Romans 13- Love God and Neighbor

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Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) A lawyer, an expert at the Mosaic Law, asked Jesus “What must I do to inherit eternal life”? This is a good question, however the man was asking Jesus this question to try and trap him into saying something blasphemous. Christ answer basically was Love God and Love Your Neighbor. It seems simple right, just Love God and Love your Neighbor, that is the fulfilment of Gods Law, but is it really that simple? Do we truly Love The Lord God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength? Do we really love our neighbor as ourselves? The reality is we fall short every single day, this is why we need Jesus!

The Apostle Paul , under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, echos the teachings of Christ as Loving your Neighbor as the fulfillment of The Law of God. Paul begins by listing some of the Ten Commandments, Don’t commit adultery, Don’t kill, Don’t steal, ect What we need to understand is when we commit these sins, we are hurting other people. Sin is not only destructive to yourself, but its destructive to others. If we truly loved our “neighbor” we would stop gossipping about them, stop stealing from them, stop lusting after them. Your sins have consequences!

Jesus really took our understanding of The Law to a new level, Christ said “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust, has already committed adultery in their heart” (Matthew 5:28) Some “Christians” think its ok to look at pornography, however you are committing spiritual adultery according to The Lord. Not only that, you are not loving your neighbor. The demand for your sins, is causing another person to be enslaved to a life of abuse and mistreatment. This is just one example, do you really think you Love God and Love Your Neighbor?

“Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefor love is the fulfillment of The Law” (v10) Think about your actions, are they harming your neighbor? Are they harming your spouse or your family? Are they harming your Church? You are not just accountable for yourself, you are accountable for others. You have a responsibility to Love others as yourself, but unfortunately most of the world just love themselves.

We will fall short of the glory of God, we all have sinned and will sin again (Romans 3:23) This is why we need Jesus, every day, every hour, every minute, we need to crucify the flesh and be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we need to repent and put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and not ourselves (Mark 1:15)  Amen!

Romans 13- God and Government

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Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Romans 13:1-7

One of the great questions today is what role should Christians play in government? Some even question should Christians vote? So like every topic, we should turn to the Word of God for our answers. The Apostle Paul , under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, layed out a very detailed teaching on the role of government and the Church. The first thing that might surprise you, is God ordained the governments. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers (governing authorities) For there is no power or authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed or ordained by God” 

So now that you know governments were set in place by God, that should make you look at them a little differently. Now the first question or response will be, “but governments are all corrupted, some even wicked” Yes that’s true, some Churches are corrupted and wicked also, anytime people are involved in anything, there is going to be corruption. So what is the point of the governments? Well its a way God is establishing some sense of Law and Order in a sinful world. Most people are not Born Again, most people dont have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, therefor they need laws to keep society from going into chaos.

Sometimes getting involved in government can make changes for the good, for example, laws about abortion. While this is a moral battle, changing laws can sometimes deter people from getting an abortion and save innocent lives. However, on the other hand, when laws are made to make abortion more easily, then obviously more abortions are going to happen. So for the Church to totally abandon government would be a big mistake, as we can represent Christ in our local authorities. 

One of the big issues that has always arisen is taxes, Jesus himself actually addressed this issue, they tried to test and challenge Jesus by asking the question “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Remember Caesar was an evil ruler, who’s coin (denarius) even had his inscription stating he was the “Son of God”, so the people thought for sure Christ would tell them not to pay taxes. But Jesus stated “Render to Caesar what is Caesars and Render to God what is Gods” In other words, Pay your taxes to the government and give to God what is His! We see Jesus acknowledging the authority of the government even though it was corrupted and evil. (Matthew 22:15-22)

The Apostle Paul also affirmed this teaching “Render or Pay therefor to all that are due, taxes to who taxes are due” (v7)  The Apostle Peter as taught “Submit yourself for The Lords sake to every human institution , whether to the King as supreme authority, or to the governors “ (1 Peter 2:13-14)

