God, Government, and the Gospel

I want you to imagine a pastor disqualifies himself from the ministry with a moral failing, and when confronted, he shrugs his shoulders and says, Yeah, but don't you know that Jesus died for my sins?

Imagine a woman steals from her employer.

And when confronted, she shrugs her shoulders and says, Yes, but don't you know that Jesus died for my sins?

Imagine a child gets angry and curses their parent and shrugs their shoulders and says, But don't you know Jesus died for my sins?

Imagine a student cheats on a final exam coming up in a few weeks here, and when confronted, shrugs their shoulders and says, Yes, but don't you know that Jesus died for my sins?

You see, each example is different, but at the root they're all the same.

The gospel did not transform all of their life.

And whether or not you're here as a Christian or not as a Christian, I think we should be able to make the same judgment together that the gospel must transform all of our life.

You can't just segment it to one area.

Forgiveness doesn't mean you're free to go do whatever you want.

So let me take those examples and let me ask a little bit more difficult question this morning.

How does the gospel transform your relationship to the government and other governing authorities?

And some of you will say, well, well, Justin, here's how it does it.

I vote according to biblical values.

And that's good.

Praise the Lord.

Keep doing that.

You ought to do that.

But I actually want to ask a deeper question, more of a heart-level question.

What is your posture?

What is your attitude towards the government?

The right response here can be hard for us for a lot of reasons, right?

Theologically, we go all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, where with the greatest governing authority, the best, the most perfect governing authority, Adam and Eve, still said, No, I want to be my own governing authority.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

I want out from under your rule, God, I want to be my own king.

I want to be the master of my own faith, the commander of my own soul.

And every one of us, as their children, carry the same impulse into our lives.

So theologically, it's a hard thing for us to relate rightly to authority.

I think historically as well, it's difficult for us in the United States.

I mean, our fathers taught us that we don't need your taxes and we don't need your tea.

And we'll come do things our way.

Merica! Look, I'm looking forward to the 250th anniversary.

This is not like an anti-America talk by any stretch of the imagination.

In fact, every July 3rd, there's this one meme I go back to, and I make sure I send it to all my British friends.

I think we have a slide of it here.

This is one of my favorites.

Send that on the 3rd of July out to all the all the Brits among us.

Yeah, have fun at work tomorrow, England.

Because we're gonna be celebrating and eating hot dogs and hamburgers and having fireworks, and all the dogs are gonna be freaking out at 11 o'clock at night, and it'll be glorious.

Except for the people with little kids, they will not be finding that part glorious.

So theologically, this bit about responding to governing authorities is stuff, historically, as Americans, like I just think it's hard for us because it's part of like it just feels un-American to submit to the authorities, right?

But even maybe more personally than any of that, there are a lot of you who have just had bad experiences with governing authorities.

Maybe the government itself, maybe a police officer, maybe a really bad boss, maybe your mind goes back to COVID.

There's all sorts of personal experiences with bad governing authorities that make it difficult today to respond rightly to the governing authorities, right?

There sure are.

And all this would be compounded if you would think of a different cultural time in which you lived.

What if I lived in ancient Rome, like Paul did under Emperor Nero?

What if I lived in Hitler's Germany?

Or what if, like some of our members here who have fled from modern-day Nigeria where Christians are being killed today?

How would you read Romans 13?

You see, Romans 13 brings us a very clear truth with a very hard application.

We gotta understand that right out of the gate.

There's clear truth here, and it's gonna be really hard for us to apply.

And the question that we started with, I want to come back to and say this: if the gospel transforms all of our life, then it must also transform our relationship to the government.

And I think there's a real danger for us that the examples I started out with, the pastor's moral failure, or a woman stealing from her employer, or children cursing their parents, or a student cheating on a final exam, we look at those, we make a clear judgment, but in this particular case, we're the one who want to give ourselves a shrug and say, Yeah, I've got some extenuating circumstances.

You see, here we are in Romans 13.

For 11 entire chapters, Paul has explained the gospel in one of the greatest gospel discourses in the history of the entire world.

And starting in chapter 12, he moves forward and says, Now here is how you live in light of the gospel.

