Romans 13
Submission to the Authorities
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
So this was what we talked about last night. If you’re familiar with the book of Romans, you’ll know that Chapter 13 is more known for Paul’s words regarding authority – that (1) All authority comes from the Lord, (2) we should do good so we are under favor of the authorities, and (3) pay taxes and revenue to whom taxes and revenue are due, and, more importantly, honor and respect those to whom honor and respect are due.
The good father and son duo to whom I was conducting a Bible study yesterday did their best to hold back their emotions while I was reading that first half out loud, especially considering that the former immediately expressed his dismay over what was going on here in the Philippines, especially over what was going on in the past few days. Best that I don’t really talk about it here, it’s polarizing enough already.
No, I went ahead and placed emphasis instead, on the second half of the chapter – which clearly indicates our mandate, our mindset during these times of turmoil. Immediately coming off of his words concerning paying what is due to whom it is due, Paul says that if we’re to keep owing people anything, it’s love.
Paul followed up on his words earlier about how we should ‘do good’, and consequently how we should be compliant and obedient to the laws of the land, by proposing that in all times, we should love one another and keep loving one another – for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. He goes on to have us consider that even the laws of the Old Covenant, up to what we call the ‘Big 10’, or the Ten Commandments are fulfilled when we love our neighbor; In other words, when we love one another as Christ loves us, we would immediately avoid coveting and committing adultery with our neighbor’s wives, we would avoid murdering each other and stealing from each other.
…And now that we mention it, when we love one another as Christ loves us, we would also immediately be recognizing God as the only God with no other gods before Him; We would automatically be avoiding creating graven images and idols to worship, we would not be taking His name in vain (rather, we would be praising His name), and so on.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:18-19
Love is the mindset we maintain, in this world that demands we move in fear. Perfect love is superior to fear. We love excellently because of a perfect God who loves us with a perfect love. Indeed, we love because He first loved us.
Light is the mandate. These are the times for us, indeed, to wake up. In the face of international unrest, national turmoil, local murmurings, social uneasiness and personal anxiety, the mandate is not for us to crumple into the dead silence, or to be reckless – These are the times for us to love as we are loved, and to project Christ as His light is projected in us.
If, earlier, we were told to pursue the light by way of love, we’re told in the latter verses to intentionally avoid the darkness – or, rather, the works of darkness, moving away from the pull of the flesh which would have us back into the orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality and sensuality; We’re to love one another in the light, not quarrel and soak in jealousy in the darkness.
Christ is in us, in all His glory and grace – it ought to be natural for us to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ‘, because the flesh no longer fits us; No, what matters to us now, what fits us now, what we’re to wear and project now ought to match who we are within. Christ’s glory and grace is in us, so we put on His love and His light.
And, believe me, we need Him, more now than ever.
The stakes are, as I said, higher than they’ve ever been.
Next post coming soon. God bless you!
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