All right, let's a theology of public life lessons for lot in the city of Sodom 1.12 writing wrongs from Romans. This is part for us working through this text in Romans I think is pivotal to our understanding of Christians relationship to the civil authorities We're taking our cue from a book by Glenn sunshine called slaying Leviathan and talking about that where Glenn sunshine describes using a word from a 16th century sort of social or political philosopher named Thomas Hobbes describing government as an encroaching with Leviathan with their tentacles reaching into every aspect of our lives And we see that Leviathan Spreading in our own country even this week watching further videos keeping abreast of what was going on in Canada Now in the western hemisphere The thought that we have underground churches Above our northern border is just amazing to me but that is the encroachment of the civil authorities upon the rights God-given inalienable rights of Christians and we need to be prepared for that in our own context and pray that this Subject this study will help us begin to think about that and as we begin to make application I pray it'll help us formulate a good theology of public life going forward. So Writing wrongs from Romans. We're in Romans 13 verses 1 through 7. Let me read the text and then we'll do a brief review Paul says in verse 1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. There is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same For he is God's minister to you for good But if you do evil be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain For he is God's minister an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil Therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath but also for conscience's sake For because of this you also pay taxes for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing Render therefore to all their due Taxes to whom taxes are due customs to whom customs fear to whom fear Honor to whom honor all right Romans 13 verses 1 through 7 as we think about this text again and we come back to it this morning um this text Will provide a basis along with other texts in the bible and examples from the bible this text is going to provide a basis for um a robust theology of public life and in The history of the church that theology of public life has developed over the centuries as the church sort of communicates and works through These issues and we're going to trace spend a short amount of time sort of tracing the historical development of that theology through church history and um if you think about the disciplines of theology systematic theology exegetical theology systematic theology historical theology pastoral theology biblical theology historical theology plays a really important part in all of that and um One of the ways in which we generally talk about historical theology is in the context of how the church has understood these things over time We are the bible per se hasn't only been delivered so to speak to you or to i Individually it's not just given to me right and I can sit in my garage and You know fumble through the pages of scripture and attempt to figure things out for myself The scriptures were given to the people of god and given to the church and the church learns in community So when you and I were converted We were saved to a community the church and we have entered into uh, for example, uh, or entered into so to speak A conversation that's been going on for 2000 years a conversation about theology A conversation about how to understand and apply these texts that we're looking at And so we want to understand that conversation.  Let me tell you what I think What we should be doing if we have some sense in our head and uh Is to walk into that room sit down and be quiet and learn and listen, right? So historical theology, uh, in one sense is a way that we walk into that conversation We sit down. We humble ourselves. We learn we listen It's not that we're going to take the word of those men as gospel truth We're going to be good baryons and we're going to search the scriptures as paul You know commends the baryons for to see if these things are so But historical theology really gives us um a foot In the door so to speak into understanding these things and understanding them well By gleaning from the wisdom the insight the thoughts the teaching of godly Christians that go before us So we're going to look at a sort of a historical development of this theology over time and what you'll find That working through a text like romans 13, for example There's been a development in that theology We'll take a brief look at augustin And augustin city of god and how augustin sort of of conceived of this relationship between the christian To civil authorities in terms of two cities the city of god the city of man There's some difficulties with that uh theology that we'll talk about later after the reformation martin luther um developed that further and two kingdoms There's the kingdoms of god the kingdom of god and the kingdoms of this earth And i'll even get a paper to you out from martin luther um really Well done That will help with that And then we'll go forward after the reformation into the 17th in particular the 18th century um where Thought around this developed in a way that led to our own formation our own government our own constitution We'll do that in a period of one sunday or two sundays And then we'll start getting into specific texts and examples, okay today sort of a last Work through the final verses of romans 13 one through seven We began in point one with a source of governmental authority, right? We looked at the imperative from verse one let every soul be subject to governing authorities In other words, there is a heart disposition Of submission respect honor on the part of the christian The christian should stand ready willing Desirous of submitting to governing authorities whenever possible. That's the imperative of verse one Then we went looked at the indicative the statement of fact that supports that command For paul says there is no