We live in a time, in which the state has inflated its scope, but its not merely because of statism, although human beings created in the image of God, do have in innate drive to become total sovereigns, if unchecked. We have witnessed a statist expansionism, not merely because of statist aggressiveness, but also because of Christians’ laziness, short-sightedness, unfamiliarity with the whole counsel of God, and unwillingnesses to carry out some difficult, but necessary duties. A lot of this is our fault. So who is the Messiah, the state or Christ?

Romans 13:1-7

This morning I’d like to violate both rules of polite after-dinner conversation at the same time. It is said that table conversation, if to remain friendly, should avoid speaking of either religion or politics. And it is true that both of these subjects do raise tempers and emotions. In fact, not only does this passage broach those subjects, but it even puts them in right order. This may, in fact be one of the more important chapters in all of Scripture for Christians to understand in our times.

Before I get much further, I want to do two quick things. First of all, I want you to know that the next two weeks as we reflect on this passage, that you can expect a non-partisan approach, at least as far as current political parties go. Early on in our ministry, we nearly became Democrats, because of the preaching of a Pastor in a church where we served. That might not have been so bad, but the reason we nearly registered with one party, was because the preacher was a Republican, and we thought his interpretation of Scripture was far more Republican than biblical. It was a good lesson for a young pastor to learn. Since that time, we have tried to preach and teach only on those issues which are clearly spoken to in the Bible. You can count on that as we worship together.

I have to confess that I don’t know what the Bible says about NAFTA. I’m sure someone more knowledgeable than I could set forth some underlying principles. But as far as explicit counsel from God on that subject, I’m not aware that God has a position on this, although being omniscient I’m sure he does. And his is, of course the right position. He’s just not revealed everything to us. And I certainly don’t know the divine rule on that matter of policy. At times, we’ll have to be satisfied with general specifics, in that not all that we might like to know is revealed.

But my concern is not with what God has not revealed, but to be faithful to what he has revealed. I would be plenty pleased if Christians merely acted on the amt. of info. revealed in the Bible in civic affairs. In our time, there has been an abysmal abdication from the Public Square. Over a decade ago, a clergymen who was Lutheran at the time, R. J. Neuhaus wrote The Naked Public Square. And perhaps as cleverly and truthfully as any, he captured our age with that metaphor. His argument was that, where once in colonial public squares, there were monuments to religious leaders and values which shaped our country, now those same secularized public squares have been stripped, leaving naked monuments, devoid of reference to spiritual or eternal values.

Look at one country today where that has happened. The country I have in mind at one time was one of the leaders in the world. Recently crime has shot up, within a recent 5-hour period seeing the murder of 4 people in the capitol of that country. The drop-out rate in the 2nd largest city of that country is 40%. The divorce rate ratcheted up, quadrupling in one generation. The work ethic is at an all-time low, and corruption in leadership is at new highs. With a 560% increase in illegitimate births, a doubling of the teen suicide rate, and a three-fold increase of children living in single-parent homes, That country is . . . our country, the nation with an unclothed public square.

Our nation, and the Christians within it, will in the near future have an opportunity to regain a public square with underlying spiritual values, or else it can choose to continue the path of godlessness, right downward with further deterioration. Christians will want to know this and other passages, and be armed not with weapons of this world, but with the sword of God’s Word to engage the coming contests.

Now that is part of what will be at stake. However, and this is what I’ve been trying to say, the Bible does not sanction any particular political party or caucus or organization. These next sermons will not be efforts to champion, nor criticize any particular political party. Now I realize from talking with so many of you that many of you are committed Republicans. Others are Democrats, and some are for other parties. I want to invite you to listen to these sermons, they are very crucial, and afterwards, if I’ve democrat-bashed, or republican-bashed, then I want to hear from you. Call me, or speak to me privately if you think I am promoting a partisan cause. My true belief is that if we measure either of the existing parties by Scripture, there’s plenty of room for improvement for both. So don’t expect a partisan platform, but a scriptural treatise.

The second thing I want to say at the outset is this: In the last 15-20 years, more Christians have been challenged to re-think this area, than any other area in our day. Review in less than one minute, the major developments within evangelical Christians in our century which is now nearly complete.

As we entered the Twentieth century, as “Less Than Conquerors,” the forces of modernism quickly attacked Bible believers. By mid-century, liberal and anti-biblical groups had taken over most mainline denominations, and 40 years ago, self-identified evangelicals were few and far between. By the 60s and 70s evangelicals were vastly under-represented among the public acts of American clergy. Conservatives began to react, and arose to put an end to liberal attempts to deny the deity of Christ, the truthfulness of scripture, and lasting moral values. They sought to re-take their churches. In some churches, Bible-believers won, in others they were unsuccessful and had to start new denominations. We’ve lived through those times.

