Let’s Define Our Relationship With The State (Romans 13:1-7)
Today is the day that we as Americans celebrate our great country’s founding. Though it was, in one sense a rebellion against England, it was in a truer sense righteous battle against tyranny. Simply put, if England had kept its end of the bargain, the American Revolution may never have occurred and we wouldn’t be eating hamburgers, apple pie, and ice cream while we fired off as many fireworks as the bank account allowed.
America had charters from the king that existed before the English Civil War. There were a few powershifts that occurred in the English Civil War between the King and Parliament, but these charters were the law and allowed for Americans to have their own legislature and representation. Remember, the Americans were angry, not because of the amount of a tax but because they were being taxed at all without representation. So, even though Parliament made more decisions in England, the agreement with America was still the law. And, in essence, the original covenant with the king was being broken. England was breaking the Law. And when we consider that the king was also obligated to protect his people and uphold justice, we come to the same conclusion the Founders did. The king was a tyrant and Parliament was acting tyrannical. And so, America fought for independence. And praise God they won.
Before the war John Adams believed the celebrations of our country’s independence from England would be tremendous. In a letter to Abigail Adams, John Adams wrote,
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”—John Adams
And, with Adams, I say that we should praise God for the deliverance of the United States and the continued freedoms that we enjoy. I am I am incredibly thankful for the sacrifices made, time and time again, so that I can remain free. And so, I celebrate these things every July 4th.
But I am also cautious, and it is this caution that I want to discuss this morning.
We have all likely heard the story of Ben Franklin and Mrs. Powel’s conversation after secret deliberations at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
“Asked by a certain Mrs. Powel what kind of government they had bestowed on the country, he replied, “A republic, Madam—if you can keep it.”[1]
I find Thomas Paine’s words here a bit more helpful.
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”[2]
And it is right at this point that my caution will become clear.
Government interactions in 2020 alarmed me. So, I did what I do and bought books to try to figure things out. I am not alone and am not the first person to have thought about these things. Nor is this the first time that a government has reached too far into the lives of people.
The events that troubled me were numerous.
Churches were shut down in different states around the country. But we grew to understand that they didn’t really believe Covid was all that dangerous because they allowed BLM protestors to protest then riot and burn down cities. I’m not saying that Covid was not dangerous, but I am saying that governors around the country did not believe it to be as dangerous as they claimed it was or they would have behaved differently.
Here in Arkansas the governor was careful to not infringe upon the church. I am grateful for that, but this was not the case for every American. And we are seeing a good number of those freedoms slip away. I may be too pessimistic about our situation, but I’m not sure that I am. To make a long story short, people have increasingly understood themselves to be at the center of life and meaning. Therefore, anything that makes a claim of ultimate meaning outside of the self is a monstrous limiter of the modern idea of freedom. Our modern view of freedom has changed and so the church is viewed as the great enemy of freedom. And now our own government seems to act in opposition to us on an increasingly problematic way.
Here are a few examples.
Many of you go to vacation in Branson. You pass the College of the Ozarks on the way. The College of the Ozarks is currently in a court battle with the Biden administration over transgender housing rules.
The City of Philadelphia attempted to force a Roman Catholic adoption agency to certify same-sex couples as foster parents. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the adoption agency to avoid that happening. But, the Supreme Court ruled narrowly on the case and so they did not lay down any real protection of Religious Freedom in the case.
And The Equality Act, which has often been discussed on the news is one of the biggest threats to Christian freedoms ever yet posed in America. It would remove religious exemptions for doctors and gut the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
If Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine were correct in their understanding of freedom needing to be protected, I am not sure how long it will be kept. Though our men in the military are heroes, keeping us safe, our elected officials are asleep at the wheel or driving in the wrong direction altogether.
And as we move away from America, we find other troubling signs of things to come. It is oftentimes the case that the things we see happening in England and Canada happen here a bit later. At the very least, there is generally a push for America to become more like these places by many in our society.
Well, a 71 year old preacher was arrested for preaching on a street in London just a few months ago.
And as we look at our neighbors north of us, we find pastors being jailed for opening their churches. This was not at the beginning of Covid, Pastor James Coates went to trial on June 7th after being in prison for 30 days. And the judge ruled against him. Pastor Artur Pawlowski was also jailed and his arrest on the way back home from church. Pawlowski, having escaped from communism in Poland, has not been shy about drawing the parallels between our current moment and the tyranny that is taking place in Canada. And Pastor Tim Stephens was also arrested for holding church services outdoors, was just released a few days ago. It seems that it took international attention for him to be released.
Now, why such a grim introduction?
Our day is a day when courage is needed. And it is also a day when courage is in short supply. We must be willing to stand for what is right, no matter the cost. And it is a time when we must grow in the courage that is needed in the days to come because we will find, as time marches on, that the country we love so dear may very well end up being a leviathan that must be slain.