authority except from god the authorities that exist are appointed by god And see we we see god saw god there working through The doctrine of divine concurrence using secondary causes to put governments into place And we understand that although god uses secondary causes He is still sovereign over all things whatsoever that come to pass He is working all things after the council of his own will including the governments that are placed over men and We can often see can't we how gods decree god's determination Of the governments that he places over people Are in many cases what they deserve, right? We're Fallen and sinful nations get foolish and sinful leaders That's the way it goes and that's by the decree of god and those civil authorities appointed by god We looked at instances of that in the bible with the assyrians the babelonians We looked at the kingdoms of this world through the book of daniel And then we looked at implications for that and we drew several assertions We're going to come back later and review those but several assertions the one that governments do not exercise an absolute or even an autonomous authority In other words, they don't um, they don't have absolute authority god alone has absolute authority the authority of the civil government is derived they don't Exercise an autonomous separate from law. They don't author exercise an autonomous authority They are to base their authority on the ordinance of god. We see that connection in Verse two, okay Civil authority is an accountable authority. It's a responsible authority and it's accountable to god himself There is a proper jurisdiction Or when we looked at that term speaking the law Um, there is a proper jurisdiction for civil authority. All right, that's point one point two We looked then verse two at the substance of governing authority And we looked at it first in terms of the conduct of the one who resists conduct Whoever resists whoever opposes sets himself against the authority. That's the authority the civil authority that god has appointed Is therefore found to be resisting Setting himself against the ordinance or law of god And therefore he is resisting god himself, right the one who resists Resists god himself. They're not simply resisting a police officer. They're not simply resisting a local court Or a local magistrate or a you know, a county clerk so to speak They have set themselves in opposition to god. That's the weight of the text and that's the weight of paul's imperative from verse one We are to be submissive. Okay, otherwise if you're not if you're not in obedience to this text Then you are in opposition to god That's why we want to tread lightly as we think through this subject together Make sure that we understand exactly what paul is saying and why and exactly the circumstances Under which it would be wise or commendable for us to resist got to be careful in other words. We're not to be Cavalier or flippant, right?  We want to be very careful cautious There's a consequence first the conduct than the consequence those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves Certainly the judgment of civil authorities But more particularly here the judgment of god himself From that statement of conduct and consequence. We then made an important connection in verse two This connection is a conclusion that is drawn from good and necessary Inference, we talked about those two hermeneutical principles or those principles through which we understand a proper interpretation of the bible One was the analogy of faith scripture interpret scripture The other is good and necessary inference those inferences from the word of god that are binding Um that help us understand the text So a conclusion or a connection here a consequence from good and necessary inference Is in verse two there is an implied connection A binding connection between the authority of the civil government and the ordinance or the law of god Whoever resists the authority civil authority resists the Ordinance of god that's the principle that paul is upholding You have to ask the question what happens then when the government itself is exercising an authority which is Contrary to the ordinance of god. Is the government absolute? No Is the government autonomous? No the government exercises a derived a delegated authority and it's an accountable or responsible authority And that in those cases Christians are to obey god rather than men. We see examples all over the bible So we're in romans 13 paul is stating the principle The way that things should be in principle immediately we arrive at qualifications for that principle that are necessary through inference Just as teachers just as husbands in the household fathers just as mothers just as employers We have no authority except that authority that is within the bounds that god has determined That doesn't mean that the laws the only laws the government can enact in an act Are laws that we find explicitly stated in the bible There are all kinds of laws that our governments put in place that are entirely lawful for governments to put in place And we don't want to um disdain governments for doing that very thing Government is however responsible and accountable to do what is lawful in god's site Not what is lawful in the people's site. That's shifting sand at you know runs with the wind Governments are to enact laws exercise authority Legislate in a way that is lawful in god's site for this We've established then three areas in which christians must obey god rather than men When civil government commands something which god forbids When civil government forbids something which god commands and thirdly When civil government exercises an illegitimate authority outside the god given parameters of its jurisdiction And that's the one we're going to deal with extensively when we start getting into specific examples, right When civil government exercises an illegitimate authority Outside the god given bounds or parameters of its jurisdiction when civil government Overflows its boundaries so to speak and encroaches upon the responsibilities or