LIVE AS A GODLY NEIGHBOR

Background Passage: ROMANS 13:1-14

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 13:1-10,12b-14

BIBLICAL TRUTH: LIVING AS GODLY NEIGHBORS REQUIRES BEING GOOD CITIZENS, DOING RIGHT BY OTHERS, AND EXHIBITING HIGH MORALS.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 13:10

Our neighbors on Ridgecrest Street were pleasant, friendly, and always eager to “act neighborly.” One family in particular became a favorite. The children, small and cute, greeted us with big smiles whenever we stopped by. Ruby was often alone while her husband drove a long-haul truck, so we pitched in when she needed us. While her husband was at home between trips, we sometimes met in one backyard or the other to grill. Since they weren't Christians, we shared our faith and encouraged them to become interested in spiritual things. Yet there seemed to be a block—something holding them back .

One day I asked Ruby directly why she was hesitant. “I've watched Christian families over the years,” she said. “One thing I've noticed is that they seem to be more interested in being at church day and night for meetings or services than in developing their family relationships. Why should I sacrifice my family in order to serve God?

Ouch! I knew Ruby's perception of Christianity was wrong, but it disturbed me that Christian neighbors (including me) may have been communicating something unintended about Christianity by the way we lived. And even more disturbing, how much of what Ruby observed in Christian families was true?

One of the greatest opportunities we have to live the Christ life is in our neighborhood. How many of your neighbors see Christ in your life? How many observe your Christian life from a distance and form conclusions about Christianity based on what they see? What are you communicating about Christianity by how you live? Living as a sacrifice of worship is a responsibility that extends beyond your church family to how you live as a citizen and as a neighbor.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

Civil authority was established by God for His purposes, a truth affirmed by Paul s description of government as “God's servant.” Carrying out our Christian responsibility means being good citizens, including paying any taxes that are owed.

Christians have a duty to show love not only within the church but also within the neighborhood. In doing so we pay our debt of love, a debt that is carried by all Christians and can never be paid in full. Christians are called to live in a way tat builds the Christ-life within, instead of making allowances for desires and behaviors that are counterproductive and harmful to being a follower of Christ.

Paul transitioned from believers' responsibilities within the body of Christ to their responsibilities as citizens and neighbors. Perhaps Paul was concerned about Jewish Christians in the church at Rome, who possibly regarded the Gentile rulers in the Roman Empire as sinful and not worthy of respect. Such an attitude was typical of the Jews in that day to the degree that they were notorious for being bad citizens. Paul's emphasis on citizenship, neighbors, and morals shows that how you live in community is just as important as how you serve in church. To focus on one and not the other is to miss an important, mandatory part of Christian living.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.How did Paul describe government in a way usually reserved for Christians?(Rom. 13:4)
2.What debt does every Christian hold?(Rom 13:8)
3.What is a practical way we get control of desires that are counterproductive to the Christian life?(Rom 13:14)

BE A GOOD CITIZEN (ROM. 13:1-7)

Romans 13 1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

VERSE 1 ~ Human government was instituted by God to provide oversight and regulation for human affairs. Instituted is a word meaning “assigned a place” or “appointed,” an act of God carried out in the past that continues to influence lives today.

Human government was established first by God when Noah left the ark following the worldwide flood (Gen 9:5-6). The basic law of the new government was capital punishment for a murderer who was convicted through due process. To submit means to put oneself under the authority of another on a continual basis. Paul's words do not allow for submission one day and aggression the next day. Instead, they speak of mind-set or an action that is habitual and consistent.

Though governments are ordained by God, Paul did not say that individual rulers are necessarily ordained by God. Obviously, some government officials are Christians; many are not. Yet Christians have a duty to be good citizens, even if individual government leaders are not Christians.

Notice that Paul did not prohibit legitimate acts of protest or the removal of unjust leaders by legal means. Moreover, Paul did not direct Christians to obey civil authorities if obedience meant that the Christian would violate God's higher and sacred laws. Knowing if or when a Christian should move from civil obedience to civil disobedience is a matter of faith conscience that requires dependence on God, great wisdom, and a willingness to bear the consequences.

VERSE 2 ~ The person who resists (“sets oneself in battle against”) civil authority is, in fact, opposing (“putting oneself in a position of opposition”) what God has established. One who resists may escape punishment for crimes against the government, but will not escape eventual judgment from God. Any willful and prolonged lifestyle of sin brings its own judgment, which means that escaping human authority is no reason for the law breaker to celebrate.

God's laws are established in love and are designed to help you achieve His best for your life. As a caring Father, He knows not only when you break these laws; but, more significantly, He knows that you are broken on them. Therefore, His mercy seeks to keep you from sorrow, hurt, pain, and wasted living—all consequences of disobedience that are built into how He designed you and His world.

VERSES 3-4 ~ Paul's assumption was that his readers would be identified with good works rather than unlawful conduct. In so doing, they would have government authorities on their side.

Paul also assumed that government does not act in violation of its purpose to protect the good and punish the bad. The sword speaks of the government's God-ordained right to carry out severe punishment as part of its duty to protect and punish. The government is acting as God's servant by fulfilling its duty. Servant is diakonos in the Greek (the origin of our word decon). This means that a civil officer, whether a believer or not, carries out a role as a servant of God.

