Citizens of Heaven | Romans 13 | Living Under God's Kingdom

Good evening.

We only have one clicker, so you're wondering why the song slides was kind of messed up.

That was my bad.

I'm just getting used to it my first time.

Let's turn to Romans 13.

We're going to continue in our sermon series in Romans chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

Romans 13.

As you're turning over, though, I want us to be reminded of what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, where he says, Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it, from heaven, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, which sums up nicely what we're going to be talking about in Romans chapter 13.

Philippians 3:20 Romans 13 · chapter mention

So I want us to have this in our minds of being citizens of heaven as we go through this chapter in Romans.

Now, while Paul doesn't specifically say we are citizens of heaven in Romans 13, he does show us what citizens of God's kingdom look like and how we are to act.

So Romans 13, we're going to break it down into two halves.

The first half, first seven verses, is talking about our submission to the government and governing authorities.

And then the second half, verses 8 through 14, talks about our submission then to God's kingdom, our loyalty to him and his reign, his kingship.

And so this is the flow of our lesson this evening.

Now, before we even dive into Romans 13, sometimes we take Romans 13 and we strip it of its context and we separate it from Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And we don't want to do that, especially tonight.

And many, many people do that.

We do that with many chapters sometimes, but Romans 12 and Romans 13 is really a continuation of thought.

And Keith gave a great lesson this morning on Romans 12.

And so we're just going to refresh our minds here on some of what Paul says in Romans 12.

Because Romans 13 is this continuing idea of what it means to be a living sacrifice.

And through a majority of Romans 12, Paul has been telling us this is how I want you to act with your fellow brothers and sisters, with your church family.

And by the time we get to the end of Romans 12, you can tell now that there's a little bit of a shift, and that this is how I want you to act within secular society, and that continues in Romans 13.

For example, Romans chapter 12, verse 18.

Romans 12:18

He says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with just your brothers and sisters in Christ.

With all.

That's the idea here, with your surrounding community as well.

You keep reading in verse 19.

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.

One of the ways that we're going to learn He does that is through governing authorities and the delegation of that authority.

And so our job as citizens of heaven is to do as much good as possible, to follow God's will.

And that's how he kind of ends Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

If your enemy is hungry, I want you to feed him.

If he's thirsty, give him something to drink.

Do it so much good that he almost feels bad.

It's like heaping burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with what is good with God's will.

So we overcome evil with God's will.

And so Romans 13 is a continuation of how Christians are to act then in secular society and under the governments that we live.

And then Paul ends that chapter by reminding us that our allegiance is ultimately to God and his kingdom, reminding us of love and the love of Christ.

So let's begin Romans 13.

Romans 13, verse 1.

Romans 13:1

Let every person be subject to governing, to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God.

And those that exist have been instituted by God.

This can be hard to do, and it's often hard to hear, especially when we're passionate about a lot of things like politics and political ideals and things like that.

It's easy to watch the news and to feel sometimes a personal responsibility, to want to do something about those things, to see those events and the current events that we see today as almost larger than life.

It's easy to think of ourselves as Americans, I don't know about you, but I'm patriotic and to not feel personal about where our country is and to want to see its success.

But what Paul is saying here, we have to remember, applies no matter to all Christians, no matter where you are in history and the timeline of history, or where you are in the world and what government that you are under.

It applies to every government at any time.

This is a principle for citizens of heaven, no matter at what time or at what place or what government we live under.

That's a good reminder for us.

Now, that doesn't mean that there it's not always going to be, it's gonna be a little maybe a little harder in some countries.

It definitely will.

And that also doesn't mean that there aren't some exceptions, and we'll look at those later.

But we have to realize, and Paul's almost assuming this in the text, is that there's like two realms.

There is God's kingdom, and then there are the kingdoms of the world.

And while we live in the world, we need to be subject to governing authorities, he tells us.

We need to be, he says, law-abiding citizens.

We need to be following the traffic laws, following the laws of the city, following the ordinances in our neighborhood, and so forth and so forth.

As long as they are not forcing us to disobey God's law, the idea is that we follow them.

And so Paul says the reason we do that is because, well, there is no authority except from God.

The reason the government has authority is because of God and his authority, and that is true really for all authority.

Authority ultimately comes from God because God is our highest source of authority.

