polytheistic, and therefore they were ok with whoever you wanted to worship, but they also believed in Imperial Deism, so you had to add the Emperor to your list of God’s or you would have problems.

And eventually, the early church found themselves in trouble because of their belief that there is only one God.

As Paul is writing to these believers, he is encouraging them to boldly live out their faith in the midst of the culture they were in.

Paul has already established these Roman christians in the truths of God’s Sovereign nature.

God extended mercy and grace to them, redeemed them, assures His keeping of them, then promises to enable obedience throughout the Christian life as they continue to submit to His leading.

As we learned in chapter 12, we are to present ourselves completely to God.

We are to live out our faith and use the gifts that God bestows to us for His glory.

As we learned in vv.

3-8, it is not an option, as a believer, to be disconnected from using the gifts I have to build up His Church.

I don’t have the option, scripturally, to be a spectator of what God is doing.

I am to be a participator.

And as I participate in what God is doing, I begin answering that question we explored last week, “What does living out our faith look like?”

Paul answers that question in vv.

9-21 with the list of ways we live out our faith.

We structured those verses into 15 adverbs last week and gave the illustration of a recipe.

As God continues His work in us, the attributes of His presence become more and more evident.

As I spend time with Him, He rubs off.

And this is why we thought together this week on our Weekly Focus:

As I savor the Savior, I will favor His flavor.

The people we spend time with and the things we cherish in our minds and hearts influence us.

And the more time we spend with Jesus, cherishing Him in our minds and hearts, the more He will influence us.

And this influence of Christ in our lives changes how we interact with every other part of our lives.

Our relationships at home, at work, at play, and even in society will be different because of the change that Jesus makes within us.

And this heart change that leads to a different perspective on governing authorities is where we land today in Romans.

Now, the goal of studying this passage today is not political.

Regardless of your partisan bent, Paul is instructing the Roman church how to relate to authority.

And we are wise to apply the principles we find to our own hearts.

With that said, I am not aloof to the present political climate.

Nor am I wanting to minimize the immediacy of November 2020.

Although there are differing opinions in your work environment, your neighborhood, perhaps even your home, or this local assembly of believers, difference of opinion on policy should never become an opportunity for hatred.

Gospel truth in you, will allow for grace to come from you when you dialogue with those who differ or even oppose you.

And how we relate to governing authorities is important.

And so Paul writes about the what, why and how believers are to relate to government.

He begins with a bedrock statement that settles where your heart should land, regardless of who is in charge.

Remember, Paul is writing this letter to those who would soon be in the political climate of Nero.

He is the emperor who used the bodies of Christians dipped in tar and lit to illuminate his gardens at night.

Paul begins with this foundational statement which has two parts: (1) What Paul is calling us to, and (2) why we would respond positively to it.

In v. 1a Paul addresses our own posture when it comes to those in authority.

Here he is calling us to the what of this passage.

He says, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.

Be Subject - literally means to become inclined or willing to submit to the orders or wishes of others.

You will notice this is written about everyone, not just believers, but believers are especially in view because that is who he is writing to.

So everyone, especially believers, should be willing to submit to the orders of the governing authorities.

This is the what of the passage.

These governing authorities include local and federal powers.

But why?

Why would Paul be encouraging these believers to submit to the orders and wishes of authorities that may oppose their opinions and beliefs?

Paul answers that why in the second part of the verse, when he addresses the placement of those in authority.

Why submit?

“because there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”

So Paul calls us to submit, because God is in control of even civil issues like governments and those who lead governments.

And as we submit to authorities, we ultimately submit to God.

Paul mentions that in v. 2 as he begins the explanation of how Christians are to relate to government.

He writes

As you submit to governing authorities, you submit to God and as you resist those authorities, you resist the ordained purposes of God.

And so how do we submit?

With the fundamental understanding that the One who really is in control is God.

And in God’s control, He has allowed, Paul goes as far to say, God has appointed, those in authority.

But friend, this passage is not a call to blind followship.

In fact, it doesn’t address the question, “But what about when the appointed authority demands allegiance that conflicts our loyalty to God?”

However, other scriptures do, and this is why the best commentary on the bible is the bible.

We don’t hone in on one passage at the discredit of everything else the Bible says.

And elsewhere we find good evidence that believers should never allow the government to force them to disobey God.

As the life applications study bible puts it:

Jesus and his apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed, they were following their higher loyalty to God (Acts 5:29).

For example, when Peter and some other apostles were told not to proclaim the truths about Jesus, they responded

Their disobedience was not cheap; they were threatened, beaten, thrown into jail, tortured, and executed for their convictions.

If we are compelled to disobey, we must be ready to accept the consequences (see 1 Peter 2:13–14; 4:15–16).

Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 627.

However, it is important again to note that these early Christian believers did not stand against authority over differing opinions of policy, but for the Gospel.

Peter wrote about it in 1 peter where he writes:

So submit to authority, understanding that those in authority are appointed by God.

But in matters that contradict scriptural mandate, obey God rather than man.

But the key to these instances of resistance and civil disobedience is dependent on knowing the difference between what the bible mandates and what opinions I hold to that are not mandates in scripture.

Although there are biblical examples of civil disobedience and current times where we must stand for godliness even at the opposition of civil peace, God had a purpose in setting up human government all the way back in Genesis 9, where God said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood will be shed.”

In that decree, God gave authority to men to judge criminal matters and punish offenders.

At the core of the why behind government, is our human tendency toward anarchy.

Because humanity does not want to submit to God, God established human government.

And that original plan is found in vv.

3-4.

Paul writes:

In God’s good plan, the delegation of His authority to humanity is for our good.

Government is for the purpose of being a terror to evil works.

Those who do good, should have nothing to fear, and those who break the law should expect wrath.

Peter wrote in 1 peter 2:14

And those who hold offices that have a biblical groundwork for their authority know that they are simply a representative of God’s authority (v.

4).

Even if they don’t hold to the biblical model God has for them, they still are their by His will.

That is why David referred to the wicked King Saul, who was seeking to kill him, as the Lord’s anointed.

(Study 1 Samuel if you struggle with those in office today).

With this in mind, we are to respond accordingly.