Civil Government in this Age

Romans 13, verse 1-7.

Romans 13:1–7

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

!

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.

Honour to whom honour is owed.

Good morning.

Lovely to have a few visitors among us this morning and familiar faces.

So, welcome to you guys and lovely to have you with us this morning.

My name's Sam.

I'm one of the elders here.

And, yeah, I'll be preaching this morning.

You may have noticed that we've skipped ahead to Romans 13.

We're coming back to Romans 12 next week.

So, you haven't missed a Sunday.

We've just skipped ahead.

So, how about I pray and then, yeah, we'll get into it.

Dear Father, we thank you for gathering us together this morning.

We thank you that we can hear from your word.

We pray that you would give us grace, me grace to speak, and grace to listen.

And we pray that this would bring glory to you.

Amen.

C.S. Lewis said,

A sick society must think much about politics,

as a sick man must think much about his digestion.

I reckon that's a pretty good quote to start us off.

We think a fair bit about government and politics in our society.

We have a sense that things aren't as they should be.

But we have differing versions of what should be.

Thinking about politics elicits all sorts of feelings for us.

Victory, despondency, anger, and anxiety.

We can get a bit lost in it all.

So, I'd like to put forward another question for us this morning.

A different frame of reference for thinking about civil government.

When are we?

In life, it's important to keep a sense of where we are.

Losing a sense of where we are means we get confused,

divided about which way to go, anxious and stressed.

But just as important, and particularly for the Christian,

is keeping a sense of when we are.

At what point in history are we living?

And so, our aim this morning is to think about God's purpose for civil government

in this age, at this present time.

I have a hunch that asking when we are will help us think through this issue of government.

So, if you want to keep your Bibles open to Romans 13,

it would help if you had your sermon outline too,

to follow along in your bulletin as a guide to what I'll be saying.

So, the first point there is, know the time.

And all of Paul's instructions in chapters 12 and 13

are enclosed by two references to when we are.

In chapter 12, verse 2, we scan back there, Paul writes,

Do not be conformed to this world.

Check your footnote, and world is the same word for age or era.

Do not be conformed to this present and passing age.

As he rounds out the section in chapter 13, verse 11,

he writes,

Besides this, you know the time.

Besides this, meaning on top of all the reasons I've given to heed my instructions,

you know the time.

So, go and follow my instructions.

Knowing the time will help us live well.

But what is this time we are living in?

Well, Jesus has come.

His kingdom has begun.

But we're waiting for him to come again

and complete what he started.

Romans chapter 13, verse 12,

Romans 13:12

The night is far gone.

The day is at hand.

So, with this background,

we're going to go through our passage in three sections.

Verse 1 and 2,

Be subject to governing authorities.

The reason to be subject.

Governments ordained duty.

A Christian response.

The best subjects, in verse 5 to 7.

And then I'll close with two points.

Governments and gospel witness.

In chapter 12, verse 9 to 21.

That's the passage we're going to look at next week,

but I'll touch on it this morning.

And then finishing with being engaged,

but also being detached in light of the times.

So, be subject.

Verse 1 and 2.

Notice first, in verse 1,

who is submitting to the ruling authorities?

Every person.

It's literally every soul.

And contrast this with the instruction,

back in chapter 12, verse 19.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves.

By beloved, Paul marks out just the Christians.

But in this instruction,

of chapter 13,

the scope is wider.

It's every person.

So, why does Paul address every person

when he's only writing to the Christians in Rome?

We've seen in Romans

that Paul is uniting Jew and Gentile

with the gospel all the way through.

And he's doing it now

in this instruction about government.

Jews hated Romans.

The Romans were in their promised land.

Now, they were being asked

to submit to Roman government.

On top of this,

Jews had years and years

of spiritual authority

and political authority overlapping.

Now, Paul was saying

their political authority

should be given to a pagan ruler.

Roman Christians needed to understand the times.

God's Messiah comes first to save.

Then he comes a second time

to perfect and complete what he started.

We're in the in-between.

We are subjects of King Jesus,

but we submit to civil governments

whom he's delegated responsibility,

as Tim explained to us in the kids' talk.

Every person, so all of you also.

Can Christians serve in government?

Can we submit to a non-Christian prime minister?

Yes.

Governments are part of God's common grace

in this age.

Well, if the words every person

were a shock to first century believers,

the word submit

probably causes the most shock to us.

When we hear the word submit or authority,

we might think it's something to be rid of.

