God’s Means for Law and Order
Part 1
Paul speaks in these verses of two levels of responsibility – that of the individual and that of the government. Each has a different role to carry out when responding to evildoers. In fact, I believe the key to understanding this instruction lies in recognizing that difference. Those who do not recognize the difference find their understanding greatly complicated when responding to evil.
Introduction
As I speak to you this morning, United States and Coalition military forces have surrounded the city of Baghdad in north-central Iraq in what will probably be the last stand of Iraq’s brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein. Bombs continue to fall on military installations in that city. Acts of terrorism have begun against our troops in that country. Our homeland is on high alert with regard to terrorism. Our President says, and I believe him, that our nation has entered that middle-eastern country for two purposes. The first is to rid Iraq of the capability and presence of weapons of mass destruction that could be used on its neighbors, including our ally, Israel. The second is to lessen the potential for passing such weapons to avowed enemies of this nation who have already attacked us and sworn their intent to destroy us and our way of living.
I have always refrained from pressing my personal political views upon you from this pulpit, though I suspect that most of you probably know where I stand on these issues. I believe that this battle and our nation’s war on terrorism relate in a very real way to the survival of western democracy and our nation and way of life.
Of course, holding any firm view on these issues brings questions from my Christian brothers and sisters – especially in the area of the use of military force. After all, didn’t Jesus tell us to turn the other cheek?
I will again this morning refrain from pressing my political views upon you. However, I do want to take the time to sketch what I believe is an accurate view of the Bible’s teaching on the presence of and need for a strong military force to be used to promote law and order and restrain evildoers. I spoke on this subject 18 months ago, right after the attacks on the twin towers in New York and the military offices at the Pentagon. This morning, largely due to the issues our nation presently faces, I want to revisit the subject.
The clearest statement in the New Testament on these issues is in chapters 12 and 13 of the book of Romans. That is a fitting place for such teaching as the city of Rome was the center of the most powerful military force on the planet in the first century. Christians who lived in that city needed to know how to relate to that force. We will take our lesson this morning from Romans 12:17-13:7. Please turn there in your Bibles.
Two basic necessities for the continued survival of any society are justice and order. To maintain order and keep peace, there must be a way to restrain those who would take advantage of the weak and oppress those who wish to live in peace. These verses describe for us God’s means of that restraint. They tell us what Christians are and are not to do when wronged or oppressed by evildoers. They also explain the role of civil government in keeping justice and order.
Paul speaks in these verses of two levels of responsibility – that of the individual and that of the government. Each has a different role to carry out when responding to evildoers. In fact, I believe the key to understanding this instruction lies in recognizing that difference. Those who do not recognize the difference find their understanding greatly complicated when responding to evil. Chapter 12:17-21 deals with the God’s instruction for individuals. Chapter 13:1-7 gives God’s instruction regarding governments. I will explain each in the order they appear.
1. God’s Instruction for Individuals.
(Read Romans 12:17-21)
Notice first in these instructions that:
As individuals we are to refrain from personal vengeance.
Verse 17 says, "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone."
Verse 19 says, "Never take your own revenge, beloved…."
That Paul was addressing individual Christians and not the civil government can be clearly seen in the context of these verses.
He speaks of:
 | Being devoted on one another in verse 10 |
| Contributing to the needs of the saints in verse 13 |
| Rejoicing with those who rejoice in verse 15. |
This is instruction for the church, not the state. As individual Christians, we are not to practice what is sometimes called "vigilante justice." We are not to "take the law into our own hands." We not allowed to go over to an enemies’ house and "even up the score" on our own.
As individuals we are to promote peace whenever possible.
Verse 17 says, "Respect what is right in the sight of all men."
Verse 18 says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."
The influence of Christians in any society is to respect the needs of peace. The Bible does not endorse a kind of "wild west justice" where everyone straps on his six-gun, coils up his lasso, and lynches all those who do him wrong. The most self-restrained, peace-promoting individuals in any culture should be Christians.
Yet, while Christians are to be peaceable, they are not pacifists who sit by and refuse to take an active role. That brings up the third point of this passage:
As individuals we are to aggressively strive to overcome our enemy with good.
Verses 20 and 21 say, "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
These are not the words of pacifism. They are not instructions for non-involvement. They are words of aggression. They are instructions for overcoming an enemy, not leaving him alone. Paul uses a military image – an image of battle. When a city was under siege, people inside kept fires burning in the streets. If the enemy tried to scale the walls to gain entrance, a key tactic was to pour burning coals from the top of the wall onto the heads of the invaders.