Chapter 12 was all about life within the church.

The gospel transforms these relationships.

And now in chapter 13, he's moving out into the broader society, starting with governing authorities and saying the gospel must also transform how you relate to the broader culture, specifically to these governing authorities.

And here's the major principle of the first half of Romans 13.

Be subject to the governing authority.

I said it's a clear truth with a hard application.

To be subject to the governing authority means you will be submissive to the governing authority.

Chapter 13, verse 1 starts out by saying, let every person.

There is nobody who can claim immunity from the command.

And the governing authority would be described two times as God's servant, and then later in verse 6 described as God's minister, which let's just be honest, we don't usually think of the government as God's servant and God's minister.

That's completely unnatural to us.

And I think Paul repeats it because it is so unnatural to us.

Here, in a way, he's building out what he already said in chapter 12 and verse 2 do not be conform to this world.

Well, as far as relating to the governing authorities, what does it mean to be conform to this world?

It means a couple of different things.

Generally, that you're bent towards igniting a revolt or ignoring the rule or idolizing the reign.

Like that's generally what conformity to the world looks like.

As I think about my relationship to governing authorities, igniting a revolt, ignoring the rule, or idolizing the reign.

And Paul says, nope, none of those are what you're called to do right here.

Christian, you are called to willing, joyful submission.

This is part of what it means to live out the gospel.

Romans 12, 1.

This is what it means to be a living sacrifice.

So in a general sense here, we're seeing the government at play and how we relate to it, but there is a broader principle of just submission to authority, which is a major biblical theme.

It's not one that plays very well in a don't tread on me kind of culture.

And yet it's all over the Bible.

And so it's worth us pausing for just a minute for you to see across many passages that we show our submission to God and our transformation by the gospel in how we submit to other authorities.

So James chapter 4, we're told, submit yourselves therefore to God.

James 4 · chapter mention

Ephesians 5 says within the body of Christ, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

So relationship with God, transformation by the gospel, demonstrated by how you submit to one another.

Later in Ephesians 5, wives, submit to your husbands as unto the Lord.

Ephesians chapter 6, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Honor your father and mother.

Hebrews 13, back to the church context.

Titus chapter 3 and verse 1, be submissive to the rulers and to the authorities.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 13, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the Emperor Supreme or to those who are sent by him, namely his governors.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

A little later in 1 Peter chapter 2, it's applied in a workplace context.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Not only to the good and the gentle, that's the easy part, but also to the unjust.

For this is a gracious thing.

When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

So this is a major biblical theme.

That your relationship to God, a transformation by the gospel, shows up in how you relate to governing authorities.

The overall posture of a Christian must be willing, joyful submission to the imperfect authorities in my life.

And that just doesn't go down very easy.

Here's how Pastor Mark Vrogu has said it.

I think it's helpful.

The normative pattern for believers is Christ-like submission, regardless of whether or not you think the ruler is worthy of it.

And yet we read that, and at least the Brownsburg residents pipe up and say, Yes, but Hawk's Landing is such a bad idea.

Or more seriously, we could slow down and not think about things like those zoning issues.

But what about really evil rulers?

What about people you read about on the news?

What about people that you have fled from?

When do I resist?

When do I revolt?

What is that supposed to look like?

And if you listened carefully when Kate was reading, what you would have noticed is that Romans 13 makes absolutely no mention of any of that.

Despite Paul saying just a couple chapters previously in chapter 8 and verse 36, we are being killed all the day long.

Why does Paul not make an exception?

Why does he not mention it in chapter 13?

I think it's because the main difficulty, the main difficulty is willing, joyful submission to the authorities God has placed in our life.

And everybody is looking for the exception.

And the major principle needs to be the major principle.

Now remember, this is Paul who was put to death at the hands of a wicked governor, a wicked emperor named Nero.

And before Nero, there was another emperor, this would have been around Paul's days, is a young man named Caligula.

You see a picture of Emperor Caligula here.

Caligula was threatened by his own family.

He felt threatened by his family, so he killed his mom and his brother to eliminate the threat.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone.

Caligula was frequently a cross-dresser in public.

