Continuing his great application of his rich theology, Paul presents a logical progression of how we are to live as followers of Jesus.  Having looked in chapter 12 at how worship through our service and love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In chapter 13 he continues this theme of love, but this time Paul wants to tell us how love lives well in society.

Beginning with looking at the civil authorities, out obedience to the law of land is part of the Christian's integrity.  Paul affirms that civil leaders are appointed by God's authority, therefore they are to serve as his agents in the moral law.  This does not mean that Christians simply sit back and take what comes their way.  If the civil authorities are not leading in a Christ-centred way, then we take a stand for what is right and true - we obey God rather than man.

This leads Paul into the second part of the passage as he considers how love keeps us from sinning.  Sacrificial love means we stay on the path of light and not on the path of darkness.  Living in the light means we stay true to the gospel, whereas walking in the darkness will only lead to sin.  Paul urges us to be sincere in our love of Christ so that we can live well in the church and in society.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

If you're joining us and trying to catch up where we're at,

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we've covered 12 chapters of Romans and

really from chapter 12 onwards, Paul

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has started his practical application

of what is his deep and rich theology.

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And what he does from chapter 12 onwards,

he He approaches this very logically.

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He moves from one state to another

so that we can simply follow along

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and adopt it in our own lives.

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And as systematic as he was in the

theology of the first 11 chapters,

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where he stated a position and then

answered those who would disagree.

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He again embarks on a logical

progression of how we are to

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live as followers of Jesus.

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And although we will see that chapter

13 comes to us in two parts, it

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really has one overall message for us.

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And that message is the love of Jesus

compels us to live well in society.

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And so perhaps a verse that pins this

for us for tonight is verse 10 in

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chapter 13 where Paul writes, Love

does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore

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love is the fulfilling of the law.

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This is Paul's centerpiece

for this chapter.

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And he begins by speaking about authority

and our submission to those over us.

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Now the world has taught

us to be wary of authority.

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We are encouraged, actively encouraged,

to question everything we are told,

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to be suspicious about ulterior

motives and that more so particularly

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following the coronavirus pandemic.

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But Paul wants us to take a look

at this from the perspective

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of our security in Christ.

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That's what his first eleven

chapters has been talking about.

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Paul has been teaching us what

it means to live for Christ so

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that we will be secure in him.

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And so from that perspective,

we need not fear what we're

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about to approach in chapter 13.

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We don't need to fear which

political system is running the

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country, who the first minister,

prime minister, or president may be.

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Because we can be sure that

we will be kept by Christ,

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because our kingdom is not In

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autumn, or in the autumn of 1561,

young Queen Mary of Scotland had

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a series of conversations with

the Scottish reformer, John Knox.

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A Catholic, Mary claimed that Romans

13 gave sovereigns the right to vote.

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to determine the religious

convictions of their subjects.

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Therefore, Mary said, Knox was wrong

to urge people to receive a religion

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that their princes disallowed.

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His teaching, she concluded, must

be false, since God commands, here

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in Romans 13, subjects to obey

their monarch, their monarchs.

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And this was a very comfortable and,

as you can imagine, convenient position

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for the Scottish Queen to take.

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But Knox famously replied, Madam, as

right religion took neither its origin

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nor authority from worldly princes,

but from the eternal God alone.

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So are not subjects bound to

frame their religion according

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to the appetites of the princes?

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And besides, God commands

queens to nurture his people.

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Yes, but you are not the church that

I will nourish, Mary retorted to him.

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And to this, Knox replied,

Your will, madam, is no reason.

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In other words, just because you want

And you see Mary and John Knox were

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two voices in debates about church

and state authority that Europeans

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debated intermittently for centuries.

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Queen Mary's view represents

one of four main points.

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positions on church state relations.

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Now, don't switch off at this point,

but some may be interested in this.

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I want to let you know what they

are because inevitably the majority

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of us here will probably agree

on one of these, but there may be

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differences of how we understand it.

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And so the first one is Aristotelianism,

state authority centered in monarchs

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who control the Theocracy, the

church establishes civil law.

