ROMANS: HOW TO BE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN

Dondi Costin 

Romans 13:1-14 

Like a kid who throws a tantrum in the grocery store candy aisle, we often want to have our own way and do our own thing to get what we want. This tendency toward Autonomy is a thread that runs through the whole Bible and is nothing new. 

–Satan led a rebellion in heaven because he couldn’t stomach the thought of being subject to anyone else, even God. (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18)

–Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit because they bought the Devil’s lie that they could become like God once they usurped God’s authority. (Genesis 3:1-14)

–The Book of Judges turns on the repeated theme that “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25).

–And the apostle Peter had the nerve to rebuke Jesus to His face because Peter did not like Jesus’ plan and preferred his own, to which Jesus immediately replied, “Get behind Me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:33).

We act like Autonomous, self-driving vehicles who want to go our own way rather than letting God take the wheel. We often treat God like we are His customers and insist on reminding Him that “the customer is always right.” Rather, He is the Creator and the Creator is always right.

In Romans 13 God pulls the thread of Autonomy through three major issues that are as real to us in the 21st century as they were to Paul’s readers in the 1st century.

1. Our relationship with authority.
2. Our relationship with others.
3. Our relationship with Christ.

As complex as this passage might be in its application, it could not be simpler in its outline, which is a playbook for how to be a Christian citizen in anytime, anywhere.

1. Submit to government (13:1-7)
2. Love your neighbor (13:8-10)
3. Put on Christ (13:11-14)

Romans 12:1-2 pivots from Doctrine in Romans 1-11 to Duty in Romans 12-16:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 13 continues the thought as we decide to live according to our own authority or God’s.

There are consequences if we favor our own autonomy over God’s authority.

Taken to its natural extreme, Autonomy leads to:

Anarchy in the government realm when God wants us under His Authority.

Apathy in the personal realm when God wants our Accountability.

Arrogance in the spiritual realm when God wants our Allegiance.

Romans 13 tackles each of these three skirmishes in the battle for our lives as Christian citizens.

1. Submit to Government. (13:1-7)

A. Every authority is appointed by God to maintain order and avoid chaos. (13:1)

God establishes AUTHORITY because He is a God of order, not chaos. Submitting to His authority and acting according to the design He has established in creation order is His plan for human flourishing.

“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

God delegates His authority to men and women so they can act on His behalf to support of societal order and the common good. We see this principle at work in:

• Creation – God is the Ultimate Authority who brings order out of chaos (Gen. 1:1-2)

(2) Family – God appoints Adam as leader of the home with Eve as his “suitable helper” because “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). He instructs them to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). Husbands are to love their wives, wives are to submit to their husbands, parents must parent well, and children are to obey their parents (Col. 3:18-21).

(3) Work – Employees submit to employers; employers must lead well (Col. 3:22-4:1).

(4) Government –Citizens are to submit to the governing authorities because God has established them to maintain order in society (Rom. 13:1-7).

(5) Church –God appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers as leaders with defined roles to build up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-16).

(6) The Bible – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Pilate said, “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:10-11)

B. When you resist God-given authority, you resist God. (13:2)

King Saul learned the hard way that God takes rebellion against His authority very seriously.

“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’” (1 Sam. 15:22-23)

Being a model citizen is part of our Christian witness.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (1 Pet. 2:11–17)

C. Government leaders are God’s ministers to promote good and punish evil. (13:3-4)

All earthly authority has been delegated by God to those who operate on His behalf to maintain order, avoid chaos, promote human flourishing, and restrain evil – for our good.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule overthe fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Gen. 1:28).

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (Matt. 28:16-20)

Per Romans 13:3-4, sometimes the government is required to exercise discipline and punish evil to preserve societal good: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong….But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

Regardless of how good a driver you are or how compliant a child you are, your heart rate rises and your palms sweat every time you see a police car in your rearview mirror. That’s just a reminder of God’s message in this chapter.

Sometimes evil is so great that national/state governments “bear the sword” by way of capital punishment, both to punish evil deeds and deter others, which is a grave responsibility.

Sometimes evil is so great or the threat is so real that a national government chooses military action to preserve justice and protect its citizens/allies. The military is thus an extension of government authority to “execute wrath” on those whose evil practice requires it.

Many wonder how Christian commitments to the Prince of Peace square with their commitments to serve in law enforcement or the military. Romans 13:1-7 is the answer.

