What would you do if government authorities demanded you abandon your Christian convictions? That isn't a hypothetical scenario. These days, we're often forced to make this tough choice, and that is choosing loyalty to our government or faithfulness to God. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl tackles one of the most challenging dilemmas that a believer will ever face. to surrender or rebel.
In our study of Paul's letter to the Romans, we've come to the 13th chapter. Here, we discover godly guidelines for difficult choices. Chuck titled today's message, How to Be a Godly Rebel. Yeah. May we give attention to Romans thirteen.
Verses 1 through 7. 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. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God.
And they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear. for good behavior. But for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority?
Do what is good. And you will have praise from the same. 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. Therefore, It is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes. Or rulers or servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing, render to all what is due to them: tax.
to whom tax is due. Custom to whom custom? Fear. To whom fear. Honor.
To whom? Honor. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, How to Be a Godly Rebel.
For the next few minutes, I want you to imagine yourself struggling through three different dilemmas. They occur at three different historic periods of time. The details are different. The geography is different. But the dilemmas are similar.
We began in 1760. You're an Englishman or woman. You have been raised. You have been educated in London. Your family is there and has been there for generations.
You submit to the crown, you love the king. You honor him. and the authority of the English government. You're now in business, having taken the business from your father. Who took it from his father?
It's been in the family. for decades. Successful and adventuresome, you think about your future as you read the papers and as you hear about. This new land across the Atlantic. You're attracted to the risk and the possibilities of life in New England.
And your family decides that you and they will go together and you will. You will open a branch of the business over in one of those colonies in. in what has now come to be known as America.
So you take the ship, and you are there, and you establish your business. And yet it isn't too many years before The talk of revolution is sweeping across the land. You are struggling now because you are an Englishman. And uh you Paying your taxes to the land of England. But now the talk around you among Americans is that They're too steep and they're unfair.
Taxation without representation, and before long, there was an all-out revolutionary war. And what do you do? Your heart is in your homeland, your motherland. But your life and presence and business is now in this land. Do you stay?
Do you take sides with the English? Do you fight? The people of your birth. It's a real dilemma. And the fire is fueled by the government.
You become a minute man. Or do you sort of take a passive position and Stay removed from it as best you can. Travel ahead a hundred years. The year is now eighteen sixty. You own a plantation in southern Alabama.
The plantation is some ten to twelve thousand acres of cotton. And the slaves work the crops. Because of the slaves, you're able to turn a profit, a massive profit, year after year. But you've just come to Christ. And you struggle because your pastor, also a man of courage, is preaching against slavery.
Knowing it's wrong. And finding Justification for doing so from the scriptures. The problem you wrestle with is exacerbated on the 4th of March. 1861 when the new President is inaugurated. And within a matter of weeks, there is an all-out war between the states.
What do you do? Do you release your slaves and abandon the plantation? Move north and fight for the Union. Army or do you stay in the South? and go against your conscience.
The third dilemma does not get any easier. The year is 1939. You're a German Christian. You live in Berlin. The government of your homeland has now been taken over by a dictator.
Who's gone mad with prejudice? And you're here in this land as a business person, and you have many Jews as friends.
Okay.
Some are strangely removed. from their homes. and taken away on trains. never to be seen again. And the longer you're in your land, the more you read about the violent anti-Semitic policies.
Of the fewer And your allegiance cannot be to him. He stands against everything you hold dear, But he does represent the government. You happen to have a friend who is a spy. And has told you secretly that he has a way of getting you and your family. Away from Germany and into Switzerland.
in the dark of night. If you're willing to leave everything and go now.
Now. Do you abandon your Jewish friends? giving them no longer any refuge or place to hide. Do you escape for the safety of your life and your families, or do you stay? To the end.
It is interesting when we think about governmental matters And we add to the governmental matters Dilemmas. That address our own convictions. And when government turns against the things that we hold dear. We wrestle with this matter of Loyalty. And for this reason, we're grateful that we have a a section of scripture like Romans 13.
Verses one to seven. The talks about The citizen. And government.
Now, some of you may be smiling, thinking, well, it must have been easy for Paul to write. about governmental matters. I mean he lived back in that pristine first century. Don't tell anybody you're thinking that if you're thinking that. Just do the math and check the emperor.
Nero reigned 54, AD 54 to 68. Paul wrote Romans around 58. Right in the heart of the Nero reign. over the Roman Empire. And matters were getting only worse.
It wasn't bad at first, but they were only eroding. and it wasn't but a matter of time. Before the bodies of Christians would be the torches lighting the arenas.
So, Paul writes with an understanding, and at the same time, may I. help you understand that Romans 13 is not a passage of Scripture that addresses What happens when government goes wrong? It's a passage that addresses what happens when Christians become wrong kinds of citizens. You have to go to other sections of Scripture, such as Acts chapter 4, Acts chapter 5, 1 Peter chapter 2, where you would read of government gone bad.
