Submission to the Authorities
13:1 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. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 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.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (ESV)
2The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
We owe God a really BIG debt, that we were freed from when Jesus died for us. Judgment day is Coming; we must prepare for the awaited day. you never know; it might be in the next year, or the next month; next day, next hour, next second. live today like Judgment day is going to be tomorrow!
1 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.
There are a lot of people who are upset about our new President-elect, or about the current leadership in America. What we need to remember is that our leaders are not randomly selected; they have been chosen by God to lead our country. God has put Obama – and all of our other leaders – in their place of power for a reason, and He will use him to accomplish His will and to bring glory to ourselves. We need to respect this and obey our leaders, even if we do not agree with them. Anyone who disrespects or disobeys them is in rebellion not only against the state, but against God and what He has established. And like verse 2 says, such rebellion leads only to judgement.
Ro 13:11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
How true this is! When God wrote through Paul that the time is near, ~2,000 years ago He wanted us to have a sense of urgency about His return. It is a valuable perspective: to be ready for the Bridegroom, Christ, to come by being ready and not asleep. And being ready means acting in accordance with His perfect commands even when only He is watching. LORD, thank You for Your Son who broke the bonds of sin and death and Your Spirit that guides us to choose to be awakened for You. Please help me to live in submission to You, and those You’ve put in place, today.
P.S. Nice post Mike – applying the submission command to current authorities that we may not have chosen. It’s true always… The time is near!
14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Paul is instructing the recipients of his letter to make sure that their lives outwardly show the inward change that has taken place. Instead of being dominated by sin and their sinful natures Paul instructs them to put into practice all the virtues of Christ. I like how the verse says “do not THINK about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” We should not be spending any time in our thought life on sinful things. If we do, our thoughts will turn to actions. We should not be deceived to think that what is only in our minds and not acted upon is ok. God knows our thoughts and intentions and we must be careful to be pure in our thought life. We should memorize Scripture and do what Philippians 4:8-9 says and think only about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Godly thinking can lead to godly living just as sinful thinking can lead to sinful living.
9The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Wow, these commandments are pretty much summed up into what our sins our almost daily!
we murder…by saying “i hate so and so!!” thats totally an act of murder
we commit adultry!when we look at someone that we think is totally cute, we could get lustful thoughts! yeah, thats commiting adultry!
coveting is a big one!jealousy much?i think every person on this planet has looked at what they dont have and have wished they could have something someone else has….thats not being very greatful to what God has blessed us with!!
obviously these sins fall under the category of not loving your fellow neighbor, therefore we need to seek forgiveness and keep our slate as clean as possible; loving one another like God commands us to do so!!and that refrences back to yesterdays SOTD….humble ourselves so that we dont lust, so that we dont covet….humble ourselves so that we can fully love one another, and lower ourselves on the todem-pole:)
MARANATHA
8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
I really like how this verse connects not having debts to our government in either money or honor–we are to have those filled–to then urging us to keep striving to fill our “debt” of love to one another. When we owe someone that brings out action on our part because we are indebted to them and need to pay up, so we can really sense the need to do it. If we treated loving others that way we would be much more selfless in considering them and what they need, going out of our way to express that love in encouragement to them to build them up.
***I hope you girls who were with us on Saturday are keeping up encouraging others with the Girl’s Workshop take-home!
7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
As Christians we should make sure we give everyone what is owed to them. If we owe people money we should pay them back. We should respect and honor those who lead us in government and the church. And we should continually feel like we need to pay back love to others, never letting it get old, never feeling like we have done all that we can do, never feeling like we have nothing left to give.
14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
“Clothe yourselves” is an interesting phrase because it implies something that we put on every single day. Every morning when we wake up we need to make a conscious decision to live like the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are thinking about taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) then we will not be thinking about ways to sin. Let’s live like Christ today and fulfill our calling as Christians!
