Romans 13 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00We're going to study Romans chapter 13
2. 0:03now. And just in recap Romans 12 was a
3. 0:08study by Paul
4. 0:10on how to become the church that
5. 0:13provokes the Jewish believers to
6. 0:15jealousy, that provokes the Jewish
7. 0:17people to belief in Jesus Christ. And he
8. 0:21told us that that was by breaking the
9. 0:23patterns of this world. So, the whole
10. 0:26study of Romans 12 is a contrast between
11. 0:28the patterns of this world and the
12. 0:30pattern God wants that will form the new
13. 0:32church.
14. 0:34And he tells us that the first step in
15. 0:36breaking those patterns is to be
16. 0:37transformed by the renewing of our mind,
17. 0:40which teaches us
18. 0:42that the patterns of this world live in
19. 0:44the mind. And this, of course,
20. 0:45harmonizes perfectly with what he taught
21. 0:48about the mind set on the spirit versus
22. 0:50the mind set on the flesh in Romans 8.
23. 0:53Now, in Romans 13, after he's taught us
24. 0:56how to break the patterns of the world
25. 0:58in chapter 12, he's going to tell us
26. 1:00that even though we don't want the
27. 1:02patterns of the world to live in our
28. 1:04mind,
29. 1:05externally, we still have to submit to
30. 1:09the authority that God uses in the
31. 1:11world, even the authority of the state.
32. 1:15Romans 13 chapter 1. Every person
33. 1:19is to be subject to the governing
34. 1:22authorities.
35. 1:23For there is no authority except from
36. 1:26God.
37. 1:27And those which exist are established by
38. 1:30God.
39. 1:32So, he says, "I don't want you to be
40. 1:34conformed in your thinking to the
41. 1:36patterns of this world. I want you to be
42. 1:38transformed by the renewing of your
43. 1:40mind, and I want that to keep
44. 1:41happening."
45. 1:42But
46. 1:43as if to counterbalance that, he says,
47. 1:46"I do want you to submit to the state.
48. 1:48I do want you to acknowledge that even
49. 1:51bad states and bad authorities are
50. 1:55ultimately serving God's bigger purpose.
51. 1:58Therefore, whoever resists authority has
52. 2:01opposed the ordinance of God.
53. 2:03And they who have opposed will receive
54. 2:06condemnation upon themselves.
55. 2:09For rulers are not a cause of fear for
56. 2:12good behavior,
57. 2:13but for evil.
58. 2:16Do you want to have no fear of
59. 2:17authority?
60. 2:19Do what is good, and you will have
61. 2:21praise from the same.
62. 2:23For it is a minister of God to you for
63. 2:26good.
64. 2:27But if you do what is evil, be afraid,
65. 2:30for it does not bear the sword for
66. 2:32nothing.
67. 2:33For it is a minister of God and avenger
68. 2:36who brings wrath on the one who
69. 2:39practices evil.
70. 2:42So, in this, Paul is saying
71. 2:44that
72. 2:46even the state
73. 2:48has a God-given function and role in the
74. 2:52world that we live in.
75. 2:55For people who are led by the spirit,
76. 2:57there is no law.
77. 2:59Where the spirit of the Lord is, there
78. 3:01is freedom. There is liberty.
79. 3:03But where the spirit of the Lord is not,
80. 3:06there is evil. We live in a fallen
81. 3:09world.
82. 3:10And the state is God's servant
83. 3:14to deal with people who cross out of
84. 3:17their boundaries, for lawbreakers, as
85. 3:20Paul says.
86. 3:22That's what the state is there for. And
87. 3:23he says, "Do you want to have no fear of
88. 3:26state authority?
89. 3:27Well, then do what is right, and you'll
90. 3:29receive praise from the same."
91. 3:31The magistrates and the and the servants
92. 3:33of the state, they will respect you if
93. 3:36you do what is right.
94. 3:38He says, "He is a minister
95. 3:40of God to you for good."
96. 3:43The state is not a problem, it's a
97. 3:46necessity in a fallen world, and it has
98. 3:48a purpose. Its purpose is not as a
99. 3:51minister of reconciliation.