"Ah," you say. "That’s exactly what I’d like to do to those who hurt me!" I understand that. My fleshly nature responds that way, too. But that is forbidden here. The only weapons we as individuals are allowed to use in cases where there is a need to administer justice are the weapons of good. We are to target our enemies needs and let fly with our good. If there is hunger, we feed. If there is thirst, we give drink. These are radical, unheard of acts in the normal scheme of things. God wants us to actually try to win over our enemy and [presumably] turn him into one of us!
But these are not carnal weapons. Elsewhere, in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, Paul wrote: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."
I think this concept is what Jesus had in mind in His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5:38-42: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you."
These are radical, aggressive acts, done by individuals (and that is the key to understanding them) which target the very essence of our enemies’ inner defenses and actually give him an opportunity to see God’s love and mercy in action. This is uncommon individual behavior in our world and many Christians could do much better in this area than they typically do.
"But what if the enemy won’t turn? And what of those intractable people who throw our effort back in our faces and only get madder and madder as we do good to them?" Is there ever a time when we can say, ‘You’ve hurt us and our loved ones enough!’? What of those who threaten the welfare of our families or those who threaten the well being of the innocent? Are we to let them get away with murder? Must we allow them to oppress and destroy the innocent? If God is a God of justice, where is the justice in turning the other cheek?"
Well, what does this passage say? In essence, it says this:
As individuals we are to defer vengeance to God.
Look at the second part of verse 19: "…Leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord."
Will you please notice in that verse that vengeance is not condemned? In fact, God claims it as His own. Vengeance is not wrong! I often hear people say that all vengeance is evil and that we should never punish an evildoer. In fact, some today even question whether there is such a thing as an evildoer. You may recall that President Bush has taken a lot of heat for calling Usama Bin Laden and his thugs, evildoers and the nations of North Korea, Iraq, and Iran an "Axis of Evil." Of course, that’s one reason why our justice system is in such great peril. People in influential places promote the notion that no one is really evil and therefore, it is never right to punish a criminal. The wrongdoer is sick, not sinful. So we need to rehabilitate him, not punish him. Never mind that such a response fails again and again as criminals re-offend. "It isn’t the criminal’s fault. It’s society’s fault," they say. "Therefore, vengeance is wrong."
But I ask you to look again at verse 19. Vengeance belongs to whom? To the Lord! So if vengeance is evil, does God claim what is evil?
Vengeance is not wrong. What is wrong is personal vengeance – taking the law into our own hands. We are to defer vengeance to God.
Perhaps you might remember those souls underneath the altar in Revelation 6:10 who asked, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Jesus didn’t rebuke them for their call for vengeance. They were told to wait for the Lord and for the proper time.
I believe this is the reason why the relatives of someone who has been murdered will often say they finally found "closure" at the execution of the one who murdered their loved one. There is nothing wrong with that. It is simply an outcropping of a universal desire for justice in beings made in the image of a just God.
"So what are you saying, Dave? If my enemy is threatening to harm me, do I have to wait for the Judgment Day for God to deliver me? Is that what it means to "leave room for the wrath of God?" Or am I to expect God to somehow intervene to restrain my enemy?
While God could certainly intervene if He chose, that is not what this passage says. To understand how God executes vengeance upon evildoers, we must read on into the first seven verses of chapter 13 where we find:
2. God’s Instruction about Governments.
Remember that there were no chapter divisions in the original text of Scripture. Therefore, these verses should be read in conjunction to the ones we just read.
(Read Romans 13:1-7)
Notice first from these verses that:
God establishes and authorizes civil government.
Verse 1 says, referring to the civil government, "…there is no [governing] authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God."
This closely parallels what Daniel said in Daniel 2:21: "He [God] removes kings and establishes kings."
I realize that this idea that God gives authority to civil government is difficult to grasp, since not all governments are righteous. But remember, this was written when Christians lived under the government of Rome which, while it had some good characteristics, was also very brutal at times. Indeed, Jesus was crucified with the approval of the Roman government. Yet from what this says, God gave the authority wielded by Caesar.
While I can’t resolve every issue this concept raises, suffice it to say that God rules over all. Any authority that anyone else has comes only because God allows it to exist. As Daniel said in Daniel 4:32, "The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes." God does this according to the counsel of His own will and can also recall this authority at any time. You might remember that He did just that in the case of Nebuchadnezzar in ancient Babylon when, because of the king’s arrogance, God banished him from his kingdom and caused him to live among the animals of the field for seven years.(1)
Human government is God’s idea and is not, as some of the crazy anarchists, who demonstrate in our state, a man-made concept that needs to be set aside.
We are to submit to and support civil government.
Verse 1 says, "Let every person be in subjection to governing authorities." Verse 2 says, "…he who resists authority [of the civil government] has opposed the ordinance of God." Verse 6 says, "For because of this you also pay taxes…."
