Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will [a]bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Well as we open this passage of scripture again today, I thought I’d start on a lighter note. We’ve covered all but the final point in this sermon series.
1. Submit to the government 2. Government is to promote justice. (Reward good, and punish evil) 3. Government is to establish the rule of law. 4. Government is limited by God.
And sometimes, sermons like this seem kind of heavy-handed, so here’s a little humor to start. This is a letter written by one Don Genereaux to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington D.C.
From the Desk of: Don Genereaux Honorable Secretary of Agriculture Washington, D.C. Dear Sir, My friend, Dan Hansen, over at Honey Creek, Iowa, received a check for $1,000.00 from the government for not raising hogs. So I want to go into the "NOT RAISING HOGS" business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to raise hogs on? And what is the best breed of hogs not to raise? I want to be sure that I approach this endeavor in keeping with all government policies. As I see it, the hardest part of the "NOT RAISING HOGS' program is keeping an accurate inventory of how many hogs I haven't raised. My friend Hansen is very joyful about the future of the business. He has been raising hogs for twenty years or so, and the best he has ever made on them was $422.90 in 1968, until this year when he got your check for the $1000.00 for not raising 50 hogs. If I get $1000.00 for not raising 50 hogs, then would I get $2000.00 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself to about 4,000 hogs not raised the first year, which would bring in about $80,000.00; then I can afford an airplane. Now another thing - these hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of corn. I understand that the government also pays people not to raise corn and wheat. Would I qualify for payments for not raising these crops not to feed my hogs I will not be raising? I want to get started as soon as possible as this seems to be a good time of the year for the "NOT RAISING HOGS" and "NOT PLANTING CROPS" business. Also I am giving serious consideration to the "NOT MILKING COWS" business and any information you would have on the endeavor would be greatly appreciated. In view of the fact that I will be totally unemployed, I will be filing for unemployment and food stamps, and was wondering how long that process takes. Be assured, Mr. Secretary, you will have my vote in the upcoming election. Patriotically yours, Don Genereaux P.S. Would you please notify me when you plan to give out the free cheese again? Unknown.
We all know that government has done some very stupid, and sometimes dangerous things. And because that is true, we can often feel justified in breaking their stupid laws. But our first responsibility is to submit to government, as long as they are not violating God’s commands, which we will get to.
Then we looked at government’s job, promote justice, punish evil, reward good, with the rule of law.
We left off last time with that. Now I have some concluding thoughts about government establishing the rule of law.
Governments are to establish laws that punish evil and reward good.
2 questions
Does government even know the difference between good and evil?
What is God’s standard of law and order in society?
First, do people in government really know what is good and evil? Well some days you might not think so. But, in general, all people know the basics of what is good and evil. Remember what tree Adam and Eve ate from in the Garden of Eden? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And look at Paul’s discussion of the topic in Romans 2.
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
So all people, rulers and authorities included, know the basics of good and evil. It’s built into our consciences. It, to one degree, is just our natural inclination for self-preservation. We all know innately, that it is to our benefit to punish murder, theft, rape, etc. It is mutually beneficial to have those laws, even if we are only motivated by our own preservation.
So government is to establish the rule of law. But second, what should that standard look like? Well there are several principles we can glean from the laws of Isreali society.
We have already looked at some Old Testament laws. They were very harsh by today’s standards. But they really show you how serious God was about establishing the rule of law, and just punishment. Punish with severity, without pity, without partiality, without delay.
1. Punish with severity
Numbers 35: 16 ‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
20 If he pushes him out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, 21 or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer.
Even provides for accidental death
22 ‘However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, 23 or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.
30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. 31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no [c]atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”
And judgments were to be harsh. Why? What’s the point of the death penalty? By the way, there was no prison system in Israel. Every infraction was punished either by death, or restitution. Rape-death, kidnapping-death. Adultery-death. Theft-restitution—pay back 4 to 5 times what you stole. etc
1. Satisfies God’s standard of justice
2. Deters others from committing the same crime.
3. It is a restraint on criminals. If they are put to death, they can’t repeat the crime.
4. Rehabilitation
Notice that the last reason is rehabilitation. We often put that first, and say, they are a changed person, so let’s ease up on the punishment. But to do so, can often destroy the top three reasons for punishment.
With severity-life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. That just means that the punishment should be sufficient to do all the things mentioned above.
2nd- Without pity
Deuteronomy 19:13 11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall [b]put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
3rd -Without partiality
Deuteronomy 13:6 6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife [c]of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not [d]consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies,
4th – without delay
Deuteronomy 25:1-2 “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to [a]court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows.
Ezra 7:26 26 Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it be death, or [a]banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Why did God establish this kind of rule of law in Israel? He did so so that violence, theft, rape, etc, would be the rare exceptions in the nation, not the norm. He did it so people could walk the street at night without fear. He did it to protect the innocent. And that is the purpose behind governing by the strict rule of law, to protect the innocent, and suppress the evil intentions of humankind’s hearts.
That’s why we are in such a dangerous place today. Evil is going unpunished. Evil is even excused or celebrated in our society. In the cities that hosted the recent riots, there were people in positions of power who raised funds to get hose rioters out on bail. Just a few short months ago, the hot topic about New York was how they were no longer going to require bail for “minor offenses.” Charles Barry, 56, has been arrested 139 times, taken to court, released without requiring bail, to await trial, goes right out and commits more crime. What’s he doing? Robbing people in the subway system. It’s a minor offense.
US. Department of Justice statistics, the average time individuals actually served for murder, about 13 years. “Murder” was their conviction. We’re not talking about those who got a reduced sentence. And that’s an average. That means some served far less time. Put that in perspective, the average time served for drug possession, 15 years.
