Book of Romans: A Bible study series in 17 parts
The general theme of Romans: How to be right with God
[To watch this on YouTube as it was given live on Zoom, click this link: https://youtu.be/JXRIiZE2jZQ The whole biblical text and the bibliography Bob used are at the end of this blog]
Introduction
Last week we ended with a call to let vengeance be God’s responsibility, and that we should not settle disputes that seem out-of-bounds on our own. If we were wronged, we should let God be the final arbiter and judge. He said, “do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The very next section of the letter features government and our relationship with authorities. We would have to think Paul didn’t segue very well, nor did he think logically if we imagine the next section didn’t have anything to do with what he ended with last week. We move from good and evil and justice to discussion about government.
Today we will speak about Romans chapter 13, and if you haven’t yet read it, for those watching on YouTube, please pause your playback and read it. It will only take about 2 minutes, then press play and re-join us as we explain the text. Thanks. Welcome back. For those in the zoom call, please have your Bibles open to follow along.
Today’s talk’s outline is
1. A believer’s attitude to governmental authority (.1-7)
2. Love fulfills all laws (8-10)
3. Be alert: it’s almost dawn (11-14)
Now let’s unpack this chapter and see what it has to say to us who are reading this letter written nearly 2000 years ago. The title of the message is “Being a good citizen”
First then,
A. A Believer’s attitude to governmental authority (.1-7)
Imagine being a Jew in the First Century. And living under Roman rule. Listen, for our people that’s not so hard to do. Until 1948, we didn’t have our own land… not since King Solomon! That was about 3,000 years ago. We were always under the thumb of an oppressor or at least a sovereign who was not Jewish and did not engage Jewish laws, did not regard Jewish customs and people as of prime importance. Not until 72 years ago, May 1948, did Jewish people have a homeland that was under the control of Jewish people. To be sure, we lived at peace in various countries and kingdoms over time since Solomon, but just mention Assyria or Babylonia, Greece, Rome, and you will know about domination of our people. Amos Elon wrote the book The Pity of it All nearly twenty years ago about German Jewry from the time of Moses Mendelssohn entering Berlin until the Nazi takeover. His thesis in chapter after chapter is that no matter how engaged, how a part of the community, no matter how German the German Jew was, the pity of it all is that we lost to the antisemitism of the German people. One of his final testimonies is from 20thCentury Victor Klemperer, a professor of Romance languages at the University of Dresden in the 1930s. He, like so many, trusted that he was safe from the effects of Nazism. “I am German forever, a German nationalist.” And as Elon would represent about anti-Semitism throughout his book, “Three years later, he would be thrown out of the house and confined with his wife to a tiny room in a Judenhaus in Dresden, saved from deportation to a concentration camp only because his wife was “Aryan.” (page 401)
We in Australia, and some of you in the US, South Africa and New Zealand who are watching this zoom call, may have no experience of anti-Semitism. You may not know of any hostility towards Jewish people. But Jewish people know of these. The Australian Jewish News regularly reports incidents of anti-Semitism (read the 2019 report here: ) “1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019, there were 368 antisemitic incidents logged by volunteer Community Security Groups (CSGs), official Jewish state roof bodies, and the ECAJ. The total figure consists of 225 attacks and 143 threats.”
Australia is not the model of representing Rome in this letter, though. Remember the Romans were world dominators in Paul’s day. And Paul just finished chapter 12 with a call to bear up under injustice. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, God said. So, it’s natural that Paul then turns to natural injustice in dealing with the Roman leadership and government.
John Murray says, “we know from the New Testament that the Jews had questions regarding the rights of the Roman government (Mt. 22.16, Mark 12.14, Luke 20.21). We also know that the Jews were disposed to pride themselves on their independence (John 8.33). We read also of seditious movements (Acts 4, 18-20, 5.36,37)” There are plenty of other sources about unrest of the Jewish people under Roman oppression. The sakarii (knifemen) were those who stood near Roman guards and slew them secretly and showcase for many of us the continued Jew vs Rome war.
With that as the backdrop, Paul’s words here in chapter 13 might seem shocking.
Verse 1: “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
To the Jewish and probably Gentile believers in Jesus, associating God with the rulers might seem out-of-touch with reality. God would have nothing to do with the Romans who slew our Saviour and who tax us to the nth degree. Also, imagine if you were a loyal Roman who thinks his position is his own, by strength, by his earning. And Paul rejects both positions by saying all authority is there as a result of God’s particular action. It’s not human or Roman strength. And it certainly is not a matter of a vote since most Jews couldn’t have voted anyway—we were not Roman citizens!
