Almighty Authority
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Introduction
Introduction
Imagine a government in which you feared for your life. A king who would kill all the babies in one area because of the perceived threat of just one of them. A governor who killed those worshipping while making their sacrifices. A ruler who lopped the head off of God’s prophet because he made a rash vow when overly exuberant. Imagine having a foreign power who dispersed their troops into your town, basically declaring marshal law. Imagine a government that used your money to build or maintain statues and temples to foreign gods, burn fellow-Christians at the stake, crucify them, or behead them, and pay for parties, orgies, and grotesque lifestyles. It was to those under such authority that Paul wrote the words we are studying today.
Authority is more than a fact of life; it is God’s goodness for our lives. Paul gives us three insights that will help us to navigate our way through authorities in our lives.
The Reason for Authority
The Responsibility of Authority
The Response to Authority
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
The Reason for Authority
The Reason for Authority
The first insight that we’re going to look at from Paul that helps us navigate our way through authorities in our lives is the reason we have authority in the first place. The reason for authority in our lives is because God cares about us and cares about justice, therefore God appointed there to be authority in our lives. We see this throughout the Bible, and I’ll give some examples in a moment, but let’s look at verse 4. “For he is God’s servant for your good.”
The authorities in life are God’s servants for your good. God cares about your good and so has ordained for authority to be in your life. Look at what the Queen of Sheba said about Solomon after witnessing his wisdom firsthand.
Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
Look at what David wrote about God’s love and justice
Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.
For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
When God spoke to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah, he said,
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
At some point this week, type justice into your Bible app of choice and read what God says about it. The Bible is filled with statements about God’s love for his people, for widows and orphans, for sojourners and aliens. God loves you and he loves justice, and therefore God, in his love, has given you and I governing authorities. And just to be clear, this is applicable to all authority God has appointed: parental, governmental, and even employmental (which is not a word). The word that is translated “governing” really means those of higher ranking or a higher position.
Thus, kids: God has given you your parents because he loves you and loves justice.
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
God put parents in your life to teach you to be children who make wise choices and do good.
Those with jobs: God has given you supervisors, managers, and bosses because he loves you and loves justice.
Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
God put bosses in your life to help you be productive and hard-workers for the good of society.
We who are citizens: God has given us our governmental leaders because he loves you and loves justice.
Romans 13:1 (ESV)
For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Romans 13:4 (ESV)
for he is God’s servant for your good.
God has given us governmental authority to help us to be productive citizens and live for the good of our neighbor.
The Responsibility of Authority
The Responsibility of Authority
The first insight that we’ve looked at is Paul’s reason for authority. God instituted authority because he loves us and loves justice. The second insight is now the responsibility of authority. Biblically speaking, the government is to reward and encourage right conduct and discourage and punish wrong conduct.
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
As one commentator put it, Paul is not stating how authority actually is, but how it ought to be. So whether we are talking about government, bosses, or parenting, we see here what ought to be and not necessarily what is.
But this text, Romans 13:1-7, goes back to what we discussed last week. Repay no one evil for evil. Last week, we saw that we are not to be avenging ourselves, but leave room for wrath. Often that wrath comes about by the authority God has vested to earthly authorities.
Which means, kids: you don’t get to retaliate when your brother or sister does you wrong. Mom or dad has that job given by God himself. If you’re employed and one of your fellow-workers goes against company policy, unless you are the supervisor or the boss, then you are to bring it to the proper authority. If someone steals your vehicle like they did mine last year, you leave it in the hands of the authorities. We don’t take matters into our own hands at avenge ourselves. That’s the job of those in authority.
What happens when those in authority don’t bring about justice? What happens when they royally mess up? What then? Would that allow us to take vengeance for ourselves? Not according to what Paul has said:
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Never avenge yourselves. Never. There are times when justice won’t get done, and when that is due to a blatant disregard for justice, then by all means, seek justice against those who refused to do their God-decreed duty and for the original matter. We seek justice because God loves justice and has called us to be people of justice. But when it is simply due to a lack of evidence, the death of the perpetrator, or some other reason, consign yourself and your situation to God.
