Dear Friends in Christ,
We awoke this morning to worship under the umbrella of a free society. We travelled safely to church. Our construction is progressing thanks to our permit. Everyone of these good things is due to the government on some level.
Government, Luther observed, is God’s left hand. Government is the hand God uses to preserve and protect all people, especially his church. God is a God of good order. He does not desire or command a particular form of government but he does establish every government on earth.
Christians live under all those different forms of government, some more faithful to God’s purposes than others. Our God has privileged us with more freedoms than most. It is not, however, the godliness of a government that determines my support and obedience. God put rulers over me. With the Fourth Commandment commands me to apply my love for my neighbor to the governing.
We look at The Christian Citizen. The Christian citizen is living under the government that is God’s representative. The Christian citizen is obeying the government in love from a heart of faith.
Paul’s overriding theme in this section of his letter to the Romans is “offering our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” We have one outstanding “debt” we owe and that is to love one another. Paul’s first application is to use that love as members of the body of Christ for the common good. Now, the apostle moves to the application of applying that love to those whom he has placed over us in the government.
The first recipients of this command were living under the anti-Christian rule of Emperor Nero. Christians after Nero have lived under rulers as bad or worse. God establishes all governments on earth as his representatives. That does not mean they will rule as he wants them to rule. It does not mean the Christian citizen is free to obey only if the government is good, or I agree with the governing. Rebellion, revolution, anarchy are sins against not only the government. They are sins against God.
What is God’s purpose for government? It is for good order. It is for the safety and protection of all. It is for the good of the church. God intends government to curb sin. God has given the governing his authority to reward the good and punish the evil; even to wield the sword in war or as the punishment of evil.
There are no qualifying statements to the Spirit’s inspired words through the apostle, “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.”
The Christian citizen’s obedience includes paying our taxes. It means giving the government revenue so it can do its full time work. Obedience means being respectful in word and deed to and about those who govern. It means to honor those in national, state, and local government rather than degrade them. In these outward forms, the obedience of the Christian citizen is no different from the obedience of the unbeliever.
Here is the difference. Paul writes that the Christian citizen is obeying the government in love from a heart of faith.
The Christian citizen is not the citizen who behaves and obeys in merely an outward righteous way. People often mistake civic or civil righteousness for Christianity. The Christian citizen acts from within. We obey the government, respect, and honor the governing not only out of fear of punishment according to the Old Adam.
The Christian’s good citizenship is above all an act of conscience. We talked recently about baptism giving me the pledge of a good conscience. So Paul wrote, “Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.”
We obey also out of the New Man. We act in God’s love for us in Christ. We love our neighbor in that ongoing debt. Our forgiveness of sins by Jesus’ blood and righteousness compel us to obey the commandments. The Christian citizen protects marriage, watches out for the lives of others, does not take another’s property through sinful means, and is content in all circumstances with what God has given us.
What is true of the governed also is true of the governing. The governing do not always properly encourage or carry out these good things because not all are Christians. The verse just before our text tells us what to do in those situations. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
We understand that a country on earth cannot be a theocracy. There are good men and women who govern in the best remaining natural knowledge of the law. However, when Christian men and women rule, they can apply their love for Christ for the good of all. They must do it within the guidelines of civic righteousness. They must realize that they cannot always force agreement with the Ten Commandments, or force others into specific religious principles.
Luther believed that government service was the next most important thing a Christian could do on earth other than be a preacher or teacher of God’s Word.Just as beneficial to any country on earth are Christian citizens who go about our daily lives paying the outstanding debt of love for our neighbor.
“Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law.” There is only one commandment. Love. Love is the application of God’s love for us in Christ that forgave our sins. We apply God’s love for us in Christ, and our love for God in Christ, that good that overcomes evil, when we honor, serve, and obey and hold in love and esteem those who rule over in government.
We can be grateful that we do not live under a government like the Roman Empire under Nero, or governments today like that one. We are truly blessed. Yet it is not the quality of any earthly kingdom that motivates our love. It is our membership in the kingdom of God that moves our sincere submission. Amen. <SDG>