The Christian's Responsibility to Government Part 3

Christianity and good citizenship goes together. And good citizenship isn't just a question of not committing crimes, it's also a question of honoring and respecting and giving dignity to those in authority over us. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It seems that every presidential election here in the United States stirs concern and anxiety about the future of this country. And that can be good. It can increase your desire for heaven. But while you're serving the Lord here, how can you make sure your earthly citizenship honors Christ?

And if someone who rejects God and His word comes to power, does your responsibility change? John MacArthur's current study on Grace to You is helping answer those practical questions. It's a look at the Christian and government.

And now with today's message, here's John. We're looking at Romans 13, 1 to 7 in our wonderful time in the Epistle of Paul to the Roman Church. The title of the section is The Christians' Responsibility to Government. Let me say at the beginning that as Christians, it's obvious I think to all of us that we are in the world but not of the world. We're pretty clear on the fact that our citizenship is in heaven.

Our allegiance is to our Lord. But at the same time, we realize that we have to exist in this world. We have to live on this earth. And so we have a certain citizenship function here that has to be fulfilled and discharged properly. We are sort of a society within society. We are a community within a community. And we must fit within that society.

We must fit within that community. And yet our priorities are totally unique and distinct from the society in which we live. We live for eternal reasons.

We follow the directions, the commandments and the standards of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, given to us in the Scripture and energized in us by the Holy Spirit. And so we live for eternal matters. We live with a whole different set of priorities. And because of that, we need clear teaching as to how we are to relate to the government in which we exist. Many key people in government today as well as then are Christians.

Thank God for that. Even in the Old Testament, thank God for a Joseph in Egypt or a Daniel in Babylon and Medo-Persia or a Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego, princes in a pagan government. But wherever we are, whether we serve the government or not, we are to live as Christians whose preoccupation, whose priorities, whose perspective is at a different level, a different dimension than to try to use political means to accomplish spiritual ends. You say then, what is a Christian to do with his government? Two things Paul tells us here.

First, submit to it. Secondly, pay your taxes. You'll notice the principle that is outlined here in verse 1. Here's the first principle, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. Now that's the first principle. The second principle comes in verse 6. For this cause, pay your taxes.

And then he kind of expands on that. But principle number 1 is this idea of submitting to the government. Every one of us is to be subject unto the higher powers and that has reference to government.

We are called to a role of submissiveness. We are called to maintain good works in a context of peaceful, honest, godly, quiet living as model citizens who solve our problems with government by prayer. And who accept whatever situation we're in with thanksgiving knowing God has ordained it for his own purposes. Now I'm not saying that our government is something special and so we want to be sure we're subject to ours because we have a quote unquote Christian nation. Listen, if you think America is a Christian nation, you're wrong. There is no such thing as a Christian nation. There are only our Christian people. You can't have a Christian nation. Now we have had civil religion. I mean we have in God we trust on our coins.

Unfortunately we have me first in our hearts. But we have in God we trust on our coin. That's a very vague kind of thing.

That could be anything. Our tradition is a civil religion tradition. But when I look at our government, I see a lot of things in our government that disturb me greatly. I mean I look at our government and I see graft. I see people in high places who are immoral.

We hear all the time about bribery. I have very little toleration for allowing homosexuals to have freedom and equal rights with everybody else as if they're only a sort of sexual preference rather than a vile sin. I don't like the fact that our government contributes by its laws to the destruction of the family and the destruction of marriage and the promotion of a role for women that is the opposite of scripture. I don't like it that our government makes laws against reading the Bible in school and praying. I don't like it that our government has what I believe to be very inadequate punishment for criminals, a failure to prevent immorality in the media and lets people publish absolute filth and splatter it all over the place. I don't like it that our government does that in the name of free speech. I don't like it that our government legalizes abortion and allows millions of persons still in the womb to be massacred.

I don't like it that our government gives children rights apart from their parents so that a 15 year old girl has the right to have an abortion without letting her parents know. I don't like it that our government seems more concerned sometimes to protect criminals than it does law abiding citizens. I don't like it that there are stifling rules constantly being made to restrain law enforcement.

I don't really believe we have the ideal system here. I mean, I'm not asking for my walking papers, I'm happy to be here, but I'm not under any illusion that we have some very special Christian approach to everything. But, in spite of all of those things, I still find myself coming under the statement of verse 1 that I am to be subject to the higher powers. I do like it that my government wants to protect my life and property. I do like it that there are laws instituted to indicate that if something is mine, it is mine and you can't have it unless I willfully give it to you. And that anyone who tries to harm me or those I love will be brought to the law. I'm appreciative of those things. I'm appreciative of the great freedoms that we have in this country for the ministry of the Word of God and the preaching of the gospel. Although I'm not under any particular illusion that the Lord needs our kind of government to build His church, there are many things I'm thankful for. And I'm not saying I'm not. I just want you to know that I don't find, as I look at this passage, that it might be any easier for me to think about being subject to the higher power than it is for somebody in a country that we might think is far worse.