So, Paul is not writing about a rebellious government. He's writing. to rebellious citizens. or to those who have become simply Passive. Which brings up the subject of two popular extremes.
Let me address that first. The first extreme for Christians regarding government. Has to do with an inappropriate independence from the government. In my 45 years of ministering in independent churches, I've noticed that we draw independent people. And independent people are often to the extreme when it comes to the matter of the federal government.
I understand. I have come across animosity in churches, even an anti-government attitude, a virtual disregard for the established authorities.
Some kind of, even in places, some militant stance against government. And you know there are pockets of people like that around our United States of America. Unwise, inappropriate.
Now, the other extreme is the extreme of what I would call uninvolved indifference. toward the government. This is the Christian who says, I'm a citizen of heaven. Yeah. Christ is coming soon.
Remember the importance of separation of church and state, one of our favorite. that lions Why bother? Who cares?
Sort of like the Fourth grade boy that keeps saying to his mother, why bathe? You just get dirty all over again. What does it matter? And if you're a citizen in a government that's going wrong, you think, well, that's so corrupt. Why even bother to pray?
It's all going to get burnt up anyway. It's a bad extreme. And I sigh deep within when I meet individuals who even come near that. As if voting doesn't matter. As if people who fill the offices of our government aren't important when in fact they're the ones that legislate.
those bills and those laws that affect our lives.
So, we really need to understand that Romans 13, while it does not address A rebellious government, it is addressing. The role of the citizen, the Christian, who happens to find himself in a government of any kind. That's why I call this message how to be a godly rebel, for there are times, and we'll get to that, when rebellion is appropriate. when standing against government decisions is right. And we have scriptural proof for that.
Now, we need to stay balanced. I appreciate the words of Donald Barnhouse, who wrote a number of years ago. These words. A Christian. Is subject to a government that maintains law and order.
This chapter contains no rules for the believer to follow in case the government persecutes the Christian faith. Another omission is counsel as to what should be the believer's attitude if his government commits moral wrong. The teaching concerning the believer's allegiance in case of civil war, revolution, or rebellion must be found elsewhere. In Romans thirteen: one, Paul states the believer's duty to government when it functions properly. Within the framework.
of law. No Christian is to be a law unto himself. or herself. No individual is exempt from the duties of citizenship. Here we have a section of Scripture where Paul addresses the importance of our being law-abiding citizens.
Of our being good neighbors. People who stop at red lights. People who don't make their own traffic laws. People who do not invade the privacy and property of others. People who respect others.
who pay their taxes. Who do what is responsible for us to do, lest we become. A country that is governed by gangland living. Where the survival of the fittest becomes the motto of life. Government is On our side.
in matters pertaining to law and order, and we are to be good citizens that obey its rules. Yeah. Now, an essential reminder is set forth in verse 1: every person is to be in subjection. to the governing authorities.
Now before I go any further, Do you qualify as a part of Every person. Just answer for yourself, okay? Because I know some of you are saying, ah, Chuck, if you knew what I've been through, you're on every person, okay? You're there. This is talking to you.
This is talking to me. Every person is to have a spirit of submission to governing authorities.
Now immediately, we have to address the issue of resistance. I call verses 2 through 5 inappropriate resistance. Let's look at those verses. Verse 1 continues, There is no authority. except from God.
And those which exist are established. By God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance. Stop right there. The first reason in Paul's mind is a theological reason.
Because God supports law and order. God has ordained government. It is called one of the divine institutions. Just as marriage, just as home and family.
So government. God has ordained that there be the proper boundaries set, and maintained by those governing the land. They're to be fair. They're to be moral. They're to be upright, admittedly, but they are to be there.
Apart from that, there is only anarchy. And if you wonder what that's like, check the last verse of the book of Judges. Where everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and you will find the Jews at their lowest ebb. in their history. when anarchy reigns supreme.
So there's a theological reason. To obey authority, and that is because God has ordained the authority. There's an external reason as well. Verses 2 through 4. See the end of verse 2?
They who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. This external reason is because civil disobedience brings consequences. You disobey the government. Long enough and far enough, you will suffer the consequences. Let me read on.
Rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior. But for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good, obey the laws, pay your taxes, stop at red lights, don't take advantage of your neighbor's property, don't invade their privacy, don't rob a bank. On and on, the list could go.
Don't do what is evil, and you will have praise from the same. This authority is a minister of God to you for good if you do what is evil.
However, look at this. Be afraid. I'm reminded of the colloquialism of today. Be afraid, be very afraid. Why?