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and so controls the state, and

that's indeed what happened in the

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magisterial reforms of the Reformation.

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Constantinianism, where the

state favours the church, and the

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church accommodates the state.

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In many ways, what England has been

used to with an established church.

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And then there is Caperianism.

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Church and state recognize that

each has authority in its sphere.

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Both seek constructive

collaboration without domination.

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And whenever Northern Ireland was formed

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on not having an established church.

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Perhaps you didn't know that there

was so many ways of looking at this

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relationship between church and state.

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And each one hinges, or

falls, on Romans chapter 13.

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Isn't it amazing how from one passage you

can get four different approaches to this?

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Well, Knox was in no support of Mary,

Queen of Scots, so he was no Aristian.

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In fact, years earlier, his fiery

proclamation of justification by faith

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alone had nearly cost him his life

when Catholicism controlled Scotland.

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A court sentenced him to

row as a galley slave.

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That typically meant a very slow

death, but Knox had survived

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and regained his freedom.

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And after his release, he studied in

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And when he returned home to

preach and to galvanize Scotland's

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Calvinist lords, he led the

drafting of the Scottish Confession.

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And in sections 11 and 18 of that

confession, It is declared that Jesus

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Christ is the only head of his kirk.

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And if you don't know your Ulster

Scots, kirk is simply church.

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So understanding this position that

Knox lays out, of which the Presbyterian

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Church in Ireland subscribes to and

believes, and I don't think anyone here

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would challenge that Jesus Christ is

the only head of his kirk, we can now

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approach the relationship between church

and state as presented in Romans 13.

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Part of a Christian's integrity

is civic responsibility.

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And this begins with a sense of

obligation to honor governing authorities.

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And this is what Paul writes in verse 1.

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Let every person be subject to the

governing authorities, for there is no

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authority except from God, and those

that exist have been instituted by God.

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by God.

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Now just read that for a second,

isn't that so encouraging to know?

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As our history has been shaped and indeed

will be shaped, no one has authority

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over this land, this island, this united

kingdom, or indeed any country in the

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world that has not been instituted by God.

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You see this sense of instituted

by God has a theological basis

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and it is God's sovereignty as

expressed in his establishment.

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Of the institution of human governments.

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In general, the authorities act

legally, and they uphold the social

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order that God has established.

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And we see this time and again

in scripture, the formation

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of the children of Israel.

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As they were gathered at Mount

Sinai, they were gathered around

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the Ten Commandments, principles

by which they were to worship God.

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God and how they were to

live together as a people.

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Then as the law was further explained

in Deuteronomy, they understood more

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of their rights and their entitlements

and what it meant to live as a people

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in the promised land as those 12 tribes

that we were looking at this morning.

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And then of course in the teaching of the

law that that revival of what it meant

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to live for God as the exiles returned

to Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah.

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Scripture has made it clear what

the expectation of how people are to

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live in God's way, because God has

always made known what his way is.

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And we know that non compliance with

God's way results in punishment.

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And God has delegated certain

punishment to these authorities.

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As verse 4 goes on to say, For

he is God's servant, speaking of

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the magistrate, for your good.

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But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he

does not bear the sword in vain, for he

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is the servant of God, an avenger who

carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

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And whenever you look at the majority of

rules in the world, they are grounded on

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what we would agree with in Scripture.

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You shall not kill.

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You shall not commit adultery.

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You shall not steal.

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We think these are good laws and of course

we do and there is punishment for them

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through the civil and magistrate's courts.

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But there are other laws, embezzlement,

fraud, sins of consequence that we

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were thinking about this morning.

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It's it not right that they should be

punished too by the civil magistrate

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for the betterment of all people?

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And so certain responsibilities have been

given to the civil magistrate by God.

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To ensure that there is punishment

for these things that go against,

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ultimately, what God's best is for us.

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And so civil authorities should hold

the standard of the law that ensures a

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cohesive society in which we may live.

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And in doing so, it serves out

punishment, but that punishment should

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not be served as something it relishes.

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Verse 3 tells us that when we live good

lives and follow the law, then we need

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not fear those appointed to rule over us.