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
This could apply to us today because a lot of times, high schoolers have problems with authority. Whether it is parents, teachers, or any other form of authority, for some reason, always obeying is hard to do. We need to make sure we are striving to obey all the time, because if we obey our earthly masters, we are obeying God.
10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
I like this verse because it is true…if we are truly loving others we will not sin against them. And if we are truly loving Christ we won’t sin against him either because there is no sin in true Biblical love. Lets pray that God helps us to love one another and him because without him we cannot love.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
As high schoolers sometimes we debate if we actually deserve the punishment given to us. We make excuses such as “he/she never said we couldn’t listen to our ipod during class” or “I never knew we weren’t allowed to text during class” Maybe this is true, but if we really examine ourselves, don’t we already know the basic do’s and don’ts of daily life? As Paul has been explaining, it is embedded in our conscience to know that when someone is talking we should listen (ipod), and if someone wants our attention we shouldn’t be doing something else (phone). As this verse explains there is a simple remedy to getting on the good side of an authority. Do what is right. This is a simple command that we shouldn’t be faltering in. Do what is right. I pray that I as well as others at True North that struggle with obedience to authorities would learn to submit fully to authorities as the Lord has commanded us to.
Yesterday chapter 12 mentioned being sober minded and today chapter 13 mentions waking up from our slumber. We should be alert as Christians, thinking clearly, fearing God and knowing that he can return any day.
10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
When I think of love in the Bible, I always think of the book: 1 John. Love is the greatest commandment in the Bible when it says to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:36. To love your neighbor as yourself is a big commandment that is found all over the Bible. Like yesterdays chapter it says to put people above you in loving them, if we truely love them than we got to be willing to die for them.
1 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.
2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Oh man, this verse hits us all in some way! Laws like the speed limit and other one set up by our Government that we don’t necessarily want to obey were set forth by God! So we need to submit to our authorities, but by doing so, we are also submitting to what God has established, and if we don’t, then vice-versa!
(v11) And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
(v12) The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Jesus coming back gets closer and closer every day, this should spur us on to living more and more like Christ and living a holy life so we can be an example in this sinful world, causing others to question if they are right with God. Paul is telling us to stop the sin that is separating us from God, and do what is right because Jesus is coming back and we don’t know when He is. Our job as Christians is to make sure that the Word of God is spread wherever we go. This is why evangelism is so important, because hell is a horrible place and we don’t want our non-christian friends and family members to go there. We need to constantly repent and confess our sins also, because sin separates us from God, and through repentance we are made right with God. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
this is a good passage!! i liked this verse, alot of people that say they are christians will rebel and disobey the law or authority, they are really disobeying god and what he has said, alot of people dont even realize it or think they are disobeying god when they break the law or something
1Everyone 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.
I agree a lot with Mike. I remember watching McCain give his sucession speach(something like thatt) and in it he said how he would serve Obama in whatever he needed his help on. McCain knew also that God had chosen Obama to be president for a reason and he was going to do whatever God wanted him to do. This is how we should also act. We walked around jokingly saying, “Obama won we’re all gonna die” or stuff like that when instead we should be praising God and waiting to see what amazing outcomes He is going to make out of all this.
I loved this chapter!!
Great comment, Janiel!!
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Are we “sleeping” right now? Thinking that we’ve got all the time in the world to get our act together with Christ, and we’ll just put it off until Christ’s return? The day that Christ will return is coming closer and closer. We should not be slumbering or being lazy in our Christian walk. These verses should spur us on to live a life pleasing to Christ, not commiting the sins listed in verse 13. Let’s put on the armor of Christ and live like these are our last days on Earth, knowing that Christ’s return is quickly approaching.
Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord!!!
1Everyone 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.
There are so much people that are very mad about Obama being our new president, but we do have to remember that God is in control and that is how God established our authorities. Obama is God’s servant right now and we need to submit to him. And not only him but to older people to like our parents, or adults, or kings, queens, rulers and those who are spiritually mature. 1 Peter 5:5.
Mike, I totally agree!
