Sermon Outline

1. Introduction

2. Government should not be resisted (Rom 13:1, 2, 5)

   1. Be subject/in subjection is a word derived from Gk: tassw.

      1. Business have employers and employees, (Tit 2:9)
      2. Families have parents and children (Eph 6:1)
      3. Church, there are leaders – (1Cor 16:15-16, Heb 13:17)
      4. Same is true in political life – there are always rulers and those ruled.

   2. To submit/be subject to means

      1. To resist is related to same Gk word, tassw.
      2. Can we resist laws and corruption? Yes, but within limits

3. We are a people of peace

   1. Violence doesn’t befit the people of God (Lk 22:51, Heb 2:14)
   2. Even the city who is our home, the new Jerusalem, is a city of peace by name (Isa 60:18)
   3. We come under the rules in order to avoid judgment and divine wrath and to benefit them (Mt 5:44, Lk 6:28, 1Tim 2:1-3)
   4. We submit to government because of conscience (Rom 13:5)

4. We should pay our taxes & fees (Rom 13:6)

   1. We give of the money that we earn, back to the government for 2 reasons:

      1. First, Authorities are ministers of God (Rom 13:6)
      2. Second, Government created money (Luke 20:21-25)

   2. We should honor and respect those bearing office (Rom 13:7)

5. What about when our conscience is violated?

   1. Some may argue that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t submit to government. (Dan 3:16-18)

      1. Yes, they did.
      2. They esteemed the king, they were willing to be thrown in the furnace.
      3. There is no recorded evidence they struggled against those binding them.
      4. They neither cursed the king, Babylon or any others.
      5. They fell under the authority of government and let it have its way with them, though they refused to obey its dictates when they violated the Law of God.

   2. Maybe Daniel and the Lion’s den comes to your mind (Dan 6)

   3. Another might appeal to Peter and John’s refusal to obey the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:19-20)

   4. Still, another might appeal to Esther (Esth 7:4)

   5. Civil Disobedience

6. Conclusion (1Peter 2:17-23)