When you fear God, you say, God, I have a healthy enough fear of you that I'm going to do what you said is right, even though I don't understand what's going on, but I'm going to leave it to you to fix it up in the time when you're ready. God designed your role as a citizen in the world, and you better fear Him enough to understand the repercussions of your disobedience and leave the solutions with Him. As you survey the political landscape in light of world events and recent elections, perhaps you're discouraged or angry. Maybe you've considered joining a protest or doing what you can to change the government. But if you're a Christian, are you still required to submit to your government in all matters? What if your leaders enact laws that aren't biblical?
What does God expect from you then? For answers, stay here as John MacArthur continues his study called Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land. But before the lesson, there's something we can't say often enough, and that is thank you to the people who run this radio station. John, I know these people are dear to you, and maybe you can talk about that for a minute.
Yeah, it's a mutually dependent partnership. They need us, and we need them, and we're grateful for that partnership. It's amazing when you realize that Grace To You is on, I think, if you add up all the languages, a couple thousand times a day around the world, and that partnership is critical. We're so deeply grateful for it, and you should be as well. The station you're listening to right now is providing this ministry to you, and they're our partners in every sense in accomplishing the advance of our Lord's kingdom. So it would be wonderful for you to demonstrate your gratitude to the station. We love it when you write the grace to you, but we don't want to monopolize the letters, so it would be wonderful if you could send some notes to these radio stations and let them know what this program means to you. A couple of recent notes we received from listeners, and I'll share them with you. I've been listening to your teaching for 30 years or so, and your message on the rapture and the day of the Lord had given me discernment regarding this important issue. I also have loved your messages on the beatitudes, which have opened my eyes to even more biblical truth. Thank you for your ministry. I listen on WMHR radio in Syracuse, New York, signs his name Paul.
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You'll encourage them more than you know. But right now, join John as he continues his study singing the Lord's song in a strange land. Here's the lesson. Paul certainly lived in a day when judges were bad when he wrote Romans 13. Peter certainly lived in a day when judges were bad when he wrote 1 Peter. After all, some of the bad judges were holding court against the Christians who were being persecuted.
And may I note for you, please, Peter was the execution victim of somebody's bad judgment. But notwithstanding all of that reality in human life, the focus of Scripture is to be subject to the powers that be because they are ordained of God. And you must allow God to be sovereign, because He is, in ruling as He chooses.
Robert Culver has written a very important book called Toward a Biblical View of Civil Government. And in it he says this, churchmen whose Christian activism has taken mainly to placarding, marching, protesting, and shouting might well observe the author of these verses, namely Paul, first at prayer, then in council with his friends, and after that preaching in the homes and marketplaces. When Paul came to be heard by the mighty, it was to defend his action as a preacher of the way to heaven.
You see, if we are to be persecuted, and if we are to be incarcerated, it must be because we have been preachers of righteousness, not defiers of the law. You say, well now wait a minute, let's go back to this verse. It says again that we are to be submitting ourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Well, just what does he mean? Well, let's go a little further in verse 13. Whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him, that is by the king, for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
What he's simply saying is the leadership at any level. The king was the one in authority, basa lus, and this means any king. Just to put it in perspective again, Peter would have to live this out and die under the reign of terror of a maniac by the name of Nero. But even Nero was ordained of God in a role. He was not a man of God.
He was not a righteous man. He was put into society by God to function in a form of control by which society could carry out normal conduct. And even if it was Nero, even if it was the king, or whether he says to governors, that would be all the officials under the king. Whether you're talking about the highest level of rulership or a lower level, and this includes pagan nations, pagan kings, pagan governors. You see, they've all been sent by God basically for one purpose.
Note it in verse 14. Punish evildoers and reward people who do right. Let me give you something very important. That is the primary function of government.
Did you hear that? Now I don't want to launch off and give you all my theories of government. The Bible clearly says that the function of government, the function of government, is to punish people who violate law and to reward those who keep it.
All the rest of the stuff goes beyond the basic definition. In Romans 13 again, the same thing. What are rulers for?