Our freedom was gained on battlefields from Quebec all the way to the Southern Colonies. We have remained free through another conflict with Great Britain (the War of 1812), and granted promised freedom to those who were formerly enslaved after the Civil War. Freedom survived the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, and World War II. The cause of freedom was furthered by the Civil Rights Movement. And Freedom survived the Cold War. And even in many of our lifetimes we witnessed this great nation survive the attacks of September 11th. It was a freedom that was bought with the blood of soldiers, furthered by its citizens, and protected by soldiers even today all over the world. And for all of this I am incredibly grateful.
But, I want to emphasize this. I believe the attacks on freedom in our day are of a different nature. They are those that cause the citizens of the country to live in a way that destroys the nation and its freedoms from within. As Os Guiness put it so well,
“The core problem can be expressed like this: Such is our human propensity for self-love—or thinking and acting with the self as center—that the virtue it takes for citizens to remain free is quite unnatural….In such a world, self-love will always love itself supremely, love itself at the expense of others and love itself without limits.”[3]
So, this leads me to the sermon today. I believe that we should be thankful and grateful to be citizens of this great country. I also believe that we should be on guard and willing to stand against our country if the need arises.
God is the ultimate authority, so we are grateful and obedient people. And this will lead us to be people who are grateful yet cautious and are respectful and obedient to authority but willing to defy authority.
So, let’s finally get to our text for today, Romans 13:1-7.
All Authority Is Derived From God, So Be Obedient (Romans 13:1-2)
Paul is plain here, there is no authority on Earth except that which the Lord has granted (Romans 13:2). This is plain. And this means that the highest authority is not your nation’s government, but God Himself. It is God who has granted authority to those who are in authority.
This means that we are to “be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). Since God has established those who are in charge, we should be subject to them. The idea is that we are to be subject to governing authorities because in beings obedient to them we are being obedient to God. And in our context this starts with following local laws and it moves all the way to the Federal level. I obey city, county, state, and federal laws and I do so as a good citizen who is subject to ruling authorities.
As Americans, we are in a peculiar situation in that we are a nation governed by laws. We have the Constitution as our highest authority and that brings in some things for us to consider, but it is a tremendous blessing. This actually helps us to keep tyranny at bay. It means that there are times when I should defy people in authority because they are acting against the rule of law.
For instance, if a police officer were to arrest me for preaching the gospel, then I would have every right to say and treat that police officer as a jackbooted thug because even though he is just following orders, he is acting in a way that goes against the ultimate law of the land, the Constitution. If a police officer comes to my house without a warrant, I am not disobeying him when I do not let him in my home. If the governor tells us that churches can no longer meet, then I will continue to meet somehow with whoever will meet with me for two reasons. First, God has told us to meet in His Word. And second, the Constitution allows me to do so no matter what some tyrant may say.
So, our general attitude toward the government should be one of obedience. And at this point I have to reiterate the fact that I am incredibly grateful to live in America where I have tremendous freedoms. I can’t imagine having to say the same thing in Communist China, but it would still be true. But the main reason that I am obedient is because God commands it. We are blessed to be commanded to do this in the United States of America, a country that is incredibly free and prosperous. Free countries are incredibly rare. Prosperous countries are as well. We are incredibly blessed. Understand that, if we are going to be people who honor the Lord in this life then we will be people who honor our country in this life.
Rulers Are God’s Appointed Ministers Of Justice, Be Subject To Them (Romans 13:3-7)
God has established government for a purpose. Government does not exist to run your entire life. It exists to reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, and as we look beyond this text to the role of kings and governments, to protect its people.
The ruling authorities are ministers of justice. I am a minister of the gospel. And it is to be understood that God has appointed us both. We have different roles to play in the world. And in so far as the government does what it is supposed to do, then we should be obedient to the governing authorities.
After the Catholic King Charles IX ordered the death of Coligny, a Protestant rival to the throne, the message was interpreted as the death of all Protestants in the city. This was the “St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre” in which somewhere between 5,000-30,000 Protestants were killed. For fear of death the author of “Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos” is unknown, but whoever it was wrote under the pseudonym Junius Brutus and it became very influential in the writing of our Constitution.
“The King is established by the Lord God, the King of kings, to the end he should administer justice to his people and defend them against all their enemies.”[4] —Junius Brutus
Charles had not protected the people but brought them harm. And, as the argument moved forward, Brutus would state that this is the action of a tyrant. An argument made by our country’s founders in the Declaration of Independence. In the list of grievances in the Declaration of Independence we find a similar thought process.
“He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”[5]
The Founders understood, what we should understand. And that is that government has a role that they are supposed to play in society. And to not do those things is to abdicate their responsibility.
