Romans 13: Love, And Do What You Want

Read Romans 13:1-14

Love, And Do What You Want

“These—and other such commands—are summed up in this one
commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love
does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the
requirements of God’s law.”
~Romans 13:9-10

Digging Deeper: God’s requirements for us are pretty simple really—just love everybody like we would want to be loved.  That means we would love them when they deserved it, and even when they didn’t.  We would love them when we felt like it, and even when we didn’t.  We would love them not just in word, but we would love them in action.  We would love them like they needed to be loved, like God loves them, like the creatures of a Creator who created them inherently worthy of love.

If we would just do what God created us to do—love—I have a feeling that 99% of the issues we wrestle with, the relationships we struggle over, and the trouble we find ourselves in would be taken care of.  Love—that’s the cure for what ails you!

So where and how are we supposed to live out this life of love?  Paul gives us three relational arenas in Romans 13.  The first area has to do with our relationship to the government—what you might call the civil arena (Romans 13:1-7).

Here Paul says God expects us to respect our government and its leaders—something that we often find hard to do.  We are to observe the laws they establish; view them as God-ordained instruments for order; submit to them not only as an act of civic duty, but as that which is necessary for a clear conscience; pay our taxes; and give them honor and respect.  In fact, in II Timothy 2:2-3, Paul takes it a step further and says that we are even pray for our governmental leaders,

“Pray for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  This is good and pleases God our savior…”

When I think of some of the government administrations and leaders that I’ve endured during my lifetime, what Paul is asking seems like a tall order.  But keep in mind that Paul wrote to the Roman believers about respecting and obeying government under some pretty awful leaders like Emperor Nero and his evil, profane, murderous ilk.  If Paul could see these Roman Emperors as God’s instruments in his life, then I will have no excuse when I stand before God some day for my attitude toward my leaders.

The second area has to do with our relationship with our neighbors—what you might call the social arena (Romans 13:8-10).  Here Paul simply calls for loving actions toward those with whom we are in some kind of daily interaction—the people we live by, work with and sit next to in the pews at church.  We should do nothing that would provoke anything other than a loving response from them back toward us.

The third has to do with our relationship to God—what you might call the salvation arena (Romans 13:11-14).  Here Paul reminds us that one of the leading motives, if not the only motive, for living a life of love in all the arenas of our life is for the simple reason that Jesus is coming back soon, and we will then have to give an account for how we have behaved in relation to our government and its leaders, our neighbors and our God.  Because of the soon return of Jesus and the revealing of our full and final salvation, we must be continually alert to living in purity and holiness.  In short, we are to “clothe ourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14), which is Paul’s way of saying that we ought to live each moment as if it might be the last one before we find ourselves standing before Christ.  Love would demand no less in light of what has done to secure our salvation!

Love!  Do that and you’ll be just fine—in this life and in the one to come.  Just love God with all your heart, and when you do, you cannot help but love everybody else.  Do that and you’ll fulfill all God’s requirements.

One month before his death at age 65, C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter addressed to a child, “If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you may always do so.”

That’s great advice!

So here’s a thought for you:  If you knew Jesus would come back 24 hours from now, and knowing that love is the ultimate requirement of God’s law, who and how would you love?

Why not love like that anyway—you never know, this might be you last opportunity!

Love, and do what you want.”
~Augustine

This Week’s Assignment

Read: Romans 13:1-14

Memorize: Romans 13:8

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

For Your Consideration: When Paul wrote Romans 13, he didn‘t insert a chapter break at the end of chapter 12.  Chapters and verses were later added by editors, so what Paul wrote in this chapter was a simply continuation of his call in Romans 12:1-2 to offer our everyday lives as pleasing worship to God.  In light of that, consider how your attitude toward governmental leaders (Romans 13:1-7), your treatment of the people in your life (Romans 13:8-10), and your personal purity in immoral times (Romans 13:11-14) might need to change to in order to be offered as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Romans 13: Your Wake Up Call

Read Romans 13:11-14

Your Wake Up Call

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because
our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
~Romans 13:11

Digging Deeper: It has been nearly 2,000 years since Christians first began to look for the second coming of Christ, and still he has not returned.  Sadly, his delay has caused the alertness of far too many believers to dim; perhaps that is the case for you.  But as you consider the promise of his return, please don’t confuse his slowness with lateness. You see, God’s timing is still perfect, his plan for the end times is still in effect, and his delay has done absolutely nothing to impugn the truth that we are indeed living in the last days.