Very simple. It says in Romans 13 that rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil. Why are rulers there? To punish evil behavior and to reward good behavior. It's the same statement, just in different words. Let me tell you something. Since the normal, general, basic, formative foundation of government, by biblical definition, is to punish evildoers and reward those who do well, government is never more clearly defined than when it appears in the role of the police.
Okay? Never more clearly defined. It is then that they are the ministers of God, Romans 13 says, who do not bear the sword for nothing. They carry a sword for punishment. And I might hasten to add, swords aren't used for spanking people.
The punishment is fatal. God has given civil government the power to punish evildoers. It is then our God-ordained duty to respond to the powers and the authorities. They are there to punish evildoers and to reward those who do well. I might also add, this is a little footnote, I wish the government was more involved aggressively in the proper recognition of meritorious citizenship.
I wish it would begin to function in that way because that's what it says right here. They should be, they should be praising those who do right. But what have we seen systematically in our society? A decline in that, where now we are more concerned with the rights of the criminal than we are almost anybody else.
Same principle is found back in Romans 13 again. It says there, do good and you will have praise from them. Since when? Since when has the government praised those who do good? Have a riot and they'll show up. Have a church service and do good, nobody will bother with you. We don't reward those kind of people anymore.
That's sad. But nonetheless, government is ordained of God. It is the God ordained duty of civil power to keep peace by avenging the lawless and by honoring the law abiding. You say, well, so we are to submit to the law.
That's right. You say, well, but it isn't right. That's not your problem.
That's not your job. God is still on the throne. He knows what he's doing.
He is still in charge. For the sake of the testimony of Jesus Christ and your witness, abide by the law. You say, but we want change. We want change.
Then take out your spiritual weapons, not fleshly ones, and fight with the proclamation of the Word of God and with prayer. So the command is clear. The motive is clear.
The extent is clear. How about the reason? Verse 15.
The reason. Why does God want us to behave this way? We said it, for such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Why should we do this? You say, it's the will of God. Now listen to me.
Is that basic? People say, oh, I wish I knew the will of God. Here it is.
It's right here. What does God want from me? What is the will of God? The will of God is that you obey submitting yourself for the Lord's sake to every human institution. It's the will of God. The will of God is that you submit. Why? Well, every child asks that.
Why? That by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. The word silence is to gag, muzzle, restrain. Strong word. It means to stop the mouth so there's nothing to say.
Just gag them. Doing right literally in the Greek is the well-doing. So, the will of God is that by nobility, by dignity and well-doing and righteous conduct and good citizenship, you gag the critics. By the way, a note about the word ignorance. Hognosian. It means more than ignorance. If it's just ignorance, it would be the word hognoya. Hognoya simply means a lack of knowledge, a lack of knowledge. But the word here hognosian means willful, hostile rejection of the truth.
It's a stronger term. You see, with these people who criticize Christianity, it isn't just lack of knowledge, it's hostility. It's willful hostility. It's a settled incapacity for judging rightly and a hostility. Furthermore, they're not only ignorant, they're foolish. That means senseless without reason. The term expresses the lack of mental sanity. It speaks of reckless thinking. They're reckless, insane, senseless, ignorant, willful rejectors of the truth. And they're going to attack and attack and attack and attack the gospel.
How do we muzzle them? Good citizenship, noble character, impeccable conduct, virtuous life. It'll silence the mindless, ignorantly motivated critics of the Lord and of the faith.
It's the purity of life they find so hard to deal with. Look at Titus 3. This is so good. Titus 3. Paul writes to Titus. He says, now Titus is over on Crete and he's got all these churches on Crete where he's ordaining elders in every place. And he says, now Titus, I've got to tell you one thing in this last chapter.
This is a sort of parting shot. Verse 1, Titus, remind them to be what? Subject to what? Rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed. Now Titus is on a pagan island. He says, remind the Christians no matter what happens, no matter how hostile, how malignant, be subject to rulers, authorities, be obedient, be ready for every good deed. Listen to this. To malign no one. Don't you ever malign someone no matter who they are. Don't you be contentious.
You be gentle and you show every consideration for all men. We also once were what? Foolish, ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in evil, envy, hateful, hating one another. Have you forgotten where you came from?