Caligula would go to the gladiatorial games and pick random people out of the crowd who had just been there to watch, pick them up and throw them in to be eaten by the beasts.

Some of you are concerned today about people stacking the courts.

Caligula nominated his own horse to be part of the Senate.

That's a different level of rubber stamp right there.

Okay, so the people that Paul saw in government, it's not as if he was living in like this golden age of good and godly rulers.

And yet he doesn't make mention of civil disobedience here in Romans 13.

Why is that?

We'll get to it in a second.

The question you're asking, or at least I hope you're asking, is civil disobedience ever warranted?

The answer is yes.

I see at least eight times throughout the Bible where it is appropriately practiced.

Is political influence a good thing?

Yes.

You ought to be voting.

You ought to be advocating.

You ought to be writing your representatives, seeking out the good of your neighbor through influencing legislation that is in line with biblical principles for the good of you and those around you.

Absolutely do that.

But it's not mentioned here in Romans 13.

Quick teaser.

This fall, I'm working on a PTM course.

We call this Pathways to Maturity.

I think the way we interact with politics in the church is an area where we are underformed.

And so my working title for this class is political discipleship.

Because I think it's really important to figure out how do I engage appropriately without idolizing politics.

It's a very challenging thing for us to figure out.

It's a needed part of our discipleship.

It's the way we love our neighbors.

But it's not what comes up today.

Paul's not giving this comprehensive analysis of church and state.

The main point of this text is to say, be subject to the governing authority.

He's building on what he just said in chapter 12, verse 19, never avenge yourselves, but leave vengeance to the Lord.

He's building on what he says in chapter 12, verse 21.

Overcome evil with good, overcome evil rulers with good conduct.

And he's saying, the Christian posture towards the government is willing, joyful submission, because Jesus is my Lord and my citizenship is in heaven, and the gospel defines my mission.

And Paul's aim here is not to overthrow Rome's power, but to unleash the gospel's power.

Get that?

The aim that Paul was after is not to overthrow Rome's power, but to unleash the gospel's power.

And when Christians live in right orientation, right submission to the governing authorities, that's a really powerful thing, is what he says.

And he gives a four-part rationale for it.

And that's what we're going to see in four points this morning.

Rationale number one for why we should live this way.

All authority is from God.

All authority is from God.

Here we are in verse one.

Paul simply says, there's no authority except from God.

Notice he's not talking about particular authorities, particular people in government, but rather authority itself is from God.

It's God's idea.

All authority flows from God.

And so any authority you have in this life, we would call a derivative authority.

It flows downstream from the authority that God has.

Now, if you are in authority of any kind, this fundamentally changes how you exercise your authority.

Some of you may be in governmental authority, some of you have family authority, some of you have authority at work or in the HOA or other places.

Some of you are coaches.

Now, I I was the generation that grew up watching The Lion King.

And I remember on Pride Rock, Mufasa is talking to Simba, and he's telling them all about, you know, everywhere the light touches is our kingdom, this and that.

And one day, Simba, you'll be king.

And Simba says, Dad, I thought being king meant you get to do whatever you want.

And Mufasa has to explain, no, that's not what having authority is all about.

Because when you understand that your authority comes from God, not from yourself, your authority comes from God, not from your employer, then your responsibility is actually to God to rightly reflect his authority in whatever sphere you've been given authority.

The idea that all authority is derivative under God places a limitation upon the governing authorities.

It means there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to exercise authority.

It means that you can rule immoral, immoral, or in immoral ways.

And we need to recognize here the authority that we have in our lives, it will in a way inform a moral sense without defining moral reality.

Maybe one of the easier examples to see in this is 2015 a Burgefeld decision at the Supreme Court, informs American sense of morality today about heterosexual and homosexual marriages.

It informs our sensibilities, but it does not define moral reality.

And so you have the opportunity, if you're in authority, to make good decisions and exercise authority in godly ways that help to show others, oh, here's what God's good authority looks like, and here's why his good morality is for our good.

You might say it this way: when authority is exercised in godly ways, and when it protects godly values, it is a beautiful thing.

Perhaps you've had a really good boss that exercised authority in godly ways, and everybody under their leadership was absolutely thriving.

