Romans

Good morning, Saylorville Church! Blessings from Redeemer Church in Winterset. if you’re not familiar we are a church plant that got its start right here from this congregation. We’re just super thankful! God has been doing awesome things! In Winterset, we continue to grow. Two weeks ago, we had our outdoor service on the land that we bought, and we’re hoping that, Lord willing, next year about this time, we can begin our construction process. So we’re excited about that! We had VBS this week, so it was a busy week, and my oldest daughter is getting married next week! She’s here today, so that’s exciting! There’s lots happening for me and Redeemer Church, but I do want to say thank you. What’s happening in Winterset wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for this church’s heartbeat and what you’re about… wanting to see Gospel-centered churches plant other Gospel-centered churches. Thank you for your financial giving, and also for your encouragement. I especially appreciate the encouragement from your pastor, who is not just an acquaintance. He is a spiritual father to me. I lean upon him… sometimes on a daily basis. I’m so very thankful!

He has given me the topic, (and it was mean of him!) “Submission to Government.” It’s just totally a “Pat” thing [Pastor Pat Nemmers] to do to me! I think maybe because we’re both wrestlers and he thought he could pick on me that way. Submission to government… that’s what we’re talking about this morning. Let’s get right into God’s Word, Romans 13:1-7.

Romans 13:1-7 (NKJV), “Let every person 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 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 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, honor to whom honor is owed.”

Let’s pray. King Jesus, we thank you for your Words. Father, we ask that you would help us as the people of God or maybe as unbelievers. God, we understand this is Your Word to mankind, God’s revelation, so we submit and put ourselves underneath it. We’d ask, Holy Spirit, that You would do what only You do, that is to pierce the deepest recesses of our hearts and minds and  to places only You know. God, convict us. Cause our hearts to turn away from doing it our way, from our own sinful nature, and turn in loving submission to government… with joy! Would You do that work in our hearts? It’s in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This is not a topic for the faint of heart, especially if you’re from where I’m from. You might not think of Winterset as being eclectic, but it really is!) If you’re south of Highway 92, picture an image of Duck Dynasty. That’s the truth! (My family’s back there shaking their heads!) I visited a house just the other day that you have to have a four-wheel drive vehicle to get to their house. There’s a big sign out front that says, “We don’t call 911”… and they mean it! North of Highway 92, you have this kind of growing aristocratic crowd. They’re moving to the “country” from the suburbs and from the urban areas so they can have their five acres and a pond. They consider themselves farmers because they’ve got some chickens, but they’re really not too fond of John Wayne. Those are the people in our congregation!

This is an important topic because (unless you’ve been living in a hole) Christians are increasingly experiencing the fruit of what has been going on in our culture for many decades, an indoctrination of a post-Christian worldview. This worldview has left them very confused, even though they don’t know it. If you’re a young person here today, maybe you’re in high school, middle school or college. When you enter a biology classroom, you’re taught that you are the cause of random time plus chance, of stardust banging together, and, Voila! You exist! … but your life is meaningless. Then, when you leave that classroom and go down the hall to the psychology class, you’re told that you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread!

It’s a culture that now calls what God calls ‘bad’ it calls ‘good,’ and what God calls ‘good’ they call ‘bad.’ It’s no wonder that we live in a confused culture! Because of this worldview shift, for the first time in the 200-plus years that America has been around, many of us are feeling the freedoms we’ve known as Christians and churches being challenged. The pandemic that we all experienced exposed what had already been brewing for a long time. It’s just how far this culture has fallen away from the Judeo-Christian worldview it was founded in.

My goal this morning is to be both practical and pastoral. In the past, I might have had a pastoral conversation once a year about pressures being faced regarding submitting to governmental rules. Now, they’ve become an almost weekly occurrence. Two men come to mind who work for the government who shared the realities that are pressuring them. One said they were being asked by a DEI officer…I though he said DEA officer and thought, “Are you doing drugs? Is this drug testing?” “No…This is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” They’re being asked by a DEI officer (I had never heard of that before!) to sign off on things they can’t agree with. These are real issues! They’re asking, “Do I have to leave my job? What am I supposed to do? How am I going to feed my family?” I think about a teacher that I recently talked with who gave me a book and asked me to read it. “How can I teach this book?” “I’m going to have to quit my job.” These are serious issues. As pastors, we need to shepherd them.

That’s one goal, but we must also be practical. Romans 13 creates a lot of questions, but we don’t have time for the bunny trails. My goal this morning is to be very practical and to give you a framework of Godly wisdom that’s grown from rich, deep theology. (That’s what this series is about, Theology on Fire!) It’s also about practical theology that you can talk about around the water cooler at your office and around the dinner table with your families. I hope you’re discussing them with your young people. That’s super important!

