Romans 13: 1-7 says to “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed."
The Bible covers all matters of life with perfect clarity. There are sometimes when we need to seek deeper into the heart and mind of Christ to truly learn what He is saying. In Romans 2:6-8 Paul says that God "will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." And you ask "what does this have to do with the election?" I beg of you to bear with me for a moment as I make my case! Paul picks this theme of "seeking" back up in chapter 3 verse 11 with, "no one understands; no one seeks for God." Paul starts off in chapter 2 with laying a foundation that if you are "by patience in well-doing" seek the things of God for Christ glory you will have eternal life. Paul then talks of the unrighteous man that does not OBEY the truth because he is self-seeking. So we can see through this that everyone is seeking something whether it be Christ glory or their own and by seeking their own they condemn themselves and gain, for their seeking, the wrath of the creator of the heavens and earth.
So how does Romans 13 relate to chapter 3 verse 11 where Paul says that no one understands and no one is seeking God? I think it relates in this way but first I must lay a foundation for what, I believe, goes into seeking. Upon seeking something you have to believe that which you are seeking is going to bring you into a deeper understanding of aspects of life. One cannot seek something, anything, without devoting oneself whole heartily into the truth of that which is being sought. It is utterly absurd to think that you are gaining deeper understanding by not devoting your life to that particular subject. You cannot understand how a painter paints without spending hours with the painter trying to discern and understand why every stroke is placed the way it is brushed onto the canvas. Yes it is true you can have some insight into a subject without having full knowledge but you cannot be intimately acquainted and truly understands the how and the why of the subject.
My attempt to tie all of these thoughts together may become futile but I pray I will be able to establish my point with enough clarity that you will be able to hear my heart on this matter.
The Government is God's servant for our good. We are to submit to their authority willingly and without grumbling or complaining. This is to honor Christ Jesus. It does not matter who won the election!! God had established this before He formed the world! He was not thrown off by this election and the outcome of who won. What He grieves over is the response of His people and how they look so unlike His Son. Christ desires us to grow in a deeper knowledge and understanding of who He is and what He desires for us to accomplish on earth as His ambassadors and I can promise you it is not arguing over an election that will be redone in 4 years.
So this is my problem with this whole matter that I am trying to address: We as disciples of Christ are making a spectacle out of the Lord we claim to love by claiming to be wise on matters that we are truly ignorant of. We have no understanding of the deeper matters of politics or the way the constitution is being forgotten and if a few of us actually have this understanding of political matters then by our anger or frustration we make void all the knowledge we have of the way things were established in America. This knowledge is made void because when we seek to educate others we come across as legalistic and ignorant of what is really is happening in "this life" or "today". Nobody likes someone to tell them why this is bad or why they need to change! This world needs leaders and Christ Jesus has made us a kingdom of priest so that we can lead this world in the direction that will benefit it the most. We must not just speak out but live out the direction we need to go. The head coach at TECH, Steve Mullins, used to tell us "your actions are speaking so loud I can't hear what you are saying." In Romans 15:1-3 Paul says' "We who are strong have an OBLIGATION to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself..."
I'm tired of people bashing the way this country is running things!! I'm tired of everyone pointing out everything that is wrong in our society! I'm tired of hate flowing through Christians veins because they want America to conform to what they view as correct and moral! I'm tired of people arguing over principle and what they see as truth! I'm tired of the separation that I see amongst believers!!! I'm tired of all this ignorance flowing through the body of Christ and being voiced by the wrong mouths!! If we do not have a clear understanding of what the Lord Jesus truly requires of His disciples then we have no business speaking for Him!!! In summary we do not have the mind of Christ!!!
When we look at this life and see it through the light of the Word we, as disciples, can find understanding in circumstances that are outside of our intimate control and thus be able to rest in the peace that Christ offers through His redemptive Blood. There is absolutely no reason to become anxious about the problems this world is displaying for we are not of this world. We are pilgrims just passing through and have no need in becoming entangled in the offers of this world. Now I want to make myself clear on this subject on the grounds of "in the world not of the world." What I am NOT saying is that we should just sit and be quite while the rest of mankind just works itself out but what I am saying is that our attitudes and ACTIONS should have no fleshly connections at all. We cannot allow our emotions to overtake us to the point of forgetting that we were cleansed from our former ways. We have to keep in mind that the people in this world do not care about how we feel or why we believe a certain way. If you can think back to when your own pride directed your life you will quickly realize that you are not very far removed from the ignorance that is in this world.
Remember no one understands because no one seeks after the Lord Jesus Christ who by His life and death has set us free from elementary thoughts and has given us grace to grow up into mature manhood where we are no longer tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine but we are grounded being held by the Lord Jesus as our eternal anchor. We are no longer trapped by the futile ways of thinking. We have been given the truth and it has set us free!
Proverbs speaks of seeking after wisdom and James says that if anyone lacks wisdom they should ask the Lord Jesus who gives to all freely and without partiality but they must ask in faith and if one is asking for wisdom then they are not asking in vain nor are they asking out of pride. No my friend they are seeking the truth and have come to realize it only comes from the TRUTH which plainly said is Christ Jesus. Proverbs 4:7, 8 says, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you IF you embrace her." We must seek and never become complacent with the knowledge or understanding we have. We must never be satisfied with the limited insight we are given. "Blessed are those that HUNGER and THRUST for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied"-Matthew 5:6.
We must never allow ourselves to become so angry, frustrated, or upset at a situation that we forget that if it was not for the grace of the Lord Jesus then we would not even be able to think the way we are able to think. We would not even desire for America to be a better country. Our thoughts would be as foolish and ignorant as the people we talk to. Our speech would be so ignorant that we would not even recognize the person speaking. Better yet we would stand in amazement that these words are truly coming from our mouths. We cannot forget that it is the Lord that establishes kingdoms and it is the Lord that tears kingdoms down. He gives and takes away. Before I seek to heal this country I must seek to do everything in my power to help the Body of Christ that is in America, become healthy again. So healthy that each and every disciple will be able to impact their individual community for Christ in such a way that even if those around do not seek the Lord they will still become better people with a better understanding of why it is important to do this or that a certain way. I must be patient and do what honors the Lord. Proverbs 11:11, 12 says, "By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent." We must lead by our actions!!! There will be times to speak out but it must never be in a way that belittles someone and we must never allow ourselves to become frustrated to the point in a conversation that we forget to set a guard over our mouth. James 3:2 says, "... if anyone is does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body."
DO NOT allow your frustration to make you become ignorant. Only when the disciples of the Lord Jesus start living out the teachings of His word in humility, meekness, respect, and love will God allow this nation to quit destroying herself from the inside. Government is God's servant for our good. We cannot change what God has instituted but what we can change is the way we live our lives for the next three years so that all will see the light.
Shake and Shine,
Zach