There is a long history of Just War Theory in the Christian tradition that stems from Romans 13. Police officers don’t make laws, and military members don’t start wars, but they do what they’re asked to do by government authority when that time comes.

Just War tradition has generally relied on these four factors when deciding to go to war:

1. Is this war in support of a truly just cause? (In pursuit of genuine justice, not revenge.)
2. Is war being declared by legitimate authority? (Government with proper authority)
3. Is war the absolute last resort? (Have we exhausted every other reasonable option?)
4. Is there sufficient probability of success? (Is the probable cost worth the likely benefit?)

Once war is declared, the government’s obligation regarding justice for war then becomes an obligation for justice inwar as they prosecute military actions that, at minimum:

1. Distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in support of military aims
2. Attack only legitimate military targets using limited means that minimize civilian harm
3. Use no more than the level of force required to accomplish the stated objective

Because of the weighty decisions governing authorities must make, we are commanded to submit to, pray for, and work with them to foster human flourishing in every way possible, which includes the opportunity for people to be saved.

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4)

“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer. 29:4-7)

Governing authorities are God’s ministers, so what are their obligations?

1. Remember that those who govern will be judged more strictly (James 3:1).
2. Govern as if you are working for the Lord (Col. 3:23-24).
3. Steward government resources to advance others’ good, not your own (Matt. 25:14-30).
4. Define “good” the way God does so humans can really flourish (Ps. 34:8).

There’s a reason Virginia is called a Commonwealth, a political unit organized for the common wealth – the common good – of its citizens. Jesus’ words to His disciples in Matthew 20:25-28 apply equally to government officials:

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Matt. 20:25-28) 

D. God expects us to submit willingly to authority, not whiningly. (13:5-7)

We should submit to authority not because we’re afraid to be punished if we don’t submit but as a matter of conscience. In other words, we do it simply because it’s the right thing to do.

The same is true for paying taxes and honoring those in authority. We pay taxes to support government action on our behalf because its mission is to serve as God’s ministers in that way. Recipients of Paul’s letter to the Romans were used to paying excessive and oppressive taxes, but Paul gave them no out to whine about what had to be paid.

Remember that when the Pharisees asked Jesus if God’s people should pay taxes, He replied, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:13-17).

As goes your giving to God, so goes your giving to government: “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7), especially on tax day.

If you find yourself posting negatively on social media about your government and its leaders far more than you are praying for them, you’re probably doing it wrong.

Is it ever right to resist the government? Yes! Obeying God may force you to resist government policies and actions when obedience to government is disobedience to God. But you must be prepared to suffer the consequences courageously should you choose that faithful path.

Numerous examples in Scripture remind us that not only can we resist governmental authority, sometimes we must:

1. In willful defiance of Pharoah’s command, the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1 refused to kill newborn babies because of they honored the Lord (Exodus 1).
2. Daniel and his friends succeeded in convincing their Babylonian boss to let them eat food that would not violate their faith (Daniel 1).
3. In defiance of King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to be thrown into the fiery furnace rather than worship anything other than God (Daniel 3).
4. Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den because he refused to pray to anyone other than God (Daniel 6).
5. When the authorities “commanded [Peter and John] not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), they refused the command, were thrown into jail, and said with enthusiasm: “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29).

When it comes to God and government, obey government when you can and God when you must. In those instances, just do the right thing and leave the results to God.

2. Love your Neighbor. (13:8-10)

Want to be a good citizen and have a great country? Then love your neighbor and see what God does when you act as His hands and feet in your community. But beware that your desire for Autonomy can lead to Apathy when God expects Accountability to His plan for His people.

Note that the obligation to “love one another” is a “continuing debt” from which you can never be released and a job from which you can never retire. If we citizens did more for our neighbors, the government would have to do less.

Note also that “love is a fulfillment of the law” (v. 10), which reminds us that Jesus said He’d come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:13-16)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:17-20)

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 7:12)

When Jesus was tested by a Pharisee to name the greatest commandment in Scripture, He came up with two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

When Jesus was asked by a lawyer looking or a loophole that would let him do as little as possible to help those in need, He told the story of a Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the moral of which was that everyone in need is your neighbor, even those whose conditions and positions you think are unworthy of your efforts. Jesus made it abundantly clear that the kind of love He has commanded is not limited to some warm, fuzzy feeling you might have toward someone else. No, it’s the kind of love that makes you willing to inconvenience yourself to help someone else, provide expertise and resources they don’t have, and keep tabs on them until they’re out of the ditch and on the mend.