But topical preaching like this can be very dangerous, because I can take a text like Romans 13 and make it say anything I want. To take on Romans 13 without diving pretty deep into its context would be like trying to talk about the cross without an understanding of sin. That’s why so many of my points, in fact, the first three points, come from context.

Before we get to the points, let’s just have an honest examination of our own hearts. How does your heart respond to this command from God’s Word to submit to the government? If you’re like me, I look at this and say, “I’m not obeying the government!” At least that’s the inclination of my heart. I tend to think, ’Nobody’s going to force me to do this or that and the other thing. I’m an American!’ (Right!?) … or if you’re more compliant, you may be thinking, ‘I wish my God bless America friend was here to hear this!’ I’m no prophet, but I think what we experienced in the pandemic was just a tremor for what is coming if the culture doesn’t change course. If we’re not prepared, then we will get run over. If you go to Europe today, most of the churches are museums because they failed to understand, to recognize, to prepare and to speak the Gospel into the culture.  They’re seeing the results of not being prepared. Let that not be true of us. This morning, let’s build a foundation of wisdom and knowledge built upon the cross of Jesus Christ that helps us to be obedient in this world. That’s the challenge.

We have six points.

1. Submit to Being a Living Sacrifice.

In the way of context, Romans 12:1 says,

Romans 12:1 (ESV), ”I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice…”

This may seem like a strange place to start, but it’s absolutely necessary to start here! You may be here this morning, but you may not be a Christian. Many people believe (like I used to believe 30 years ago) that I’m a Christian because I’m an American and I’m a “good” person.  When we knock on people’s doors, most of the people we talk to say that’s their basis for their relationship with God… but nothing can be further from the truth! The Gospel message is a message that we must be born again. You may be a good American and still be under the wrath of God! We are born, friends… rebels. Our biggest problem in this world is not that we lack education as our world teaches… this new worldview. It’s not that we lack material resources, or that we lack self-esteem. My biggest problem is that my heart is full of pride, and I think I know best… I know better than God! It’s called SIN. If you’re not a Christian, you must come to the reality that ‘doing it your own way/ following your own heart’ that the culture tells us is so important actually leads us to the pit of hell! It leads us to hopeless, empty paths that lead to our destruction. Because of sin, my heart will lead me away from God and God’s purposes. Because of sin, I’m not looking to bring glory to Jesus Christ in my life.

I’ve been to jail a few times. There came a point when I was in the jail cell and before the judge when I wished I could just rewind the last 24 hours… but I couldn’t. I may have been a “good” person, but I broke a law… and here I was, standing before the judge. The judgment was going to come down, and I deserved it! I didn’t need to be cleaned up. What I needed was a new life!

Friends, YOU deserve judgement! But the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, isn’t that we got cleaned up before standing before the judge. He gives us a new life, a new start. How? God did that Himself by sending His Son, Jesus Christ. (This is no fairytale! This really happened in time and place!) God’s Son came down from heaven and walked on the earth. He was a perfect, sinless man, obedient to His heavenly Father in every way, fulfilling every jot and tittle of the Law. The world despised Him. They hated Him, but that didn’t stop His trajectory. He was headed for the cross, because His life was meant as a sacrificial offering! On that cross, He paid the penalty for my sin and for yours. [Romans 6:23] He took my sin, my rebellion, and your sin too, and He purchased us… if you’re born again. If you haven’t been born again, the weight of your sin can be taken and put upon Jesus Christ, because He was an acceptable offering to God!

As a born again believer, my sins have not only been paid, but, also, I don’t have to worry about them. They’ve been removed as far as the East is from the West! My past, present and future sins have been forgiven, giving me new life in Jesus Christ… a new start, a new beginning, I’m a new creation! That’s theology on fire! I pray that you are passionate and excited about this!

Being forgiven is where we must start, but that’s only half of the equation. Not only was I  forgiven and I experienced the love, and grace, and mercy of God through Jesus Christ on that cross, but my life was also purchased. There was an exchange… my sin in exchange for my life to be lived for the glory of God. The purpose of the cross was to redeem my soul and your soul. In our salvation, through Christ’s death on the cross, we were given the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Christian life. The Holy Spirit in us is this new life, giving us the power to live for God, because this life is now God’s… not mine. He gives me new desires and new hopes that I want to live for God. I want to do it His way. I find joy, friends! I pray that you find joy in living for God. Instead of running from Him, we want to run to Him.

[1 John 4:19, KJV], We love Him because He first loved us.”]

Then, through our lives we begin to say to the world, (this is the drumbeat of 1 Corinthians 6:20)

1 Corinthians 6:20, (ESV), “… for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This is where we must start, friends. This is the doctrine of propitiation. We were purchased. Then our lives become a sacrificial offering to God.