12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Like Stephanie said, the Lord is comming, and everyday brings us closer to His return. Are we ready for our savior to return? Are we consistantly fighting sin with the Word, and defending ourselves with our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-18)? If we aren’t, we need to be, so that when Jesus returns we can have joy in our obedience to His commands and fulfilling our call as Christians.
1Everyone 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.
This verse is perfect for high schoolers!! It seems that everyday at school i hear at least one person disrespect the teacher by calling them horrible names, or not listening when they are supposed to, or just complaining outside of class. I’m sure a lot of the times i blend in with the crowd when i complain about certain teachers, and that needs to change! This verse reminds me to be grateful for the REMARKABLE teachers i already have… even the challenging ones! God has given us our teachers for a reason, and we should be lights at our schools by rejoicing because of them!
I was going to say the same thing Mike. This is a great passage to read in these times because although not everyone likes who is in authority over us, we still need to respect them because God has placed them in their position of power.
1Everyone 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.
this is definately something that we all need to pay attention too. sometimes it doesnt seem like it is a big deal to not wash our hands before we eat, or to not make our beds when our parents tell us too. but people who disobey their parents are put in a group of sinners who are God-haters (Romans 1:29-30). it may not be a big deal to us, but it is to God, who gave us parents as sources of authority, and we are commanded to obey them.
likewise Barrack Obama is now our president. though we may not agree on his political views, or his views on social things like abortion or homosexuality, we are commanded to obey him, as long as he doesnt tell us to sin. God has placed him the leader of our country for a reason, and we should not question God’s choices. and if Barrack Obama does turn our country more wicked and “liberal”, it just makes it closer to Christ’s return… Maranatha!
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
This is just a reminder to step it up, because Christ is coming soon. That means we only have so much time to evangelize and we don’t want to be found having wasted it when Christ returns. We want to be found holy and blameless, taking every thought captive to Christ like Bobby talks about and not even let our mind think about evil. This gets harder as our world gets more and more evil, but that just means we need to be representing Christ all the more so that we can stand out and lead people out of the darkness. This means submitting to our leaders and showing love to enemies, even making it a point to reach out especially to them because they have a chance to be saved as well, and we need to make use of it while its still here.
1Everyone 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.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
We should not only be honoring our parents but also any authoritative figures. I love how it says that if we rebel against them we are rebelling against what God has instituted. This is so true, even though we are sometimes put in situations where it is hard to obey authority, we need to remember that we were put in that situation for a reason. Like our new president for example. Even though as Christians we disagree with him, we must respect him because this is what God is calling us to do.
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
This is such a motivation to me, knowing that the end times are near should compel us to be evangelizing and be in the word more then ever. I always try to keep the mindset of what do i want Jesus to find me doing when He comes back?? This is such a motivation for me to not waste time.
5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
This is a great verse. This verse explains how we need to fear God and follow his word. If we ignore the laws of God and continually break them, we will face a greater judgement. God wants us to follow and obey him, and we need to do that. Part of obeying God is also obeying the law and your parents. By breaking these laws, it is the same as breaking Gods laws.
Yay Stephanie’s on! And Sarah, you took the words right out of my mouth. That is exactly what I was going to say.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Teachers have authority over us right now. If we don’t do their homework assignments or we don’t listen in class, we are disobeying God and His commandments! We’re rebelling against what God has instituted and do you really want to face God and fight against Him? One day, we’re all going to be judged for every sin we’ve committed and although it doesn’t seem like it’s a big deal now, once your before God it will be! And of course that also applies to our parents. Once our parents tell us to do something we better rush and do it like God was telling us Himself! Fear the Lord and be afraid of sin!
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
This verse reminded me about or new president and how we need to not rebel against him because God gave him his power. If we don’t God will judge us.
What great verses!!!!
13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Definatly a couple things worth striving for! The day Jesus comes back for us is nearer and nearer each day! We need to put aside the sinful nature and live like Jesus could be coming with in the next couple minutes (which He could!)