Or put negatively, anarchy tends to be terrible for everyone because there's a lack of exercise of godly authority.

Maybe you've watched Le Miz or other, you know, productions that take us back to various revolutions throughout the history of the world.

It's very interesting to me at the end of David's life, 2 Samuel 23, he comments on the good exercise of authority.

He says this when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

Authority is a good gift from God.

And when exercised rightly, it is a beautiful thing.

That's the first point.

Second rationale that Paul gives is also in verse one.

All authorities are instituted by God.

This is the very end of verse 1.

It says those that exist have been instituted by God.

So here Paul is saying, not merely authority in general is from God, but the specific rulers have been placed there by God.

And this is another theme that's all over the Bible.

Let me show you just a couple of these passages.

Daniel 2, 21 says the following He changes times and seasons, he removes kings and sets up kings, he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

John 19, verse 10, famous conversation between Jesus and one of the governing authorities in his day, Pilate says to him, You will not speak to me?

John 19:10

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

Jesus answered him, You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

Isaiah 45, verse 13, we read of another ruling authority being placed in its position.

Isaiah 45:13

God says, I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness, I will make all his ways straight, he will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.

Even Cyrus, the Persian king, established by God.

Exodus chapter 9, verse 16.

Exodus 9:16

Pharaoh, wicked king of Egypt, established by God, he says, But for this purpose I've raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

We could list more, but there's just a few samplings.

Every authority that exists has been placed there by God.

Why take the time to go through these passages?

Here's why.

Our great temptation is to look out and see unjust rulers and avoid the major premise of this text and say, I don't have to be subject to these governing authorities because they're not ruling well.

Now, are free elections the best way from a human standpoint to elect rulers?

I believe it's a clear answer of yes.

Does Romans 13 require or even suggest such a system?

No.

In fact, 1 Peter explicitly calls believers to submit to wicked rulers.

And the first and most natural concern that we bring to the table here say, yes, but my rights.

And the Bible's first concern is to look in and see your own pride, your own selfishness, your own rebellion, your unwillingness to submit to the governing authorities that God has placed there.

Now let's get really practical and let's start talking to the parents and the grandparents in a way that steps on the toes.

When your kids and when your grandkids hear you talk about governing authorities in your life, do they get a strong sense of willing, joyful submission to the governing authorities?

Or do the sense they get is my issues, my rights.

My party, my people.

Don't tread on me.

Let me remind you.

The words that we use are never just words.

Out of the depths of the heart, the mouth speaks.

What's down in the well comes up in the bucket.

Listen, anybody can submit to good rulers.

Duh.

It's the easiest thing in the world to do.

But a heart that's been transformed by the gospel starts to show up when I have bad leaders.

And it must be subject to those governing authorities.

And maybe you're getting twitchy here for me to start talking about the appropriate times for civil disobedience to show up.

Don't run to the exception.

Let the major principle be the major principle.

Be subject to the governing authorities.

Second rationale Paul gives is the rulers that are there have been instituted by God.

Here's the third rationale he gives.

Here's why it's good to be subject to the governing authorities.

Because bad conduct results in judgment.

Now we're going to pick up the pace a bit here.

I've not even gotten to the end of verse one, and I'm well aware of that.

But if you look at Romans 13, in verse 2, there's a therefore.

That starts the next set of rationale.

And then in verse 5, there's another therefore.

Those two therefore's frame in in the text how this next flow of thought is going to go.

Let's go back and read verse as two through four again and then explain them.

Here's what Paul says.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resist what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

When 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.

So on the surface, this feels like a self-serving statement.

Don't do bad stuff, because if you do, bad stuff will happen to you.

And that's exactly what it is.

He's saying, look, if you disobey, you will be judged.

No, let's make a Mother's Day application here.

Moms, you are God's gift to your kids through the exercise of godly discipline in their lives.

Dads, you honor mom by upholding her discipline and not letting the kids run all over her when you're not around.

That is one way you honor and exalt her.

Serve her well.

Proverbs 23 is very clear to us.

It says, do not withhold discipline from a child.

If you strike them with the rod, they will not die.