Here’s what’s happened in my congregation, to the glory of God. Several people in our congregation have come to this realization that (even in their Christianity) they were more motivated by the blood spilt by their forefathers than the blood spilt by Jesus Christ. (Not that the blood spilt by our forefathers isn’t important, because It is.) They’ve awakened to the glory of Jesus, that the blood of Christ is the most precious thing in their life!

Friends, Jesus put it plainly…

John 14:15, (ESV), “If you love me, (If you love Jesus…) you will keep my commandments.”

That’s going to be important as we step into this hard subject, submitting to government.

2.  Submit From a Spirit of Unity.

Romans 12:16 (again… contextually) says,

Romans 12:16 (ESV), “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”

This is so important! One of the sad realities of COVID and the pandemic was how churches were divided because of mask wearing or vaccinations. This is disgusting to God! Friends, theologically, the New Testament doctrine of church unity is not a side issue. Jesus Christ spilled His blood on the cross not only for us individually  but also for His Church!

Friends, His Church and the local manifestation of His body is to be a living testimony to the truths of God’s Word… NOT a government, NOT a political party… the Church! It is the Church that has been tasked with demonstrating the things that we say we believe, and showing the love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion of Jesus. It’s the Church that been tasked by Jesus Christ with proclaiming the Truth, to fight against evil and against Satan until the very end…  NOT a government, not a political party… but the Church! We seem to have gotten this backwards!

I want you to think for a second about the early church. You read their stories in the book of Acts. They become Christians. They’re kicked out of the synagogue, most likely they’re kicked out of the workplace, they’re rejected by family and friends and (guess what?)… all they have is each other! Do you think that church is going to split over mask wearing? I don’t think so! All they have is each other. Again, I’m no prophet, but we’ve had a lot of years of comfort and ease that has made us very lazy in this culture. What is coming will NOT allow for laziness! We are going to need each other more and more. This is not a club. This is God’s Church, God’s family! We must represent that.

I’ve talked to other pastors that were seeing churches split, but it was very encouraging to see the Body of Christ where there were people staunchly for masks and people that were against them, and yet they came together. What a beautiful picture in such a divided world! That’s what we’re supposed to do!

3. Submission Allows Good to Overcome Evil.

The context of Romans 12:19-21 is very important.

Romans 12:19-21 (ESV), “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

In other words, what Paul is doing is answering the question, ‘How do we overcome evil with good?’ How? We submit to the government. We pay our taxes. That’s how we’re going to do it. The second point was written to the church about having unity and how important it is to the lost world outside. This is about how we demonstrate how God saves people through our testimonies and how we witness to an outside world. What we need to understand theologically as Christians is that there are two kingdoms going on in this world. The government is the place where those two things often intersect. There is the kingdom of man, and government has been given authority over that kingdom. We see this in the text. They have political power. They have military power. They have material resources and money… but those powers have no power in the kingdom of God, in the vertical kingdom! How quickly we forget that as Christians, don’t we? The word of God in Ephesians 6 tells us that we don’t fight against flesh and blood.

[Ephesians 6:12 (ESV), “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”]

I’m not fighting against my neighbor who’s politically on the other side from me. What I want them to see is how they’re trapped in a spiritual battle. I care more about them knowing Jesus Christ than I do about how they’re voting! We need to understand this spiritual battle for souls that’s going on, about how souls are won. How God uses the people of God is often through injustices of this world, who are overcoming those injustices by obeying God! When God’s power shows up, then… WOW!

We need only to look to the cross of Jesus Christ for this example. The greatest atrocity ever committed by a government was by Pontius Pilate and Herod the King. As governmental leaders, they signed off on the death sentence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the sinless man, God in the flesh. The cross looks like failure to outsiders. It looks like the powers of this world won…  but they’re pawns! Pontius Pilate was merely a pawn playing right into God’s playbook! That’s what Acts tells us in Acts 4:26-28.

Acts 4:26-28 (ESV), “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”

That’s amazing! These people were pawns in God’s hands! God wasn’t biting His fingernails at the cross before Pontius Pilate, and He’s not biting His fingernails today when Washington DC passes its laws and its rules. He’s not biting his nails at China and Kim Jong-il in North Korea. No… they’re only playing into the plan of God… Amen!

The injustices we experience are opportunities for His power to be demonstrated in our lives. Oh, Americans, we are so unwilling to suffer in this world. We’ve had it so good for so long, we don’t even like the idea, but, realize first that we serve a monarchy under King Jesus, and secondarily, a democracy. 1 Peter 2 is such an important verse. But remember, when Peter speaks this, Nero is the emperor. Nero is lighting up Christians like candles for like a lawn ornament in his castle! He’s persecuting Christians! Peter says,

1 Peter 2:17 (ESV), “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

(Whoa!) 18 “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” (I love this verse right here!) 21 For to this you have been called…”(You hear that Christians? We’re called in life to suffer unjustly and to do good in return. Then what happens is God’s power works through this because… why?) because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, (This is how He worked… This is how we work…) so that you might follow in His steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. 23 When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but (here’s what he did) continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.“

He kept trusting God, and so will we as we submit and be obedient to God in the government.