And sadly, authority can be used poorly.

Abuse of authority inflicts damage.

Misuse of authority will be judged by God.

But authority used well,

as God designed, is good.

Think of homes with servant leadership,

gentleness and clear boundaries.

Think of homes without it.

Even before the fall, there was authority.

Adam was tasked with putting everything in subjection.

Authority is good, and it's from God.

But when we hear the word submit,

we might have another question.

Do we think of words like passive and silence

when we hear the word submit?

We'll skip down to verse 7 of chapter 13,

and what action does Paul put alongside submit?

What do we owe civil government?

Respect.

The action of respecting is put alongside submission.

And in Ephesians 5, you don't need to look this up,

but wives are called to submit to their husbands.

And when that command gets repeated,

he says,

let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Submission and respect go together.

But does submit mean being passive,

being silent in marriage?

No.

If the husband is leading the family into sin,

the Bible does not expect the wife to blindly follow along.

No.

No.

What we ought to be respecting

presupposes the function of civil government,

which is in verse 3 to 4.

So I won't get more specific,

but submit and respect is to place ourselves

under authority from God.

It's good, and we shouldn't do it,

but it's not necessarily passive or silent.

Ordained.

There have been Christians in history and today

who believe government is illegitimate or not needed.

Unless a command comes from Jesus' lips or the Bible,

no one can tell me what to do.

Well, Paul rules that out completely in verse 1

when he says,

for there is no authority except from God.

Civil governments are from God.

To resist is to resist what God has put in place.

But we might ask,

what about the bad ones, Paul?

Are they from God?

Well, some use this passage to support the idea

that God has put in place every person

who has filled the office of magistrate,

including the Stalins and the Pol Potts.

Romans 9.17 says of Pharaoh,

an evil ruler himself,

I've raised you up.

God has a permissive will,

and so I think that is true.

God does do that.

But I think the stress of this passage

is more on the office

than on the particular person holding office.

Paul is not thinking first of Emperor Nero.

He's thinking of the office of Emperor.

See what you think.

In verse 1,

for there is no authority except from God,

and those that exist have been instituted by God.

To institute means to arrange over for a purpose.

It's a bit of an unfamiliar word to us,

but Paul uses a similar word in verse 2,

which is more familiar to us.

Those that resist,

resist what God has appointed.

When we appoint people,

we appoint them to a specific task.

Some translations,

instead of appointed,

have ordained.

When we ordained Martin

earlier this year,

we set him aside to carry out

the divine task of elder among us.

We didn't appoint him

to mow the lawn.

He's free to do that, though.

We didn't appoint him

to tell us what to cook for dinner.

We appointed him

to shepherd us with God's word.

And you'll notice in verse 6,

if you scan down,

Paul uses the word minister

of a civil magistrate

to support the idea

of a God-ordained role

with a set of duties to follow.

Before we move on,

I just want you to notice the tense.

Those that exist

have been instituted by God.

This is something God

has completely set up

in the past,

and it has ongoing consequences.

So in case you're thinking

this just applied back in Paul's day,

it doesn't.

What Paul says

about submitting to governments,

governments' duty to us,

to all persons,

applies as long as this age endures.

One last little thing

before we move into

verse 3 to 4.

Most people

might be asking

if this passage

rules out resistance completely.

Is it wrong

for Iranian Christians

to participate

in the overthrow

of the Islamic Republic?

Was it wrong

for the United States

to fight a war

of independence

from Britain?

Well, just remember

this passage

is not balanced.

It's addressing a time

when private revolution

was very common.

What this passage

does say

is that civil government

is not a law

unto themselves.

They are accountable

to God.

They have a specific

set of duties

they must give account.

Unfortunately,

governments

that abdicate

their God-ordained role

perpetrate some

of the worst

atrocities

and not every

afflicted citizen

gets freedom.

But this passage

does show

that every government

will be held

accountable.

What are civil

government's duties?

That's next.

Government's

duty.

In our society

there's so many

functions

governments perform.

There's hardly

an area of life

in which our government

doesn't influence

or legislate.

Yet,

Paul's description

of what governments

do is just

two verses.

So,

I think

there are things

governments

must not do.

There are things

governments

can do.

And there are things

governments

must do.

And Paul

is writing about

things governments

must do.

I've got

three points

to make here.

They're not

on your bulletin

but they're

all words

that start

with P.

Punitive,

preserve

and provisional.

And behind it

all is

God's

common grace.