Soon a movement began, and evangelicals made a comeback of sorts. By the early 80s Jerry Falwell and others (such as the Moral Majority) began not only to re-take their churches, but to re-inject a Christian witness into the society and world. Christians had been rudely awakened, and noted that their society had nearly lost its Biblical moorings. We began to mobilize and Christians have made more gains and reinvolvement in civil and political matters in the last ten years probably than at any time since the founding of our republic.

While not all of the efforts have been successful (nor always well-thought out), nevertheless as a Pastor and discipler, I applaud every biblically grounded effort which seeks to have Christians extend and apply the Lordship of Christ in the area of public policy. Yes, Christians need to learn more about God’s Word and what it says about government, so we can apply that to our own. So I have observed the intense and renewed interest in knowing what the Bible says about political issues of our day.

With that in mind, there is no clearer passage to study than this one in Romans 13 on God and government. This is the fullest single treatment of that subject in revealed literature. God wants his people to know the proper role of the state and to have them properly support that. Our loving Father has not left us in the dark about matters of state, but has addressed those too, in his unerring Word. In sum, God has created human government to be a blessing for his people, and as long as this government is under God, it will be and should be supported.

Let’s look at some of the features of this passage, and what God lays out as the role of the state. If we get that right, then next week when we come back and speak of the role of the citizen, then we’ll make more sense of both.

1. First of all, there is the notion of AUTHORITY. God has designed government to work, and that necessarily involves authority. Authority is the proper discharge of responsibility by those who are assigned the tasks. The opposite of authority is anarchy, or a state in which no one carries out designed tasks, and society goes wild.

There is a long history of respect for authority among biblical Christians. Quickly God’s people come to understand that precisely because we are sinful creatures, we need some order, some enforcement, some government. Enforced government will not be necessary in Heaven, because all will be perfected there, and in submission to our Divine monarch (Just file away, that Heaven, the final place of perfection is not a democracy, but a monarchy, for the next time, you want to argue for certain points of government). However, this side of heaven, there will always be a need for enforced restraint, as long as sinners can have their way.

If you think about it, that is true in the three major spheres of God’s creation—the state, the church, and the home. Even our homes have a type of government that is charged to uphold godly standards.

So from the outset, God is the one who established authority, and submission to it, far from being demeaning or bad, is a definite good. Authority and governments are God’s ideas. As this passage teaches, it is only the rebel who fights against that God-ordained institution.

And God wants us to know that the foundation or basis of the state is nowhere other than in his own plan. The whole idea of the state is not merely a human creation. Many have been taught that it is only the result of a voluntary compact between citizens, based on their own will. That is not the biblical view. “Some have supposed that the right or legitimate authority of human government has its foundation ultimately in ‘the consent of the governed’, ‘the will of the majority’, or in some imaginary ‘social compact’ entered into by the fore-fathers of the race at the origin of social life. It is self-evident however, that the divine will is the source of all government; and the obligation to obey that will, resting upon all moral agents, the ultimate ground of all obligation to obey human governments” (A. A. Hodge, The Conf. of Faith, p. 293).

God is the Creator and Sovereign over the state in general; and if this passage tells us anything at all, he is also sovereign over states in particular. It is crucial to see from the outset that God is the Creator of Government in general, and governments in particular, lest we seek to overturn something which God has instituted. Verse 1 gives the rather categorical command that everyone (not some, or a few, but all) must submit to the governing authorities.

It is appropriate to ask: were these authorities religious or civil?

These authorities are civil—not so much spiritual. Sure, other places speak of the need and value of submitting to Godly authorities in the church, but what is in focus here are the authorities of the state.

Of these, v. 1 makes it clear, “No authority [exists except] those established by God. Does that really mean that God has established our present government? Is that true? That’s a good question to ask, and a hard one for many Christians. I say yes, according to these verses.

1. 1 says this two times in the same way. In general, “No authorities exist, except those established by God”. The word “establish” is a strong one, meaning “to put in order”. So God has ordered the existence of nations, states, and governments.

A second time, at the end of v. 1 it says, “The Authorities that exist have been established by God”; so we need to be very careful before rejecting a government

Part of the reason for this was stated clearly at the Reformation by Calvin, who taught in tumultuous times that “Any government is better than no government at all.” Now for those living under a difficult regime, that may sound discouraging. However, with human sinfulness being what it is, if there is no government at all, anarchy and chaos will harm human life much more than even a less than perfect government We need human governments. And God has provided for this need. Roaming rule by mob, and lack of standards for justice, does not serve the interests of the Christian.

So the next time you criticize a government, remember that God has established these, and he does so as an outworking, either of his blessing or cursing of a nation.

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