The Submission Of Righteousness

“The Law Of Love”

Our Text:

Romans Chapter 13:1-14

As we have progressed through the Book of Romans, we began with God showing us what He considered as sin, then the wages of that sin, which is death. We next saw confession to salvation, and then a short comparison of Israel as a nation and the Church. In these last chapters of this great book, God will get real close to us, one on one, because God deals with us individually. God is a one on one God and every one of His children have a special place in His heart, somewhat like any daddy(Abba Father) would be to his children.

We have learned last week how important it is for us to demonstrate our salvation in our daily walk with God. We must dedicate ourselves to God and to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have seen that this results in “God transforming” us rather than “we conforming” ourselves to the world we live in.

A transformed life is far different from the life we led while we were lost and no matter how weak we may appear to those of this world, we know we will have “victory” in the end.

What we will see now in the Book of Romans is that apostle Paul turned the attention of the church to their relationship with the nation they lived in.

We need to learn these things also in the nations we live in.

The Bible says we should be the best citizens of our nation. We can also see that this is getting more difficult every day.

There are many that see the role of the church is to change the governments of this world.

There is a religious group we know of, that has become it’s own government. Our own nation, America, even sends an ambassador to this place.

This is not the what the Bible teaches in the New Testament nor even in the Old Testament.

This does not mean that a Christian cannot find a place government to serve, as long as they do not become servants to that government but continue to serve the Lord God Almighty.

We will one day be citizens in Heaven and we should behave as close as we can in that same way while we are here on earth.

Anything we do on this earth is temporary, but we should lead our lives as though they are eternal because they are eternal!

*****Our Text:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

This is another section of the Bible where we may not always agree, but we must remember the truths of these scriptures are just as important as those of salvation. God would not give us information that was not true.

The Bible teaches us that God has established three institutions:

1.) God first establish the home:

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

2.) God next established government:

Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
Gen 9:6  Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Gen 9:7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

3.) God next establish the church:

Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39  For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Those words, “every soul” mean “every believer”. Remember Paul was writing to the church, the Body of Christ. Those “higher powers” are those civil authorities that are ordained of God.

Even when the people we vote for, are not the ones that get elected, does not mean we are to be disobedient to the ones that are elected. In fact we must still pray for them for it is by the power of God they are in their position. God has a purpose for everything He does.

We may not respect those that hold office but we must respect the office itself. In other words we may not agree with our president but we must respect the office of president no matter who fills that role.

It can be said that God established government because we are sinners and have need of authority over us!

Does this mean we use our vote to try to help God. No! We are still to vote for those that we think will follow the teachings of God’s Word.

The results of our leaders, can be seen, in that the world we live in is becoming more lawless and we know lawlessness comes from sin.

1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

We know that lawlessness is the refusing to be controlled, this is a sin in the eyes of God.

What we see in our nation is a public that is unwilling to punish crime. This means that the nation we live in, has a sympathy for sin rather than to hate sin!

The victim of crime is soon forgotten!

This is one of the main reasons that law-enforcement breaks down. What we see are lawyers that exploit the technicalities of legal procedure to defeat the law. This was not the intent of the law and only brings corruption from both sides.

There are many so called lawyers who represent those that they know are guilty of heinous crimes and they will answer to God one day for this.

God has one main law in this matter.

We are to love the sinner but we are to hate the sin and sin still brings judgment!

We as a people do not have the right to cause any harm to other people!

This could not happen if our entire communities would stand up to the truth. We as the church are lax in this also.

If we follow the life of the apostle Paul we will see that Paul himself used Roman law to protect his own life on more than one occasion. God used Roman law to get Paul in position to witness to whosoever would listen in Rome itself. It was the finances of Rome paid for Paul’s missionary trip to Rome. It was the finances of Rome that provided Paul a place to live and food to eat.

I cannot imagine that happening today.

We sometimes actually teach riot and rebellion in the name of Jesus Christ. God does not teach us to be pushovers for everything that comes in our path but, God does not teach us to rebel against His Word for any reason!

When we do not obey the civil law authority then we are saying it is okay for every man to do what’s right in his own eyes.

The Bible says:

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

We live in a world that just does not hate sin. But we serve God that condemns sin. We simply do not have our priorities right.

*****Our text:

Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Most of us would obey the law just to avoid the punishment but we as Christians should obey the law because of our conscience.

What is conscience?

Conscience means that we have in our own self a sense of what’s right and what’s wrong!

When we were lost, our conscience mind was perverted but knowing Christ is to be renewed in our minds.

There are times when our government interferes with our conscience. When this happens we are to obey God rather than our government!

In our day we see the laws pertaining to abortion, but we should obey the Word of God.

In our day we see the law pertaining to the immoral lifestyle, but we should obey the Word of God.

But when the laws of the land we live in are right then we are to be obedient to those laws.