the rights of another That becomes very important. All right. Lastly then let's look at point three this week Commitments and obligations. We look at the source of governmental authority the substance of governmental authority And now lastly point three commitments and obligations look at verse three Rulers then Are not a terror to good works, but to evil Do you want to be unafraid of the authority do it as good? You will have praise from the same Four We're not going to take look at every single clause necessarily like we would during a sunday morning sermon We're going to look at those points. I hope will be helpful in forming this theology of public life We'll look at a couple of points from this But this governing authority verse four is god's minister to you for good But if you do evil be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain for He is god's minister an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil Okay, so in considering commitments and obligations We'll look at this under a three headings. First is the role And specifically the role of governing authority The responsibility responsibility of governing authority and then the various responses on the part of Christians to civil authority.  Do you see that? Do you want to be unafraid of the authority then do what is good? Submit have the heart disposition of submit submission submit to civil authorities do what is good And those civil authorities you'll have praise from the same But from verse three one of the roles of the civil government is to be a terror to evil work Evil workers It is to restrain evil The word there It is for verse four for he is god's minister To you for good God's minister an avenger to actually who wrath on him who practices evil god's minister that word is diaconas That's servant He's god's servant And he's god's servant To you for good in other words. He's not necessarily or specifically supremely our servant He is god's servant when you see a police car driving down the road and across the police car Is written to protect and serve The police may think to themselves we're to protect the public and to serve the public Romans 13 would say that that governing authority that civil authority is to serve god He is a minister of god He is god's minister and he's god's minister set forth the minister to you to you and I For our good not for our evil Not for our fleecing But for our good. Okay. God's minister. God's diaconas They serve these authorities serve or govern by the consent of god We've heard in our own If you've took civics, I know civics has fallen out of favor in school today Nobody takes civics anymore. We went through civics, right? We wanted to learn how to be good citizens Responsible citizens and we took civics in civics classes when I was a kid One of the things that you learn in civics is that the government governs by the consent of the governed That it's by the consent of the people and the people delegate authority to the civil authorities and the civil authorities with that delegated authority Help to impose laws that protect the people that serve the public interest to serve the public good In that sense they are as they would say the public's minister for good But they govern by the consent of the governed That's not the case biblically, right? The government's civil authorities don't govern by the consent of the governed They govern by the consent of god And those principles all these principles begin to overlap then if they govern are to govern and this is um It doesn't matter what people believe or say or do what governments believe say or do This is the way that it is. This is truth from the bible, right? This is the way that god has established civil authority. It's not as if You know thinking again of this false dichotomy between church and state that has been established It's not a separation from the state from god God has authority over the state Um, but governments tend to think that they rule autonomously or have absolute authority At least authority delegated by the people to do what they want to do Governments are to government within the ordinance the bounds of the ordinance of god within their jurisdiction As accountable to god they serve and they govern by the consent of god That's their role They are a terror to be a terror to good works And they are to be god's minister to you for good They are to verse four bear the sword Uh many ways in which the government bears the sword, but that's a representative statement of the government's authority to institute and enforce Penal sanctions associated with breaking the law And as a submissive people when we're charged by paul verse one to submit to governing authorities We're submitting ourselves to those penal sanctions A government is to do that. Um, so Think with me for a moment about that role Government is to be a terror to evil work Evil works evil workers A government government is to be a civil authority is to be a minister Um to you for good god's minister for good to you And a government is to bear the sword Uh, it's part of that terror aspect right bear the sword in such a way that is a terror to evil workers And to enforce penal sanctions for breaking the law Um when governments don't do that right when they Aren't a terror to evil workers We can see how over Decades can't we how uh the Government has become less and less of a terror to evil workers. What happens? What happens when the civil authority is no longer a terror to evil workers? What happens? For me What grows? Evil growth. That's right. We're the yeah, right the lawlessness abounds If the government is not a terror to evil workers lawlessness abounds um What happens when the government fails To be god's avenger To execute wrath on him who practices evil which we see today with um, you know undermining Sentences and jail times and um, you know the the problem Isn't the evil that evil people commit The problem is our Laws So the push then is to reduce sentences change our laws. There's so many people in prison And so rather than beef up The laws to be a terror to evil workers