I reject something I’ve heard wrongly taught from this section. That is that every king who establishes himself is and always was ‘God’s man’ for the hour. I don’t think that’s what Paul is saying. John Piper says, "Citizens to governments, children to parents, wives to husbands, church members to elders, all of these are called to have an appropriate submissive spirit and to follow leadership. None of these is considered to be absolute. All of them have the lordship of Jesus riding over the lordship of the superior and thus, defining the limits of the lordship of the superior."
Paul’s words should never override the evidence of civil disobedience characterized by some in the Bible. For instance, the midwives in Egypt who disobeyed Pharaoh, or Queen Esther who went to the king without an invitation, or Daniel who prayed, and his three mates tossed into the fiery furnace. There are times to disobey the government, like in Acts 5 when Peter said, “We must obey God rather than you” to the Jewish leadership. The point is submissiveness, but not always compliance. Anarchy is not a biblical model, as the entire Torah lays out over and over with its boundaries and preventions of disregard. Paul is saying ‘have a right attitude’ and ‘as much as is possible, be at peace’ even with governments.
No wonder he closes this section with the charge to ‘fear’ and “honour” rather than simple strict compliance standards. This reminds me of chapter 12.2 about the ‘good and perfect” will of God. It’s the attitude which will show whether it’s in Nazi Germany, in Saddam’s Iraq, in DeSantis’ Florida, or anywhere you live. Have a heart which is submissive, even if you might eventually withstand and fight against it.
Verses 6 and 7:
“For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.”
Taxation is part of good government and our payment for the system, for the police, highways, and judges, for the whole method of maintaining good government, that makes sense. Taxation also works in the synagogue or the Church. A simple flat tax of 10% would simplify all governments, but they don’t usually ask for my opinion. Certainly, the tithe was God’s original idea for maintenance of the systems of Tabernacle and offerings.
One final word on this subject. There is nothing in the ancient world like we have in today’s democracies. There was no voting. There was not a method of election like we have in the West. When candidates in Australia vie for the 5 weeks after an election is called for the popular vote, there is no reason to say blindly that whoever is already the incumbent is God’s man or woman. Using Romans 13 to declare all incumbents should remain in office is governmentally and biblically juvenile. In the USA, they vie for votes almost immediately after the previous election. For president it’s every four years; for senators every 6 years. Romans 13 does apply, but not in the particular choice of a single candidate based on incumbency. That was a final word on that.
B. Love fulfills all laws (8-10)
We have looked at the Torah often in this study of Romans and today again the apostle is going to mention five passages from the decalogue. Four are negative commands; one is the positive. I hear Yeshua teaching this as we read it, don’t you?
Verses 9-10: 9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Mark 12.31, Yeshua says, “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The longer I live, the more I think that the battles for primacy in religion and in government, in mask-wearing and COVID hostility, the blames assigned to China and Russia…the more I listen, the more I’m seriously convinced… love is the answer. I know, this might sound a bit childish. I might be more fitting with a 1960s Love-In with tie-dye t-shirt and afro hair, but be that as it may, love wins, every time.
Paul must have been echoing the words of Messiah in this section.
Listen to Yeshua. “You have heard people say, ‘Love your neighbours and hate your enemies.’ But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sunrise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for that? Even tax collectors love their friends.’ (Mt. 5.43-46)
If you are trusting your observance of Torah for being in right relationship with God, you are missing the boat. Paul said it just as clearly in Galatians 5, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace… self-control” against such things there is no law. Law won’t get it done; love wins every time.
C. Be alert: it’s almost dawn (11-14)
Finally, the good citizen who respects authority and who genuinely loves his neighbour, is called in verse 12 to “lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
This idea of removing one garment and putting on another is a regular theme in Paul’s letters. Get rid of the deeds of darkness like a robe (lay aside) and put on both the ‘armour of light’ (light vs darkness) and the ‘Lord Yeshua Messiah’ as another robe of righteousness.
I hear Isaiah reflecting “For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.”
We’ve seen this negative/ positive elsewhere with ‘not stealing… and working with your hands’ (Ephesians 4.28) or ‘put off the old man...” and “put on the new man.” (Col. 3.9-10) So here he uses the removal of the bad deeds and putting on new clothing.
Dear friends, last week in Kansas, a Jewish woman got saved. I’ve known her daughter for almost 50 years. The daughter is named Francie. In fact, I baptised Francie on a winter’s day outdoors, in a pond, with snow all around us. And the Jewish woman’s granddaughter and I are writing a book together just now which is very exciting. But the reason I’m telling you about Mrs Epstein is that just hours before she passed away, her daughter Francie and son-in-law Tom got to pray with Mrs E to get saved. And the vision that Mrs Epstein had after that prayer is notable. Here’s what a mutual friend told me, “Francie told her mother to call on Jesus and she did. Tom was almost in tears when he said the next part. After a while, she looked up and said,” I get a new dress!” A glorious preview of her robe of righteousness?! She passed early this morning.”