That's what we should see.

And so, what is God doing here?

Well, because God is our ultimate source of authority, he's delegating his authority to the governing officials.

And so Paul says those exist, those governing officials exist because they have been instituted by God.

It's also good to remember when you're reading verse one and thinking, man, this is unfair, that there are a lot of people who have it worse.

Remember the type of society that these early Christians are living under.

They're living under Roman society, and Rome was way worse than America.

Paul is here in a Roman context, a government that doesn't share the same values that we are familiar with today, that doesn't have all the same rights that we are comfortable with today.

And he's asking us to be subject to the governing authorities.

Just to put things in perspective, to give you some examples of why it would be hard, at that time, most people, unlike Paul, were not Roman citizens.

They weren't.

Many people just living in certain regions were at the mercy of governing officials who had every right to execute you just because without any trial by jury or due process.

You also have to remember Paul is writing this to many Christians in Rome who may be slaves.

And slavery was not a nice thing at that time.

If you were a slave, you were the master's property.

And while you could buy your freedom, that's true, they certainly didn't have the rights and comforts that we have today.

Both of these are examples of why we have verses like this in Ephesians 6, verse 5 that tell servants, slaves, bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling.

Ephesians 6:5

What Paul wants instead, what God wants instead, is he's telling us to be subject to governing authorities.

The reason for that, and I think this verse here enlightens us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 11, so that we can aspire to live quietly, to mind our own affairs, to work with our hands, so that we may walk properly among secular society.

1 Thessalonians 4:11

We can walk properly before outsiders, dependent on no one.

And that's what Paul says, in fact, in Romans 13, verse 8 dependent on no one.

Romans 13:8

So why are we subject to governing authorities?

So that the work of God is more effective, so that we can live quiet lives, so that we can do God's will within society.

What God doesn't want from us is to resist governing authorities.

Paul says to do that is to actually resist God.

And as Americans, that's also sometimes difficult because we are a nation born out of rebellion.

But this is what he says in Romans chapter 13, verse 2.

Romans 13:2

God says, therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has instituted.

And those who resist will incur judgment.

If you bring this into context, it's actually crazy that Paul is writing this at the time that he's writing this.

Paul is writing this in about 57 AD.

He's writing this under the reign of Nero.

If you know your history, you know that is not a good guy.

He's not a good guy.

He is known for blaming Christians for the fire in Rome and then lighting them on fire.

He's not a good guy.

And these Christians in Rome are hearing these words that whoever resists the authority resists what God has appointed, do not know in that about a decade's time, they are going to experience extreme persecution.

They have to remember what God said in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Bless those who persecute you.

Bless, but do not curse.

Just to give you some more context, that idea of resisting in the Greek is to rage in battle, if we don't understand what that resist means.

This doesn't mean that we can't stand for what is right.

This doesn't mean that we can't stand for truth.

This doesn't mean that we can't call out wickedness when we see it, even in the governing authorities, and call them to a standard, a moral standard that's higher than where they are at.

We absolutely can.

But I think this speaks to how we should view our lives in this world as citizens of heaven.

And this is pretty freeing.

Peter elaborates even more on this, saying basically the same thing as Paul and 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 11.

1 Peter 2:11

In this chapter, he tells us and reminds us in the same way to be subject to governing authorities.

But then he also tells us that I want you to be like sojourners and exiles.

Sojourners and exiles.

In fact, you know, he says, abstain from the passions of the flesh, which is how Paul ends Romans 13.

We should see ourselves as sojourners and exiles.

That's how we should view our lives as citizens of heaven.

In fact, one of the best examples of this that we have looked at, we looked at this morning in class with Daniel and his friends, living in exile, living under an ungodly nation.

Remember what Daniel did in chapter chapter one and Daniel chapter one?

Right?

He resisted, right?

Actually, no.

No, he submitted to Babylonian education, and then he he took on Babylonian names, he entered into the king's service, and then when it was, well, either God's law or their law, then there was a line drawn.

But Daniel pursued the welfare of Babylon.

Daniel chapter 2, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream and rises even further into power, advances within a pagan government.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 6, he's looked at as distinguished because there's a good spirit within him.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

The point is we should see ourselves as if we are living in Babylon.

We should see governments as Babylon.