Do you remember the mindless, senseless, wicked deception you were under? Submit yourselves. Be obedient. Be ready to do every good deed. Don't malign anybody. Don't be contentious.
Boy, that alone would stop a lot of stuff going on, wouldn't it? Be gentle. Show every consideration for all men because you used to be just like them, just as foolish. And the only difference is verse 4, the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared and He saved you. So don't be too hard on them. So Paul says to Titus, hey, you remind them because when the heat goes up against the church, we don't want anybody retaliating. You'll muzzle them by your uncontentious, gentle, gracious, obedient, compliant character. Can I remind you that if you're going to be an elder in the church, according to Titus 1.6, you must be someone who is not accused of dissipation or rebellion, or rebellion. A rebellious person has no place in a position of spiritual leadership, none whatsoever. 1 Timothy 3.7, here's another qualification for an elder. He must have a good reputation with those outside the church.
Isn't that interesting? And that's going to come from how you conduct yourself as a citizen. It's that impeccable, virtuous quality and character of your life and the community that makes the case.
It gags the critics and it makes Christianity believable and it honors the Lord. You understand all this? Pretty basic. So the command, the motive, the extent, the reason. Number five, the attitude.
This is basic, the attitude. Verse 16, hey, act as free men, but do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God. That is a marvelous statement of sheer divine genius. I could preach a whole series of sermons on that verse. I won't. I could. You know that.
I could preach a whole series of sermons on anything. Look at that first statement, act as free men. What a statement. Act as free men. Yeah, you're free from the world. You're free from Satan. You're not earthbound. You're free in Christ.
That's what he's saying. You're free. You've been freed by redemption.
Oh, what a great idea, great thought. In fact, verse 18 of chapter 1, you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. So you've been set free. I'm free.
And we could tell you all kinds of Bible passages that talk about that. Sure, we're free in Christ, free from sin, free from Satan, free from condemnation, free from the world. But, he says, don't you dare use your freedom as a covering for evil. In other words, don't let liberty easily become license.
The idea here is a veil or a mask. Don't put on the mask of freedom to cover really what is nothing but wickedness. In other words, Christian freedom is never to be used to cover ungodly license. And ungodly license is violating the law of God.
And don't you put on some mask that says, well, we're free in Christ, we're of another dimension, we're going to live apart from the law of man, we're above the law of man, we'll live like we want. That is merely a mask of freedom covering your evil. And your evil springs out of vengeance, retaliation, bitterness, hostility, and disobedience. The word evil is kakia.
It means baseness. Do not think because you're free. You can put on the little mask of Christian freedom, free in Christ, not bound to the world, live any way you want.
That's nothing but a mask over evil. If you were truly righteous, you would conform to God's word because it says your freedom should be used as a bond slave of God. Somebody could say, I've heard people say it. I know several people who said to me, I don't pay my taxes. I said, what do you mean I don't pay your taxes? I'm not a citizen of this world.
One man told me he hadn't paid taxes 25 years. Why? I'm not a citizen of this world. I don't have to pay my taxes. I don't have to obey speed laws. I'm a heavenly person.
Yeah, well, you keep driving like that and you will be a heavenly person. I don't care what it says about trespass. I don't have to mess with trespass laws.
I don't live in this world. It's all my father's place anyway. You know, every time I see a trespass sign, it irritates me. I say, what do you mean trespass? That's not yours.
That's God's and all that's God's is mine. I don't have to mess with civil law, criminal law. I'm above all that. I'm free.
No, you're not. Yeah, you're free in one sense and it's this sense. You're free to be a bond slave. You're free to serve God.
Do you remember 1 Corinthians 7 22? For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's free man. Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You're free, but you're free to be the slave of Christ. What a wonderful freedom. What a wonderful freedom.
Bond slave. That's the lowest level of servitude. See, our freedom is not to do what's wrong. Our freedom is for the first time to do what's right. Freedom to serve God. Romans 6 22 talks about that freedom. 1 Corinthians 7 21 to 23 talks about that freedom. Galatians 5 13 talks about that freedom. So the point is this, that our citizenship in heaven, our freedom in Christ, our belonging to the kingdom of God, does not allow us to abuse the standards God has established for us on earth.