Right in the

middle of

verse 3 to 4

Paul says,

For he

is God's

servant

for your

good.

For every

person's

good.

Common grace,

what's that?

Well,

remember when

Adam and Eve

sinned in the

garden?

The consequence

was if you

eat of it

you shall

surely die.

But did

they die

straight away?

No.

God allowed

life to

continue

outside the

garden.

Farming and

food production

albeit with

thorns and

thistles.

Families and

raising of

children albeit

with pain.

Government

for everyone

preserving a

measure of

peace and

order.

Common grace

on everyone

so that his

plan of

salvation

based on

special grace

could run

its course

until perfect

and complete.

So for

your good

governments

for your

good but

how?

So three

Ps.

The first

is punitive.

Their

essential

task is to

carry out

punitive

justice.

Punitive

means punishment

and remember

from our

justice and

mercy series

there's

different types

of justice

there's

retributive

justice which

is sort of

what we think

of the most

then there's

restorative

justice

and there's

also positive

justice so

you know

things as

they should

be.

Governments

must carry

out retributive

justice but

particularly

punitive

justice.

Verse 4

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 and

avenger who

carries out

God's wrath

on the

wrongdoer.

Do you

bristle a

bit with

that you

know shuffle

around in

your seats

sounds a

bit backward

surely we've

progressed past

this but

when Paul

talks about

this age in

Galatians he

refers to it as

this evil age.

This is the

age that

started in

Genesis 4

with Cain

killing Abel.

Yet God

values human

life enough

to delegate

governments

with punitive

justice and

this is a

good thing.

An

implication

before we

move on to

the next

P.

Christians

can't

exercise

punitive

justice.

Churches

can't

exercise

punitive

justice.

That would

be bad.

But in

this age

it's good

that government

does and

we can and

should support

government to

exercise this

capacity.

There are

limits.

Governments

carry out

God's

wrath on

the wrongdoer

not

indiscriminately

on the

wrongdoer.

It's a

good thing.

The next

P is

preserve.

As

governments

carry out

punitive

justice

they

aren't a

terror to

good conduct.

It would

be a

foolish

government

that objected

to citizens

starting

businesses

that employed

people

or citizens

that looked

after the

weakest and

poorest.

No,

verse 3,

they're not

a terror to

good conduct

they're a

terror to

bad.

Would you

have no

fear of

the one

who is in

authority?

Then do

good and

you will

receive his

approval.

By

holding the

sword they

promote the

good.

I think

this is

something that

we sort

of squirm a

little bit

at but

unfortunately

that's how

things work

in this

age.

Good

behaviour

comes by

coercion.

When

governments

don't use

the sword

the restraints

weaken.

Evil gets

a foothold.

My

parents were

at the

Sydney Opera

House on

the 11th

of October

2023

attending a

concert.

And that

night people

were gathering

to mourn the

massacre and

kidnapping of

Jews at a

music festival.

Another

crowd had

gathered at

the Opera

House that

night to

chant

where's the

Jews?

My mum and

dad didn't

feel safe and

nobody else

did.

It could

have been

stopped but

it wasn't.

Chris

Minns,

the Premier,

had the

fortitude to

later say

something to

the effect

of something

should have

been done

that night

to prevent

evil conduct

getting a

foothold but

it wasn't.

Governments

have an

important job

and we

ought to be

thankful for

when they

get it

right.

The last

P is

provisional.

Civil

government is

a stop

gap for a

period of

time.

when we

get Laura

to come

and babysit

for

Geordie

or Carol

to come

and babysit

for Geordie

their job

is to keep

Geordie fed

and alive

until we

come home.

If they

start renovating

and knocking

walls down

in our house

they're not

babysitting.

They're making

themselves

permanent.

and a

babysitter can

do an

enormous amount

of damage

if they

start home

renovations.

It's never

happened by

the way.

The point

is that there

are limits

on the good

government can

achieve.

There are

stopgap.

And we

should be

thankful for

the benefits

and welfare

governments

provide.

Our family

receives a

lot of

benefits.

from government

that we're

extremely

thankful of.

But these

goods are

genuine but

they're penultimate

not ultimate.

And whenever

governments try

to achieve

ultimate goods

heaven on

earth,

utopia,

it always

leads to

enormous

damage.

Where do

we see this

in the

passage?

Well notice

the distinct

lack of

gospel language

compared to

adjacent passages.

There's no

forgiveness of

sin,

no reconciliation,

no mention

of new

creation.