But just because we're living in Babylon doesn't mean that we shouldn't, as Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 29, verse 7, seek the welfare of the city.

Jeremiah 29:7

We absolutely should.

That's what Paul says in Romans chapter 13 as well.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

In Romans 13, verse 3, he says, For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad conduct.

Romans 13:3

Would you have no fear of the one who is an authority?

Not if you're doing good, then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.

The general principle is that the governing authorities are not to target good behavior.

Not saying they don't always do that, sometimes they do, but it's the general principle.

And God's people should be visible in all the right ways.

That's the general principle.

And as sojourners, what are we to do?

We are to do what is good.

We are to follow God's will, to do what is good and acceptable and perfect.

It's important that that word good is mentioned several times.

He's telling us, Paul's telling us, all those things I talked about in Romans chapter 12, feeding the hungry, living peaceably among all, showing hospitality to even strangers.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I want you to overwhelm the governing authorities and the secular world with your good works, so that you can receive the governing authorities' approval.

You can receive their approval, he says, and that is a good thing.

That's a good thing.

That's what he tells us in the very next verse.

For he is God's servants for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid.

For he does not bear the sword in vain, right?

There's real authority there.

For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

This verse just goes to show God's intent in instituting these authorities, the ideal behind them.

They are his servants, his ministers, Paul's gonna say later on, and they are ideally meant to protect, meant to show and bring justice.

And that's a good thing, that's necessary, right?

The murderer needs to see justice.

That's a good thing.

If I was if I have something that's stolen from me, I want to see justice and have an avenue in which to do that.

We as a Christian should want to be on the right side of that.

But if we do wrong, then he says we should be afraid.

And that is the first reason he gives as to why we should be subject to governing authorities.

Doing right is our best option.

Because doing evil, even in an evil government, only creates more destruction.

Remember, we cannot overcome evil with evil.

We overcome evil with what?

With good.

Now, if we are doing what is wrong and we are not being law-abiding citizens, well then we should be afraid.

It's the first reason he gives.

I want you to be subject to governing officials and respect their authority.

There's a fear.

Paul says he is an avenger.

Remember what God said in Romans chapter 12?

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.

Vengeance is mine.

And so we shouldn't want to contribute to chaos.

You read this, and what comes to mind, at least in my mind, are Old Testament concepts of how God will use other nations, Assyria, Babylon, Pharaoh, for his will, for his purpose to carry out judgment on wickedness.

But that doesn't mean that they don't escape judgment as well.

They do.

God judges even them, all nations, all governments.

He is the ultimate authority and the ultimate judge, and he judges both the good and the bad.

He does not condone evil.

Romans 13, verse 5 then says, Therefore, one must be in subjection.

Romans 13:5

And this is the second reason we are in subjection to governing authorities, is because of our conscience, which should be transformed, not conformed to the world.

Not only to avoid God's wrath, he says, not only for fear, but also for the sake of conscience that is transformed and should be aligned with God's will.

If it is, then our conscience should be telling us that I want to do what is right.

I want to obey the law.

I want to be a law-abiding citizen.

I want to do the best I can and follow God's will.

Remember, we have to be transformed and align ourselves with God's will.

And if we do that, we're going to do the right thing even when it's difficult.

And that is what he says in Romans 13, verses 6 through 7.

Romans 13:6–7

For because of this, you also pay your taxes.

For the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.

Pay to all those, 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.

Jesus would tell us and sum that up by saying, give to Caesar what is Caesar and give to God what is God's.

That is a summary of Romans 13.

Give to America what is America's.

Are the taxes really high?

Did they go up?

We pay our taxes.

We contribute to the support of what is good and the good efforts, even in the government.

And this, I imagine, is hard for many of the Romans to hear.

They had a very corrupt, if you remember, a very corrupt tax system, a very corrupt government.

You have Zacchaeus in Luke 19, verse 8, saying that if I defrauded anyone, well, I'll restore it fourfold.

Luke 19:8

Because there was corruption.

There was literally for them no taxation with representation.

And yet Paul says, I want you to pay your taxes.

Now I know you might be thinking, well, what about the exceptions?

The exceptions of the rule.

Right?

When we come in conflict with God's law here, you read verse 6 and you read that they are ministers to God.

But just because they're ministers to God doesn't mean that they are infallible.