Any Christian is going to find difficulty in his country, just as we do. And I ask the same questions you do. It's awfully difficult sometimes to send my check to the IRS if I were to believe that the government was going to fund abortions with it. I'm called to be subject to those powers that be. They're ordained of God. God has His purposes, His reasons.

Now the only time that I'm ever permitted to violate the government that is over me is if that government makes a law that violates the law of God, right? And we've seen that in Acts 4 and 5. Now for a moment I want you to turn back to Matthew chapter 10. In Matthew chapter 10 and verse 16, and all this is so important, the Lord gives us here some very basic information that we can assume is going to be very helpful to us. I send you forth, verse 16, a sheep in the midst of wolves.

Now get it straight, folks. He says this in general to all who go out representing Him. You're going to go out as sheep in the midst of wolves. In other words, you're going to be headed for some difficulty. Whatever governmental system you're finding yourself in, you're going to find that your strong Christian testimony will generate certain hostility. So, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

That is such a very important statement. That tells us the profile of a Christian in a hostile environment. Why is a serpent? A serpent of course is the model of cunning, shrewdness, keenness, caution. A serpent is not a fierce attacker. A serpent is stealthy. A serpent is calculating. A serpent doesn't court trouble. A serpent doesn't force the issue. They were the model of shrewdness, the model of caution.

And that's what he says to begin with. Be very cautious. Be very shrewd.

Be very keen-minded. Secondly, be as harmless as doves. And that was proverbial also. Nothing is more harmless than a dove.

Couldn't do harm to anything. A dove was a symbol of purity. A dove was a symbol of innocence. So he says, whatever you are, even if you're in the midst of wolves, even if the environment is as hostile as wolves are to sheep, be wise and cautious and shrewd and keen and don't court trouble and don't force the issue. And be as harmless as a dove, as innocent, as honest, as full of integrity, as non-retaliatory, seeking no hurt for anyone.

That's how we're to be. Marked by wisdom. Marked by purity.

Marked by gentleness without compromise. We are not to be vengeful. You remember, don't you, Romans 12, 17, recompense to no man evil for evil? If they do evil to you, don't give them evil back.

Don't slander and slam and slur them. If it's possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably. Find a way to live peaceably.

If there's some paper you need to sign, then maybe there's a way you can sign the paper and not compromise your own heart conviction. And don't avenge yourself. And if your enemy's hungry, feed him. And if he's thirsty, give him a drink.

And overcome his evil with good. That's the attitude of a Christian. We're not trying to pick a fight.

We're not trying to start a war. We want to be as gracious and loving and gentle as we can and not compromise. And if in the end we are persecuted for the sake of our message and the sake of our life, then let it be.

But let it only be in that case. And he goes down into verse 17. It says, Beware, in Matthew 10, beware of men. They're going to deliver you up to the councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You're going to be treated unjustly. They're going to whip you and you're going to be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the heathen or the gentiles. Yes, the time is going to come when the state persecutes believers.

It's been that way all through history. The state is going to slaughter the sheep. The kings and the governors are going to call you in. And sometimes this is going to happen. But remember this, when it happens, it'll be a testimony. It'll be a testimony.

That's right. It'll be a witness. And I want you to know that whenever the church is persecuted, it tends to what?

To grow. And the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed of the church. And sometimes this is what purges the church. And then in verse 19 he says, And when they deliver you up, that is when they take you prisoner, don't be anxious. Not even then. No, no, don't make a protest.

Don't make a case out of it. Don't worry about what you're going to say. For it'll be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. Isn't that wonderful? The Lord promises to give you what to say.

Be calm and dependent. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Verse 20.

Isn't that great? So we want to do all we can to be peaceable, all we can to be loving, all we can to be the best citizens possible, and quietly and honestly and with integrity and virtue and piety, sow the seeds of spiritual truth in our society, live godly lives, influence our world, and if indeed they decide to persecute us, let it be only for our faith, let it be only for our testimony, and even then we have no anxiety because the Lord will give us what to say in the moment that we're to say it. And then I like what it says in verse 21 to 23. It says a brother will deliver up the brother to death. It'll happen even in a family. And fathers are going to give their children over to death. Children are going to rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And the history of the church tells us this is really true. This is really true. There's conflict in a family. It's not uncommon that there's a conflict even within a family. And he says in verse 22, you'll be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endures to the end will be saved.