14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
I love the words “clothe yourselves”. Everyday we wake up and put on some outfit as a normal routine…..We should do just this with God. Every day we should be in his word, acting like him, putting Jesus Christ on us!
1Everyone 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.
Ok as a reminder to everyone this includes Obama. I know it hurts, but God has put him in power and there is a reason for it. So pray for are soon to be president.
1Everyone 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.
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
I love these 2 verses because it’s very common that we might not like authority but God put them there for a reason. We need to trust Him and obey Him and the Authority.
Verse 11 we can not loose are love for God even though we know He is coming back and we are saved. We need to act like He is coming that day.
God Bless!!!
7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
This chapter is really all about knowing your place, submitting yourself to authority, and trusting in God’s ultimate power. We can’t be rebels and then say we trust in God. Its really important for all of us to know that God has a plan and we shouldn’t doubt Him.
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The last bit of this verse is in the song Amazing Grace. It talks about this excact same thing. We are closer to the end times than when we first believed.
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature
This is a beautiful verse; clothe yourself with Christ. It makes me think of Christs sacrifice; it almost make me cry knowing what he did to save us. NOw that we know the truth of Jesus, clothe your self with him; put your mind on Him and don’t even think of sin.
9The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
I loved the whole last part of this chapter! We really do need to wake up because our salvation is nearer today than it was yesterday, and a lot nearer than it was when Paul wrote this letter. This verse is great. It reminded me of the dating series because that was the main point. If you really love someone you will do them no harm – you will do what’s best for them. It changes our thinking from “what can I get away with and still be considered obedient?”, to “how can I do what’s best in this situation?” When you think about love instead of a set of rules, it wipes away our excuses and reveals our motives. It simplifies things too, because all of the rest of the law falls under this one command. I am going to look for ways to love people better this Thanksgiving weekend!
3″For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.”
I like this verse because even though we might not like certain teachers or other authorities we have we still have to treat them with respect because if we don’t it’s disrespecting God. also that even though their not as high as God you have to do what God says not what everyone else thinks that’s cool.
1Everyone 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.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
This is a really good verse for us high schoolers. I think that it is really hard sometimes to submit and respect your teachers. But this verse makes it so clear that we ought too. And this doesnt just apply to our teachers it applies to all authority above us. And it clearly says that we need to respect and obey them for God himself put them in that position and if we rebel or do not obey the authority we are directly rebeling against God. So this verse is really good for me as someone who has a hard time obeying teachers that i need to obey them for if i dont i am rebeling against God himself.
And also this verse gives me comfort. Because sometimes it is hard have some people as your leaders because you dont see them as a Chrirstian or as a good person. But we see in this verse that God put them there as a leader for a specific reason. So we can just see that in all situations or through people as leaders over us that we dont see as good people that God has put that there for a reason.
1 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.
2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Like many have said, we need to submit and respect the authorities that are in our lives. God has placed and anointed them to that position. Its cool to think that God is in complete control and is directing and establishing that leaders that are in our lives! Our job, is to submit and obey those authorities as if we were obeying God. Verse two says that those who rebel, actually rebel against God because he has placed that leader into authority over us! We need to be obeying, and to take it a step further, even praying for our leaders! Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
1Everyone 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.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
As soon as i read this, i thought submit to your parents…They are placed over you by God, and they deserve respect and honor. Our parents have to answer to God, and we have to answer to our parents, therefore by obeying our parents we are obeying God! Also God does command us to obey our parents. In verse two it tells us that when we rebel, we are rebelling against not just our parents, but God. That is convicting. I think we sometimes forget that what we do to others we are doing to God as well. We need to be submitting, honoring, respecting, and praying for our authorities.
4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
BE AFRAID TO SIN!!!
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Each and every single day we are getting closer to that day of salvation. We have realize that we need to turn a full 180 degrees away from the darkness and start walking in the light and not turn back. For it is what God commanded.