Romans 12:18--13:6

• 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
• 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
• 20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
• 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
• 1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
• 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
• 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
• 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
• 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
• 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.

INTRODUCTION: Civil Government is God-ordained and Necessary for Fallen Mankind. Anarchy is not God's will for us, because it is not possible to live at peace with everyone. No matter how peaceful I am, everyone does not want to live at peace with me. Some people would like to rob me, kill me, take my wife and children, sell us all into slavery, forcibly convert us to Islam, etc., etc.

We need to have a civil magistrate, because people are sinners by nature. We will naturally steal, cheat, kill and bear false witness against each other for personal advantage. Look around the world. Read history. That's the way we are as a race. So Law and Civil government are necessities. "The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1)

The Best government is that of God Himself; but mankind has rejected God's direct government. In the Old Testament, we read the story of how Israel rejected God in favor of a human king.

• 7 And the LORD told him (Samuel): "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
• 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
• 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
• 10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
• 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
• 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plough his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
• 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
• 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
• 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
• 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
• 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
• 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
• 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us.
• 20 Then we shall be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
  (I Samuel 8:7-20)

The Bible pictures Christians as people who are INVOLVED and who SHOULDER THE RESPONSIBILITY to build a just society. Some people say: "Just leave me alone. All I want is for the government to leave me alone. You leave me alone, and I will leave you alone." But this is not the Christian way. Jesus taught: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

• 34 ¶ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
• 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
• 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
• 37 Jesus replied: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
• 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
• 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
• 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
  (Matthew 22:34-40)

Paul wrote the Romans: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

And remember how we pray in "the Lord's Prayer." "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." Do you mean it?

These are passages that most Christians don't take seriously. It is our duty to overcome evil in our community. It is our duty to love our neighbors. That doesn't mean "you leave me alone, and I will leave you alone." On the contrary, it means that Christians will become active in building a just society. We want a place where our neighbor will be safe from criminals. We want a community where personal property will be protected. We want a community where the civil government will respect your individual rights. We want a community in which our children will life in safety and happiness.

In other words, YOU AND I ARE REQUIRED BY THE COMMANDMENT OF JESUS TO ESTABLISH GOOD CIVIL GOVERNMENT. We are not to simply accept whatever government the pagans happen to establish. That would be irresponsible shirking our our duty to be salt and light. What does that mean in real life, in practical terms?

In Romans 12:18--13:6 We find three specifics about Christian behavior with regard to Civil Government.

I. Christian citizens should be peaceable.

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
(Romans 12:18)

• 1 ¶ Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,
• 2 to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men.
  (Titus 3:1-2)

"Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.""
(Matthew 5:9)

Christians should not be the ones the police need to deal with. The neighbors should not be calling to cops because we are disturbing the peace. We should not often be arrested for breaking traffic laws. We should not be brawling in taverns. We should not be fighting with rival football teams. We should have a reputation for kindness, goodness and self-control.

II. Christian citizens should not be vigilantes.

Years ago when cowboy shows dominated TV (Gunsmoke, Paladin, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, etc.), there were often vigilantes in the plots. There was a 1974 Charles Bronson movie that was very popular, too (Death Wish). He was a man with a gun who rode the New York subway, and strolled the New York parks at night, shooting criminals. That's what a vigilante does. Bronson's criminals were very bad. They deserved to be shot. But Christians are not authorized by God to take justice into their own hands.

• 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
• 20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
  (Romans 12:19-20)

Having burning coals on your head is NOT a good thing, in spite of how some recent Bible commentators have tried to re-explain the verses.

"In Bible times an oriental needed to keep his hearth fire going all the time in order to insure fire for cooking and warmth. If it went out, he had to go to a neighbor for some live coals of fire. These he would carry on his head in a container, oriental fashion, back to his home. The person who would give him some live coals would be meeting his desperate need and showing him an outstanding kindness. If he would heap the container with coals, the man would be sure of getting some home still burning. The one injured would be returning kindness for injury" (Wuest, p. 220).

"The writer once heard of a woman involved in bitter quarrels with her husband. Seeking counsel, she was asked, 'Have you tried heaping coals of fire on his head?' She replied, "No, but I tried a skillet of hot grease!'"

But we read in Psalm 11....

• 5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.
• 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulphur; a scorching wind will be their lot.
• 7 For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.
  (Psalm 11:5-7)

• 7 O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle
• 8 ¶ do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah
• 9 Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.
• 10 Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.
  (Psalm 140:7-10)

• 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
• 4 For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
  (Romans 13:3-4)

The point: Paul is telling the Roman Church to get involved with building a better society. It is better to establish a police department, and a good system of justice, than to act as a vigilante. God has charged Christians with building up our communities. That's what it means to love our neighbor. Our task as Christian citizens is to create a Christian State, not for every man to be his own police force. We are not authorized to take God's vengeance into our own hands. Why not? Because as individuals we get carried away by emotion, and by family connection, and we are not inclined to be absolutely JUST in our vengeance. We must have a dispassionate State, a good court system, with Lady Justice blind-folded to position and wealth and family, and carrying a scale, to be absolutely fair in the justice meted out. God demands and authorizes civil authorities to be His agent of wrath on the criminal. We are here to try to advance God's Kingdom on earth, not just our own personal justice.

