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. 13:2 Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 13:4 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; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 13:5 Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 13:6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 13:7 Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. What rulers was Paul speaking about? Ones that were righteous? Ones that bowed the knee before the Lord of Glory? Ones that were just? Ones that loved Israel? Ones that loved their neighbors as themselves? There is a proper way and time to resist authority...but with respect for it and with honor. [See Acts] 2:13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 2:14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 2:15 For it is God's will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 2:16 Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God. 2:17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 2:18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to the kind and gentle but also to the overbearing. 2:19 For one is a pproved if, mindful of God, he endures pain while suffering unjustly. 2:20 For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval. 2:21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 2:22 He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 2:23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Personally, I do not believe that most of our Politicians actually believe, in their hearts, that God has raised Jesus from the dead and anointed [Christ == messiah == anointed] him LORD of ALL; and they have not confessed him as LORD with their mouth. That being said, why would I ever judge them since they are outside the family and God judges those who are outside [1 Cor 5]? Why would I ever expect them to have behavior other than the exact same behavior I had when I was dead in mytrespasses and missing the mark, following the influence of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience? So, if you actually bend your knee before God's anointed and acknowledge him as Lord; how can you fail to submit to authority and honor those who are in authority at the sufferance of the eternal and living God? God does not desire that anyone perish, but for all to come to a change of mind and therefore a change of behavior! But how can they come to a change of mind unless they hear the actual Good News? Do we actually believe that people come to a change of mind through law? Well, unfortunately, yes we do. That's why we actually expect and demand that unbelievers act like Christians are supposed to act. Does your obedience of faith come based upon the moral standards of those in authority? If you approve then you will honor authority but if it doesn't meet your standards then you will disobey God in the name of God? Religion is alive and well in America and it has a Christian face. If what folks are saying [rhema = spoken or now word] does not line up with the written word [Logos] then it is to be rejected. Guard your hearts with all diligence, don't be deceived by those things which have the appearance of wisdom but are really a self-made religion. God sent his son into the world to save it...not to condemn it. You [all] are ambassadors of Christ and God is in you reconciling the world to himself. What if they won't listen? 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2:15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 2:16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 2:17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word; but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. Isn't it interesting, that just like in Paul's day, there are many who are not a fragrance of Christ but are proclaimers of law. We have Good News for Obama? Or do we have law for Obama? So how do we know that we are deceived? Certainly a deceived person is absolutely convinced that they are not deceived or it wouldn't be a deception would it? There is only one way and that is through the living and abiding word [Logos] of God. If what I am thinking, and saying does not line up with what God is saying in Christ then it is a deception! And when we're deceived as Christians, we are sincerely deceived. If what we are hearing is actually from the Spirit of God then it will line up with the entire word of God. If it doesn't then it isn't the Spirit of God that we hearing but, at best, some of Him and some of our own soulish imaginations and religious traditions. Sincerely :-)
Craig
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