Okay, so it's in every age there's this temptation to say, well, spanking is out of bounds.

We shouldn't do that.

Sometimes we call it gentle parenting, sometimes we call it child-centered parenting, sometimes you just go back 20, 30, 40, 50, 100 years.

Everybody back to the Psalm's day has been saying, I don't know, maybe we shouldn't do that.

Folly is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from them.

At the same time, what does the instructions in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 4 say?

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Do not provoke your children to anger.

You know how to provoke your kids to anger?

Discipline them out of your anger, but rather raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Right?

The point of discipline is not that we'll just be a bunch of tough mudders in our house and we'll have grit and we'll get through things.

It's that you'll learn the value of godly character and you'll learn how to submit to authority, and the Lord disciplines those whom he loves.

And we learn to receive discipline as a good gift from a kind father and a kind mother.

Parents, we're leaning on you here.

We need you.

Kids, now it's your turn.

You know what this passage says?

When you resist the governing authorities in your life, you are resisting God and He will judge you.

And the governing authorities, i.e., your parents, will judge you too.

Now let's just broaden this out to everybody.

Bedtime you think is a little too early.

The speed limit you think is a little too slow.

The dress code at your school is enforced unfairly.

Somebody heard that one.

That does not give you liberty to go do whatever you want to do.

The zoning commission is unwise in their decisions.

The taxation system is very foolish.

Look, there are appropriate ways to resist, there are inappropriate ways to resist.

There is a heart posture that is one of willing, joyful submission, and there's one that rises up and says, not on my lawn.

And in the short term, you know what this passage says?

The government is God's agent, it is his servant.

The government, it actually says, is God's avenger to punish you, to act on his behalf.

And I do think there's a risk here that we think we're wiser than God without saying that.

Here's how this happens: we think, oh, if God knew how dumb these decisions were, then maybe he wouldn't put me in this spot.

Like, God knew that the authorities in place would be imperfect in their enforcement.

And he still said, be subject to them.

And if I can just put my like political cards on the table here, like one of my favorite presidential quotes from all time came from Ronald Reagan.

And he said this the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

Like maybe that resonates with you a little bit.

Friends, just hear me on this.

You can recognize the imperfect enforcement and at the exact same time the legitimate God-ordained authority within the rulers that are there.

That's really, really important for us.

And it's very easy for us to see the imperfections and then to lose our mind and to dishonor God by losing our mind and to lose our witness as we lose our mind.

My posture to the government tells the story of the world that Jesus is king, my citizenship is in heaven, and the gospel is my mission.

There's a phrase here in verse 4, to bear the sword that has generated a lot of conversation.

What is meant by bearing the sword?

Well, simply stated, it means the authority to enforce justice.

That's what's meant there.

But the sword is a violent image, so it begs the question: to what extent are the governing authorities authorized to bear the sword?

There's been a lot of discussion throughout the centuries.

This text, among others, going back to St.

Augustine through Aquinas and others, has led to the development of what is called just war theory.

Some will use this to talk about capital punishment and the death penalty.

Others would leverage this text or lean on this text to talk about a criminal justice system in prisons.

That's a much deeper conversation than we can get into today.

If you want to go deeper on it, what I would commend you is a book titled Reforming Criminal Justice by a guy named Matthew Martins.

I read this a couple of years ago and was deeply helped.

He comes to it saying this.

He says, America has the best criminal justice system in the world and it badly needs to be reformed.

So it's neither America hating nor is it America idolizing.

Here's a guy who graduated first in his class from UNC law, but also holds a master's degree from Dallas Seminary, who has decades of experience in all corners of the legal sphere, including he was clerk for Chief Justice Rinquist for many years.

His credentials are very, very impressive.

And he says, What would it look like if we tried to formulate a criminal justice system that bears the sword according to biblical principles?

You might find it interesting.

But let's go back to bearing the sword in vain.

What if good conduct is judged as wicked conduct?

When do we practice civil disobedience?

I'm not going to totally leave you hanging here.

It is important that we think about this.

I just had to wait a little bit to let the major principle be the major principle and keep you hopefully on the edge of your seat a little bit.

Generally, there's a couple of ways, right?

