Introduction

Today I want to pick up where we left off last week on the theme of our duty to governing authorities. We must remember that the principles of worship and godliness from Romans 12:1-2 bear firmly upon our relation to government. In Romans 13:1-7, we found that even matters of what might be called "dirty politics" are matters where we are to present our bodies and minds to God and to His will. Therefore we have a duty to government that is mainline and normative. Fulfillment of this duty involves much thought. There are some bumps in this road that we have to wisely maneuver our way along.

A review of our duty  To remind you of the emphasis follow with me as I read how Paul affirms (v. 1a), grounds (vs. 1b-5), and applies (vs. 6-7) our duty to government.

1) By affirming Paul calls for willing subjection of us all to governing authorities identified in an unqualified way (all of you, to all of them give voluntary obedience). We know that Peter qualified obedience to magistrates by the greater necessity of obedience to God, "we ought to obey God rather than men" (it goes with "render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s"). However, we do have a general rule and we must heartily seek how to fulfill the spirit and intent of it.

2) The basis is fourfold (1. all authorities are established by God, 2. to oppose them is to oppose God, 3. your relation to authority will bring either judgment or commendation from the magistrate as God’s deacon-priest, 4. You should submit to keep your conscience clear; it is better to suffer in doing good than to suffer in conscience).

3) When Paul gets to specifics of application he reaches right into the pocket book. You are to pay taxes and do so-and here is the rub- with a good attitude, with respect. This has to be both outward and inward respect (from within and demonstrated without). It includes what you say, how you say it, and what thought process you undertake in reflection on governing authorities that leads to speech and action under authority.

This is the main dish on the table. It is the general rule. There are exceptions. Paul does not address them here. We cannot use exceptions to eliminate the rule even if the rule is challenging and even if it "smarts" the conscience with a difficult "ouch!" We must begin with the rule, accent it, season our hearts with it, and work from this mindset, tone, and posture to the issue of injustices and exceptions that we have to endure even from mismanaged leadership.

Comfort and where it leads  Romans 13:1-7 sets a tone and gives fundamental comfort. It is comforting to know that God is working behind the scenes of history in the rise and fall of kings, presidents, nations, and institutions. As we look to the upcoming election on Tuesday we can and ought to trust God regarding what He is doing and we ought to obey God in what we are doing. Thus, comfort leads to responsibility not inactivity; it leads to responsibility not away from it.

The general becomes the particular  We have a duty to the authority structures God has established in general and in particular. In general, we have a duty to submit ourselves to parental authority, domestic authority, church authority, and government authority. It is to be voluntary, across the board, and conscientious (from deep in our hearts and consciences). In particular, we have a duty to willingly and conscientiously submit ourselves to honor our particular parents, to honor the present governor of this state, and to honor the present president of the United States. This means that when we are critical we will engage thought and conversation in a respectful way that is based on solid reasons and good information. We will critique charitably and cautiously when necessary but in due recognition of the fact that the powers that be are God’s deacons and priests ministering in His service.

A double-edged sword  By analogy this is the respect and fairness that we want in the positions of authority that we have as parents, husbands, managers, pastors, and so forth. It’s a double-edged sword that calls firm attention to the striking relevance of the golden rule. If you think that you can simply think and say anything that comes to mind in criticism of the president or the mayor (or anyone), then you are saying that is how you want to be treated. That is what you expect from your children, your wife, your employees, your flock, your students, and so forth. The golden rule dovetails in here to the duty that we have to God to submit to those in authority over us because we are also people who have authority over others. The Lord ordained these authority structures. They function under God’s providential control and by divine precept. It is to Him that we are conscience bound in all these relationships eyeball to eyeball (this is where godly going gets rough but where the godly get tough, that is, tough in the pursuit of righteousness).

This message   Here is the topic then for this morning: Christian living under authority. What I want to do is back away from Romans 13 so we can see this passage in its larger NT context. Here is a key guiding question: "Given that Romans 13 is only part of the picture, is this tone found elsewhere in Scripture?"

The key NT verses on this theme are Romans 13, 1 Peter 2:13-17, 1 Timothy 2:1-3, and Titus 3:1-2. The message of these passages is reinforced by our Lord in His comment about the famous coin of Caesar and in His submission to the injustices that nailed Him to the cross.

1A. What emphasis is found in 1 Peter 2:13-17?

As to tone we can say that it is similar to Romans 13. And we can observe some nuances.

1B. The overall tone is similar in Peter

1) He says, "Submit yourselves" to every authority (2:13a). This is a spiritual posture in a most fundamental sense because it is part and parcel of being a "holy nation" as God’s elect (2:9) with citizenship in heaven and not in this world (2:11). Being part of the "other" world, the heavenly city, impacts how we live in this world as aliens and strangers (2:11). Sinful desires that war against the soul include an ungodly posture toward governing authorities on this earth (2:11b). Part of doing good that glorifies God is to submit to authority (cf. the natural flow of thought from vs. 11-12 to v. 13). So like Romans 13, we have a spiritual worship/godliness duty that underpins our relationship to governing officials.

2) Again the language is unqualified (2:13-14a). Submit, he says, to every authority (again, all of you to all of them-submit). This injunction is without qualification as to the abuses, sins, and mistakes that we can assume exist. Peter writes in the time of Nero, a particularly infamous emperor of Rome.