I know that our country is not perfect, but it is a great country. And, as things currently stand, we need to be people who are obedient to ruling authorities as they administer justice. We have to understand that they are God’s ministers of justice in this country.
And so, Paul ends by discussing taxes, revenue, respect, and honor. Because the government plays this role in our lives we owe governing authorities the taxes that are due. We owe revenue due to them. We owe them respect. And we owe them honor.
And so, again, our attitude should be one of obedience to the Lord. And so, we are obedient to governing authorities. And again, because of the great country that I live in, I feel it a great privilege to have most of the laws we have on the books today.
When those in authority move beyond the law then we have every right to call them on the action. This is what Paul did, who wrote this letter to the Romans, when he was ordered to be flogged.
“But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned? When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” (Acts 22:25-26 ESV)
We understand this in our day. Authorities are not above the law.
Our greatest authority as a citizen of the United States is written down in the Constitution. And because we have a clear law written down and clear rights in the Bill of Rights, we understand that sometimes to obey the law is to defy tyrants who are currently in authority.
I believe this was the action taken by our Founding Fathers and is a tradition that we should hold to today. I believe the founding of America was a righteous cause in an act of defiance against tyrants. Notice what is written in the Declaration of Independence.
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”[6]
Then notice what fact #1 is that was submitted as evidence of this tyranny.
“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”[7]
Further down this list is this.
“For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.”
Remember, earlier I said that the colonies had charters with the king that functioned as law. When these were ignored and abolished it was a tyrannical act. It was the King and Parliament acting as if they were above the Law.
We should have an attitude of respect, obedience, and submission to authorities. Our ultimate authority is God. And the greatest authority for us in this country is the Constitution. Our lives should be ones that are obedient to these authorities and then, further down the list are the people in government. But when governing authorities step beyond their boundaries and attempt to trample our freedoms, then we choose to obey the actual law and defy tyrants. That’s part of being a good citizen.
When A Government Is Tyrannical, Have The Courage To Stand Against It
I want to think through some things near the end of this message. We know that Paul would later disobey the government and end up in house arrest. And we also know that he would demand to be treated justly according to Roman law as people tried to treat him unjustly (Acts 22:26-29). And I hope that we have also seen that this is how we are to behave in our country.
How do you put these things together?
The Kingdom of Christ is superior to any kingdom of this world, including the United States of America. I am to be a good citizen of both kingdoms. But my greatest allegiance is to the Kingdom of Christ and if there is every any conflict I defer to Christ.
I hope that the common thread throughout this message has been that because our highest authority is God and we are citizens of God’s Kingdom that we need to be people who are obedient to the laws of the land.
But we know from our Scriptures that there are times when those governing us move from their God-ordained task into tyranny and demand for God’s people to rebel against Him. And we know that over and over again the response was to disobey the authority.
Paul, who wrote this text, disobeyed authorities and was under house arrest at the end of the Book of Acts. And, according to tradition he lost his head in the persecution of Nero in AD 67 because of his defiance of the law.
Peter was arrested in Acts 12 for preaching the gospel and is thought to have died under the persecutions of Nero as well.
Because, as it turns out, God gave us commands. And no matter what any future tyrant tells us, we will keep those commands because our greatest allegiance is to Christ. We have a commission from our king that says,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV)
No matter what governmental authority decides to stand in the way of keeping Christ’s commands, we will follow the Lord’s commands. It is Jesus who has all authority, and He has given me commands. And we know that Christ’s Kingdom will overcome every tyrant that stands in its way because Christ will build His church, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. (Matthew 16:18 ESV)
So we go and declare the glorious message of salvation, that God the Son came to Earth and lived the life we should have lived on our behalf and died the death we deserved on our behalf. And that salvation can be found only in Him. We declare that all men are sinful and in need of that salvation and will face the wrath of a holy God without this provision. And we teach people all that the Lord commanded, or the entirety of the Scriptures. And anytime the State decides to interfere, we must be willing to defy tyrants and do it anyway.
We are witnesses to the fact that time and time again governments rise up against Christ and His people only to fall. And these times of persecution have helped us to understand that the church is distinct from the State and acts outside of the State.[8]
Around AD 64 Nero’s persecution of Christians began. Nero was hated by the people, so he emptied out his treasury, giving all the money to the people. And then he accused the Christians of having set Rome on fire and ordered for them to be found, tortured, and killed using a variety of horrific methods. Some had animal skins sewn onto them so that they would be hunted by wild dogs. Some were covered in pitch and attacked to poles in his garden so that he could watch his “torches” burn while he sat on the balcony.
But did the Christians relent? Did they let a tyrant keep them from worshipping? No, as it turns out Christians don’t need the State to worship. In defiance of the government, they met secretly at night, on the outskirts of town in the catacombs where they shared their struggles, listened to sermons, sang together, took the Lord’s Supper together and had a meal afterward called “the love feast”.