1Ti 1:5  Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

1Ti 3:9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

What we see is that in the day we live in, the latter days, the people of this world and our nation have no conscience.

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; [having their conscience seared with a hot iron;]

If your conscience has been seared with a hot iron, you will not have one!

This is the truth of the Bible and is true of the world we live in!

This does not change the fact of how we are to live as Christians.

Act 24:16  And herein do I exercise myself, [to have always a conscience void of offence toward God], [and toward men].

Those government authorities should include not only our national government but our local government including the police and the military.

There is no place in God’s Word for pacifist. It is an honor to be a soldier and a true soldier is not a killer or a murderer.

It is therefore sin to call the work of a “true” soldier evil.

Luk 3:14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

There are those that reject the local police but most of these are the first ones to call when something is happening on their property.

In America we find that many come in pursuit of freedoms they did not have where they lived.

But we as Americans see sometimes is that these wanting freedom insist on trying convert America to be like the nations they escaped from. How confusing is this?

It is God that has allowed the formation of the nation’s. It is God that will sometimes use one nation to police another nation!

I cannot say that this is the role of America in this world we live in.

I can say that God will use one nation sometimes to police and stop the evil of another nation!

It is God that sits in the throne!

We can therefore say that anyone that would divulge the military secrets of our nation to another nation surely go against the Word of God.

There is no such thing as a pacifist or a conscientious objector in the Word of God!

When it comes to taxes that we owe, these are included as respect for the nation we live in. If we do not pay our taxes we are also showing disrespect for the law and our government officials but more importantly to the Lord.

We might not agree with the way our government spends tax money but we go against the Word of God when we refuse to pay them. It is more important for us to be obedient to the Word of God!

The apostle Peter wrote:

1Pe 2:13  Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
1Pe 2:14  Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
1Pe 2:15  For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
1Pe 2:16  As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.
1Pe 2:17  Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

We cannot allow as Christians, for the world to think that the church is above the laws of the places we live.

In verse eight we see again the truth of the words of our Lord.

“To love one another is fulfilling the law of God”

Jesus said:

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Paul is repeating the exact words of Jesus Christ Our Lord.

When we practice this law, we have no need for any laws of man, nor any of the laws given by Moses.

If we love each other enough, we will not sin against each other nor will we sin against God!

This is exactly why we did not see the 10 Commandments often in the New Testament. In fact we do not see the Sabbath commandment mentioned at all in the New Testament.

We of the Body of Christ, do not live under any law, we do live under “grace”! It is “grace” that is our motive for obeying God!

“To owe no man nothing” does not mean that it is a sin to be in debt.

The Bible does not forbid borrowing. The Bible does not forbid financing when interest is involved.

What the Bible does forbid is charging high interest, robbing from the brethren or anyone else, and failing to pay a debt, as as that would be to steal.

Banking and investing are not wrong. It is wrong to take on a debt that you cannot repay.

Paul is teaching us matters of the heart and of conscience. These are things that no law can affect.

It is the law of love that shall rule our hearts and our minds.

*****Our Text:

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

We must always have an understanding of where we are in our lives but more importantly we must understand the timing of God. If we do not realize we are closer day by day and moment by moment to the coming of our Lord then we do not understand God’s timing.

Our life on this Earth is temporary, and it will be much more pleasant if we are obedient to the laws of the land.

There are those that believe Earth is a permanent home but we do not find that in the Word of God.

As a child of God we absolutely cannot live on this earth for ever. We must move on through the time that God has given us until we enter into eternity, for this is the promise of God!

We have already come a long way, we cannot turn back now, and why would we want to.

It is in our best interest to be found faithful when Our Lord returns.

The Bible says we need to “wake up”:

1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

The Bible says we need to “clean up”:

1Jn 2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 2:29  If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

The Bible says we need to “grow up”:

Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

If we continue to feed our flesh we will fail as Christians!

If we will feed the inner man, God’s new creature, we will succeed!

A Christian should be the best citizen in the nation where he lives!

We do not have to agree on politics or those in authority.

But we must have a godly attitude toward human government!

The apostle Paul uses the full title of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we must put on all of Jesus.

1.) Jesus was His personal name:

Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

2.) As Christ, He is The Anointed one:

Joh 1:41  He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

He is able to save because He is truly the Messiah sent from God.

3.) As Lord, He is over all things:

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

It is the apostle Peter that announced His full name at Pentecost.

Act 2:36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

To be a true believer, then you have to put on All Of Christ:

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

He is our life:

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

All we have to do is examine our own selves. A reprobate is someone who has rejected the Lord Jesus and lost to His grace.

The only way to put on the Lord Jesus Christ is to put to death that old sin nature!

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

This should be our daily walk down that path to becoming perfect:

Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Col 3:14  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

A godly love is the key to our success!

Let’s pray!