we Take away undermine all of that The the answer to the worldly wise Is to remove those laws so we have less people in prison What happens when governments begin to act in that way same right evil abounds? Lawlessness abounds So we see in our day our government stumbling thumbling Not really attempting to Be responsible in this area at all but attempting to Undermine their role in this area altogether and they can't seem to understand the rising lawlessness, which is abounding as a result They don't see that as a direct connection to their failed policies that they put in place And they don't recognize their responsibility to be accountable to god for how they govern Okay, that's the role the role of civil civil authority. Let's talk about the responsibility then of civil authority Therefore these governments Are obligated to do his will Because they serve in the role of god's minister Good and necessary inference right they're responsible to obligated to exercise perform his will Their own will the will of the people the will of political parties all those other wills are entirely subordinate They're required to do his will second Samuel chapter 23 verse 3 The god of israel said the rock of israel spoke to me he who rules over men must be just Ruling in the fear of god and that's a statement In general of those who rule all those who rule He who rules over men must be just must be righteous Ruling in the fear of god and those are lessons that we see learned by even pagan rulers in the old testament One of the examples that came up was the example of nebuchadnezzar And how nebuchadnezzar was taught a very painful lesson a lesson which nebuchadnezzar got by Obvious illustration Nebuchadnezzar learned the lesson that god rules over the kingdoms of men and that he's responsible to rule in the fear of god if those civil authorities govern at the consent of god to serve him Think with me now Make these connections and i want us to remember this for moments 13 If they serve If they are ministers serving at the consent of god And ultimately they are serving god as his ministers then the good that they are to do verse four Is determined by god It's not the good that they think is good. There's the old joke, right? You hear a knock at the door you go to the door and somebody's standing there and says i'm from the government I'm here to help you No, no, no, I don't need your kind of help, you know, uh, you're not helping anybody. Yeah The good that they do is good that is determined by god We can get in some more details about this, but um, is the good That is included determined by god that a government should do Does that good include quote unquote protecting us from a pandemic so-called by Taking from us inalienable rights, right? No, the government doesn't have the authority of their jurisdiction to do that the good That is determined Is good that is determined by god Not government governments will come up with all kinds of things that they Say are for your good in fact revolutions are started For the common good of the people right and the very people that they propose to do good for They murder and subjugate and Thousands upon thousands have been murdered under the guise of governmental good. We use the example of um Early on in the class of the french revolution and how This sort of populist uprising in france under the um auspices or under the the guise of doing good for the common people All right, we're gonna do good for the common people Those who sought to lead the common people in this uprising Turned and killed 100 000 of their own people in a very short period of time in order to Put in place establish the common good, right? That's the way it works Revolutions are characterized by that very inconsistency The good that they are to do is determined by god that which is good is therefore determined by god And that good will be found in his word in harmony with his ordinance with his law Examples of this right From the text specifically or straight from the text one They are to punish evil doers and reward or praise Good punish evil doers and pray is good. They're not to call evil good and good evil The way that we see all over our government today, right? If you know And maybe we'll do this at some point, but if we stop just for a moment and sort of brainstormed Examples of these things Um examples would be myriad in our own government and these are ways in which the government is not operating In harmony with god's ordinance god's law They're contrary to god's law and in those things should be Resisted um, so we'll we may work through some of that and look at some examples. Sean Would also be fair to say that um The evil needs to be defined by god. Yeah, yes, because Our government thinks they're fighting against evil, but the evil isn't biblical evil is an evil Yes, yeah, they're fighting against in some cases now christians And they're not doing evil, right? They have a a misconstrued idea what good and evil is. Yeah, very good, brother Yes, cow So also the government's job is to protect us. So if so if there was an actual pandemic Or something like that and there was actual cause for Concern the government would have the right to protect us We have to we have to think about that Because whose right whose responsibility is it to protect you? You right and when government begins to encroach upon the responsibilities that god has given you They essentially take away or undermine the responsibility that you have for yourself such that you can't make free decisions about your own safety Your own prediction and what ends up happening is those inalienable rights that god has given to us And we're to be good stewards of stewards of those inalienable rights are taken away They're taken away by increment like that. So Michael and we'll come back to 6-0 Big question though. I'm just curious about this. Um, if the if the government, you know Takes their role seriously and um You know in punishing, you know, evildoers, you know and praising good and whatnot How do you think that that will aid in helping Us its citizens to love the lord your god with all your heart so much strength and your neighbor as yourself Yeah, yeah, I think that there's a connection. But yeah, very good. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, you know, that's one of the The the bases on which um our republic was founded, right? Um founded primarily whatever The um the the twisting and redacting of history that's going on today Whatever they say, um the primary reason for our founding was religious freedom Right, the freedom to worship god as god intended, right? You think about the the exodus of the israelites out of uh, egypt Come let my people go that they may worship me as god has called them to worship They would have the freedom to worship god as god has called them to There was an exodus if you will out of tyrannical governments in europe at the time an exodus of christians to the new world For the purpose of worshiping god freely as god has commanded and um that was the basis on which our country was founded so um when governments are governing correctly rightly they uphold that religious freedom And we talked a while back about this separation between a church and state which is um In speaking properly biblically Biblically of a separation between church and state there is a division between jurisdictions, right? There's a jurisdiction of civil authority and there's a jurisdiction of ecclesial or ecclesiastical authority Those two jurisdictions are separate and we see those two jurisdictions upheld all over the place in the bible Right, even in israel there was an ecclesial authority the priesthood and there was a civil authority the king the monarch or You know the ruling party and those two jurisdictions were separate the one protected the other the one upheld and Spoke the truth to the other right but those two worked together and that's the way it should be done That's the way it's set up in our constitution. That's biblically the way that it should be set up And so even though, you know, many of our founding fathers weren't actual christians. They were deists Although that's the case. They did have biblical principles in mind when they were establishing our rights Um or outlining them in the constitution and when they were forming our government for the sake of protecting those religious freedoms There's really important that our government continues to do that and frankly, um, canada for example set up In much the same way, um with the same Outlined articulated, right? So if you think to yourself, well, they've got a different constitution and what's happening there, you know Couldn't happen here because we've got a different worded Almost identically in many places Very similar to what we have here if it can happen there it can happen here And history tells us that if it happens there it does eventually happen here. So um, yeah, governments should be upholding that right And protecting that right if they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, right another question. I 6-0 Yeah, uh, to what uh, kyle was asking if you go back to the last century this country to see where uh, the original founders, uh, set it up so Of all the localities and states would take care of themselves. Yeah, slowly the government got involved in Uh, when hurricane came through when there was a fire when there were crops destroyed everybody wanted the government to come in Yeah, and take care of them. Who's our savior? We got that's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We see this again another example of the encroachment of government into Uh, our rights chase She's cute. She's very engaged in the lesson Really encouraged by that. So far she's doing good. You gotta figure it out. She's tracking. I can tell yeah Thanks for helping us work through this earlier The comment was made about the government protecting us and in that context We're talking about the virus and you say well whose job is it to protect you Right. Um, help me think through that. Uh, in thus far, I have thought like for example The government protects me from Uh, dangers You're in abroad through the through the government or the military. Yeah, right And I I would tend to think that that is good and I would tend to think Um, like help me think through that, right? Is there a distinction between protecting you from the virus versus protecting you from Other militaries or yeah, it's a very good very good question, brother. And I yeah, um, we should I should clarify that. Um, so Those spheres of sovereignty or more we're talking about um, abraham kipers thought on jurisdiction and spheres of sovereignty you have, um The sovereignty of uh, the church That's fear Uh, you have the sphere the social sphere which includes Are the the civil sphere. So the ecclesiastical sphere Sphere of the church The social sphere, uh, the sphere of social institutions. They had in mind like, um Schools education, um business trade like those kinds of things. Uh, and then you have, um This ecclesiastical sphere the sphere of the church and then the sphere of the individual And so, um, the sphere of the individual in the sphere of the individual the individual Has the right to in our constitution. It's our declaration of independence bill of rights. It's, um Referred to as, um those inalienable rights of the pursuit of life Life liberty the pursuit of happiness, uh, the way that they conceived of that, um in the 17th century When they were beginning to think about government, um, was the pursuit of property or property rights And so these rights are inalienable given to us by god and that's those Rights speak to the sphere of the individual, right? So the government in the governmental sphere the civil sphere Does have a responsibility for the citizenry of a nation responsibility for the nation And so in thinking about the, uh, protection of that nation, uh, the government has a responsibility to, um, For example form an army Uh form defenses And that's within its It's the sphere of its responsibility But when government begins to encroach upon the sphere of the individual In the name of protecting that individual