There is wickedness even in governing authorities, and we see it.

We can see it today, and we've seen it throughout history.

Sometimes they'll do ungodly things.

And we draw the line when God's when God's law comes in conflict with that.

When man's law forces us to disobey God's law.

And there's a few examples of this.

And Daniel is another good example of it.

We looked at it again this morning in class.

In Daniel chapter 3, we have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, and they're told what?

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

They're told to bow down to this image, and do they resist?

Yes, they do.

They do, even in the face of death and a fiery furnace.

In Daniel chapter 6, they tell Daniel to stop praying.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

And does he stop praying?

No, he continues to pray even in the face of lions.

God will tell Mary and Joseph to flee to Egypt.

And Acts chapter 4 and Acts chapter 5.

Acts 4 · chapter mention Acts 5 · chapter mention

Peter and John and Apostles be told, I want you to stop preaching the gospel.

And do they stop preaching the gospel?

No, they don't.

They continue.

They continue preaching the gospel.

I want you to notice something.

Notice how they resist.

How do they resist?

They resist by staying loyal to God.

And all those examples, they're resisting and they are following God's law.

They are aligning themselves with God's will.

And all the while that they are doing this, they are showing respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed.

Is oh sometimes we focus too much on the exceptions of the rule.

When the exceptions of the rule should never be the rule.

What we need to realize is that Paul's teaching us the general principle here in Romans 13 and how this applies to our life today.

Our allegiance, though, is to God first.

When Jesus was standing before Pilate, and Pilate confronts him and asks him, Are you a king?

Jesus says this in John 18, verse 36.

John 18:36

My kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, would have been resisting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

But my kingdom is not from this world.

He's saying, if it was of this world, I would go to war, I would be fighting, I would be resisting, but I'm not resisting, because his kingdom, our kingdom, is not of this world.

That's the same attitude that we should have even today.

God wants us to submit to his laws.

And that's what we see in the second half of Romans chapter 13.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

He says this in Romans chapter 13 and verse 8.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

He says, Owe no one anything except to love each other.

For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Now, many people sadly take this verse out of context and saying, This is why you can't have a mortgage, and this is why you can't have a car payment.

And I watched some sermons, and sadly, a lot of them use this.

They'll take this phrase out of context, owe no one anything to teach that this is why having debt is a sin.

And that is not what this verse is saying.

We can look reasonably at life and we can know, even the scriptures, that there is good debt, there's bad debt, and we should have wisdom with our financial dealings.

But what this verse is not saying is that we it's a sin to have debt.

It's not saying that.

It's not saying that because of the previous verse.

Paul is already assuming that you have debt, that there's something that you already owe.

And if you owe it, whether it be taxes or revenue, you need to pay it.

God's point in all of this is that he doesn't want his people tied in a negative way to governing authorities or any authorities, but rather to be good stewards, to pay what is owed.

But what I love about this is Paul then takes this concept and flips it on its head to say that if you owe anyone anything, it should be to love.

Notice he makes love here, both personal and moral.

And that's important.

Don't forget the moral part.

Our debt should be to love.

Just like we have an obligation, a moral obligation to pay back what I owe or what we owe.

If we owe something, I have a moral obligation to want to pay them back.

The same idea of love applies here.

I have a personal and a moral obligation to love others and to love God.

Think of Jesus for a second.

Why did he not resist the governing authorities?

Certainly, he it seems like he has every right, right?

They're putting this innocent man to death.

But even though the Pharisees falsely accuse him and the people shall crucify him, there is a personal and moral obligation, because he is God, to lay down his life because he loves us.

He loved Pilate, he loved Barabbas, he loved Caiaphas, he loved Peter, he loved the thieves on the cross next to him, and he loves us.

God's love is so great, we are forever indebted to him.

And we owe others love because of what he did.

And it's humbling when you think about it that way, and you start seeing others more valuable than even yourself.

But just because we love them, just because Jesus loved them, just because God loved them, doesn't mean that he condoned their sin.

That's important as well.

But this calls God's people to a higher standard of love than what we see from the world.

And Paul reminds us of this, that there's actually a moral aspect to our love.

And he lines this up with some commandments in Romans chapter 13, verses 9 through 10.

Romans 13:9–10

He says, For the commandments are this, right?

