Romans 13
NT
Romans 13:1-14
na28
13 1 Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν. 2 ὥστε ὁ ἀντιτασσόμενος τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ διαταγῇ ἀνθέστηκεν, οἱ δὲ ἀνθεστηκότες ἑαυτοῖς κρίμα λήμψονται. 3 οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες οὐκ εἰσὶν φόβος τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κακῷ. θέλεις δὲ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν• τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποίει, καὶ ἕξεις ἔπαινον ἐξ αὐτῆς• 4 θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν σοὶ εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν. ἐὰν δὲ τὸ κακὸν ποιῇς, φοβοῦ• οὐ γὰρ εἰκῇ τὴν μάχαιραν φορεῖ• θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν ἔκδικος εἰς ὀργὴν τῷ τὸ κακὸν πράσσοντι. 5 διὸ ἀνάγκη ὑποτάσσεσθαι, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν. 6 διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ φόρους τελεῖτε• λειτουργοὶ γὰρ θεοῦ εἰσιν εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο προσκαρτεροῦντες. 7 ἀπόδοτε πᾶσιν τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν. 8 Μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν• ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον νόμον πεπλήρωκεν. 9 τὸ γὰρ οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις, καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή, ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται [ἐν τῷ]• ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. 10 ἡ ἀγάπη τῷ πλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται• πλήρωμα οὖν νόμου ἡ ἀγάπη. 11 Καὶ τοῦτο εἰδότες τὸν καιρόν, ὅτι ὥρα ἤδη ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθῆναι, νῦν γὰρ ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν. 12 ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν. ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους, ἐνδυσώμεθα [δὲ] τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός. 13 ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν, μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ, 14 ἀλλʼ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυμίας.
Romans 13:1-14
esv
Submission to the Authorities 13 1 Let every person p be subject to the governing authorities. For q there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you r will receive his approval, 4 for s he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, t an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also u for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 v Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Fulfilling the Law Through Love 8 w Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for x the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, y “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: z “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore a love is the fulfilling of the law. 11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you b to wake from sleep. c For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 d The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us e cast off f the works of darkness and g put on the armor of light. 13 h Let us walk properly as in the daytime, i not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, j not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But k put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, l to gratify its desires.
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Three (Romans 13)
'Put on' the Lord Jesus Christ Intro Our passage today ties together both the themes we've covered in the past 2 Sundays. Recap part 1 and 2. The nature of Christian freedom. Freedom to serve and build up, no longer bound and enslaved to propping up my ego. The new life in Jesus is only really shown in situations where we disagree: with an authority structure, and with other Christians. 1. Submit to the government, since God has set it in place (v1-7) Both Jesus and Paul model this (examples in NT) This does not mean that the government is right, or has some kind of broad divine licence. But it is a servant of God, even if it won't acknowledge it. But once again, Christian maturity is not centred around being right and putting people right Note there's no nuance given to this. Since even in cases of 'disobedience', it stems from a high regard for government, not a desire for revolution (cf even in cases where spouses separate, they do so not from a desire to divorce but a high regard for marriage). cf British Christian mentality is either a) the government should basically be Christian, or b) the government hates Christians and is persecuting us. But what if it is not quite either narrative? Recap from last week: what is Christian civil disobedience and when is it justified? 2. Love each other, and thus fulfill the law (v8-10) The law has a shaped and a tone - summed up in 'love your neighbour as yourself'. Irony in Christian disagreements about the law! The cross-shaped life = a life of observing the law. No longer an enemy to try and pacify, but a dear friend to do all you can for. 3. Wake up from sleep and live in the daytime! (v11-14) Quarelling and jealousy just as much a part of the 'works of darkness' as the sexual immorality Be clothed in Jesus. Put on his life and his grace. Fight and turn from the old self. God's glory . He holds us out a new life in the life of his Son. FCF . Resentment from obligation, leads to entitlement H1. We become cynics or revolutionaries. H2. We create self-zones, hidden far from view. Trying to maintain obedience in the power of the flesh - an outward form of honouring government and loving one another, which doesn't actually flow from the life of Jesus. Revealed under testing. Person of Jesus . He shows us how to honour government. He shows us how to love one another. He invites us to share in his life. Work of Jesus . Since he was dishonoured, since he was hated and not loved, he was consumed by the 'works of darkness', and extinguished. But his newness of life he now shares with his people; holding out to us a way of 'living in the daytime'. Union with Jesus. F reedom, from thankfulness, which leads to generosity of spirit and thus to a life of cheerful service. All in contrast to the ego-driven resentment of the old self. Invitation. Put on the Lord Jesus and live his new life; and it's shown in situations where you disagree. Confrontation. Stop living in the works of darkness! Consolation. Our salvation is nearer now than when we began. All authority is sub-authority to God. Mini-series wrap up: Mission and maturity when we disagree. Work to build up. Work to honour. The cross-shaped life.
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