Submission to Government, Service to Christ

I hope you were inspired by the testimonies Kevin and Ashley Hernandez of His Hands and Feet shared with us last Sunday as they continue to do God's work in Guatemala. They demonstrate what it means to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1).

Continuing our study of the book of Romans, Paul builds upon how we are to live as new creations in Christ. In Romans 12, he speaks of renewal and transformation that manifests itself in a humble yet confident perspective of our place in the body of Christ as we learn and use our spiritual gifts in service to others. He tells us that love without expectation and living at peace with everyone is how we must interact with others, even the unloving and unlovable.

In Romans 13, Paul continues to raise the bar for us as Christians, commanding us to submit to the governing authorities. That's a challenge for us here in America, where we've been taught that government should submit to us and not the other way around, but imagine how his words landed with the church in Rome, the capital of one of the most authoritarian, decadent, and oppressive empires in world history. Nevertheless, Paul and Peter, arguably the two most prominent apostles of the early church, are united in their admonition to “be subject for the Lord's sake” (1 Peter 2:13) to the governments of mankind. Let's examine the Word together and learn what that looks like, then and now, and what it means to submit to government, but “obey God rather than human beings” (Acts 5:29).

Blessings,

Ron