That's over it's outside of the bounds of the sphere of government or outside of its jurisdiction to do that So, um, let's say for example, um another example of this is forced vaccination, right? Um, you are required To get a vaccination. Why? To protect all the rest of us from you Um, you know, we're gonna make you in other words. I'm gonna encroach upon your sphere of sovereignty And with my own authority force you to do that which is, um In opposition to your sovereignty, right? Same thing with the pandemic when I start restricting my personal right you can't Go here Can't sing in church. You must put this over your face. You must do that Um, you must stay away from other people. You must you have to stay home from work Um, is it the legitimate? Authority or within the jurisdiction of the federal government to prevent people from working No You have an inalienable right matter of fact You have a command from god to work and to provide for your household So it's an encroachment of these things like um our constitution And again, it's it's presupposing it's presupposing that people it's It's one sense. It's presupposing in another sense. It's it's fearful In other words, there's a there's a given fear on the part of the civil sphere or the ecclesiastical sphere The social sphere to think they're not gonna they're not gonna exercise their They're not gonna exercise good judgment in their sphere So i've got to ensure that they exercise good judgment in their sphere So i'm gonna legislate stuff in their sphere, right? And so civil government encroaches because we can't make good responsible decisions for ourselves And we're gonna bring harm upon the populace instead of good. And so they begin to legislate us individually It's not in their jurisdiction to do that now. It doesn't matter what our constitution says It's not in their jurisdiction biblically to encroach upon those rights. Yeah um If the government said you can't go to work because country x is Considering bombing your workplace. Yeah. Um, so it's the same kind of Command or the same thing they're telling me about for a different reason. How do I think about that? Yeah, that's you're talking about the draft Many of us when we were 18 had to sign that little paper, you know, we were eligible now for the draft And there is a sense in which I think submitting to government um paying taxes giving honor the way that paul talks about it in verse A seven rendering therefore to all their due Taxes to him taxes customs to him customs fear to him fear honor to him honor that part of our due Is to come to the defense of our state to come to the defense of our republic To um and that that too Was prophesied wasn't it by god? When the people asked for a king, right? the people Asked samuel for a king, you know give us a king like all the other nations was that first samuel 15 they're abouts Give us a king like all the other nations and so God said they're not rejecting you samuel. They're rejecting me and he says here's what a king's gonna do.  He's gonna take taxes exact taxes from you He's gonna use you essentially to fight his wars Um, that's something that civil authorities do And I think that is part of what is in a responsible Um responsible republic. That's what citizenry does. There is an overlap right between our spheres And that's one of those places where I think it overlaps I wasn't intending to talk about a draft I'm thinking like world war two whenever they commanded cover up your windows so that the japanese can't see the lights or They're they're coming with similar kind of restrictions and commands of what we're seeing in the pandemic For a different reason of concern from a different kind of threat. Yeah, so I'm wondering if in that case, it's valid or how do I think about that? Yeah, I think um We look at it on a case-by-case basis, you know and determine If someone has a compelling reason To not cover his windows I don't know what that might be But it is the right of the individual What he does I think in that circumstance but part of I think that too is part of the language of the pandemic and what we've had to wrestle through with respect to how we respond His love care for our neighbor The common good And what shows love for our neighbor What esteems our neighbor over god or what esteems the governing authority civil authorities over god those kinds of things are difficult Sometimes difficult questions Yeah, I think I but The individual person Has a right to determine his own yeah within within a sphere of his jurisdiction does the Like we talked about earlier when we're talking about sphere sovereignty Does the state Have a compelling interest In the way that an individual runs his household yes and The compelling interest of the state really is the Protection the good of its citizenry. So if a husband is abusing his wife or abusing his children The state has a compelling interest a rightful interest In that sphere because it overlaps with its own sphere of responsibility And so the state has a compelling interest. I think the state would have a compelling interest In how we do things when the state is trying to Um About to say with a clear conscience before god, but it clearly Within its authority given to it by god is attempting to exercise that authority in keeping with god's law god's ordinance Then I think the other spheres have a responsibility to support the state in that role That's the the concept behind paying taxes, right? Um There is a compelling interest on the part of the state To minister that which is good For the people in accord with god's law So when the state is operating in a way to Be a minister for good. I think it's the responsibility Of the other spheres then to support the state in its Role its sphere of sovereignty in the same way that the state is responsible to uphold and protect our Sphere of sovereignty when we're exercising our own authority that makes sense Yeah, so there's where there's this overlap. I think that's sometimes difficult Um, but that that is the um, there's a principle That underlies taxation taxes and that's the