A Call to Duty – Romans 13:1-5
Pastor Linus Lau
Introduction
Happy birthday, America. Yes, whether you are American citizen or not, you ought to celebrate this day, because America is a nation truly blessed by God, and you and I are here because of their generosity and their willingness to allow us to share in their prosperity. But privileges should always come with responsibilities. So, today I’m going to talk about the duty that God has called us to do for this country. As Christians, how should we perform our obligations to the government? Especially now, when America is in distress, she needs every citizen to stand up and be counted. And make no mistake about it: America is in distress.
I think it’s safe for me to say that I have been in America longer than most of you. As I look back to the time when I first came to this country, there is a lot to reminisce, especially when I compare those times with America today. I remember when I first arrived in America, I rented a room from an older couple, and I asked for the key to the house. The man of the house looked at me kind of strangely and said, “What do you need a key for? We never lock the doors.” Sure enough, I could go home any time of the day, or night, and never had to worry about being locked out. Imagine doing that today? Every house is armed with all kinds of alarm system. Gated communities have become a status symbol. If you go to Miami, the windows are fortified with iron bars. They look like prisons. What kind of world are we living in? In those days, whether in school or in the public place, swear words were frowned upon. But today, in many circles, you’d be considered abnormal if you didn’t lace every sentence with some kind of curse word. In those days, I was driving an old Ford that I bought for $300. Needless to say, it broke down two to three times a week. But every time I got stuck, someone would stop by and offered to help. If not, then I could always thumb my way for a ride. People were much more friendly and caring in those days. There is no question that America is becoming a more hostile place to live in. Morality is decidedly on the slippery slope downward. I’d like to be more upbeat, but as a minister, I cannot say “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. All I can do is judge the world by the standards set for us in the Bible.
So, how did we get to the condition that we are in today? Of course, you can point fingers at Satan and his godless minions who are running around trying to pull America away from God, but I think the church is also to blame. Why do I say that? Let me give you an example. In pre-Nazi Germany, Hitler recognized the control and influence that the church had on the people. So he began his campaign by attacking the clergy, and succeeded in intimidating them into withdrawing from the public arena. Even though church leaders saw the evil in Nazism, they kept silent. The small group of bold and godly pastors were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. People in Germany were left with no spiritual guidance, and they became easy victim of Hitler’s propaganda. Because the church gave up her God-given responsibility to be the watchman of the nation, to blow the trumpet to warn the people of approaching danger, Germany and the world had to suffer the forces of evil for a long time to come. And the church was to blame. (Refer to Ezek. 33:1-6).
The same thing has been happening in America. Churches kept silent when in 1947 the U.S. Supreme Court erected an unprecedented two-way “wall of separation” between church and state, clearly in defiance of our nation’s Christian founding and tradition. (The Constitution writers never meant it to mean separation of God and State, which the atheists are trying to force us to accept). “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). The founding fathers understood this and instituted this country as “One Nation Under God.” They wanted a theocratic government – a government ruled by God. (Study 1 Samuel 8:4-9). That is why God has blessed America to become the strongest and wealthiest nation.
A critical turning point came in 1962 when the Supreme Court again tried to destroy the Christian heritage of this nation by throwing out the Bible and prayers from the public schools. And again, the churches of America chose to keep silent. Then in 1980 the Court expelled the Ten Commandments from the walls of classrooms and court houses. Again, the churches said nothing. Clearly, these cases demonstrated Satan’s strategy to expel the influence of God from the minds of the present and future generations, leading them to moral bankruptcy and the ultimate fall of the nation.
What then is the reason, or excuse, for the church leaders to remain silent when they should have spoken out against the evil forces that oppose God? I believe that such apathy came from a wrong interpretation and application of Romans 13:1-2. By taking these verses out of context, many pastors teach that God has ordained and is in control of all governments, and so the duty of a Christian is to offer no resistance to government, even when the government is clearly becoming corrupted and leading us away from following God. And that explains the tragedy in Nazi Germany, and what’s happening in America today.
I believe that in this portion of God’s Word, Paul teaches us three things about our relationship with the government of the world: 1. All governing authority is ordained by God. 2. All governing authority should obey God. 3. Obey the governing authority that obeys God.
1. All governing authority is ordained by God (13:1b)
Is Paul teaching that all authority, both good and evil, comes from God? The answer is yes. And this is supported by many Scripture teachings. Here are a few examples:
1. Romans 9:17: Paul is clearly teaching that even though Pharaoh was wicked, it was God who raised him up to accomplish His purpose.
2. Daniel 4:32: “The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” So, according to Daniel even wicked kings receive their position and authority only from God.
