Subject to the world - Submitted to Christ

Romans 13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.² Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷ Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹ Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹² The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

In today’s text Paul says:  Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.  For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;  for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.  Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  This is a difficult thing for many believers to accept in light of the godlessness that is in authority throughout our government today. We need to remember though that both Paul and Jesus Himself were subject to and submitted to a very oppressive and godless government. Paul, who was imprisoned by the Roman government, says:  For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. In John 19:10-11 we see an interchange between Jesus and Pilate, the Roman authority:  Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”  Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”   In Daniel 2:20-21 the prophet says:  Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.   We need to understand and believe that as Christians we are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of heaven and that in truth we are aliens in this world. As aliens we still need to abide by and be subject to the laws and authority of this place where we have temporary residence. As citizens of the heavenly kingdom we can rest in that regardless of the situation and circumstances here, we are: blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)   The psalmist says: The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:6) 

Because we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom and aliens here in the earthly kingdom, what Jesus says in Matthew 22:21 makes perfect sense:  “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”   Paul concurs with what Jesus says regarding Caesar and what He said about fulfilling the law, saying: Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.   Here though, regarding love as the fulfillment of the law, we need to recognize that it is God’s definition of love that fulfills God’s law. When Jesus spoke of the first and great commandment, in Matthew 22:37-40 He said:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  Before we can begin to love our neighbor we need to love God. 1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.   Our love for God and in turn our love for others is based in; it is a response to God’s love for us. Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. So our love should reflect that Jesus died for our sins; that He called us to repentance from our sins. In Yesterday’s text from Romans 12 Paul said:  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good… If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men…  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.   Today he says:  Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.  So, even as we live in subjection to worldly authorities we do not submit to spiritual authorities that oppose God and His kingdom. Even as we love others we abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. We do not become overcome by evil but we overcome evil with good. We lay aside deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. We put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the lust of the flesh. We render to this world the things of this world, but we render to God in holiness, righteousness; in submission to Christ and the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”   Because we are perfected in Christ, we are to pray for and bless even those who persecute us whether they are our neighbors or the governmental authorities of this world. It begins with the words of Jesus from Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Amen. Thank You heavenly Father that through the sacrifice of Your Son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I am a resident of Your kingdom. By the power of the Holy Spirit may I live as an alien in this world. In subjection to the world, but in submission to You may I be a testimony of Your love and Your light. In the name of Jesus I pray and in His righteousness may I live.  Amen.