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worldly authorities

Romans 13: How Much More pt 2 of 3

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Now, we are going to cover v8-10. Verses 1-7 that we just covered appear rather abruptly considering Romans chapters 1-12. Those chapters flow nicely together. But Romans 13:1-7 seem out of place. But I think those 7 verses have been inserted intentionally to set the stage to introduce the meat of this chapter which starts in v8.

The people in authority are giving their full time to governing. And in the same way that Paul is called to preach to the Gentiles, these politicians are equally called by God to be His servants in the political arena. And the principle is clear — give them what they are due. Pay your taxes.

And we see Paul applying this concept in a broader sense in v7 because he says —

7 Give [not just your ruling authorities but give] EVERYONE what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

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Romans 13: How Much More pt 1 of 3

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Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you called your mother today. If you haven’t already, please do so. Why is Mother’s Day such a big deal? Did you ever wonder why? Because as much as fathers try to help with the kids, and I can say this as a father of 3, we can’t hold a candle to the moms. Moms simply do more. There are exceptions, but as a general rule, the moms do a bulk of the work when it comes to raising kids and it only makes sense that Mother’s Day is such a big deal. Because they deserve to be recognized for their sacrifice and love for us. Flowers, cards, presents, dinners happen on Mother’s Day. Father’s Day – do we even celebrate that in this country? I can’t tell.

We are going to revisit this idea later in the sermon, but hold that thought for now. Let’s read Romans 13.

This chapter has 3 distinct sections.

  • Part 1 – Give to the worldly authorities what you owe them.
  • Part 2 – Using that same principle, give to Christ what you owe to Him.
  • Part 3 – Give to Christ what you owe to Him with a sense of urgency because Jesus is coming back soon.

Let’s focus on verses 1-7. It’s interesting that we are covering this topic on the Sunday after Bin Laden was assassinated. And I read a bunch of news articles related to his death. And one in particular gave me some pause because the journalist reported various crowds breaking out into cheers and chanting, USA, USA. And frankly I was bothered by that. How should we apply Romans 13 to the death of the most wanted terrorist in world history? [Read more…] about Romans 13: How Much More pt 1 of 3