God even gives authority to the civil government to collect taxes! And He tells us that we must pay them.
The only exception to this command to submit to the civil government is when it requires that we do something that is against the law of God. The principle is seen in Acts 5:29 when the apostles, ordered by the local government to cease preaching Jesus, said, "We must obey God rather than men." They had been ordered to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." They could not disobey God in order to obey the civil government. But this is the only exception I know of that would allow or require us to refrain from submitting to the government.
Civil government bears a sword as God’s minister and avenger of evil.
This is where these verses tie in to the ones we read in chapter 12. From the previous chapter we learned that we cannot avenge evil ourselves. We cannot take justice into our own hands. We must "leave room for the wrath of God." Now from these verses in Romans 13, we learn how the wrath of God is to come. It is to come through the recognized civil government!
Verse 4 says, "For it [the civil government] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil."
Here is the Bible’s justification for the government’s use of force to protect the innocent and avenge the evil doer. It is justification for keeping a police force armed and authorized to use deadly means within the bounds of law to protect us from domestic evil doers. It is justification for keeping a military force armed and authorized to use deadly means to protect us from evil from outside our nation. The "sword" of these institutions is born by God’s design and with His approval. It is God’s means to maintain law and order in a fallen world.
But does this idea that the civil government is a minister of God fit with the rest of Scripture? Are policemen and soldiers, as agents of the civil government to be respected for their role? Or should we, as some do today, disdain them?
Policing and soldiering duties were born by the Roman military when Paul wrote Romans. A quick check with the way soldiers were treated by New Testament apostles and prophets is helpful. How did John the Baptist, Christ, and the Apostles treat the Roman military in their day?
| John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, who came preaching, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand," encountered some soldiers during his preaching. They specifically asked him what they needed to do to fulfill the requirements of repentance. Luke 3:14 says, "And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, ‘And what about us, what shall we do?’ And he said to them, ‘Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.’" If ever there were a time to tell them that their occupation was wrong or sinful, that would have been the time. But John said nothing of the sort. He didn’t tell them to resign their commission and become civilians. |
| Early in the gospels, in Matthew 8 we read of a certain centurion whose servant was very ill. He came to Jesus with a request for healing for this man, believing that Jesus needed only say the word and the servant would be healed. Jesus healed the servant and commended the man’s faith with these words in Matthew 8:10: "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." Would Jesus have used such a man as an example had his occupation been sinful? Additionally, there was no call to resign his commission. |
| When Jesus died on the cross the first to recognize that He was the Son of God, mentioned twice in the gospels, was a centurion.(2) |
| Cornelius, encountered by Peter in Acts 10 was a soldier. Luke describes him in Acts 10:22 as "…a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews…." In the entire account of Cornelius’ conversion, there is nothing negative said of his occupation. Neither was there any instruction to resign his commission.(3) |
| In 2 Timothy 2:4, Paul used soldiering as an illustration of the way in which Timothy should serve God. He wrote, "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." Surely if soldiering were a dishonorable or sinful occupation, outside the will of God, Paul would not have used it to teach a righteous lesson. |
| Soldiering was used by Paul to describe his relationship with his fellow workers in the gospel in Philemon 2. It says, "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house." |
Conclusion
So how do these things fit our current situation with our country at war? Let me say just a couple of quick things.
First, only crazy people want war. Certainly I don’t. War is a horrendous resort, which should only be a very last resort. It should be used only after due deliberation of national leaders while diligently seeking the guidance of God and only when necessary to protect an innocent citizenry or protect the weak and helpless.
Second, I realize that not all Christians agree with the position I have presented to you in this message. Setting aside Paul’s instruction in Romans, some understand the admonitions of Scripture to "turn the other cheek" and "never take your own revenge" to apply to governments as well as individuals. While I believe such a position to be in error, I respect the right of the individual to follow the dictates of his or her own conscience.
Finally, and I say this with great sadness, war is a terrible thing. Yet as I understand Scripture, it is a fact of life on this earth and will continue to be until God finally calls a halt to this world as we know it. At that time He will destroy this place and all those who have chosen to reject Him and create a New Heaven and a New Earth in which righteousness dwells. There will be no war in that place because there will be no evil to restrain. Thus, the only "war to end all wars" will be that which is finally won in the spirit realm between the Lamb of God and the Serpent of Old.
There is only one way to find peace in this world and that is to find it in Jesus Christ. No, that will not remove us from the troubles of life, nor from the wars that certainly will be a part of earthly experience. But it will certainly assure us passage into the next world, where all of these things that stress us to the limit will be taken out of the way. I can’t wait.
Footnotes: (Use your "Back" button to return to your place)
1. Daniel 4:23-25, 29-32.
2. Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39
3. Acts 10 and 11
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.
All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.
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