Notice that Paul made no claims that government is the ultimate answer to national problems. He did, however, suggest that any change in culture brought about by God through His people will naturally be built on good citizenship and respect for government.

VERSES 5-6 ~ Beyond their responsibility to be good citizens, Christians obey government authorities due to their Christian conscience. Christians obey laws (such as paying taxes) not only because of the threat of punishment but also because of the recognition by their conscience that civil authorities are God's public servants.

In these verses the word servant is not diakonos (as in v4) but kitourgos, meaning “a public servant of the people.” This word is used to describe the Jewish priests who performed sacred acts of service in the temple on behalf of the people.

The payment of certain taxes was just as loathsome in Paul's day as it is today. No wonder Paul singled out this type of payment as an example of good citizenship and as proof of our respect for what God has ordained. Notice that Paul did not discuss the fairness of tax laws or the financial integrity of the government.

VERSE 7 ~ The word pay means to “give over from a reserve” in a way that fulfills a debt, a duty, an obligation, or a burden. Therefore, the payment required may be other than monetary. For the Christian, duty to conscience means satisfying not only the letter of the law but also the spirit of the law. The act of paying a financial debt is insufficient in God's eyes if we refuse to acknowledge inwardly the authority of government as a servant of God.

TREAT OTHERS RIGHT ( ROM. 13:8-10)

8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

VERSE 8 ~ The imperative do not owe carries the idea of forbidding an action that is already occurring. Another translation is “stop owing.” Some understand this verse to forbid any form of debt, while others believe it simply encourages the payment of all debts as agreed. Paul's emphasis, however, is on the obligation Christians have to love—an obligation that can never be paid in full since the law of love has no limits.

In context, Paul seemed to have in mind a broader application of this law of love, extending beyond the church to non Christian neighbors. Though there is no civil obligation to show love to a neighbor, Paul reminded his readers that their Christian duty involves love—the kind of self-sacrificing love (agape love) produced only by God's Holy Spirit.

VERSES 9-10 ~ Paul listed four of the six Ten Commandments that deal with relationships. (“Thou shalt not bear false witness” is included in the KJV but not in the Holman CSB because the two translations follow different Greek manuscripts.) If there is any other commandment does not mean that Paul could not remember the remaining two. Instead, he was expanding the list to include any related commandment, regulation, or law. All of the pertinent rules can be summed up in the principle that we love others as we love ourselves. (Paul summarized the law for the Roman Christians in the same way Jesus did for the Pharisees in Matt. 22:39.)

While we are to take care of our health and relationship needs, we are not to concentrate on ourselves. Instead, we are to be motivated by Christlike concern for others. Perhaps Paul's reminder that love does not wrong, was prompted by reports that Christians were not treating non believing neighbors with kindness. By relating to neighbors with goodness and love, Christians fulfill the law.

EXHIBIT HIGH MORALS (ROM 13:12b-14)

12b let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

VERSES 12b – 14 ~ Deeds of darkness such as carousing and drunkenness (a riotous procession of festive drunks), sexual impurity and promiscuity (shameless and uncontrolled lust), quarreling, and jealousy do not show up in the darkness as wrong or harmful. Only in the pure light of Christ are they seen as inappropriate for the follower of Jesus Christ and counterproductive for Christian growth and healthy relationships. Therefore, we must discard such actions immediately and forevermore by removing them from our lives as we would toss away old garments of clothing that are worn out.

A Christian is under no obligation to obey the sin nature, but dangerously awakens its power by showing interest in satisfying fleshly desires. Once such desires are awakened, the door to sin is open. Notice that the Christian life is not only about refusing to feed desires that are harmful, but also about intentionally embracing the life of Jesus Christ. To discard sin without heeding Paul's admonishment to put on the Lord Jesus Christ is an incomplete picture of the Christian life. Christians should be known by neighbors less for what they do not do and more for the One whom they love and follow.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Living out Christianity within our church circles creates a “Christian comfort zone” that may be difficult to expand beyond the church. Jesus modeled a radical engaging of culture that horrified the religious leaders of His day but pleased His Heavenly Father. Consider the following examples:

Jesus socialized with notorious sinners who considered Him a friend. Do your neighbors see you as engaging or isolated? Do they know you up close or from a distance?

When Jesus spoke of loving neighbors, someone asked Him to define neighbor. He answered by telling a story about someone who was hurt and in need, a person of race that was despised by Jews. Is there a race of people that naturally brings out prejudice in your thinking? How often do you show Christian love to someone of that race?

Jesus refused to get into arguments about where and how to worship. He redirected discussions to focus on a relationship with God, one that is less about following religious rules and regulations and more about authentic living, transformed by God's presence. Based on your neighbors' observations of your life, how do they interpret Christianity? Do they think Christianity is more about rules and regulations or about authentic living transformed by the presence of God?

To follow Christ means that you leave your comfort zone and engage the culture around you—beginning with your neighbors. The Christ-life is supernaturally natural. It attracts more than it repels. It is winsome more than it is harsh and judgmental. When your neighbors see your life, what do they see?