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But when authorities overstep,

Believers may need to do what

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we're told in Acts chapter 5 and

verse 29, obey God rather than men.

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They may need to say to a king whose

command is blasphemous, we will not serve

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your gods or worship the golden image that

you have set up as Daniel and his friends

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did in Daniel chapter 3 and verse 18.

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Jesus defied the extra biblical

Sabbath, ordinances of his time.

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Paul's counsel in Romans 13 assumes

a government acting within its God

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appointed parameters, and when it does

not, then other, uh, other measures

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may be necessitated, necessitated.

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Unfortunately today we see abuse of power

in countries where governments want to

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remain in power and so they persecute the

opposition or intimidate their voters.

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In this case, followers of

Jesus do not obey tyrants when

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they require what God forbids.

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Revelation 13 develops this theme

in a vision of government run amok.

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In that vision, a terrible

beast emerges from the sea.

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It has ten horns signifying power

and seven heads, each with a crown

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signifying rule and authority.

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The dragon, the Satan, welcomes and

summons the beast and gives him power

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to blaspheme God and to wage war against

God's people, and this is what we

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read in Revelation 13, verses 1 to 7.

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But this beast represents

the power and authority of

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government in the service of evil.

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At worst, godless government seeks

to coerce Christians to bow to evil.

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If social pressure fails, evil powers

may use force to compel compliance.

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Evil governments even receive worship,

and Revelation 13 verse 4 tells us that.

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And during the life of the Apostles,

three Roman emperors, Gaius, Nero,

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Domitian, claimed to be gods and attempted

to compel people to worship them.

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Sadly, emperor worship was simply a

long tradition, because that's what

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happened at the time of Egypt with

the pharaohs, and indeed Alexander

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the Great also claimed to be a deity.

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Communist totalitarians, even in

our lifetime, often style themselves

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as the father of the nation.

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And so they put up statues in their

own honor and plaster pictures of

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themselves throughout their cities.

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To this day, governments are prone to make

promises that only God can keep and to

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demand allegiance that only God deserves.

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Now democracies are less prone

to self defecation because anyone

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can publicly criticise leaders.

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It is hard to worship a leader whom

the press will criticise in the

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morning and then they become the end

of the jokes at night by a comedian.

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But democracies still promise

god like gifts such as food and

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security from cradle to grave.

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You see, we need both

Romans 13 and Revelation 13.

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Rulers are a gift, worthy of

respect, and rulers can also

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think of themselves as God.

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So ordinarily, disciples are the most

loyal citizens in a nation and in a state.

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We obey and we serve the government.

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We don't rebel unless the authorities

issue commands that contradict God's will.

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If we must choose between

God and man, we We obey God.

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We prepare to disobey if necessary.

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But notice verse 5.

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This should only be done when there are no

other options, for Christians must be in

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subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath,

but also for the sake of their conscience.

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We obey because it is

what God wants us to do.

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This means even the mundane things

of paying taxes is an expression of

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obedience to God and love for him.

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Since what happens whenever we pay taxes,

it provides practical means of financing

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the governments that God establishes.

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Now I'm not encouraging revolution.

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And on the whole, we agree

with a lot of what those in

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authority over us have to say.

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This is good because any politician,

president or king is only in office

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for as long as the Lord allows.

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But there are issues, ones that we have

faced and are facing in Northern Ireland.

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The redefinition of marriage,

abortion law changes.

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and RSE in our secondary schools that

we should and must speak out against.

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Whenever I was in training and we were

finishing that there was a discussion

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about what this redefinition of marriage

meant and what would it mean that

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if it ever was forced on the church.

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And a group of us have said

that we will submit back our

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license to marry to the state.

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as a way of saying we do not agree.

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To this point, the state has not

forced a redefinition of marriage

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on the church to act as its people.

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But if that day comes, we will hand

back to the government the license it

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gives us to marry because we will not

take part in what is biblically wrong.

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We must obey God and not men.

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Because it is a fine balance to

live well for Christ in obedience

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to the civil authorities.