The focus

is on

retributive

justice,

not restorative

or positive

forms of

justice.

Civil

government

only has a

coercive

instrument that

can't change

hearts.

So something

to think about

an implication,

governments win

elections by

making promises,

don't they?

And for

Christians,

again, we

ought to be

thankful for

the goods

they provide

to society

but we

can be

discerning

about the

goods that

are promised.

Governments

can't provide

everything that

is good.

Christians,

the best

subjects,

verse 5

to 7.

So verse

5 to 7

concludes the

instruction.

It starts

by giving

two reasons

to be in

subjection to

civil

authorities.

Verse 5,

be in

subjection not

only to

avoid God's

wrath.

Pause

there.

As teachers

know,

fear of

negative

consequence

is a useful

tool in

the classroom

but it

has this

one drawback.

What

happens when

the teacher

isn't

looking?

Paul gives

a second

reason and

this I think

is unique

to the

Christian.

Be in

subjection not

only to

avoid God's

wrath but

also for

the sake of

conscience.

Whose

conscience?

Verse 6,

for because

of this you

also pay

taxes.

It's the

Christian

conscience

who knows

all authority

is from

God.

And so

Christians are

the best

subjects

because when

no one is

looking,

he still

pays.

When no

one is

looking,

he still

works because

his praise

is from

God,

not man.

Taxes.

Can we

pay taxes

gladly?

We don't

normally pay

taxes gladly.

We pay

our ministers,

David and

Martin.

As a result,

they attend

to their

God-given

duty.

With taxes,

we pay our

civil government

to attend

to their

duty,

the upholding

of peace

and order.

As a result,

we can travel

outside our

homes without

fear of being

robbed.

God.

We can

go to

work and

expect a

fair wage.

We can

live in

homes that

have been

built to

code.

Even if we

don't completely

understand what

that code is,

we can be

assured that

our roofs

won't fall

on top of

us.

Verse 6,

for because

of this,

you also

pay taxes,

for the

authorities

are ministers

of God

attending

to this

very thing.

Someone

said that

with taxes

I buy

civilisation.

Honour

and respect.

Paul has

explained the

good purposes

of civil

government for

this age and

now expects

Christians with

a renewed

mind to

discern to

whom payment

is due,

then give

it.

We have a

pretty low

view of

politicians in

Australia,

don't we?

It's a

national sport

to poke

fun,

slander and

belittle.

Take note

again of

the titles

God uses

of government,

God's

deacons,

God's

ministers.

And

verse 7,

respect to

whom respect

is owed,

honour to

whom honour

is owed.

It's not a

blanket statement

though.

When our

PM makes

lewd jokes

about women,

Paul says

respect to

whom respect

is owed,

honour to

whom honour

is owed.

But when

the trains

run on

time,

when we

can travel

freely,

provide for

our families,

raise our

families,

meet here

on a Sunday,

enjoy a

charitable

financial status,

respect to

whom respect

is owed,

honour to

whom honour

is owed.

Governments

and gospel

witness.

Before I

conclude,

I want to

make a

quick observation

about next

week's

passage.

It

shed some

further

insight

into God's

purpose for

civil

government.

Romans 12,

9 to 21,

next week,

contains

instructions for

Christians to

outsiders.

It's about

gospel witness to

the outside

world.

If you could

put your

finger on

verse 19.

What's

interesting is

that what

God forbids

a Christian

to do,

he authorises

government to

do.

Verse 19,

Christians are

never to

avenge

themselves.

Yet this is

the very thing

governments do.

And the

obvious point

is that the

church is not

meant to

bear the

sword.

That's the

state's job.

But there's

another implication.

Think about

this.

If the

state fails

in their

duty to

punish evil,

protect its

citizens,

preserve peace,

will that make

it easier or

harder for

gospel witness?

Humanly

speaking, it

gets harder,

doesn't it?

Churches have

to go underground.

Government

doing their

job provides

a stage like

this for the

gospel to go

out.

God's

love.

So we

should keep

praying as

Paul does

in 1

Timothy 2.

In our

country and

all nations,

for kings and

all who are in

high positions,

that we may

lead a peaceful

and quiet life,

godly and

dignified in

every way.

This is good

and it is

pleasing in the

sight of God,

who desires

all people to

be saved and

to come to the

knowledge of the

truth.

engaged and

detached.

I'll finish

on this.

All of us

long for good

government.

It's why we

complain so

much.

We're acutely

aware of how

far, how

short rulers

fall from the

ideal that's in

our hearts.