A glance at The Ten Commandments, which Paul mentions in Romans 13:9, demonstrates that the Christian life is really about the quality of our relationships with God and others. This foundational structure reflects the heart of God for His glory, His people, and His creation.

If you understand the concept of loving your neighbor but haven’t yet found a way to put the rubber to the road or the pedal to the metal, don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. Just find someone who needs help in a way you can help and then help them. As we saw in Romans 12 last week, God has equipped every believer with unique spiritual gifts so that together we can serve the Lord, the Church, and the world.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…. (Romans 12:4-6)

Find Your Sweet Spot, where (1) what you have a passion for, and (2) what you’re good at, intersects with (3) what your community needs.

John Stonestreet says Christians can make the world a better place by responding to one or more of these four questions as you think through your impact on your community:

1. What is good that we can celebrate and protect?
2. What is missing that we can contribute?
3. What is evil that we can oppose and resist?
4. What is broken that we can restore?

Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger’s 2006 book Simple Church says that, in addition to maintaining personal spiritual disciplines, every Christian should anchor their schedules around three big rocks: (1) Corporate worship, usually on Sunday, (2) a small groupsometime during the week, and (3) a ministry in which you use your gifts to serve others. If you’re looking for a ministry to complete the Big Three, this church can help you find it.

Don’t let your Autonomy lead to Apathy since God has called you to live in Accountability to His plan to meet the needs of others.

3. Put on Christ. (13:11-14)

Like roaches who dominate the dark but scatter as soon as the light turns on, we sometimes seem more at home misbehaving in the darkness while God has called us to live in the light.

Our drive for Autonomy pulls us toward the kind of Arrogance that unseats Jesus from the throne of our lives when He demands Allegiance instead. A Christian citizen can certainly pledge allegiance to the flag, but the best citizens pledge allegiance to the Lord.

The picture in Romans 13:1-14 is of a soldier who has spent all night partying and is not ready for battle when Reveille sounds, so he’s forced from his slumber and is not fit to fight. Paul uses three familiar metaphors as he contrasts those who are asleep versus those who are awake, those content to be in the dark versus those who live in the light, and the difference it makes when you cast off your Autonomous tendencies to live according to your fleshly desires and put on Christ instead. We must first Wake Up and then Suit Up because “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).

Christian citizens live as if God is on the throne rather than themselves. We see in Scripture that there are only two ways to live.

–The book of Proverbs speaks to this routinely by contrasting the wise and the foolish.

–Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that “the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you might have abundant life.”

— He tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that you either build your house on a solid foundation like a wise man by putting His words, or you build on sand like a fool who hears what Jesus says but does not put them into practice (Matthew 7:24-27).

–In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts those who live in keeping with the acts of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:19-21) with those whose lives reflect the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).

However you look at it, your choice is to live as if you believe what God says, or to live as if you don’t. End of story.

Paul lists six examples of the kind of behavior that cause us to stumble as we walk: revelry(riotous living) and drunkenness (drunk and disorderly), lewdness (sexual promiscuity) and lust (debauchery, absence of restraint), strife(divisiveness) and envy (selfish ambition). He could have listed many more, but these six suffice to make the point because each one demonstrates the impact of unchecked Autonomy in someone’s life. These may or may not be your stumbling blocks, but you probably know what your stumbling blocks are.

A few weeks ago we all became aware of the Kiss Cam Seen ‘Round the World. One minute this now-infamous couple was having the time of their lives reveling, or so they thought, until they were caught on the kiss cam for all to see their sin. Their immediate reaction to change their postures and hide their faces led to loss of jobs, loss of reputations, and perhaps loss of marriage and family. An illicit relationship was the presenting problem of their sin. What’s yours?

“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” (1 Thess. 5:1-8)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Heb 12:1-2)

The more you become like Christ, the more good you will do, the more joy you will have, the more abundant your life will become, the more ready you will be for the Lord to use you like never before, and the better citizen you will be.

If you would be a Christian citizen, yield your Autonomy to Christ’s Authority, run from the Apathy and into His Accountability, and leave your Arrogance behind in favor of Allegiance to the One Who made you and loves you like nobody else.

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (Titus 3:1-8)