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
The Response to Authority
The Response to Authority
So we move from the first insight as to the reason for authority, to the second insight: the responsibility of the authority, and now finally the third insight: the response to authority.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Our response to authority can be summed up in two words. The first word is “submission.” That word literally means to be placed under an arrangement. God has so decreed/appointed (as we see in verse 2), and in such a decree we are under his arrangement and are to act like it. This is a command that we, as believers are to follow. It is the world that tends to rebel against authority. As Christians, we are not to conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And that renewal of mind says that we are not to rebel, but to submit.
To rebel, to resist the authority that we are under, is to resist God himself. As a command, this is something that we are to do to and for ourselves. We could translate this, “Subject yourselves to the governing authorities.” It doesn’t matter what others do; as a Christian seeking to live according to God’s revelation, we are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities in our lives. After all, as we saw, they are God’s servants for good or for punishment. That doesn’t mean that they will at times not be or act corruptly, abandoning their God-given tasks. But God is still God and God is still in charge of who is in charge. And to resist them is to resist God. And to resist God is to invite judgment.
The question is simply, whose judgment? God’s or authorities. And the answer is yes. It will often be God’s wrath as carried out by those in authority, as verse 4 indicates. “For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
The first response is submission. The second response is subsidization. We are subsidize, pay for, the work that the government is doing.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
You say, I don’t like how my tax dollars are being used. That’s no excuse for not paying your taxes. You say, I don’t agree with how things are being taxed. It’s still not an excuse to not pay. Paul wrote, by inspiration of God, that taxes are to be paid. Why? Because those in authority are God’s servants, God’s ministers doing as God called them to do. However imperfectly it may be, those in authority are seeking to reward the right, deter the evil, and punish the wrong when done. Did Paul want his money used to build or maintain temples or idols or burn fellow-believers. No. But there was more at stake than those issues.
I quickly want to speak to the issue of conscience for a moment, because Paul did bring it up in verse 5.
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
So we are to be in subjection, and that would include paying the taxes that are owed, not only because we will incur God’s wrath if we don’t, but for the sake of our conscience. And some will turn this verse on its head as if it says, submit, unless your conscience says otherwise. That’s not what Paul says. He actually says we are to submit on account of our conscience.
Conscience literally means “with knowledge.” But we are not referring to Jiminy Cricket here. We’re not talking about that little voice inside of us telling us right and wrong. To Paul, the conscience was that which was bound to Scripture. It was that mental part of us that knew what God expected of us. Richard Baxter wrote,
“Conscience is. . .appointed. . . only to discern the law of God, and call upon us to observe it and an erring conscience is not to be obeyed, but to be better informed. . .”
J. I. Packer wrote, “Vital Christianity. . .was rooted directly in the apprehensions and exercises of conscience under the searching address of God’s quick and powerful word, and the enlightenment of his Holy Spirit.”
In other words, conscience is not what we feel or even what we ourselves think is right or wrong. Conscience, for the Christian, is the renewal of the mind according to the Word of God. Certainly there are times when we cannot submit to the government, but those times are rare and in accordance with God’s revealed will. We get these examples in Scripture. The midwives refusal to kill newborns, Daniel and his friends refusal to eat the food of the king, or the apostles refusal to submit to the Sanhedrin counsel. But if those in authority do not command that which goes against God’s revealed will, then we are to submit ourselves.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we conclude Romans 13:1-7, I am keenly aware of the etiquette quote, “Never discuss politics or religion,” and yet, here we are. There is no avoiding the subject when we go through whole books of the Bible. I hope that today has been insightful to each of us.I hope we understand that God has placed authority in our lives because he loves us and loves justice too. God has put authority in our lives for our good—our protection. I hope we’ve gained insight on the responsibility of authority. While they may not be perfect at their jobs, they have a responsibility to reward and encourage good conduct while discouraging and punishing wrong behavior. I hope we understand our response to this authority is to be twofold: submission and subsidization. We are to pay our taxes, not because we agree with how every dime is spent or how we are being taxed, but because God has called us to pay his servants.
To resist authority is to resist God who is the greatest Authority of all. He is the Almighty Authority. When we resist authority on this earth in matters that are not of God’s revealed will, then we go against the Almighty Authority. We are in effect stating that we have a problem with God. We have a problem with his plan. We have a problem with his appointees. We have a problem with his authority in our lives.
Jesus submitted himself to the Sanhedrin and to Pilate because he submitted himself to his Father. For what? That we might be saved.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
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