There's a

sickness, as

C.S.

Lewis said.

But if we

keep reflecting,

we might

realise that

it's not

just government's

problem, it's

ours too.

If you're

new to the

Bible and

this Christian

stuff, can I

talk to you?

There's a

king who we've

sung about this

morning, a

king who came

from another

country.

He lived

among us for

a short time.

He showed

glimpses of

perfect justice.

He put

wrongs to

right.

He led for

others, not

himself.

Then he died

and came back

to life and

went away.

He's returning.

And when he

does, there

won't just be

glimpses of

justice, but

the whole world

will be filled

with perfect

justice and

every wrong

put to

right.

Psalm 72

says about

this king,

may he be

like rain

that falls

on the

mown grass,

like showers

that water

the earth.

May his

rule spread

everywhere.

That psalm

goes on to

talk about

prosperity

that spreads

across the

whole world.

Crops

growing on

mountaintops

and no

neediness,

no poor.

Would you

like to live

under that

king?

I do, and

I hope you

do.

But what

about the

wrong we've

done?

The evil in

this age

that's in

us as

well.

When this

king came

the first

time, and

like government

we've read

about today,

he didn't

avenge the

wrongdoer.

He took

the punishment

of the

wrongdoer on

himself.

He drank

the cup of

punitive justice

on himself.

He died and

he buried that

debt, and

he did that

for us.

When he came

back to life,

he went away

preparing this

place we've

read about.

He's patiently

waiting so that

all who call

on him can

live with him

as their king

in this next

stage.

So call

on him

before he

returns.

Don't wait

till he comes

back because

that will be

too late.

For

Christians,

brothers and

sisters,

be engaged

as your

circumstances

permit.

It's an

act of love

for our

neighbour as

we petition

government for

the common

good.

keep

government

accountable for

what is

wrong and

what is

good.

Vote

wisely,

knowing that

not all that

is good can

be achieved

by government

in this

age.

Hopefully

you've picked

up that

the vision

Paul has

of civil

government

is chastened.

It's a bit

sober.

It's minimal.

what governments

must do is

important but

limited.

Therefore

our good but

penultimate goods

not ultimate

goods.

So I want to

urge us to

be engaged

but also

detached

because our

hope is for a

better country.

This country

is real.

C.S.

Lewis in his

book The Great

Divorce about

heaven and

hell provocatively

writes that

the grass in

heaven hurts

your feet.

It's that

real.

It's beyond

all comparison

to what we

experience now

says Paul in

2 Corinthians

4.17.

Yes it's

difficult.

It's unseen.

We can only

see this

country with

the eyes of

our hearts.

Ephesians

1.18.

So to

which country

is your

hope fixed?

Which

country

occupies

your thoughts?

Hebrews

11 says

this about

Abraham and

I want to

say to

us be like

Abraham.

By faith

Abraham

obeyed when

he was

called to

go out to

a place

that he

was to

receive as

an inheritance

and he

went out

not knowing

where he

was going.

By faith

he went

to live

in the

land of

promise

as in

a foreign

land

living in

tents with

Isaac and

Jacob heirs

with him

of the

same

promise.

Abraham

was in

the promised

land but

he still

considered

it a

foreign

land and

that wasn't

just because

King David

wasn't

reigning.

for he

was looking

forward to

the city

whose

foundations

whose

designer

and

builder

is God.

Verse

13

these

all died

Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

in

faith

not

having

received

the

things

promised

but

having

seen

them

with

the

eyes

of

their

heart

and

greeted

them

from

afar

and

having

acknowledged

that they

were

strangers

and

exiles

on

the

earth

for

the

people

who

speak

thus

make

it

clear

that

they

are

seeking

a

homeland

if

they

had

been

thinking

of

that

land

from

which

they

had

gone

out

they

would

have

had

opportunity

to

return

but

as

it

is

they

desire

a

better

country

a

heavenly

one

therefore

God

is not

ashamed

to be

called

their

God

for

he

has

prepared

for

them

a

city

see

rejoice

with the

eyes

of your

heart

the

city

our

homeland

God

is

preparing

acknowledge

your

status

as

stranger

in

exile

desire

a

better

country

as

we

engage

we

might

feel

increasingly

displaced

like we

don't

belong

God

won't

be ashamed

to call

you

his

God

in

this

age

be

engaged

and

attached

may

he

help

us

to

live

well

in

this

age

while

we

wait

for

his

return

Amen

may