And then I like verse 23. You say, well, when they persecute you, what do you do? Just say, here, hit me. Oh, hit me again.

This is wonderful. No. Verse 23, when they persecute you in this city, what? Flee. Get out of there. You're not supposed to be cultivating a martyr complex. Get out of there and get to another place and keep going as long as you've got another place to go. In other words, the Lord says, I'm not asking you to stand there and get beaten to a pulp. If you can find a way out, get out. I mean, patience does have a limit.

Leave. But we submit quietly, peaceably. We are as wise as serpents, harmless as doves. And we infect our society with our godliness. Not with our political clout. Not with our worldly, gaudy, showy materialism. Those things defeat us.

They don't help us. The world needs to know clearly what we are, doesn't it? And why do we submit? In Romans 13, he gives us seven reasons why we submit. Reason number one is government is by divine decree. For there's no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. And we've been making that point, I think, over and over again that whatever the government is, God put it there for whatever purpose He wants. If it's a good government, He put it there for good.

If it's an evil one, He put it there to accomplish something. I mean, God has put all government into place. There's no power that isn't of God. And all the powers that are are ordained of God.

That's saying it both ways. There's no power that is not of God. And all power is of God.

Same thing said two ways, exclusively and inclusively. Government is by God. Even governments that have a lack of freedom reflect the purpose of God. And the people who are under the illusion that you have to preserve American democracy to preserve the kingdom of God are wrong.

They're not connected. Even Nero, who burned Christians, was ordained by God. And the death of those Christians became the development of the church. God knew what He was doing. So, we are subject because government is ordained by God. Secondly, because resistance to government is rebellion against God. Verse 2, whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God. So, we submit because if you resist, you're resisting God. And these people who supposedly, in the name of Christian freedom, resist what the government wants to do by carrying out some legal function or having them sign some paper or go through some qualifying thing, they're resisting the ordinance of God. For this time and that place, God has instituted that or allowed it to be instituted.

I don't mean by that that God is writing all the laws, but they're within the framework of His tolerance and purpose. And they resist God. And then we saw the third reason, didn't we, at the end of verse 2? We submit, first of all, because government is ordained by God. Secondly, resistance to government is rebellion against God. And thirdly, those who resist will be punished. It says, and they that resist shall receive to themselves punishment or judgment.

And it's talking there not only about the judgment of God, but about the judgment of man. God has given government the right to punish evildoers. God has granted the government the privilege of punishment. Turn with me for a minute back to the Pentateuch. Let's go back to Exodus.

I'll just give you a little brief look at this. God instituted a law, and the law was that government had a right to punish. Exodus 21, verse 23. And if any mischief, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. In other words, any crime committed deserves a corresponding punishment. If a life is taken, a life is owed. If an eye is taken, an eye is owed. If a tooth is taken, a tooth is owed.

A hand, a hand, a foot, a foot. If burning has occurred, burning is owed. Stripes have been given, stripes are owed. And here is the institution of governmental privilege in punishing evildoers. This is not personal vengeance.

These were never given for personal vengeance. This is for government carrying out of punishment. So this is a function of government. From the very beginning, when God laid down the laws of government, He established that there were principles to be followed. Go to Deuteronomy 35. And again we find there are many other chapters.

I'm just giving you some highlights of it. Deuteronomy 35, 19. The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer. When he meets him, he shall slay him. In other words, if somebody murders someone, there is to be an avenger. And the avenger goes and takes the life of the murderer. I mean, that's capital punishment.

That's the institution of the law. Again in verse 21 it says the same thing. Then over in Deuteronomy chapter 22.

By the way, it was kind of an interesting thing that when someone committed a murder, someone close to the murdered victim was the avenger, who would go and take the life under, of course, the direction of the court, take the life of the guilty party. In Deuteronomy 22, 18, it talks about a man who has committed a crime. And it says in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 22, the elders of the city shall take the man, chastise him, fine him a hundred shekels of silver, give them to the father of the damsel, because he's brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel, and she shall be his wife, he may not divorce her all his days. So here is a man who has slandered, he is given a fine, and his penalty is to marry the girl. And that's, of course, for life by God's standard.

I mean, it goes on and on like this. I'm just reminded also, I think it's the 31st chapter of Job and verse 11. I might be wrong on this, but I think it. Yes, it says, for this is a heinous crime, identifying a heinous crime. Yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

In other words, it's the same idea. The judges, the leaders, the rulers have been given by God the right of enacting on those who commit a crime a corresponding and righteous punishment. And when a government punishes a criminal, it is enacting the will of God.