You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet.

And any other commandments are summed up in this word, echoing Jesus here, right?

Great commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

So he lists there, you know, 10 some of the Ten Commandments, and then echoes the words of Jesus.

And all these commandments showing us this is how we're loving our neighbor here.

We see this in the fulfillment of loving your neighbor more than yourself, just as yourself.

But imagine for a second you take this list.

Imagine for a second that no one ever committed, from this point on, no one's ever going to commit any adultery, no one's ever going to murder, no one's ever going to steal, no one's ever going to covet.

Man, think about how much better the world and society and the government would be if we all just love our neighbors as ourselves.

We could keep the doors unlocked, we could go without a bunch of anxiety all the time.

Love at this point is deeply personal and also moral.

It's loving not to commit adultery, it's loving not to steal.

And this is completely different from the world where love has less to do with what is moral and more to do with just how I feel.

How often have you heard love used as an excuse to sin?

You just take these things, for example, this list where you know what?

Committing adultery.

I just fell in love with someone else.

Or I really love this, these people with the nice house and the pool.

Well, do you really love them or do you just love their stuff?

Right?

Are you coveting their stuff?

Same goes for murder.

Out of love, I took this person's life.

We've heard stories like that on the news.

We've seen examples of all of this, and at this point, love becomes more of an excuse rather than a way of life to be more godly.

I went to jury duty not too long ago, and they asked the pool of jurors that I was a part of how we feel about vigilantes.

And they gave examples like Batman, and like, how do you feel about people taking the law into their own hands?

And it was remarkable how many people gave an unbiblical response and said things like, quote, I have no problem with hurting others, with taking the law in my own hands, with hunting down people and even killing them if they harm me and my family.

People said that.

And then finally, someone actually pipes up and goes, Being a vigilante is actually not in subjection to the government.

I was like, thank you, thank you.

Because for a Christian, for a Christian, it should be different.

The standard is higher.

Did that person steal?

You owe them love.

Did that person run their car into yours?

You owe them love.

Did they insult you, cuss you out, comment bad about you online?

You owe them love.

God's kingdom overcomes evil with good.

And that means loving God with all my heart and all my mind and all my being, all my soul, and my neighbor as myself.

Our King, our King Jesus, fulfilled the law in love, and we should have a personal and moral obligation to do the same.

As we close, look at Romans chapter 13, verses 11 through 13.

Romans 13:11–13

Where Paul reminds us now this is why we do what we do, why we act the way we do within God's kingdom.

Romans chapter 13, verse 11.

Romans 13:11

Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.

For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

The night is far gone, the day is at hand.

So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Let us walk properly, as in daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual morality or sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Notice he says here, salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed.

And so Paul ends Romans 13 by reminding us that we are waiting for our king's return.

It's kind of like an alarm clock that's set, and the sun is just beginning to rise.

And Paul says, the night is far gone, and the day is at hand.

This is what Paul is saying in verses, you know, in chapters 12 and 13 to these Christians in Rome.

I want you to live your lives like a living sacrifice, knowing that Christ will return.

To actually live your life today as it is today.

So then let us cast off the works of darkness, he says, and put on the armor of life.

We hear in our society often time often, you know, live your your life like it's your last, like it's the last day.

YOLO.

But the Bible says here, live your life like Christ is coming today.

Let us walk properly as in daytime.

Let us walk and live our life as if the alarm has already gone off, and the return of Christ has already happened, and it is daytime.

And so put on the armor of light.

That's kingdom language.

Our loyalties are to Christ, Christ's kingdom first, and we wear his armor.

That's where our identity is.

And so we go to battle.

Let's go to battle.

But how do we battle?

Well, while the secular world participates in sexual morality and sensuality and fighting and quarreling, he tells us in verse 14.

He tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh.

That is how we babble.

If you're wondering how to put on Jesus, it's in baptism.

And Galatians chapter 3, verse 27 tells us that if we are baptized, we are baptized into Christ.

Galatians 3:27

I am urging you, if you are not a Christian, don't gratify the flesh.

Don't live this secular world thinking that it's your entire existence, living in anxiety and fear without any direction, because you are made for something more.

I hope that you see that.

You are made to serve God.

That's what you want this evening.

Come forward now while we stand and we sing.