Memorize: Established authorities of God
Key Verses: 1, 3, 7, 10, 14
Your government has been put there by God! Paul says this twice in verse one. It does not mean that every authority is subjecting itself to God’s authority, but that God has a purpose for government. Sometimes governments do a very poor job of carrying out the job designed by God. I don’t read this verse to say that we have to obey every individual ruler. We are allowed to resist the Hitlers of the world. But just because a government exists over us, it does not mean that we shouldn’t come under their authority.
If you always drive the speed limit you never have to worry about speed traps. They hold no terror for you. Do what is right, and the government won’t bother you. That is if the government is doing what God designed it to do. Their job is to punish the wrongdoer and reward the one who does right. That is their job in a nutshell. Often governments end up doing many things that ordinary citizens should be doing for themselves. Families have a responsibility for their own family. This should not be pawned off on the government. But we now expect the government to come in and pick up where we drop off. We as individuals don’t want the responsibility to take care of family, so we pawn it off on everyone else. We end up paying anyway, since we are taxed to pay for it, but that cost gets hidden from our view.
So pay your taxes. Unfortunately, we can’t go back to Biblical principles, because everyone will not follow them. The vast majority of our society would not take responsibility for themselves, let alone their families and neighbors. Many rich would continue to amass vast wealth and many poor would stand with their hands out. Our society is not structured in a way that would allow the Gospel worldview to be fully realized. But that does not negate our responsibility to do what is right. We have the debt of love to pay. And when we do that, we will see our neighbor hurting and reach out and meet the need. We will put love into action. We will be moved by the grace we have received and reach out and meet the need.
That will happen when we realized that our time here on earth is so limited. Everything here is temporary, soon to pass away. We need to behave in a way that reflects our new status in God’s kingdom. Our conduct needs to reflect the fact that we have switched bosses. We now serve Jesus rather than sinful desires.
The Arnold Journey 