principle right that we have a responsibility To that sphere to support it in its work of being a minister of god For good and taxes are a way that we do that So and those kinds of things may be a way brother too that we we do that right we like for example when we um Made the decision um when the the pandemic um First you know came about back in march of last year Our governor um attempting to do the best that he can right the best that he can to Protect the people um to you know help curb the spread of this pandemic He called for help from the citizenry 30 days to stop the spread right 30 days to stop the spread So we thought to ourselves here at the church not that he has any jurisdiction over our sphere So it wasn't we're going to shut down for 30 days to stop the spread because the governor told us to No, I think that's relinquishing an authority that that we're stewards of that he is not And that's giving up an authority that we shouldn't But what is he trying to do he's trying to he is attempting to exercise his authority The best way that he knows how for To be a minister of good. So what was our responsibility then? We felt like support him in it So our thought was okay. Well, we're gonna love our neighbor. We're gonna support our government um And in that we're going to Join in this effort with 30 days to stop the spread. So what did we do? Crazy, we um shut down our church You know, you all stayed home Uh, we came up here preached to an empty room and streamed it so you could watch from home and for 30 days That's what we did Not because they have jurisdiction over us, but because we're in support of that sphere of sovereignty and wanted to help Well, by the end of the 30 days, it was very obvious that it wasn't going to be 30 days And now there was this slow encroachment over um uh With a jurisdiction that did not belong to them and with plans that that We didn't see as good and godly and so we said We were done with that now. And so despite what was decreed From those authorities that have no jurisdiction over us. We got back together We came back After that 30 days and started having services joined together packed like this, uh on a sunday morning and we made it an issue we Determined that it was an issue of christian liberty whether individuals then decided to Obey or not obey mask ordinances or social distancing for example. So you we we didn't um, we said, uh, not going to Hold it against you so to speak or you know, put you under discipline If you decide to stay home from church We're not going to say that it's a requirement for you to wear masks in service And we're not going to say that it's a requirement for you not to wear masks in service Come if you want to come stay home if you believe you should stay at home Wear masks if you believe you should wear a mask don't wear mask if you believe you shouldn't wear a mask um We believe that those things are a matter of christian liberty the sphere of the individual That you have the right to determine that for yourselves with a clear conscience before god And it's not our authority in that sense to tell you what to do neither is it the governments for that matter And so it's just not their jurisdiction. So all that said We're attempting to navigate what was at the time difficult in murky waters With respect to that so final questions before we move on shan Going back to um our sphere of responsibility And not letting the government take that away But just think through like matthew 18 and also Israel's responsibility with their law when someone's someone breaks the law Do we do we didn't have a responsibility to confront others when they're Um breaking in the law of god. Yeah, and how do you how do we think through that? Yeah, very good Yeah, I think the um the the ecclesial authority within our own sphere that the lord has given us is church discipline So we're to be faithful in that so many It's it's such a An absurdly rare thing in churches today. Most people you talk to um outside of very narrow circles Haven't even what in the world is church discipline?  I explained it to him and he said to me if we did that We wouldn't have a church left everybody to be gone like That's yeah, why you do that from the beginning So it really is a rare thing but that's out the authority given to us. So there may be circumstances where The church would exercise discipline in keeping with its own authority that god has given us responsibility for At the same time that the state is pursuing its interests Uh in that circumstance for its own in its own responsibility So for example, like I used the the example a minute ago about a husband abusing his wife The church has a responsibility there. Um, there's no way shape or form That a professing christian and that that circumstance should not be brought under the discipline of the church and Work through that to its fullest extent with the the fullest exercise of the authority that the church has the responsibility that God has given to her to exercise authority over that circumstance But does the state have a compelling interest in that also? Yes The state has its own laws and that's a citizen of the state who's being abused And so the state would also be involved in that and Not only that but the church has a responsibility to uphold the state in its god given authority And so should where necessary report those things like, um, it's not Biblical right good this this sort of separation that takes place in some churches Between them and the governing authority when it comes for example, the main example that comes to mind is sexual molestation This let the child sex scandal in particularly in particular in the roman catholic church, but also in churches of all stripes that um That's a wicked deplorable thing For a church to conceal that under some notion of ecclesial authority And not uphold the sovereignty of the state in pursuing their own interest in that situation It's deplorable and there's um, also like the state for that reason has reporting requirements, uh, if um, if you believe That a child has been abused. I think you've got 