In fact, Paul would argue that Christ’s delay can only mean one thing: We are even closer to the day when the Father says, “enough is enough—it is finished!” and sends the Son to restore order to the chaotic mess man has made of what was once God’s garden. That day is closer than ever, my friend, and even though there has been no sign of Christ, the signs of his return are everywhere. So as Paul would say, wake up, and jettison the activities of the night!

What is it, exactly, that people do at night?  For one thing, they sleep, Now that is not a bad activity in itself, but in the spiritual dimension, sleeping in the end times is akin to both inactivity in the work of the kingdom as well as in-alertness to the King’s coming—both serious spiritual faux pas according to Matthew 25.

If you are spiritually inactive or unaware, this is your wake up call—and it’s the most important one you’ll ever receive!

People also dream at night.  Though not all dreaming is bad, dreams can either be fear-producing nightmares that paralyze our spiritual vitality, or time-wasting fantasizing that cause us to avoid our spiritual responsibilities.  Dreaming in this sense is symbolic of being diverted from the serious minded, fruitbearing living to which Christians have been called. Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:15-17 to “be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

If you are spiritually paralyzed by fear or living in a spiritual la-la land, this is your wake up call—and it’s the most important one you’ll ever receive!

Partying is the other activity some people do at night.  Though not all parties are bad, this kind of partying is symbolic of believers who sacrifice their purity for momentary pleasure-fixes. Paul hits this one pretty hard (Romans 13:14)—drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery (a reference to wickedness in general), plus dissension and jealousy (a couple of other expected outcomes when we are under the influence of the night).

If you are sacrificing purity for partying, this is your wake up call—and it’s the most important one you’ll ever receive!

So what is it, then, that Christians are called to do?  First, we must understand the times — “And do this, understanding the present time.” (Romans 13:11) We are to wake up to the evil that is all around us and open our eyes to the nearness of Christ’s return. Second, we must reject the call of the wild and answer the call to arms — “let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12) We are to ruthlessly eliminate anything and everything that compromises our moral purity and saps our spiritual power.  And third, we must get ready and stay ready for Jesus’ second coming — “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14) We are to wake up and get dressed for the greatest party of all—the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Our salvation is at hand, and if we’re ready, when it finally happens we will wake up to a dream come true: The fulfillment of the deepest longings of our heart and the glorious rest that no fleshly sleep can produce.

This is your wake up call—and it’s the most important one you’ll ever receive!

“How little know who think that holiness is dull. When
one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.”
~C.S. Lewis

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 13:1-14

Memorize: Romans 13:8

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

For Your Consideration: When Paul wrote Romans 13, he didn‘t insert a chapter break at the end of chapter 12.  Chapters and verses were later added by editors, so what Paul wrote in this chapter was a simply continuation of his call in Romans 12:1-2 to offer our everyday lives as pleasing worship to God.  In light of that, consider how your attitude toward governmental leaders (Romans 13:1-7), your treatment of the people in your life (Romans 13:8-10), and your personal purity in immoral times (Romans 13:11-14) might need to change to in order to be offered as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Romans 13: Goin For Broke

Read Romans 13:8-14

Goin For Broke

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one
another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
~Romans 13:8

Digging Deeper: American history is littered with scores of humorous tombstones, and one of my favorite epitaphs simply reads, “Owen Moore Passed Away—Owin’ More Than He Could Pay.”  From the beginning of time right up to the present, the reality of debt aptly describes far too many people in our world, and it is certainly weighing heavily on our collective minds currently as we think of what the burgeoning national debt might do to this great country of ours.

In the 1950’s, Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded a song describing the dark and difficult challenges of the lives of coal miners. “Sixteen Tons” became a number one hit and its most memorable line was one that people can still relate to:

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go;
I owe my soul to the company store.

Maybe that’s how you feel—you owe your soul, and everything else, to the “company store”, or whoever it is that holds your debt.  Perhaps Owen Moore’s epitaph aptly describes your life right now.

By and large, debt is a crippler, and we ought not to get enslaved to it.  In fact, we ought to do everything we can to get out from under it. My advice: Get yourself educated about money management, get ruthlessly disciplined with your finances, develop a strategic plan for debt reduction, and then go after it with reckless abandon.  You will never regret debt elimination, but you will always bemoan indebtedness.