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And an obedience to Him whenever we

are challenged with these things.

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When the wind of the world would

have us simply go along with it.

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But Paul continues in verse 8 by

what seemingly is a shift in thought,

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but it actually centres on love.

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We obey civil authorities because

of our love of the Saviour

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and our desire to obey Him.

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And we also live well with

others because of that same love.

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And this becomes a challenge to us.

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We all like to think that we are

right and we don't really like

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to admit it when we're wrong, but

God's love compels us to love.

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Paul helpfully says this in verse 9

when he says for the commandments,

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you shall not commit adultery, you

shall not murder, you shall not steal,

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you shall not covet, and any other

commandment are summed up in this word,

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you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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How do you not commit adultery?

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How do you not murder?

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How do you not steal?

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How do you not covet?

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Well, you let the love of Christ rule in

you, so that as you love your neighbor,

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you will remain true to what that love is.

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And complying with these laws from what

we call the Decalogue, is essentially

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showing love for one's neighbor.

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This doesn't mean laws against

adultery, murder, theft, or coveting

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are no longer valid or needed.

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They are.

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For one thing, they offer abiding

light for civil law, in which they were

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frequently included in many of the Western

laws, up until relatively recently.

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These specific laws instruct

believers in living lovingly.

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And law teaches that sorts of

behavior responses God expects and

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by his spirit empowers when people

receive his grace in the gospel.

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For as Paul goes on to say in verse 10,

love does no wrong to a neighbor therefore

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love is the fulfilling of the law.

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Now the word love here you is agape love.

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One of the three words for love.

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Agape love is sacrificial love and

this changes everything because

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when we love sacrificially it

means that our outlook changes.

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It becomes less of us and more of others.

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So as we live sacrificially in

society by living in agape love we

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are doing what God expects of us.

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In verses 11 to 14, Paul puts a

time constraint on all of this,

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and an urgency to love well.

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We love now because time is not on

our side, as he says in verse 11.

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Besides this, you know the time that

the hour has come for you to wake

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from sleep, for salvation is nearer

to us now than when we first believed.

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And here we see the New Testament's

view of time, which Jesus divides

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into this age, and the age to come in

Matthew chapter 12 and verse 32 and

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again in Luke chapter 18 and verse 30.

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We live in this age but Jesus is the

one who has inaugurated the age to come

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so that's why Paul says the hour has

come and the Christian must stay awake.

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When Paul says that salvation is near

he means that the day of complete

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restoration grows ever closer

because salvation is always near.

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or at hand, and passages such as

James chapter 5 and verses 8 and 9,

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and 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 7,

and Revelation 22 and verse 10, all

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confirm this for us, because the Lord

can deliver His people at any time.

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He can also return at any time, but today

it is nearer, for one more day has passed.

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And so the Christian lives between

the time when sin and darkness

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reign, And the time when the

light of Christ rules completely.

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If we are sleepy and complacent,

well then it is time to wake up.

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So that we don't relapse into

the life of darkness that Paul

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spoke of in verse 21 of chapter 1.

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Now, you can't blame a heating

system that's too warm for

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you to drift off to sleep.

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But aren't we in danger of falling asleep?

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Aren't we in danger of simply going

through this life, ignoring the urgency

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of the time in which we're living?

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Christ will return, none of us know when.

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This is the day by which we

are to live, And serve because

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salvation is always near.

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And Paul continues in verse 12 by saying,

The night is far gone, the day is at

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hand, so then let us cast off the works

of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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Whether we perceive it or not, the

night of sin is running out of time.

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The day of Christ and his light is drawing

closer, and we should live accordingly.

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And Ephesians 6 has a lengthy description

of the disciples armor, but here the armor

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in Romans chapter 13 is simply light.

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And what this encompasses

are actually three lights.

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It is the light of Christ, the light of

the gospel, and the light of scripture.

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To know the light, to know the truth,

and to live by it is the best defense.

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against darkness.

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This is the gospel call, as

John, in his prologue, wrote.

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In him was life, and the

life was the light of men.

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The light shines in the darkness.

