Join us as we navigate the complex relationship between faith and politics. Reflecting on historical and biblical contexts, we examine the roles of Christians in society as peaceful participants and bold proclaimers of truth. Learn how figures like Daniel and Paul managed to uphold their beliefs in the face of authoritarian demands without compromising their allegiance to God.
00:00:05 Understanding Government and Authority in Romans 13
00:06:00 Paul’s Disobedience to Authorities and Gospel Proclamation
00:10:00 The Impact and Challenges of Preaching the Gospel
So we come now to a new passage in Romans chapter 12, where Paul talks about the government. And he says in chapter—I’m sorry, I said chapter 12, but it’s chapter 13, the beginning of chapter 13. “‘Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.’ Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 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. For it is God’s minister, for he is God’s minister to you, for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he is God’s minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Well, there are many people who would wish this passage weren’t in the Bible, but it is, and it’s from God. Now, what do we make of it? First of all, we recognize that this is what I mentioned earlier yesterday or the day before is very similar in backdrop to the portion that we read about loving the world and serving the world. It is a statement about the peacefulness of Christians. Christians are not rioters. They are not antagonistic to the government. Now, this does not mean that we believe what the government does or that we believe what the government orders us to do. The truth of the matter that Paul is teaching here is that God is sovereign, and he is the one who sets up governance. You know, it’s an amazing thing. We tend to think of Christian life as choosing God and having free will to accept Him or deny Him. But the real backdrop of the Scriptures is that human beings are in bondage, and God is our Creator and Redeemer, and He is sovereign and victor over all the world. and therefore he gives one government to one race and another government to another. Remember Psalm 76. Not from the east comes lifting up, nor from the west, nor from the desert land, but it is God who exercises judgment, lifting up one and putting down another. So that’s fascinating, isn’t it? And if you read the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, you will see that God is sovereign over the nations and sets up whomsoever he will. That’s what Daniel had to explain to Nebuchadnezzar, who was growing so proud of his abilities and his conquests of the world and his accomplishments. And a judgment came upon Nebuchadnezzar until he realized that it is God who is sovereign and gives the kingdoms to whom he will. Jesus also said, All power and authority are given to me in heaven and earth. And so, even though a government may be set up by God, which does evil, It is still set up by God. We can’t determine a government, whether it’s set up by God or not, by whether it does good or evil. The nations of Assyria and Babylon were not good nations. They were evil nations. They were pagan nations. They worshipped idols, and they persecuted the people of God. But the Scriptures reveal that it was God who set up those nations in order to discipline his people. Now, what about that? Read very carefully the Old Testament, and this is what you will see for sure. So, when it comes to obedience to government, we comply with the authorities. But here’s a problem. If you look at the book of Acts… look at Paul’s life in the book of Acts, you will see that many times he disobeyed the government. Many times he created situations that the government was very unhappy with, and they arrested him a number of times. So, Paul is a bit of a created animosity between him and the government when he preached the gospel. So we have a qualifier here. We obey the government, but when it tells us not to preach the gospel, we disobey the government, because the government has no right to quieten us in regard to the proclamation of the gospel. There is the difference. So let’s look at these verses again. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Let me give you that verse once again in the Psalms. Actually, I said Psalm 76. It’s Psalm 75. And I’m reading now from the Revised English, New English Bible. For exaltation comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is judge. He puts down one and exalts another. That’s Psalm 75, verses 6 and 7. So, you see, we need to give recognition to God’s sovereignty much more than we do in this Western world among us Christians. The freedom of will that we talk about is very misleading, for human beings are in bondage to their own corruption. And therefore God hedges up human beings’ corruption and directs it in ways which fulfill his will. And that is what is happening with various governments of the world. We obey them, but only to the extent that they do not tell us to worship God. When Daniel, or when the three young men, you know, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were told to worship the idol that had been set up at the sound of the music that was blasted forth, when they were told to do that, they refused. They disobeyed the government because the government was telling them to practice idolatry. We as Christians stand for Jesus, but we are nevertheless peacekeepers. We are good citizens. We try to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. The more Christians there are in a society, the safer and the more secure and well-founded will that government be. But when it comes to telling us not to worship Christ or to close churches against us, then we worship somewhere else. You know, the communist countries, as I mentioned, I think, a week or so ago, have many, many Christians in them. They worship privately. They worship secretly. In the Soviet Union, before it collapsed in 1989, there were, it is estimated, 50 million serious Christians in the Soviet Union. They used to worship in the forests. They would go single file about a quarter of a mile apart to church on Sunday morning so as not to create a suspicion by gathering in crowds. But you see, they obeyed God, even though atheism was the state religion, as it were, of the Soviet Union. And it is true, like in Romania, for example, Richard von Brandt preached on the streets, and he was forbidden to do so, and so was arrested and put in prison, I think it was for 18 months, in solitary confinement. And as soon as he came out of prison, he went straight back to the streets and preached again, and he was arrested again. So Christians are a pain in the neck to the government, as well as a blessing to the government. They support law and order. They support government institutions that are set up for the benefit of the people. They are not rioters, and they are a group of people that increase the security of society. But again, when it comes to the preaching of the gospel, they preach. Now, when you hear preachers tell you to obey the government and be peacekeepers, you think to yourself, well, then, When does the gospel get heard? Because if we’re all the time keeping the peace, there’s not going to be much attention given to Christians. But you see, Christians keep the peace, but also preach the gospel. And it is the gospel that stirs up commotion. It is the gospel that creates tension in society. And that tension is absolutely in order. Jesus said, I come to set fire upon the world, and oh, that it were now ablaze. So Jesus said, do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. No, he’s come to bring fire, the fire of the truth, not political revolution, but the truth of the gospel. When you proclaim the gospel, you’ll get into trouble with somebody. And I have to say I feel weak in this regard. I feel I’m hiding behind a microphone because, you know, I’m not confronting people individually and personally. I do know that years ago I did get into trouble with various social groups because of the preaching that I gave. And it was a shock to me in a way. I had always been used to being nice to everybody. But once I proclaimed certain things in the gospel that, you know, created discomfort, then I got enemies. And I was very troubled by that for a while. And then I realized that Anyone who preaches the good news or teaches the good news or witnesses to the good news will get enemies. The question is, are we willing to let our life go in order to let Jesus shine? Are we willing to put our life on the line for the sake of Jesus who put his life on the line in a much more radical way? So it’s a beautiful passage. It’s an interesting passage. The government should look upon Christians as really cooperative people. But at the same time, oh my goodness, when they preach Jesus, they create a commotion, and that’s a bit of a bother. But that has to be, because when light meets darkness, darkness is terrified and tries to hide or tries to blast away the light, but it can’t do it. The light is stronger, and that is because Jesus has won the victory. Thank you for listening today. I’m looking for five new supporters, by the way, who might donate at $50 a month for a year. If you would like to be one of them, you can send your donation and mark it partner. But if you can’t manage that and would just prefer to send a single donation, that would be very welcome too. Your donations can be sent to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado 80160, or make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