Now let’s be very clear about what Paul is saying here, because his words are often used to wrongly hammer anyone who borrows money.  Paul is not prohibiting borrowing, especially since the Bible makes provision for it.  Deuteronomy 23:19—20 and 24:10-13, as well as a host of other Scripture, assumes lending and borrowing, and provides very clear guidelines for both.  What Paul is simply saying is that believers are to pay their financial obligations when they are due—including their taxes (Romans 13:7) as well as payment on their debt.  Obviously, other scriptural teaching on finances comes into play as to the wisdom and limits of healthy indebtedness.

But Paul has a bigger point to make here: The biggest debt we owe, and it is definitely an un-repayable one, is the debt of love. This debt derives from God’s unmerited love for us, most graciously and tenderly demonstrated in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. Romans 5:8 powerfully reminds us of this love, and by extension, the debt of love we owe to God:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This terms of our debt repayment are clearly spelled out both in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18), and by Jesus, himself, in Matthew 22:39,

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Here’s the thing on this love debt:  You cannot love God with all your being without loving your fellow man with all your energies; and you cannot love your fellow man properly without loving God as he deserves.  But if you get love for God and love for man right, you have nailed the laws of God governing human relationships (Romans 13:9), and are well on your way to paying your un-payable debt of love.

But just remember, you will never pay that one off—and that’s a good thing.  So in the love-your-fellow-man department, you might as well go for broke.

“Our only business is to love and delight ourselves in God.”
~Brother Lawrence

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 13:1-14

Memorize: Romans 13:8

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

For Your Consideration: When Paul wrote Romans 13, he didn‘t insert a chapter break at the end of chapter 12.  Chapters and verses were later added by editors, so what Paul wrote in this chapter was a simply continuation of his call in Romans 12:1-2 to offer our everyday lives as pleasing worship to God.  In light of that, consider how your attitude toward governmental leaders (Romans 13:1-7), your treatment of the people in your life (Romans 13:8-10), and your personal purity in immoral times (Romans 13:11-14) might need to change to in order to be offered as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Romans 13: Giving the Prez His Props

Read Romans 13:1-7

Giving the Prez His Props

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there
is no authority except that which God has established. The
authorities that exist have been established by God.
~Romans 13:1

Digging Deeper: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities.”  Deal with it, Democrats!  Republicans, respect your president!  And just hold on a minute, Independents, you’re not exempt from this either!

Whether it is the president or the policeman, city councilmen or congressman, democrat or republican, charismatic governor or senile senator, through the process that gave them their role, God has granted these officials the authority to lead you. In light of that, God expects you to “give them what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:7)

So come on people, give the president his props—the proper respect God expects from you for, if nothing else, the office he holds.  I understand that you may not like him—Paul never said you had to—but he is God’s servant (Romans 4:4).  And if you choose to rebel against his authority, well, you might as well shake your fist in the face of God, because that is, in effect what you are doing:

“He who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:2)

By now, depending on what party you roll with, you may be quite irritated with what I am saying.  You might even be thinking that these seven verses in Romans 13 may just be the one and only place in Scripture that is not divinely inspired; that Paul took leave of his senses at this point and wandered off the reservation when he wrote about respecting and obeying governmental leaders.

Sorry, that doesn’t cut it.  These seven verses are Bible, which means that they are inspired, and that you are accountable for them.  Like it or not, you and I will one day stand before God and give account for every idle word (Matthew 12:36) that we speak against the politicians that somehow—Lord only knows—got put into leadership over us.  So be careful!  Be respectful.  And remember that ultimately, their authority derives from God’s authority, and they, too, are not just accountable to the voting public, but to God himself.

Having said all that, there are ways to redress grievances with governmental authorities. There is a democratic process for electing and removing leaders, and Christians ought to be actively, aggressively and unashamedly engaged in that process. And, furthermore, believers are never, ever expected to obey a leader or a law that violates God’s higher law. (Exodus 1:17, Acts 4:19)  Should that happen, you and I are given permission by God to speak truth to power, resist—non-violently, of course—and be ready to go to jail, if not the gallows, for our faith.

But by and large, the most common and persistent response our Christian faith calls for in terms of our relationship to governmental authorities is prayer.