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And the darkness has not overcome it.

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You see, we can trust Jesus.

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We really can.

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Because he is the truth.

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Just as pure light shines

strong, so Jesus is the truth

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and strength of our salvation.

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And what we are to do is

to know this salvation.

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As Paul concludes this chapter by

telling us how to live, to live

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in it, and how to walk in it.

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He says let us walk properly as in the

daytime, not in orgies and in drunkenness,

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not in sexual immorality and sensuality,

not in quarreling and jealousy.

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When we walk in the daytime, we

can see, but we're also seen.

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This means that we are kept on

the path that leads us to Christ.

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Walking in the darkness

where our acts can be hidden.

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Leads us to sin as we saw this

morning in Genesis chapter 49.

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We can never really get away from

the consequences of our sin Because

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unrepented sin will stick to us.

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We need to walk in the light so that we

will know God's goodness, we will know

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his grace, and we will know his love.

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If sin still has a hold on

your life, flee from it.

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Because trust me, that sin isn't worth it.

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Flee.

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Run.

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As Peter tells us, the evil one

is prowling round like a lion.

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And trust me, if a lion came out through

that door tonight, you would run.

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Flee the sin.

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It's not gonna do you any good.

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And do what Paul tells

us to do in verse 14.

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But put on Jesus Christ.

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And make no provision for the

flesh to gratify its desires.

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And the image here is like putting

on a new, well fitted jacket.

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It's wonderful when I got married,

all my clothes seemed to fit me

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better because I had another opinion.

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And I think all men discover

that whenever they get married.

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But you know what it's like

to have a good raincoat?

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To have a good suit jacket, to

have any form of jacket, to have

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it on and to have it fit well is

comfortable and it looks good.

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And this is what we're to do with Jesus.

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It is like putting on that

well fitted new jacket.

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And as we put on Christ, we invoke

him and we practice the spiritual

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disciplines of worship, prayer, the

studying of scripture, and obedience

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of who he is, as he has called us

in the first half of this verse.

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And it calls us to loving behaviors

that invite his life altering

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presence into us by the Holy Spirit.

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And in doing so, we give no head space

in planning or daydreaming about the

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sins that we can commit with the flesh.

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And this is our tendency, to drift

away from God, but put on Christ.

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Like that perfect jacket, stay

close to Him to know His love,

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so that we can show His love.

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And as John writes in his first letter,

in chapter 4 and verse 7, Beloved, let us

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love one another, for love is from God,

and whoever loves has been born of God.

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It's a wonderful thing to know God.

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Not just in head knowledge.

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Because we can all easily

say, I believe God exists.

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But Satan says that too.

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To know God is to know Him as our Saviour.

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That in our hearts, we commit

to Him through His Son, Jesus.

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Knowing that we are free to live for him

and not fear whoever our ruler may be.

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Dare I say, not fear if we ever receive

a government in Westminster to rule over

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us who would clamp down on us, or indeed

a government from Dublin that in time

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may rule in a way that we do not want.

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We can stand firm because

we are not of this world.

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We are of a kingdom that is much

greater and much better and more secure.

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Why are you trusting anything else?

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Put on Christ, each and every one of us.

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Put on Christ, and stay close to him,

so that as we know his love, we can

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demonstrate his love, and thereby know

what is the true heart of the gospel.

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Let's pray.

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Our Father God, for this

your word we give you thanks.

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It takes our minds away from the

temporal affairs of this world.

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And allows us to focus on

our security in Christ.

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So may it be true for each and every

one of us that we will flee sin.

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It'll do us no good.

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And may we put on Christ

like a well fitted jacket.

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So that we will live in his

ways and his ways alone.

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May we each know and be honest

with our own hearts tonight.

381

Amen.

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May we take our stand for what is

true for the gospel, where it supports

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the government of the day, or where

we need to obey you rather than man.

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Give us the conviction of our hearts

and the strength of our feet to

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stand firm on what this truth is.

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And may the heart of the gospel

ever compel us to live for

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you all the days of our life.

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So Father, hear us as we pray in response

to you this night, in Jesus name.