THE CHRISTIAN'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE STATE (13:1-7). Having called on Christians ‘not to be conformed to this world' (Romans 12:2), and having indicated that vengeance for wrongdoing lay in God's hands (Romans 12:19 - notice the use of ‘the wrath' in Romans 12:19 and Romans 13:5), and that Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God.' ‘Every soul' simply means ‘everyone.' Thus everyone is to be subject to ‘the higher powers', that is the appointed governors and their staff. And this is because men... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Therefore he who resists the power, withstands the ordinance of God, and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.' The consequence of what has been said in Romans 13:1 is that to resist the secular power is to go against the ordinance of God. In consequence those who do withstand t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And would you have no fear of the power?' And the logic behind this is that rulers are set up by God to control and prevent evil. Thus those who do good will have nothing to fear. It is only those who do evil who will be in terror of t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do what is good, And you will have praise from the same, For he is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, Be afraid, for he bears not the sword in vain, For he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.' In a balanced sentence Paul takes up what he... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For which reason you must necessarily be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience' sake.' And it is because the appointed ruler is a minister of God for good that obedience to the requirements of the state, where it does not affect our loyalty to God, is to be seen as... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For this cause you also pay taxes, for they are ministers of God's service, attending continually upon this very thing.' And this is the reason why we can expect to pay taxes. It is because, in a similar way to the Levites, the authorities are ‘ministers of God's service', in this case as those wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Render to all their dues; taxes to whom taxes (are due), tolls to whom tolls (are due), fear to whom fear (is due), honour to whom honour (is due).' In words which echo those of Jesus in respect of paying tribute money, ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's' (Matthew 22:21), Paul calls on... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Owe no man anything, except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law.' Having spoken of the Christian's debt to the state Paul now turns to the question of the Christian's debt to all men. ‘Owe no man anything' is not saying that we should not enter into debt on a c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHRISTIAN'S RESPONSIBILITY TO LOVE (13:8-10). Paul now turns his attention from the Christian's duty to the authorities, to the Christian's duty towards the outer world. Jesus Himself stated that the two greatest commandments in the Law (Matthew 22:35) were to love God with heart, soul, mind and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' He points out that all the commandments, some of which he lists, are all r... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Love works no ill to his neighbour, love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.' For love is such that it ‘works nothing ill' for our neighbour. Rather love seeks the very best for them. That is why love is the fulfilment of the Law. It should, however, be noted that if we did not have the Law, e... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep, for now is salvation nearer to us than when we (first) believed.' ‘And this --.' Many would add ‘do', i.e. ‘and do this', but while that thought is certainly included, the emphasis is more of ‘have this in mind' or... [ Continue Reading ]
LIVING IN CRISIS DAYS (13:11-14). Paul commenced this section in Romans 12:1 with the call to present our bodies as a holy and acceptable living sacrifice, not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind. Now he calls on us, in the light of the possibility of Ch... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The night is far spent, and the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.' The time for sleeping is over, We need to be aroused ready for the new day. The night is nearly past, and in consequence we must put off the works of darkness. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling (disorderly behaviour) and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy,' One consequence of putting on the armour of light is that we will walk becomingly as in the day, as men do walk when they are under scrutin... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make provision for the flesh, to (fulfil) its lusts.' Having directed his reader's thoughts to how they are to respond to God's light Paul now makes the idea more concrete. They are to ‘put on the LORD Jesus Christ' Himself. They are to ‘put on His r... [ Continue Reading ]