God And Government
Scripture Texts: Romans 13:1-7
Prayer: Holy Father, direct all our hearts and minds to the truth of your Word and its application to our lives. Cause seed sown in weakness to grow by your power, thirty, sixty even a hundredfold. Come, Holy Spirit, hear and help, in Jesus name, Amen.
Introduction.
There are plenty of verses in the Bible we don’t like but there are few that we take issue with as much as this one. Can we just go ahead and admit it, we don’t like what it says. We don’t like submitting to authority, government, police, teachers, bosses, husbands, parents, pastors/elders, basically anyone would dare to correct us or tell us what to do.
Why? We are Americans, we are independent, individualist. It is how our country started, rebelling against England, and we haven’t stopped, it is in our DNA.
And that’s not the only reason. We are sinners and that is how we got started. Back in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve rebelled against God, and we have been sinning that way ever since.
Let me tell you what you want me to tell you about this text. You want me to tell you all the ways you don’t have to obey this text. You want me to tell you how this doesn’t apply to us 21st century Americans. You want me to list the “Yeah, buts…” and the “What abouts.”
Did you notice, Paul doesn’t give any? It doesn’t mean there aren’t any. But if we start with the exceptions, if we start with when we should resist or rebel against this passage, we will get it all wrong. We are going to start with what it says and why it says it, to lay a clear foundation.
I am not naïve about what I will preach. I won’t change your heart or your mind, only God can change our sinful, stubborn, rebellious hearts, but you should ask God to do that, to change you, correct you, to bring you into loving, humble submission to His will and ways.