Listen, is that a reflection of John’s comment about “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes” (Rev. 7.9) It certainly could be! Thank God for his answering Francie and Tom’s prayers for decades, amen?
If you note this, please also note the order of things, when you read those in the Bible. For instance, verse 13 says, “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”
Note the order of the phrases. This triad of decay does not take place in the day, but rather, in the darkness of the evening. Paul warns the Romans “not in carousing and drunkenness.” Most people don’t get drunk at 9 am; they wait until the evening, under the apparent cover of darkness. In fact, most sin happens in the dark. That’s the first step. Think the local pub. Think the debauchery of drink and/ or drugs, and the lurid lewdness. The second step is “sexual promiscuity and sensuality.” Given the ease of loosening morality due to the drink and carousing in the first instance, the ease leads to promiscuity and sensuality. It’s a fact, substantiated in clinical studies over decades that when a person is loosened from his or her moorings of morality by drugs or drunkenness, that sexual impropriety is a natural function. But then look at the 3rd pair of nouns… “strife and jealousy.” Maybe this scene will strike you as familiar.
A man involves himself in this drunkenness and sexual promiscuity with a woman whom he just met. The most natural follow on to this scene is the man seeing his new conquest the next day, and jealousy rises inside him when he sees her talking with any other. He has no real commitment to her or from her and jealousy rages naturally. Sexual union with your spouse builds trust; union with another without the commitment of life-long marriage can lead to strife and jealousy.
This is corroborated in a recent survey (2015) from Chapman University (A total of 63,894 participants ages 18-65 years completed the survey. On average, participants were in their late 30s. The paper appears in the journal, Archives of Sexual Behaviour.) [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150107151100.htm] The survey confirmed,
“Sexual and emotional infidelity can cause harm to both men and women, including leading to broken hearts and relationships coming to an abrupt and painful end; as well as abandonment, partner violence, and loss of resources when these resources are invested into affair partners. The responses of men and women to the threat of infidelity range from intense pangs of jealousy to elaborate displays of attention to woo their partner back. Jealousy can also trigger harmful and violent behaviour, so it is important to understand what are the most potent triggers of jealousy," said Dr. Frederick.”
Paul’s final words in this short chapter are an exhortation to “put on the Lord Yeshua Messiah” which means to wrap yourself in the person, in the character, in the life of Yeshua. Think of this ‘put on’ as a coat or a robe. And this reminder that this something is in a spiritual closet near you. It’s available. It’s not up in heaven that you cannot reach it. Today, you in South Africa or in New Zealand, you, here in Australia or in Kansas City, you can reach out and put Him on. That’s another way of describing how a person becomes a follower of Messiah.
By putting on Yeshua, by embracing him in the same way a chilled sufferer of a winter’s icy blast, by welcoming Yeshua to your life, you find warmth and security. You find peace and right relationship with God. By faith, this all happens.
Dear friends on Facebook and on this zoom call, if you are not yet a believer in Yeshua, I urge you today, call on him while he is near. If you know your Torah, and you know yourself, you know you need help, you need salvation, you need a Saviour. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be rescued, will be saved will be made to be in right relationship with God. It’s worth all the rejection of others who don’t want to know about God’s love in Messiah Yeshua.
If you want, you can pray a prayer with me just now to solidify your choice. Something like this, “Father in Yeshua’s name, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Yeshua to save me from myself, from my selfishness, from my despair and the harm I cause so many. Thank you for making me right with God by your sacrifice. I receive Yeshua (Jesus) as my saviour and the lover of my soul. He frees me to love others. I repent of my sins and ask for God’s forgiveness to be my portion. I receive the free gift of God, eternal life in Messiah Jesus our Lord. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, will you let us know via the messages or write me directly. I would appreciate that.
NEXT WEEK we will look at the 14th chapter and learn about kosher laws and Shabbat observance, and how to deal with the many who don’t think like us in these matters.
I’m delighted to be able to read and help us understand this book each Friday here from my home in Sydney. Shabbat shalom!
The actual text:
Rom. 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behaviour, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom. 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled thelaw. 9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
Rom. 13:11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now, salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
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Bibliography
Briscoe, Stuart. The Communicator’s Commentary (Romans), Word Books, Waco Texas.1982.
Dunn, James D.G., Word Biblical Commentary, Romans, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1988.
Murray, John, The Epistle to the Romans, New International Commentary on the New Testament, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1965.
Robinson, Donald. Selected Works (Volume I) edit by Bolt and Thompson, Australian Church Record, Camperdown, 2008.
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Wright, Tom, Paul for Everyone, SPCK, Westminster John Knox Press, London, 2004
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