• God is our Father, and we are His FAMILY.
• Jesus is our Lord, and we are His SERVANTS.
• The Holy Spirit is our Helper, Sender, and Guide, and we are His MISSIONARIES.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (13:1b)

…whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed… (13:2a)

…he [the ruler] is God's servant… (13:4a)

…he is the servant of God… (13:4b)

…the authorities are ministers of God… (13:6b)

Purposes of God in the trials of His people:
• To discipline us and turn us from sin (see Heb. 12:5-11)
• To prove, strengthen and purify our faith (see Rom. 5:3-5, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9)
• To strengthen and purify our witness to the world (see Philippians. 1:12-14)
• To make us long for heaven (see 2 Cor. 4:16-18)

“Paul’s radical principle is: we obey our government out of our Christian conscience, out of our obedience to God alone. This is radical, for it cuts two ways. On the one hand, we will obey the state even when there are no civil consequences, because our motivation is obedience to the God who established the state. On the other hand, we can never submit uncritically to what the state tells us. If it requires us to violate our conscience, we must disobey.”

– Tim Keller

1. The Hebrew midwives disobeyed Pharaoh by not murdering the Hebrew baby boys, including Moses (Exodus 1:15–22).

2. Esther disobeyed the king by going into his presence uninvited (Esther 4:16).

3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego disobeyed the king by refusing to bow down and worship his golden image (Daniel 3).

4. Daniel disobeyed the king by praying to God (Daniel 6).

5. The wise men disobeyed King Herod by not returning to tell him about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2:8, 12).

6. Peter and John disobeyed their governmental authorities by preaching the gospel (Acts 4:18–20); Peter was following the principle, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

7. Paul refused to obey the magistrates when they asked him to leave the Philippian prison secretly but insisted that the magistrates publicly escort him and Silas out since they were Roman citizens (Acts 16:35–39).

8. God’s faithful people will resist the anti-God policies of the Antichrist in Revelation 13.

We should disobey the government whenever they command what God forbids or forbid what God commands.

“We are people of the cross. Our Lord submitted to crucifixion willingly to save his enemies. We owe our eternal life to him. We are forgiven sinners. This takes the swagger out of our protest. It takes the arrogance out of our resistance. And if, after every other means has failed, we must disobey for the sake of love and justice, we will first remove the log from our own eye, which will cause enough pain and tears to soften our indignation into a humble, quiet, but unshakeable, NO. The greatest battle we face is not overcoming unjust laws, but becoming this kind of people.”

– John Piper

“One of the most important teachings of the Bible on public life is that Christians do not use physical force to advance the kingdom of Christ. Jesus said to Pilate, when he asked if he was a king, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting” (John 18:36). The kingdom of God in this age is established by one decisive means: faith in Christ. And “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). But faith cannot be coerced or forced by physical means. It is awakened by the word. Therefore preaching and teaching the word of God are the most precious freedoms that Christians have in this world.”

– John Piper

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

– First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Big Idea:
Shape and submit to government because of God, goodness, fear, and conscience!

NEXT STEP TAKEAWAYS:
With God as His FAMILY:
• Memorize Romans 13:1-7.
• Pray for the governing authorities of our city, state, country, and world every day this week.

With Others as His SERVANTS:
• Join one of our Bible Studies or Growth Groups. Within your group, discuss and consider how to serve our civic and community leaders in some way.

On Mission as His MISSIONARIES:
• Do some personal study to gain a biblical perspective on political engagement so you can be better equipped to vote, discuss, and engage. • 2020 Blog Post: “Prophetic Politics.” (link below)
• Political Gospel – book by Patrick Schreiner