Because it does not bear the sword for nothing. It is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore, it is necessary to be in subjection not only because of wrath, but as we'll see in a moment, because of conscience. But let's stay with the external before we go internal. There are consequences.
that occur when you ignore law and order.
Now, it may be as mild as the policeman standing by your open window. in the curb lane of traffic. And he says to you, Uh uh this is a warning. Don't keep driving so fast. I'm just going to warn you.
I dream of meeting policemen like that. Yeah. And I think more often than not, that's what they do. But you know, if you keep doing it, especially if you come across the same cop that has stopped you before. How does it read?
He does not bear the sword for nothing.
So there is a consequence to pay. In fact, it says later in verse 5 that it will bring wrath. The ultimate consequence is capital punishment. You take a life, you deserve to die. Your death is a just death if, in fact, you are guilty and you have been proven guilty, then the guilt is to result in capital punishment.
I know, I know, it's a debate. It's a debatable issue these days. I have good Christian friends who would not believe I'm saying this publicly. I don't believe they say what they say publicly, but we disagree at this point. We live in a day when the criminal is televised.
I think we ought to televise capital punishment. If you want to televise the crime, televise the one who pays the ultimate price for taking another life. Please don't write me. I get enough mail as it is. That just happens to be a personal conviction of mine.
Genesis chapter 9 teaches it, and there's nowhere in the scripture that denies it. And I know there are rare, rare occasions where it has been unjust. terribly, terribly unfortunate. But for the most part, when that kind of individual has gone through sufficient trials and is proven. By the jury, that there is guilt, then there must be that kind of consequence.
That's the job of government. You and I couldn't do that or we would be a body of vigilantes. We would carry out our own vengeance. which is done in uncivilized places. But in a civil government where things are handled under control, there is restraint brought.
I came across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal several years ago titled The Gun. In it, Great Britain is mentioned. I quote. There has been a sharp rise in armed robberies. and violent crime throughout Great Britain.
since nineteen sixty five. That was when the death penalty was dropped. and more criminals seemed to carry guns.
Now. I will not go further on that except to say that a reason. the pod uses The external reason is because civil disobedience will bring. Severe consequences. There's a third reason, it's an internal reason.
See the end of verse five. but also for conscience' sake, The third reason Paul mentions this is Civil obedience relieves our conscience. Let's go back to my traffic example. You're driving. 40 miles an hour, the speed limit is 45, whoa, and you're driving along at 40, and all of a sudden, some distance behind you is a white and black car that's got a light going around.
You have no conscience to bother you. You look down, you're going, Fordy's not coming after me. And whoo goes right by, not a great sound, whoo, right on by you, going to somebody else down there. Another one is when you get a letter from the Internal Revenue Service. The return address says Internal Revenue Service, Washington, DC.
You've paid your taxes, you're thinking. I got no conscience to bother me. If you have evaded your taxes, you have every reason to be troubled. Mm-hmm. You may act calm, but down inside, You are stirring.
You are troubled. You wonder if they caught you. It's the conscience factor.
Some people handle the tax factor different ways. I came across a letter written to the internal revenue. Gentlemen. Enclosed, you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since.
That's the conscience.
Next sentence. If I still have trouble sleeping, I'll send you the rest. That's not what I'm getting at. Christians honor God by being law-abiding citizens who pay taxes, respect authority, and vote responsibly.
However, when government demands contradict Scripture, believers must courageously stand for truth.
So we're called to teach our children to do what's right regardless of popularity, preparing them for increasingly difficult days ahead. You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck Swindahl titled this study in Romans 13: How to Be a Godly Rebel. There is much more to learn from this life changing passage. As someone who loves the Bible and wants to learn more about the depths and riches of God's character, we highly recommend conducting your own personal study.
To guide you, Insight for Living offers an interactive spiral-bound Bible study workbook. It's part of our popular Searching the Scriptures studies. You'll find all the details for ordering both volumes for Romans at insight.org/slash offer. I also want to tell you about a brand new hardback book published by Insight for Living. It's called Everlasting Light, a journey from promise to presence.
It's written by our bilingual Spanish pastor, Carlos Sasueta, and his friend and mentor, Chuck Swindahl. This is a 25-day Advent devotional that will guide your children, grandchildren, and friends to prepare for the spiritual significance of Christ's birth. All that we ask is that you include a generous donation to support the Ministry of Insight for Living. You can be an agent for the everlasting light and help us spread the good news far and wide by giving a November contribution. Help us share the joy of Christmas by calling 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash donate.
You can also send a donation in the mail by writing to us at InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. Multiple copies of the Advent devotional Everlasting Light are also available for purchase. Just call us at 800-772-8888.
Or to request one for yourself, just go to insight.org/slash offer. When should Christians rebel against government? I'm Bill Meyer, urging you to hear Chuck Swindahl's biblical answer Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, How to Be a Godly Rebel, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