Do you understand that? And when it fails to do that, it has blood on its hands. And I believe the absence of capital punishment makes a nation blood guilty before God. For where life is not taken for life, the ground, even in the case of Cain and Abel, the ground cries out unto God of unrequited blood. You want to know why the murder rate in our country goes higher and higher and higher and higher and higher?

It's the reason. So the instruments of punishment are human, but the source is divine. It is the purpose and plan and will of God carried out by earthly government. And when this breaks down, when criminals are not properly punished, an institution of God is destroyed. It's like the home. When children aren't properly punished, what happens to the family?

It disintegrates. And the same is true in society. And I really believe that America is headed for destruction. I don't think it's going to come from some outside power conquering us. I think our destruction comes from within. Our lowering of moral values, putting a high price on material things, massacring unborn babies, failing to quickly and strongly punish evildoers, tolerating vice, taking women out of the home. I mean you just go on and on with this kind of stuff and that's the devastating reality of the fall of our country. And ultimately, as in the case of individuals, I think God will give us over to a reprobate mind. The answer, dear ones, is not politics.

You understand that, don't you? And the answer is not let's be like them and have our own Christian materialism. The answer is to put our money and our time and our effort and our prayers and our lives into living a godly life and speaking boldly the gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone can change a heart and changed hearts can turn around a nation. So we submit because government is from God, to rebel is to resist God, to resist means punishment. You're listening to John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, and he is the featured Bible teacher here on Grace to You.

Today's lesson is part of his study titled The Christian and Government. Well, John, we've been stressing throughout this series the importance of the biblical command for believers to submit to those who are in authority. But I'm wondering, to what extent does that allow for us to disagree with those who are in leadership? Or to put it another way, can you protest against civil authority and at the same time honor the Lord? Well, I think the answer would be yes, depending on what you mean by protest.

Right. I protest all the time against the things that I think are ungodly, whether they're coming from leaders in the state or leaders in the federal government. Yeah, I protest every time I pay my taxes, but I pay my taxes anyway.

Yeah, right. It's not that you're not willing to pay your taxes for the services that you use and that benefit you and for the protection they provide you, but you don't like paying your taxes when you know the government is using your money to fund things that are dishonoring to God. But, you know, Jesus even said that in the New Testament, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. It's not up to you to decide what Caesar does with the money.

It's up to you to submit and pay your taxes. And even when Jesus was talking to the disciples about that tax issue, he provided for them in a kind of miraculous way a coin in the mouth of a fish so they could pay their taxes. So we do that. But we can protest in our hearts the things that are wrong in the government. And I think if we were prophets in the Old Testament, we would confront those things, right? Even in the theocratic kingdom of Israel, the prophets confronted what was corrupt.

They confronted corrupt kings. So do we have a right to confront that evil? Yes. Do we have a right to revolt and create a revolution?

No. Even the Apostle Paul saw the church being persecuted. Peter wrote to a persecuted church. He never said rebel.

He never said protest. Always the message was endure, endure. When Christ was reviled, he reviled not again. Peter says to the persecuted believers, when Christ was reviled, he didn't revile in return.

But he committed himself to a faithful creator. When you're suffering for doing wrong, that's no honor. But when you're suffering for doing right, the spirit of grace and glory rests on you. So when the government turns against us because we do protest its evil, we may suffer.

But we suffer not responding in revolt, but committing our souls to a faithful creator and letting God determine what he'll do with us. That's a helpful distinctive and a helpful perspective. Thank you, Jon. Now you know, friend, when circumstances seem dark for the church, it's really an opportunity for the gospel to shine bright. To help refine the way you communicate the gospel, and to encourage you accurately to share your faith at every opportunity, Jon has written a book called Nothing But the Truth. Order a copy.

It's reasonably priced. Contact us today. Call 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org to purchase your copy of Nothing But the Truth. There's no need to be at a loss when it comes to telling people about Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation.

This thoroughly documented book can help you know where to turn in Scripture for answers. Again, to order Nothing But the Truth, call 800-55-GRACE or visit gty.org. And just a reminder that every day on this broadcast, we're not just teaching the content of a passage. We are teaching Christian men and women how to approach the Bible on their own, and how to evaluate what others are teaching. It's the support of listeners like you that makes this vital ministry possible. So to partner with us, express your support when you write to Grace To You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. Or call 800-55-GRACE or donate online at gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson reminding you to watch Grace To You television this Sunday. Check your local listings for Channel and Time, and then be here Monday for another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.