24 hours to report that thing um to the state to the governing authority so that they can Pursue the safety of one of their citizens, you know So yeah, a lot of overlap. I think when it comes to that Thank you brother. Okay. Uh, let's quickly move on and uh, we'll wrap up our consideration of roman 13 So the state is to punish evil doers reward praise what is good to do what is good Um, they're to uh, legislate penal sanctions for breaking the law They're to preserve and to protect inalienable rights. I thought about this from proverbs 31 and king uh, lemuel Um verse four proverbs 31 verse four. It's not for kings. Oh, lemuel It's not for kings to drink wine or princes intoxicating drink Lest they drink and forget the law pervert the justice of all the afflicted In other words, they're not to do anything that's going to cause them to pervert law and forget or neglect their responsibilities um to forget law to pervert the justice of all the afflicted Give strong drink to him who's perishing and whine to those who are bitter of heart Let him drink and forget his poverty.  God knows the heart, right? He who keeps your soul does he not know it and will he not render to each man according to his deeds role responsibility lastly uh response response number one Therefore you must be subject. This is the basis on which paul commands us in verse one To be submissive to governing authorities to have that heart disposition of submissiveness to governing authorities Not only because of wrath Not only because we fear the government as he bears the sword But paul says for conscience's sake In other words to maintain a clear conscience before god We're to submit as a matter of devotion to god Um and we're to do that with a clear conscience before god when we resist We want to do so cautiously with an informed conscience before god So that we do so in a way that is pleasing to him and not against his will Um submission though uh in that case With a conscience before god isn't merely civil Submission then becomes a matter of faith right becomes a matter of faith trusting the lord in it response number two pay taxes Render what is due to them as ministers of god Um furthermore we are to Render customs to whom customs fear to whom fear honor to whom honor verse seven in other words respect the office Even if you don't respect the man Who holds the office or the man is worthy of little or no respect the office certainly is i think that's the the the underlying nature of paul's Backtracking when he called the high priest a whitewashed tomb right Had him had him slapped backhanded and paul called him a whitewashed tomb. Do you not know that you're reviling the high priest? um paul honoring the lord step back from that reviling Because he has respect for the institution respect for the office that god has established Uh application we're going to talk about application next time And we'll get specifically into applications for the government. Please note Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil The phrase is critically important because it reveals the context in which the bible is speaking Appropriate civil authority is only a terror to evil works and is not a terror to good works Good government is not a terror to good works When a government is run amuck with crime tyranny injustice We are not biblically obligated to submit to that tyranny We'll talk about specifically what that looks like um We ought to obey god rather than men communism Communism is a terror to good works Um tyranny is a terror to good works um The government is to uphold inalienable rights. Okay, we'll talk more about these uh applications when we have time Suffice it now, uh, that'll get us through romans 13 and then we'll come back and look at um application for that Do you have any questions be happy to talk to you? We'll keep working our way through our study. Hope it's helpful. Let's pray Father in heaven, Lord. We again, we thank you for this text and thank you lord for the instruction that we have from your word Please lord help us by your spirit to Think clearly about these things to understand Um, not only what you say But what you mean by what you say and help us to apply these things rightly in our own circumstance Our own context that we may be faithful in our generation and with a clear conscience before you our god Submit as we should and resist when we should obey when we should Obey you when it is right and commendable When that means disobedience to the state and in all of these things honor you esteem you more highly than our civil authorities While still rendering the honor that is due to them Help us lord to understand these various spheres in which you've placed us And may you be honored in all things you are the one who rules in the kingdoms of men And we want to honor you and praise you and worship you as you do giving rightful rule reign honor and do to you our living god We love you. We thank you be with us now as we seek to worship you May it be pleasing in your sight a sweet smelling aroma. We love you lord in jesus name. Amen


The April plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions will again gather local and regional representatives from across Europe in Brussels. Five of the 11 plenary opinions will be presented for vote by the EPP Group rapporteurs. Paul Lindquist on five presidents' report, completing Economic and Monetary Union, Hans Janssen on the protection of refugees in their areas of origin. Michel Lebrun on a new deal for energy consumers, Neil Richmond on a more responsible trade and investment policy, and Arnolda Sabramovicius on new EU copyright rules. Additionally, Lombard von Nestoroy, member of the European Parliament, will join our debate on EU urban agenda. Members of the European Committee of the Regions arrive to Brussels in difficult times for the citizens of the capital of Belgium. Their presence is a sign of commitment and determination in pursuit of a better and peaceful Europe. You may follow their work during Plenary via web streaming on our website, or share your views with us through social media.