Understanding Authority | Bob Wriedt | Romans 13:1-7
For as long as I've been a Christian, I've been encouraged to love my enemies. Passages like Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek or Jesus' forgiveness of his crucifiers are rightly tied to the very fabric of Christian ethics.
Being so familiar with the call to love our enemies might blind us to the obvious question: Why? Why would anyone love their enemies? Is it just a provocative and difficult thing to do? Or is there more to it than that?
This week at Grace, we'll be in Romans 12:14-21, looking at Paul's exhortation to bless and not curse those who persecute them. This paragraph represents the other side of the coin from the paragraph that came before. Last week, Chris taught on loving one another in the church. Now, Paul shifts to loving those who are against us. Yet the ethic of love remains the same.
Is there something in the big picture of the gospel in Romans that answers the question of why we should love our enemies?
Let's talk about it together this Sunday!
In Christ,
Pastor Bob
Romans 13:1-7
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.