That kind of license is only a covering for evil. And I'll tell you, when I see people come who want to lead everybody in some kind of disobedience, I see a mask of spiritual freedom covering a heart of disobedience. A rebellious person always claiming freedom in Christ is using that to cover his desire for sin. We have freedom to be the bond slaves of God.
What a freedom that is, right? The last point. He gave us the command, the motive, the extent, the reason, the attitude for our conduct as Christian citizens, and he closes with the application. He sums it all up in verse 17, rapid fire. Real simple. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. That's it. There's your citizenship theology.
Four dimensions of life. Here they are. Honor all men. Say, what does that mean? You don't mean it.
You can't understand that, do you? Honor all men. Who are all men? All men.
The widest general humanitarian sphere. Just honor all men. All men have the image of God in them. To some degree, they do some honor universally. And of course, there were slaves in the Roman Empire. People saw them as non-persons with no rights.
And what Peter is saying is, hey, that doesn't belong to a Christian. You don't treat anybody that way. You don't treat anybody that way.
Any color, any race, anybody that way. Honor all men. Every kind of person, every variety of person deserves honor and respect. Whether high or low on the authority letter, high or low on the strata of society, everybody is worthy to be honored as created in the image of God.
Now, there's different levels of honor for different levels of social structure, but all men are to be honored. And Christians, we ought to be leading the parade to honor all men to the level of honor that they deserve. That doesn't mean we agree with everything they do. That doesn't mean we like everything they do. That doesn't mean that we have respect for anything they do. But as Christians, we want to show that we have a proper respect, for that person is the creation of God. And I know, you say, why did he do that one?
That's his choice. Honor all men. Second application, love the brotherhood.
Who's that? That's us. That's easy. We're so lovable. Love the brotherhood. Honor all men, love the brotherhood. And those come together.
Isn't that good? Now, when we say love the brotherhood, oh, amen, love the brotherhood, big time thing, but it's put right alongside honor all men, which has equal weight in this text. Third principle, fear God. Fear God.
When you fear God, you say, God, I have a healthy enough fear of you that I'm going to do what you said is right, even though I don't understand what's going on, but I'm going to leave it to you to fix it up in the time when you're ready. God designed your role as a citizen in the world, and you better fear Him enough to understand the repercussions of your disobedience and leave the solutions with Him. Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and finally what? Honor the king. And you're right back to where we started back in verse 13, honor the king.
That's back to the issue. Show respect for whoever the ruling, reigning source of authority is. In our case, it's not a king.
It's a combination of several entities, but we are to honor the leadership. That takes us back to Proverbs 24, 21, my son, fear the Lord and the king. And I love this next line. Do not associate with those who are given to change, for their calamity will rise suddenly.
And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them. Did you hear that? Let me read it again. Proverbs 24, 21, 22. My son, fear the Lord and the king.
That's good. Do not associate with those who are given to change, the rebels, for their calamity will rise suddenly. And I love this next one. And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them. What do you mean both of them? God and the king. Better honor the king. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.
Fear God. Honor the king. That's the application of the principles of citizenship. I like to call it evangelistic citizenship. May God help us to be that kind of citizen. Important truth today on Grace to You with John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary.
The title of his current study, Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land. And friend, back to something John said before the lesson. Be sure to thank the team at this radio station for all that they do. And keep in mind that we'd love to hear from you as well. When you can, send a note our way. Our email address is letters at gty dot org. Once again, letters at gty dot org. You can also send a letter by writing to us at Grace to You P.O.
Box 4000, Panorama City, California 91412. And to learn even more about how to live a godly life in an ungodly world, or about God's design for the church, or any other biblical topic, let me encourage you to download our app called the Study Bible. It's a free app that gives you the full text of scripture in the English Standard, King James, and New American Standard versions, along with access to thousands of free online resources. And for a small price, you can add the 25,000 notes from the MacArthur Study Bible. It's a powerful tool for your mobile device. The Study Bible app is yours to download now.
Just go to gty dot org. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for listening today and tune in tomorrow as John shows you how to honor God in your workplace. It's all about singing the Lord's song in a strange land. Be here for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