100. 3:54That's the That's the church's purpose.
101. 3:57The state's purpose is not to bind sin
102. 4:00or loose forgiveness. That's the
103. 4:02church's purpose.
104. 4:03The state's purpose is not the pillaring
105. 4:05ground of truth. That's the church's
106. 4:08purpose. The state's purpose is not to
107. 4:11be filled with all the fullness of God.
108. 4:13That's the church's purpose. The state's
109. 4:15purpose is to punish the evildoer so
110. 4:19that good people are free to live as
111. 4:21they should before God.
112. 4:23And that's a good thing. We are thankful
113. 4:26that the state restrains evil.
114. 4:29And there are transgressions
115. 4:31that can be committed by people who will
116. 4:34call themselves Christians and certainly
117. 4:36by non-Christians that are so serious,
118. 4:39so disruptive to human society that they
119. 4:42no longer fall under the control or
120. 4:44purview of the church. They rightly
121. 4:47belong in the purview of the state.
122. 4:50If a Christian steals or
123. 4:54murders or abuses a child,
124. 4:58that Christian is now under the control
125. 5:01of the state. They've crossed outside
126. 5:03the realm where Christ can reign through
127. 5:06the voluntary authority of the church
128. 5:09and they must now go under the coercive
129. 5:11authority of the state. That is a
130. 5:13God-given function. So, the state is not
131. 5:17a problem and even though Christ has
132. 5:20spent the whole the whole of his
133. 5:21teaching through the Gospels contrasting
134. 5:24his authority to the world's,
135. 5:26it doesn't mean they don't coexist. The
136. 5:29state coexists with the church. Just
137. 5:32don't confuse them. Caesar's authority
138. 5:34is legitimate and so is Christ's, but
139. 5:37they are not the same.
140. 5:38Notice that when Paul is speaking to the
141. 5:41church, he's using personal pronouns in
142. 5:44the first person. You, you, you. When
143. 5:47he's talking in Romans 12. And then when
144. 5:50he starts talking about the state, it's
145. 5:52it or him.
146. 5:55As if it's something besides the church.
147. 5:58Paul never conceived of a scenario where
148. 6:00the church and the state would be the
149. 6:01same thing.
150. 6:04Therefore, it is necessary to be in
151. 6:06subjection not only because of wrath,
152. 6:09but also for conscience' sake.
153. 6:11For because of this you also pay taxes,
154. 6:14for rulers are servants of God devoting
155. 6:18themselves to this very thing.
156. 6:21Render to all what is due them.
157. 6:24He quotes Jesus verbatim.
158. 6:26Tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom
159. 6:30custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom
160. 6:34honor.
161. 6:35So you should pay taxes to the state.
162. 6:38You should give customs to the state
163. 6:40where it's required. You should give
164. 6:42fear
165. 6:44to the state where it's required. You
166. 6:46should give honor to the president, to
167. 6:48the governor.
168. 6:50Owe nothing to anyone except to love one
169. 6:53another.
170. 6:55For he who loves his neighbor has
171. 6:58fulfilled the law.
172. 7:01And here he points back to how we should
173. 7:02be living internally by a higher
174. 7:05standard. If we love our neighbor, we're
175. 7:08not
176. 7:09under the law. We're free from the law
177. 7:11because we've far exceeded the law.
178. 7:14We've found love.
179. 7:18For this, you shall not commit adultery,
180. 7:20you shall not murder, you shall not
181. 7:22steal, you shall not covet. And if there
182. 7:25is any other commandment, it is summed
183. 7:27up in this saying, you shall love your
184. 7:30neighbor as yourself. So he's saying all
185. 7:33the commandments
186. 7:34that place you under the threat of the
187. 7:36state, they're fulfilled if you just
188. 7:39stay in the restraints of love. Love
189. 7:42does no wrong to a neighbor.
190. 7:45Therefore, love is the fulfillment of
191. 7:47the law.
192. 7:49And this, of course,
193. 7:51we have to remember is Paul's answer and
194. 7:53clarification on what he said in Romans
195. 7:568:4.