4. Incline Your Hearts to Submission.

This is from Romans 13:1.

Romans 13:1 (ESV), “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

Again… How do I overcome evil with good?… by being obedient, by submitting to the government, by paying taxes in particular.

This is what was happening. Like America, Rome was falling at this point. They were becoming a welfare state, and they were suffering in the midst of great immorality. They were also persecuting Christians. Christians were questioning why they should have to give the government their tax dollars which were being used for unjust, pagan causes. (We can certainly relate!) They were debating, ‘Why would I give them my money?!’ ’Do we have to?’ ‘Should we not pay taxes?’

Paul isn’t letting anybody off the hook! He’s not saying ‘Pray about it,’ or ‘Talk about it.’ I don’t need to ask those questions. I don’t need to pray about it. I just need to do it… because God said do it! God has placed these people under His sovereignty… (That’s Theology on Fire!) the sovereignty of God!

Throughout history, God uses governments for His purposes. I would encourage you to read the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk is saying, ‘God, would you please help us? Would You come down and help Israel?’ God responds and Habakkuk is excited… until God sends the Chaldeans! (which makes our government look like cupcakes and roses!) He tells them the Chaldeans are going to wipe them out and take them away to another land because of their sin. That was God’s answer!

Friends, consider Jesus’ attitude and answer to Pontius Pilate. Pilate was trying to give Jesus an “out,” but Jesus answers,

John 19:11 (ESV), ”…“You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.”

Friends, we’re rebels by nature. Incline towards submitting to God, submitting to His commands, (submitting to the government in this case) that you would fight for this heart. Like the Psalmist says,

Psalm 119:88 (ESV), “In your steadfast love, give me life, that they may keep your testimonies of your mouth.”

Friends, I’m not a mask wear. I don’t like wearing one for a lot of different reasons, but, personally, I found joy putting it on. I was not only submitting in a lot of ways, I was also thinking about other people. It wasn’t about me and my desires. I found joy in obeying God… obeying God through that command.

5. Submit to God with Fearful Humility.

[Romans 13:8-10 (ESV), “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”]

These verses say that government is to institute a civil authority so that we don’t have mob rule. These verses very clearly tell us the purpose of government… so things aren’t in complete chaos. You might be thinking, ‘Really?! What about North Korea? Kim Jong-il… he’s an evil man!’ Even in North Korea, friends, there are still some basic laws that allow for a civil society. There are laws against murder… laws against stealing…. Most of the Ten Commandments are essentially there… not all of them because they don’t want to honor the One true God, of course, but their own god. They’re there. That’s God’s purpose.

The practical application is that we need to be very careful about how we approach government. Christians should not be troublemakers in our attitudes, not people who are trying to stir the pot. It drives me crazy when people in my congregation blast and tear down governmental people (the President, the Governor, etc.) on social media! You’re not listening to Romans when you do! It says you’ve got to respect these people, plus, when they do that they’ve just written off half the people in their neighborhoods from ever coming to Redeemer Church! I want them to know Jesus , not necessarily to vote the way I want them to vote! Friends, what I’m saying here is we should absolutely get involved in government and be a part of the process, but we do that with civil humility, with dignity, respect, with reasonableness.

In my own personal life as a CPA, I dealt with the IRS, and I listened to my clients yelling at them all the time. I told them, “If you’re nice to those guys, it’s amazing what you could get accomplished.” Many Christians want to fight instead of having the attitude that it may not work out, but at least I’ve represented Jesus Christ and I will obey His word. Titus 3:1-2 says,

Titus 3:1-2 (ESV), ”Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

6. My last point is probably what you really want to know. When Do I Get to Disobey? It’s very clear when the government tells us to do something that is in direct contradiction to God’s Word. If the government tried to tell me I can’t preach from certain sections of the Bible like they do in some places, I would have to disobey that, and I would be pleased to go to jail for it. I wouldn’t like it, but I would do it with joy. The other case is when the injustices grow so heavy and so deep like rules and laws back in the ‘60s. They said you couldn’t march in the streets for civil rights. It became a flashpoint. The injustice was so bad that you had to do something about it, conviction was so strong. But, friends, these are last ditch efforts.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You for your Word. God, help us incline our hearts to be obedient. Help us not to trust our own hearts, but your Word, or we will be led astray. God, when things get tough, help us to trust Your purposes. Help us to believe the promises that “good” overcomes “evil” through the power of the Gospel working in and through us as the Church.

It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.