Now the big question is what about when governments enforce evil practices or rules that violate the Law of God? The Pandemic was a good example of this, governments forced Churches to shut down, Christians had to use spiritual discernment as to obey our governments yet we are forsaking the assembly , the Church (Hebrews 10:25) Pastor John Macarthur, who recently passed away, took a stand against the government of California and reopened his Church, once Christians realized we were being lied to. Despite threats from the government, Grace Community Church continued to operate, even won a legal battle in court, as the government in this case, has overstepped their authority in the Church

As the Apostle Peter said “We obey God rather than man (human authority)” (Acts 5:29) We as Christians “strive to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18), we pay our taxes and follow laws, however when the government violates the Laws of God, we must submit to Jesus Christ, our King and Lord, Amen!

Romans 12- Overcome Evil with Good

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Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21

One of the things that differentiates Christians from the world, is how we respond to adversity. Jesus warned us as the Church, the world will hate you, because it hated Him (Christ) first (John 15:18) So as the Apostle Paul is teaching us, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, don’t repay evil with evil! Jesus gave a deeper teaching on this “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39) So do you still think its easy to be a Christian? When someone does evil to you, we don’t respond with evil to them, why? Because “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” says The Lord!

Even though we live in a fallen world, we are to be the Light of the World, the Salt of the Earth (Matthew 5) The Church is not to live like the world, don’t be conformed to the ways of the world, be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2) If it is possible, live in peace with everyone! (v18) Now notice it says, if its possible, often times peace is hard to find, as The Lord warned us “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer (take heart, have peace) I (Christ) have overcome the world! (John 16:33) In the world you will have tribulation and war, but in Jesus you will have the peace which surpasses all human understanding!  (Philippians 4:7)

“Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath”  (v19) Our human instinct is to fight fire with fire, however as Jesus warned “those who live by the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52) If you live by violence you will die by violence, what you reap is what you sow (Galatians 6:7) You need to take a step back and let God fight your battles for you, this seems unnatural to the flesh, this is where your faith is tested as God said “Vengence is Mine, I will repay” says The Lord (v19)  The Lord will fight for You, you just need to hold your peace or be still (Exodus 14:14) A concept most of us can’t comprehend, vengeance is Gods!

How do you fight your battles then? You fight evil with good, “Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (v20) That neighbor you have been fighting with, give them a gift with no explanation. That co-worker you have been at odds with, buy them lunch with no notice. Evil doesn’t know how to respond to good, its like heaping coals of fire on their heads. Let everyone see Christ living inside of you, don’t be like the world, overcome evil with good! (v21) Amen!

Romans 12- Love Everyone?

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Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Romans 12:14-16

So you think its easy to be as Christian? Just say a few words and vola , the golden ticket to Heaven. Oh how quickly the false convert will fall away when faced with opposition. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Bless them which persecute You, bless and do not curse! What did you say Paul? Has the Apostle lost his mind?

Well lets consider what our Lord Jesus Christ has to say, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) Wait a minute, the Apostle Paul is not crazy, this is what The Lord commands from us! This is true Christianity, but how can we fulfill these requirements? Its only by us crucifying the flesh, its only by us being Born Again, filled with the Holy Spirit, the flesh can’t love their enemy, oh the spiritual battle that is within!

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep! This is one of the many reasons for the Church, if you are not part of the body of Christ, who will you rejoice with? If you forsake the assembly of the Church, who will you weep with? Brothers and sisters, you were not made to live alone (Genesis 2:18) Christ has built His Church (Matthew 16:18) a community of believers for you to rejoice and weep with, to share your spiritual gifts (1 Peter 4:10), to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)

“Be of the same mind toward one another or live in harmony with one another” Many will say I can’t “go to Church” because this person is rude or that person doesn’t agree with me, Brothers and Sisters, if you are to love your enemies, don’t you think you should also love your brethren? Don’t you think this is part of your sanctification? The Church needs you just as much as You need the Church! “Don’t set your mind on high thing or don’t be proud associate with the lowly” In other words Get over yourself! 

Again I will ask the question, do you think being a Christian is easy? No of course not, we need Jesus every hour, every minute, every second, to crucify our flesh, to walk worthy in our calling as the Church, Amen!