That’s why we have a mess on the streets of some of our cities; their government is not performing it’s chief function, to punish evil, to govern by the rule of law.
But you might say, but preacher, sometimes the wrong people get punished. The wrong people are executed. Innocent people die. Yes, the problem is that we are a sinful people, and no matter what system, the school of hard knocks, or society for snowflakes, innocent people will die, or be accused. It’s just that in a society with no law, the innocent die more often at the hand of their neighbors, than at the hand of the court. And more innocent people die in anarchy, than under the rule of just laws.
Let me give you an example. Everyone has been up in arms this last year over police killing those that they arrest. George Floyd is the most prominent example. He died when a police officer held him pressed against the ground with his knee for nearly 8 minutes. It was awful. Everyone agreed when they saw the video. That was May 26th of this year. Then the protests and riots started. So far, I can’t get a clear number on this, at least 19 civilians have been killed in the riots. 18 police officers killed from gunfire. Hundreds injured, thousands of arrests. In Minneapolis alone, looting and fires resulting in $25 million in destruction.
God gave us the government and the rule of law, not because it was perfect, but because it can minimize the damage and death of the innocent.
So all that being said, what about our final point. The role of government is limited by the Bible. I guess if you were going to translate that sentence into your and my reality, you would say, “When do I not submit to the government?” We already established that our primary relationship to the government is to submit to it. But when can I not submit, according to the Bible.
Acts 5:28-30 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
So here’s Peter and the other apostle’s of Jesus, standing before the Sanhedrin; the ruling 70 of the nation of Israel. This was essentially the Supreme Court in the Israel of that day. You can hardly get a higher government authority higher. The only higher authority for the apostles would have been the Roman government. But the Sanhedrin were both a civil and religious authority. And they told the disciples to quit teaching in the name of Jesus. And they not only continued to teach in the name of Jesus, they were preaching that the blame for Jesus’ crucifixion fell on the Sanhedrin themselves. They railroaded Jesus to the cross.
The apostles did not submit to the ruling authorities. Now, let me make a quick note here. Notice that they would not quit preaching, because God had commanded them to do that. But, when the authorities from the Sanhedrin came to arrest them, they did not resist arrest. They just went with them. That means that they were submitting to the authority that the Sanhedrin had to arrest them, but not to the authority that told them to quit preaching.
Now notice what they said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” There are two things I want to do with this point. First, I want to remind you of times in Scripture that people obeyed God rather than government. And we can take these as examples of when you should obey God rather than man. And second I want to give you my list of areas where I believe you have a Biblical basis to break the law.
A. Examples of defying government in Scripture
1. Worshipping other gods
a. Earliest example: Mosaic law
Deuteronomy 13:5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
b. Elijah/Ahab—the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal
c. Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego---worship this golden image or be thrown into the fiery furnace Daniel 3
21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.—came dressed well
2. Self-defense
a. Flee to the next city
Matthew 10: 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
b. Paul and Silas in Philippi—earthquake, prison doors flung open—jailbreak---jailer---what must I do to be saved----who does it endanger
3. Protecting other people
a. Moses hidden as a baby—Hebrew midwives
b. David protected from Saul by Jonathan, others in the army--(interesting--David protecting Saul---would not lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed)
c. Obadiah hiding prophets
1 Kings 18:2-4 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.
3 And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly:
4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
d. Esther put her life on the line to save her people---it was unlawful for anyone to approach the king without being called---she did it
4. Telling the truth
a. Nathan confronting David about his adultery
b. Elijah confronted Ahab for killing Naboth to take his vineyard
c. John the Baptist confronted Herod about his marriage to his sister-in-law
d. Stephen confronted the Sanhedrin with the crucifixion
5. Prayer/faith
a. Daniel-diet, prayer
b. He was Polite and reasonable—did not call for government overthrow. In the diet issue, he approached the man in charge with a plan to test the diet. In the lion’s den he surrendered to the punishment.
6. Evangelism-Paul defied the law everywhere he went—He was pursued by Jewish authorities. Preaching things contrary to Jewish law.
7. So, as much was possible, submit—Jesus even paid temple tax, and quietly went to the cross.
B. My list of what warrants rebellion
I read an article on line about the Chinese government putting surveillance cameras in the churches. Would that be reason to rebel? I have two thoughts; 1st, it would most definitely lead to immediate arrest. 2nd, they would at least hear the gospel one time. I don’t think I would resist. Protest, try to persuade, not resist. So here’s my list, based on the passages we just talked about, and the rest of Scripture. It is by no means meant to be exhaustive. In fact, if you think of something more, let me know.
1. Fleeing-Martin Luther fled the Roman Catholic church and was hiding in Germany.
2. Worshipping only God through Jesus Christ
3. Evangelism
4. Telling the truth
5. Prayer
6. Personal or family corruption—raise children knowing the Lord/not educating according to the world
7. The Bible—possession, study, teaching
8. Protecting people—snitching laws (spying) Jews, underground railroad—slaves were kidnapped, China 1-child law—kill your child, or someone elses
9. Onerous restrictions in history—allowed protestant churches, but only so many miles out of town, pastors couldn’t be educated
10. Restriction of what is preached or taught
11. Loyalty oaths—hold up fist—BLM –communist Marxist
12. Church—hiring laws, membership laws, marriage laws
13. Having worship services
MacArthur church—rules in California—if it were China—I wouldn’t sing
Work within the system---our system—court levels—when we see something at a local level that violates a higher law, we are justified in violating the local law—but we have to do so peacefully, and let the system work—seats on the back of the bus—appeals to higher court---that’s what Mac church is doing—take it to federal court eventually Supreme Court
Paul used his position
Stay above blame
Be peaceful and cooperative