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-4)

Pray for the president—you gotta be kidding?  Submit to his authority—are you nuts?  Give props to a guy I don’t respect a whole lot—get real!  Well, think about this: Paul’s words here in Romans 13 were written around AD 57 when a guy named Nero was emperor of Rome.  To say the least, Nero was not a nice guy—especially to Christians. (Check out Foxe’s Book of Martyrs)

So here’s the deal: If Paul could do it, so can you!

“Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.”
~Francis Bacon

This Week’s Assignment:

Read: Romans 13:1-14

Memorize: Romans 13:8

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

For Your Consideration: When Paul wrote Romans 13, he didn‘t insert a chapter break at the end of chapter 12.  Chapters and verses were later added by editors, so what Paul wrote in this chapter was a simply continuation of his call in Romans 12:1-2 to offer our everyday lives as pleasing worship to God.  In light of that, consider how your attitude toward governmental leaders (Romans 13:1-7), your treatment of the people in your life (Romans 13:8-10), and your personal purity in immoral times (Romans 13:11-14) might need to change to in order to be offered as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Love, And Do What You Want

Read Romans 13

“These—and other such commands—are summed up in this one
commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love
does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the
requirements of God’s law.”
(Romans 13:9-10)

Food For Thought…God’s requirements for us are pretty simple really—just love everybody like we would want to be loved. That means we would love them when they deserved it, and even when they didn’t. We would love them when we felt like it, and even when we didn’t. We would love them not just in word, but we would love them in action. We would love them like they needed to be loved, like God loves them, like the creatures of a Creator who created them inherently worthy of love.

If we would just do what God created us to do—love—I have a feeling that 99% of the issues we wrestle with, the relationships we struggle over, and the trouble we find ourselves in would be taken care of. Love—that’s the cure for what ails you!

So where and how are we supposed to live out this life of love? Paul gives us three relational arenas in Romans 13. The first area has to do with our relationship to the government—what you might call the civil arena (verses 1-7).

Here Paul says God expects us to respect our government and its leaders—something that we often find hard to do. We are to observe the laws they establish; view them as God-ordained instruments for order; submit to them not only as an act of civic duty, but as that which is necessary for a clear conscience; pay our taxes; and give them honor and respect. In fact, over in I Timothy 2:2-3, Paul takes it a step further and says that we are even to pray for our governmental leaders,

“Pray for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our savior…”

When I think of some of the government administrations and leaders that I’ve endured during my lifetime, what Paul is asking seems like a tall order. But keep in mind that Paul wrote to the Roman believers about respecting and obeying government under some pretty awful leaders like Emperor Nero and his evil, profane, murderous ilk. If Paul could see these Roman Emperors as God’s instruments in his life, then I will have no excuse when I stand before God some day for my attitude toward my leaders.

The second area has to do with our relationship with our neighbors—what you might call the social arena (verses 8-10). Here Paul simply calls for loving actions toward those with whom we are in some kind of daily interaction—the people we live by, work with and sit next to in the pews at church. We should do nothing that would provoke anything other than a loving response from them back toward us.

The third has to do with our relationship to God—what you might call the salvation arena (verses 11-14). Here Paul reminds us that one of the leading motives, if not the only motive, for living a life of love in all the arenas of our life is for the simple reason that Jesus is coming back soon, and we will then have to give an account for how we have behaved in relation to our government and its leaders, our neighbors and our God. Because of the soon return of Jesus and the revealing of our full and final salvation, we must be continually alert to living in purity and holiness. In short, we are to “clothe ourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 14), which is Paul’s way of saying that we ought to live each moment as if it might be the last one before we find ourselves standing before Christ. Love would demand no less in light of what he did to secure our salvation!

Love! Do that and you’ll be just fine—in this life and in the one to come. Just love God with all your heart, and when you do, you cannot help but love everybody else. Do that and you’ll fulfill all God’s requirements.

One month before his death at age 65, C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter addressed to a child, “If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you may always do so.”

That’s great advice!

So here’s a thought for you: If you knew Jesus would come back 24 hours from now, and knowing that love is the ultimate requirement of God’s law, who and how would you love?

Why not love like that anyway—you never know, this might be you last opportunity!

Prayer… Father, thank you for loving me, even when I didn’t deserve it and in spite of the fact that I didn’t love you. But your love won me over! Now I ask that you would help me to love everybody else like you loved me. Make me aware of attitudes that do not reflect your love, and alert to opportunities to express your love in tangible ways to people that cross my pass. Help me today to fulfill your requirements to love!

One more thing… “Love, and do what you want.” —Augustine