196. 7:57When he said, "If we walk by the Spirit,
197. 8:00we will fulfill the righteous
198. 8:02requirement of the law." He's not saying
199. 8:05that we will do all the Levitical
200. 8:07systems. We will practice all the rules.
201. 8:10We will keep all the feasts. We will go
202. 8:12through all the rituals. He's saying we
203. 8:14will live by love because that's what
204. 8:16fulfills the law.
205. 8:18Love is the fulfillment of the law.
206. 8:21Do this. Do what?
207. 8:24Do love.
208. 8:26Love your neighbor. Do this, knowing the
209. 8:28time
210. 8:30that it is already the hour for you to
211. 8:32awaken from sleep.
212. 8:34For now, salvation is nearer to us
213. 8:38than when we believed.
214. 8:40Paul doesn't view salvation as started
215. 8:42and finished in the moment of first
216. 8:44belief.
217. 8:45He says that their salvation is nearer
218. 8:47now than when they first believed.
219. 8:50And he's saying, "I want you to love
220. 8:51your neighbor better. I want you to love
221. 8:54more fully."
222. 8:55And what How do we do that? By awakening
223. 8:58from our sleep.
224. 9:00The sleep of selfishness.
225. 9:02The sleep of living only for self.
226. 9:04Awakening to the needs of others.
227. 9:07Awakening to the needs of neighbors.
228. 9:10So, he says,
229. 9:12"Do this because our salvation is
230. 9:14closer."
231. 9:16And so, somehow he's tying
232. 9:18our participation in loving one another
233. 9:21and being perfected in love,
234. 9:24it's helping us get closer to the Lord
235. 9:26and to the approaching salvation
236. 9:28that we've been moving toward in faith
237. 9:30all this time.
238. 9:33The night is almost gone,
239. 9:35and the day is near.
240. 9:37Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of
241. 9:40darkness
242. 9:41and put on the armor of light.
243. 9:44Now, what does John teach us is the
244. 9:46light?
245. 9:47He says, "Whoever does not love his
246. 9:49brother walks in the darkness, but
247. 9:51whoever loves his brother walks in the
248. 9:53light."
249. 9:55So, Paul's saying, "Love one another."
250. 9:57And then immediately, he's telling us,
251. 9:59"Get out of the darkness,
252. 10:01the unenlightened state of living for
253. 10:04yourself,
254. 10:05and come into the enlightened awareness
255. 10:08of living for others, of living for
256. 10:10love.
257. 10:12Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of
258. 10:14darkness and put on the armor of light.
259. 10:18Light is a protection.
260. 10:20Love as light is a protection.
261. 10:24Let us behave properly, as in the day,
262. 10:27not in carousing and drunkenness,
263. 10:30not in sexual promiscuity and
264. 10:32sensuality, not in strife and jealousy,
265. 10:39but put on the Lord Jesus Christ
266. 10:41and make no provision for the flesh in
267. 10:44regard to its lusts.
268. 10:46Amen.
269. 10:48Don't make allowance. Don't make
270. 10:50provision for the flesh. Live for love.
271. 10:53Put aside all the counterfeits.
272. 10:56Live in peace with the state. Live in
273. 10:59obedience and honor of the state as
274. 11:01God's servant for a fallen world. But
275. 11:05especially, live in love toward one
276. 11:07another. Love your neighbor. Live in
277. 11:10light.
278. 11:11Put on the Lord Jesus and make no
279. 11:14allowance, no provision for the flesh.
280. 11:17When you're going on a journey,
281. 11:19you make provision for that journey. You
282. 11:21take snacks. You take water.
283. 11:23You make provision for your body.
284. 11:26But Paul is saying, "We're stepping into
285. 11:28a new season, and don't make any
286. 11:30provision for your flesh. Don't take any
287. 11:34allowance for your flesh.
288. 11:36Especially through strife and jealousy
289. 11:39and promiscuity and sensuality. Lay all
290. 11:42that aside.
291. 11:43And just put on the Lord Jesus. Make him
292. 11:46your only provision. His grace, his
293. 11:49love, his light, his purpose,
294. 11:52his presence.
295. 11:54And that's how we're going to be able to
296. 11:56live in this age where the darkness is
297. 11:59fixing to give way to the light.