And, these hunted down believers continued to share the gospel with others and bring in more numbers to their secret meetings. Every time there was a calamity in Rome they blamed it on the Christians who were taking worshipers away from the pantheon of gods. And mobs of people would cry out, “Christiani ad leones!”, which meant “to the lions with the Christians!”
But still they defied the government and continued to grow. As these believers happily faced horrific deaths that would soon lead them to their Lord, the people took notice. And the Christians continued to share their faith. They continued to go in defiance of the State.
Time and time again persecutions would wane. And that would give way to savage treatment from the State. Domitian in AD 85 would bring Christians before him to take a test oath to see if they would pledge allegiance to Caesar. If only they would say, “Caesar is Lord!” they could go free. If they refused or confessed their selves to be Christians they were punished with racking, burning, scourging, stoning, hanging, falling headfirst from a high place, thrown on horns of wild bulls, or chased by wild beasts. Then their friends were not allowed to bury them.
But the Church continued to defy the State even after two intense persecutions.
Trajan began to persecute Christians again in 108 AD, but due to confusion in the empire we don’t have a lot of details about it. It did not end until around 120 AD.
And still the church grew.
Marcus Aurelious was especially cruel and the courage of Christians in the face of these intense persecutions astonished unbelievers. They were forced to walk over thorns, nails, and other sharp objects, scourged and then burned. It was under these persecutions that Polycarp, the disciple of John, and his miraculous martyrdom took place.
And the Church continued to defy the State and continued to grow.
Persecution picked up again in AD 200. It was decided that Christians should be martyrs in the arena and sometimes they died by being hunted by wild beasts.
And the Church continued to defy the State and continued to grow.
By AD 235 Christians were being killed in the streets without a trial and thrown into huge pits together.
Decius was horrified and amazed at the incredible increase of Christianity. He was angered that the temples to the Pagan gods were empty and decided to crush the Christians. This was in AD 249.
In 257 AD all we know is that there were many people who suffered under torture. By all accounts it was terrible.
By AD 270 the persecution grew more sporadic, but there were various acts of persecution that took place. One in particular happened when a legion of soldiers, about 6,000 men refused to kill Christians. They were themselves put to death.
And then, I want to read the account from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs from AD 303.
“In spite of all the efforts made to destroy them by heathen foes, the Christians increased greatly in numbers and in wealth. As they became stronger they threw off much of that humility and care to avoid notice which had distinguished them in the earlier ages. They began to build churches and to assemble in them for worship. This excited the envy of the heathen, and the emperor, Diocletian, was persuaded to begin a persecution against them….a general sacrifice was then commanded, which caused many martyrdoms.”[9]
And then, Rome had a Christian emperor, and the persecutions ended. The Church defied the State’s tyranny until eventually they were free to worship.
And it reminds me that Christ promised that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell, no matter how much fury they bring will not stand against it.
Glenn Sunshine summarizes well, the early church’s attitude toward government when he wrote,
“If asked how the Christian should relate to the government, early believers would tell you that their first and primary loyalty must always be to King Jesus. They obey the laws of the state insofar as they do not conflict with the laws of their king, but they would rather die than be disloyal to their true sovereign and lord even by simply attending quasi-religious events and festivities that contradicted their faith. The state has legitimate, God-given authority, but not ahead of Christ or over a Christian’s conscience.”[10]—Glenn Sunshine
Conclusion
We covered a lot of ground in this message. So a summary will be important. As Americans we should be incredibly thankful that we live in such a free and prosperous nation. The glorious freedoms that we have are something to be thankful for and treasured. So, go out and celebrate our independence today.
But be cautious. Understand that time and time again the State has been a tremendous enemy to God’s people. It happened in Rome. More recently it happened in Russia and is currently happening in China. And we see the seeds of that being planted here in America.
God is the ultimate authority, so we are grateful and obedient people. And this will lead us to be people who are grateful yet cautious and are respectful and obedient to authority but willing to defy authority.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] Quote taken from, Os Guiness, A Free People’s Suicide, IVP Books; 2012, p. 54
[2] Os Guiness, A Free People’s Suicide, IVP Books; 2012, p. 54
[3] Os Guiness, A Free People’s Suicide, IVP Books; 2012, p. 54
[4] Junius Brutus, Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos: A Defense Of Liberty Against Tyrants, originally published in 1579, Canon Press, 2020 p. 9
[5] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
[6] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
[7] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
[8] This is a summary of an idea found in Glenn Sunshine, “Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government And Resistance In The Christian Tradition”, Canon Press, Moscow Idaho, p. 10
[9] John Foxe, Foxe’s Christian Martyrs Of The World, Barbour and Company, Inc, 1985, p. 103
[10] Glenn Sunshine, “Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government And Resistance In The Christian Tradition”, Canon Press, Moscow Idaho, p. 14