Saturday, September 02, 2006

God and government

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. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 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. 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. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.


Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:1-10).

Very soon, our nation will be observing the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the thousands of lives that were affected. Almost from the beginning, evil acts have been a part of our world. Adam and Eve’s first son Cain murdered their second son Abel in cold blood. Cain feared the repercussions of his crime—he said to God, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." God had to reassure Cain, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him (Genesis 4:13-15).

Even before Adam and Eve had died, there was already a need in the world for government to control human behavior.

Every human being is sinful; everyone has the natural desire to turn away from goodness and do evil. We read in Ecclesiastes 7:20, "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Some of this evil, men keep hidden inside—envy, jealousy, lustful thoughts. Other evils are seen by only a few—adultery, gossiping, theft, disrespect of parents. Some evils are obvious to all—murder, slander, rebellion against all authority, hatred for God and His church. Sins that are kept hidden in the heart only damn the one person, but most sins also hurt others—many times, they hurt Christians.

Thankfully, God has provided a solution to sin and the hurt that it causes. God sent His Son Jesus to teach us about love. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Love is the opposite of evil. Evil is about taking, love is about giving. Evil is about hurting, love is about healing and protecting. And Jesus tells us: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Jesus did more than teach about love. Jesus lived a life of love, and when He died He made His life a gift of love to every sinner. Jesus gave up His life in exchange for our lives; He suffered hell on the cross, so that when we die hell might have no claim on us. Jesus’ love fulfilled God’s Law for us, making us holy and acceptable to God. Paul writes, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2). All we need do is admit that we are sinners, and trust that Jesus will forgive us and bring us to His Father in heaven when our lives are at an end. Scripture says simply, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).

Jesus died for all sinners, but the sad fact is that many refuse His gracious offer of salvation. Some people are prideful—they resist the idea that they need a Savior because they don’t see anything evil in themselves. Others resist the idea of receiving heavenly citizenship for free—they think that they must earn heaven by the way they live their lives. Some reject Jesus because they believe that a God of love could not hate sin enough to send anyone to hell, so no savior from sin is needed. And there are those who don’t believe that there is a god of any kind at all.

People who reject God and His teachings still have a conscience, because mankind was created in the image of God, and Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—a knowledge that we have all inherited as well. But the temptation to sin trips up everyone, even Christians—and without faith in God to help in resisting temptation, the non-Christian lives his life a slave to sinful impulses. And so it is that the world around us is filled with evil acts—murder, adultery, theft, and perjury. The world is often a very dangerous place to live in.

But Jesus loves His children, and He cares for them. The Bible teaches us that God sends his angels to protect us, but they are not the only protection that He provides. God also instituted governments to protect His people from uncontrolled sinning. Paul says, there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. These governments have been established to bring fear to those who are plotting to do evil, for they do not bear the sword for nothing. The word for "sword" that Paul uses in this passage refers to a Roman weapon that was often used in the execution of criminals. It is clear that Paul expects the government to use lethal force, when necessary, to keep evil under control. This is why we have armed servicemen, armed militia, and armed officers of the peace.

Governmental protection is important for two reasons. First of all, our branches of the military and our law-enforcement agencies keep us as safe as possible from crime and from the persecution of those who hate Christians. But perhaps even more importantly, the government makes it possible for us to spread the word of Jesus by protecting our right of free speech, our right to freedom of religion, and our right to peaceable assembly. Paul enjoyed certain protections under Roman Law as a citizen of the Empire; he traveled in relative safety through many provinces on his missionary journeys because the Romans kept the roads safe from bandits, and he appealed to the government for protection when Jewish extremists tried to kidnap and murder him. Paul could see the benefit of having a government, even if that government was not run by Christians.

Of course, not every government does a good job of being God's servant to do you good. Stalinist Russia treated Christians quite badly, as has Communist China. In the Bible, Pharaoh stubbornly kept God’s people in harsh slavery in spite of the plagues that God sent against him. But God does not place evil men into office; rather, He creates the office itself, and gives it the power of His own authority. As an example: in our own country, a person might not respect the man who is president, but he can and should still respect the office of the presidency.

Even when evil men run the government, God expects us to submit to authority. The only time that disobedience is allowed is when the government tries to make us act contrary to the word of God. When this kind of conflict arises, we agree with the Apostles that "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29) As an example, consider Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—three men who refused to pray to the Babylonian king as if he were God. They did not disobey the government in any way, save one: they would not commit the sin of idolatry by praying to the king. And when King Nebuchadnezzar ordered their deaths by fire, they did not resist arrest, trial, or execution—they remained submissive to the government, and entrusted their souls to the Lord, who caused their lives to be miraculously spared (Daniel chapter 3).

Even our Lord Jesus was submissive to a corrupt government. Pontius Pilate had no legitimate grounds upon which to order Jesus’ crucifixion—Pilate only gave in to the demands of the Jews to protect his position as governor. Yet by submitting to the government—even one with corrupt leadership—Jesus ended up bringing the greatest blessing of all time into our lives. By submitting to an unjust death sentence, Jesus won salvation for every repentant sinner.

This illustrates an important point. Paul tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). God has established governments throughout history and He can make them serve Him, even if they don’t realize that they are doing so. As an example, in Judges chapter 10 we read, Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites…Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, "We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals." The Philistines and the Ammonites were enemies of God’s people, yet He used them to punish His peoples’ sins—and they never realized that they were tools in God’s hands.

God instituted marriage. Not all marriages are perfect—many are disgraced or destroyed by abuse, adultery, or unforgiving hearts. But the evil acts of some husbands and wives do not destroy the institution of marriage, which was created by God. The same is true of government. Evil men and women may abuse their authority, but we are called upon to respect the offices of government just as we are to respect the sanctity of every marriage. We respect government because lawbreakers are subject to punishment, but more importantly we respect government because of our conscience—we respect that which God has established.

The events of 9/11 were a tragedy that will never be forgotten. Some people have asked, "where was God that day?" My answer is that God was there—His presence was felt in many ways, and one of those ways was through the hands of policemen, firemen, the National Guard, and the other representatives and employees of our government who were faithful in carrying out the job our Lord had given them—protecting and guarding His people. That work has been continued by our president, our congress, and our armed forces. Many of them are not Christian. None of them are perfect. But they are employed by God on our behalf, and our Lord expects that we pay them the respect they are due.

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