III. Christian citizens should pay their taxes.

"This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing."
(Romans 13:6)

What did Jesus say about taxes?

• 15 ¶ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
• 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.
• 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
• 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
• 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius,
• 20 and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
• 21 "Caesar’s," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s."
• 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
  (Matthew 22:15-22)

On the other hand, the Bible reminds us that ALL we have really belongs to God. So, by approving of taxation, God is authorizing us to give a certain amount of His money toward supporting the civil government. How much? He never says specifically. I would say: whatever it costs the state to fulfil God's mandate for it, that's the right amount.

The underlying problem: what is the function of the State? If the functions of the State are very limited, then only a minimal taxation is justified. On the other hand, if the State is seen as God: If the State is seen as the owner of all things, and the manager of all things: education, roads, armies, charity, welfare, health, etc. etc. Then the State will want ALL money. Jesus says: There is a legitimate realm for government. But the sphere for civil government is limited. Therefore, taxation must have a limit, too. What are the limits on the State? The Bible does not precisely draw a line, so be careful!

There is a saying about personal rights and freedoms: "Your freedom to swing your arms ends where my nose begins."

This says something to us about God and the State. The authority of the State must end where God's authority begins. If the taxation of the State prevents us from doing the will of God, then we have reached a tipping point. Or if a command from the State would force us to do something contrary to God's will, then we have also reached a tipping point. And the Bible says there sometimes comes a time when we must echo the Apostles, "It is better to obey God." Or we may need to expose ourselves to being cast into the burning fiery furnace, as happened to Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego. But be careful about not paying taxes. God has authorized the State to collect taxes. Jesus Himself paid taxes. Don't make up your mind not to pay your taxes unless the rest of the Christian world agrees with you that a tipping point has been reached.

We know that God has authorized the powers that be. We know that they are to terrorize the criminals, and reward those who do good. Unfortunately, the a pagan state will always try to expand itself to do things not authorized by God. This will always be the case with a nation that is not a God-fearing nation; and in case you haven't noticed, the United States is not a Christian nation.

Making a statement like that will rile up a lot of people, so let me explain what I mean....Just ask yourself the question, what would a Christian nation look like? In my opinion...

• 1. In a Christian nation, most of the people would be disciples of Christ. (Do we live in a Christian nation?.....
• 2. In a Christian nation, all of our public schools would honor Jesus and the Bible. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 3. In a Christian nation, immoral programming would be banned from TV and the movies. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 4. In a Christian nation, immoral songs would be banned from the radio. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 5. In a Christian nation, there would not be internet pornography. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 6. In a Christian nation, there would be no gangs, no gang killings and no drug or alcohol problem. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 7. In a Christian nation, there would be no racial prejudice. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 8. In a Christian nation, the President of the USA, the Congress and the Supreme Court would all honor Jesus as Savior and Lord.
• 9. In a Christian nation, nearly everyone would be in church worshipping God on Sunday morning. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 10. In a Christian nation, there would be no homeless people, no hungry children, and no prostitution. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....
• 11. In a Christian nation, you wouldn't have to worry about the government taking your life savings away by devaluing your currency. (Do we live in a Christian nation?....

So, do we live in a Christian nation? No, not yet. But someday when Jesus returns, everyone on earth will live in a Christian nation.

• 1 ¶ Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
• 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
• 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
• 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
• 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
  (Revelation 22:1-5)

CONCLUSION: What is the Christian's Relationship and Responsibility toward the State?

So what should we do, as Christians? Get involved. Get into government. Run for office. Be responsible to re-create a State that is doing what God has authorized the State to do. When the State compels you to do something that is sinful, refuse to obey.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
(Romans 12:21)

Christian citizens should establish a civil government that will compel the conscience.

"Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."
(Romans 13:5)

We are to love our neighbor as ourself. We are to be salt and light. We are not to sit idly by and let the pagans continue to be in charge of the government. Vote. Run for office. Support Christian candidates. Write letters to Congressmen/women. Write letters to editors. Be involved with your community. Be a part of what's going on. Try to win your neighbors to faith in Jesus Christ, and discipleship. In everything you do and say, be a witness for Christ; and influence your community to come a step closer to being a truly Christian community.

• I. Christian citizens should be peaceable.
• II. Christian citizens should not be vigilantes.
• III. Christian citizens should pay their taxes.

And the over-arching principle that guides all of this: Christian citizens should be active in transforming our pagan nation into a Christian nation. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be salt and light. Pray for Jesus' Kingdom to come to earth. Pray for God's will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Don't passively allow the pagans to rule the nation. Be active as a disciple of Jesus Christ to promote Jesus' principles and will.