So if the government or the governing authorities forbid what God has commanded, civil disobedience.

So that's the book of Acts.

You can't preach anymore, and they say we must obey God rather than men.

Or the government commands you to do something wicked, i.e., Exodus chapter 1, kill all the babies and the Hebrew midwives, where godly said, No, we're not gonna do this wicked thing.

Exodus 1 · chapter mention

Okay?

So that's what's been very much agreed upon by Christians throughout the centuries.

There's a second category that's a little more complicated that came up quite a bit during COVID, honestly, that says when the government exceeds its jurisdiction, there's an opportunity, a responsibility, some would say, for civil disobedience.

So if the government comes in and says, here's what you must feed your children, here's what time you must put them to bed, or what's happening in some districts, perhaps in California, where there are uh gender changes happening to children without the parents knowing it is done by the government outside of their jurisdiction.

It goes within the home, here you see an opportunity for civil disobedience.

That's a second major category that has uh really a lot of complexity to how that works itself out.

I would just refer you to the class this fall that I referenced previously for more exploration there.

But I think there's a more basic application for us.

If you do bad, bad will happen to you.

Everybody can remember a time where you did something wrong and you know you got caught doing something wrong.

Right?

You got called down to the principal's office, you're driving down the road, you see the red and blue lights, you get called into the boss's office, you're walking in and know, like, this is gonna be ugly, how do I get out of here?

And there's that sinking sick feeling in your stomach.

You know that, right?

You've got that.

In a way, what this text is telling us is at the human level, when you feel that, it is a divine foreshadowing of a much sicker feeling that you will feel in eternity when you stand before the truly righteous judge.

And everyone will stand there.

And as a reminder for you today, in the spot from a human standpoint where you know you're guilty and you've got nothing to plead, and you just have to say, I'm done.

I got nothing to say.

Please be merciful, and you just hope they're merciful in eternity.

There's no I got nothing to say.

You're either saying, Look, God, I realize I'm guilty.

I missed the mark.

But I'm clinging to Jesus Christ and his righteousness, and I'm not clinging to my own.

And so I still have this sickening feeling over my own guilt, but I know that I'm not condemned.

This is why we sing before the throne of God above, when Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see him there who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the just was satisfied to look on him and pardon me.

So this temporal justice, human justice from imperfect authorities, is teaching us about our own unholiness and ultimate justice that will be brought to earth.

If you are here and you're not a Christian today, this might be the most important thing for you to hear that you will stand before a righteous judge, and you will plead either your own imperfect righteousness and it won't be good enough, or you'll plead the righteousness of Jesus.

And that's why I implore you to turn to Christ today for the forgiveness of your sins.

Here we find the third rationale.

And let's move to the fourth.

That good conduct flows from good conscience.

So bad conduct results in judgment, but good conduct flows from good conscience.

Here we pick up in verse five with the second of the therefores that we referenced a minute ago.

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.

So here's a shift.

He said before, don't do bad stuff because bad stuff will happen to you.

But do do good things because it's right.

Don't do it for self-serving reasons, don't do it for external motives, do it because of conscience.

And as Paul is writing this, you should know the idea of conscience is a very Christian theological innovation.

In Jewish logic, the idea of conscience wasn't there.

They had 613 laws, keep all the laws, you'll be in good shape.

Very different system here.

This is a gospel motivation from the heart to please the Lord in all things.

And what does Paul go to of all things to demonstrate this?

Your taxes.

Talk about going to an extreme.

He says, the way you pay taxes can glorify God.

You want to know how the Bible is written by God and not only by men?

He says your taxes can glorify God.

No human would ever write that apart from divine inspiration.

But you know what?

He's going beyond that.

He's saying you give, you look at the coin, it bears Caesar's image, you give to Caesar what is due to him.

That's what Jesus said.

And you look at your own life, and you bear the image of God.

Every single one of you made in the image and likeness of God.

And so therefore, you give to God what is due to him, what has his image upon it.

You.

You give your whole life to God.

And we show honor to people in office because of the office, not because of their impeccable character.

Like it's just really hard for me to think about showing honor to most of our governmental authorities.

It just is hard for me.