3. The same thing is taught in the Gospel of John. Pilate, by whose authority Jesus was finally crucified, was a governing authority set and ordained by God. In John 19:10 Pilate says to Jesus, “’Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above.’”
Therefore, if pagan kings were set in their places and given authority by God, even though they did much evil, then we have no reason to doubt Paul’s teaching that “there is no authority except from God” If you have been attending the “Prophets Series Bible Study” with me, then you would remember that time and again, God has made it clear through His prophets that if His people disobeyed Him and fell away from their faith, He would raise up foreign kings to judge them. So, yes, the Bible does teach that all authority, including evil rulers, is from God.
2. All governing authority should obey God. (13:3, 4)
But is Paul teaching us that since all governing authority is from God, then we must obey all authority, good or evil? Are his statements in vv. 3 and 4 always true? Paul himself said in 1 Corinthians 2:8, “None of the rulers of this age understood the wisdom of God; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Paul was keenly aware that the death of Jesus was the ultimate breech of justice – that the governing authorities did not praise the good and punish the wrong. They did just the opposite. Our own experience tells us the same is true with the governments today. They pervert justice for their own gain. The governments in China, in Sudan, and in many Muslim nations, persecute Christians every day. Then how can Paul make such a sweeping statement about governments?
I think these two verses have to be understood in light of what the Bible teaches elsewhere. Paul is not naïve enough to think that all governments would be just and good. So these two verses must be a general statement of how governments should function. So here Paul is not referring to evil governments. Instead he is talking about the ideal government that obeys God and carries out justice according to the will of God, which brings us to the last point.
3. Obey the governing authority that obeys God. (13:1, 2)
Therefore, we are wrong when we use the first two verses of Rom. 13 as reasons to not oppose our government even when they are clearly acting against God’s Law. There are Americans who are blind in their patriotism: “My country, right or wrong.” But I believe there is a long and respected tradition of civil disobedience in Biblical history which God not only allows but also affirms.
It begins in Exodus 1. The Israelites had lived in Egypt for several centuries. They became very numerous and so the king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the baby boys born to the Israelites (v. 16). But verse 17 says, “The midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them but let the male children live.” And verse 20 adds, “So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and grew strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” It seems clear to me that these women were not subject to the governing authorities. In fact, they saw the command of the king as contrary to God’s will. So they disobeyed the civil authorities for God’s sake and God was pleased.
Two other instances are found in Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar made a royal decree that all who heard his music must fall down and worship the golden image of his god. But the three young heroes refused to obey the edict (3:16-18). So they were thrown into the fiery furnace and God miraculously saved them and thus put his stamp of approval on their civil disobedience. Then in the sixth chapter of Daniel, Darius the king establishes an edict that for thirty days no one can make a petition to any god or man other than Darius himself (6:7). But Daniel went into his room and prayed three times a day, in defiance to the king, but in obedience to God. The result was that he was thrown to the lions. But again God shows his approval of Daniel’s disobedience by saving him from the lion’s mouth.
The same thing is found in the New Testament. When Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish authorities and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they answered in Acts 4:19. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” So they went on teaching in public and were arrested again. Again they were warned not to preach Jesus. But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’
So the command to submit in verses I and 5 is not absolute, but it depends on whether subjection will involve us in obeying or disobeying God. Every law of the land must be measured against God’s Law. When our government makes laws that cause us to break the Law of God, then it is time for the church to speak out and oppose such laws. Every time we say yes to any law, it should be a yes to Jesus. And when we have to say no to any law, we are saying no for the sake of Jesus.
Conclusion
So how are we to act as Christians when confronted by oppression from the government? First of all, we need to exercise our duty to vote for candidates who will support Christian values in the government. We need to influence and change the direction of the government, not by bloody revolution, but by getting involved in the political process. It is wrong to think that just because we are Christians, we should not be involved in politics. That is confused thinking, not supported by the Bible. We need to let our voices be heard and tell the government we don’t like the perverted laws that they are making. I have several links that I will post on our church website. I hope that you will take time to take a look at them. And if you agree with their views, then get involved. Most of the time, all you have to do is send an email to our government official to let them know what you think on a particular issue. It is very convenient and it is the least you can do.
Then we need to boldly stand up for God and sometimes that means facing persecution. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was acting within his duty to acknowledge God when he was stripped of his office for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse. When asked why he’d rather lose his job than give in, Judge Moore said, “I made an oath to God, not to a federal judge.”
May God give us the same boldness to stand up for His cause. We owe our duty to God. And we owe it to our next generation to leave a nation better than when we found it. Jesus has made you to be light of the world. When light refuses to shine, darkness sinks in and eventually takes over. Answer your call to duty, before this nation slips into further godlessness.