3) Governing leaders are sent by God with a commission to punish and commend (v. 14).

4) Honoring governing authorities is akin to fearing God (v. 17). But there is an interesting preference given to the brotherhood in that the language of honoring pertains equally to all as to the king. Thus love for the brotherhood is special (thus if we combine this verse with Gal. 6:10, we get this: do good to all including the king but do good especially to the household of faith).

2B. The nuances accent the main dish on the table

1) It is to be for the Lord’s sake. What does this add? It is a little different than "for conscience sake." It personalizes in plain terms. Your attitude toward those in authority over you, parents, governors, and so forth is to be guided by the sense that it is for the Lord. Your minds are not to be conformed to the world nor are your actions. The goal is personal. In Christian living under authority, you seek to glorify God (cf. v. 12).

2) This applies to both higher and lessor authorities. You cannot simply say to yourself, for example, that the IRS official sitting across the table from you in a tax review is just some "puny no good before whom I have no responsibility." That thought is what the world’s cookie cutter cuts. The attitude reflects the world’s pattern not a transformed mind. If this comes out in speech, the body is not functioning on the alter of God’s service in worship and godliness.

3) There is an obvious tie with Romans 12:2 on God’s will here in v. 15. If we have a predominantly critical and negative attitude toward governing officials, then our minds are not conformed to God’s will. It is God’s will that you do good (i.e. submit) and thereby silence the ignorant. And of course this applies equally to our parents, bosses, and so forth.

4) There may be suffering in doing good developed contextually in the analogy of slaves to their masters (vs. 18-20). We must remember that there are many sufferable evils that we are called to endure in a sinful world as we live under sinful authorities (this is across the board in family, church and state).

5) It is all rooted in the example of our risen Savior, the ultimate authority who cares for us (vs. 21-25). Following His model we strive for spirituality of the highest order. This, of course, is a tug at the heart of the Christian for whom the Savior endured severe injustices. At the hands of evil men He bore the punishment of our sins and injustices on the altar before God.

6) Godly wives illustrate the beauty of submission (1 Pet. 3:1-4). The nuances serve to accent the same general rule given in Romans 13. We are to submit ourselves willingly to those given authority over us by our Lord Jesus Christ. All authority has been given to our Savior who is therefore the king of all nations.

2A. What is given in Titus 3:1-2?

There seem to be two ways that we could summarize what we have in Titus 3:1-2.

1) First, this duty is one that pastors are to bring before the family of God. "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities" (v. 1a). This is something that I am to attend to in fulfilling my office; I am under authority to do this.

2) This duty is to be fulfilled by the application and implementation of Christian graces. I think this coordinates well with the fact that due to sin we all have a struggle with this notion of submission and obedience to authority.

We are tempted to slander those who have authority over us. Slander includes speaking what may be true in fact but which is inappropriate in not upholding the office and the reputation of the one in authority. It includes gossip and the distortion of truth that causes injury to someone’s good name. Gossip involves spreading rumors regarding personal, intimate, and thus "sensational" matters that get people’s interest and cause them to form irrational opinions about someone (to this we are particularly prone in politics by candidates and the media).

We must endure hardness as good soldiers. This means that we will actually go for peace in speech rather than for a war of words. There is truly the need of a heavy dose (railroad carloads) of the difference between arguing and quarreling in the public arena (note that it is easily thought of as an arena). Our comportment in trials and unjust circumstances will be biased toward that which promotes peace.

We will display much consideration.

We will have humility in our hearts before God of a kind that shows itself. When your thinking is flooded with a sense of the great distance that exists between you and your Lord and thus of your comparative smallness, it is easy to eat crow before men.

Humility and all these graces apply to all people and in context here especially to those in authority over us.

3A. What is accented in 1Timothy 2:1-3?

1) First, we should pray for those in authority over us. Calvin says Paul, "mentions kings and other magistrates, because, more than all others, they might be hated by Christians." He also notes that most of the rulers in Paul’s day were "sworn enemies of Christ." Still we are to pray for them that God would make "bad men good" (Commentary 52). This includes general intercession and intercession for parents, husbands, elders, bosses, and teachers. It is well pleasing to God our Savior. It has a goal: pray that social order will flow from those in leadership so that "we may live peaceful and quite lives in all godliness" (v. 2). This is a circle. Peace making is to be prayerful in relation to leaders. Peace is to flow from leadership.

2) Second, godliness is again at issue. Notice the comprehensive (all) focus on lives devoted (holy) to God-likeness (godliness). Again, our relation to those in authority over us, our attitudes, speech, conduct and general comportment is a matter of worship of God with our bodies and God-like-ness with our minds.

Conclusion

As we go to the polls this week, we should go with at least two considerations weighing upon us forcefully. 1) On one hand knowing that God is in control, we are can trust what He is doing behind the scenes of history. All powers that be are ordained by Him and serve to His glory in ways beyond our grasp. We are to entrust ourselves "to Him who judges justly" even if beyond our understanding. 2) On the other hand, we have spiritual responsibility in relation to all the "dirty politics." We are called despite the dirt and filth to clean hands and devoted hearts. For conscience sake, from the heart and for the Lord’s sake (for his honor and glory) we submit ourselves to those who rule over us. May our lives glorify Him!