But we recognize here the honor due them is not because of their character, but because of their office, or as our friends in the military often will say, you are saluting the rank.

This is what Paul modeled before Agrippa, the governor, not a godly man, and yet Paul approaches him with great respect.

You read about it in the book of Acts.

So I just want to ask practically, like, what does it look like for good conduct towards governing authorities flowing out of a good conscience?

What are examples of a good con good conscience in action?

Let me give you just a few ways I think we can embody that today and this week.

Right out of the gate, guys, appreciate the authorities that God has put in place.

You're gonna go out and you're gonna see the BO trail, like, boy, praise the Lord for authorities that care about beauty and this place for us to walk and ride our bikes.

Because if they weren't looking out for our good, this wouldn't be here.

Or you imagine a world that doesn't have a police force.

A world where 911 calls go unanswered.

It's not a world you want to live in.

And you say, I appreciate, I am grateful for the authorities that God has placed here.

You appreciate the authorities.

You pray for the authorities.

This was commanded in 1 Timothy chapter 2.

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

We model that on a regular basis in our pastoral prayers, and we recognize there's a lot going on that I don't know about.

They're juggling a lot of different, uh a lot of different just concerns.

And so I'm gonna pray for them to have wisdom.

Let me give you a tangible example of this.

Bethesda Christian School Building Project, we've been waiting for this certificate of occupancy for a long time, and my posture is like, come on, county, why didn't you guys giving this to us?

For a long time.

And you know what the county found?

We'd made some errors in our planning, in the execution of the project.

And for our good, they slowed things down.

And so we want to pray for them and honor them because they actually have a job to look out for our good, even if sometimes it grinds our gears.

How else do we embody this?

You just be a good citizen.

Like you pay your taxes, you obey the speed limit.

Some of you are working to get your driver's permit or your license, and there's a certain number of hours that you're supposed to get during the day, during the night, certain people in the car, and you honor the rules that are there, even if you don't think you're gonna get caught.

Like it's real tempting to fudge those rules, isn't it?

Super interesting.

Like, ah, this is too hard.

No, be subject to the governing authorities, be a good citizen.

And maybe the most important one.

What flows out of a good conscience?

You check your affections.

This is kind of an outlier, it's a little bit different than the others, but it's like I said, I do think it's the most important.

You ask yourself, do I get more fired up for election day or for the Lord's day?

Do I recognize that this nation is a 250-year-old experiment?

But the Church of Jesus Christ is a certainty that will endure forever.

The gates of hell will not prevail against it.

I check my affections by going to the Fourth of July parade and enjoying it to the hilt, but recognizing my real independence day is Easter.

That's when I was really set free.

And one day Jesus will come back.

But Revelation 19 says he comes back with fire in his eyes and a sword proceeding from his mouth, and hair that is so white you need sunglasses to look at it.

And he's wearing a white robe and he's on a white horse.

You know why he's wearing a white robe on a white horse?

Part of it is this battle is not gonna take him very long.

He's not that concerned about it.

Like I'm going to a spaghetti restaurant, I'm not wearing a white shirt because I am concerned about it.

He's coming to a battle, and he's wearing a white robe on a white horse because he knows for sure how he's going to win, and it's not going to take him very long.

And when he comes back, guys, he is not coming back to take sides, he's coming back to take over.

And what that means for us on this side of his eternal rule and his eternal authority in every way is this: as you bow the knee to imperfect rulers, you demonstrate a life that is bowed to the only perfect ruler, the one who is faithful and true, the one to whom every knee will bow in heaven and on earth.

And as you submit to imperfect laws, you demonstrate submission to the only perfect lawgiver.

And as you do that, the story of your life tells the true story of the world, that Jesus is king, your citizenship is in heaven, and the gospel defines your mission.

God in heaven, we need your help to be subject to the governing authorities.

Because we want to be our own boss.

We want to be our own king.

Submission is hard, especially willing, joyful submission.

And yet, Jesus, you submitted to the will of the Father, laying down your life to redeem and to save.

We ask for your help this morning and this afternoon and this evening that our lives would follow the example of yours in willing, joyful submission to the authority you've placed in our lives.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.