Twice in this passage we see a form of the word reconcile.  Reconcile, or reconciled, is one of those Christian words that we hear so often in the church in regards to salvation and yet perhaps we really aren’t exactly sure what it means.  However, it’s a word that you may have also heard outside of the church. It’s used for instance, in divorce proceedings.  There usually is some sort of effort to reconcile both parties, the husband and wife.  And what that means is that they come to an agreement, they make up, they resolve their differences that had driven them apart, so that they can come back together.

In fact that is how it is used in 1Cor. 7:11 which says,  “(but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.”

But it also has a financial meaning, which is often used in relation to balancing your checkbook.  To reconcile, means to make one account consistent to another.  The bank sends out your statement, and you take your checkbook and compare it in light of the bank statement (which is always the correct one, of course). And so you make whatever corrections are necessary to make your check book correlate to the bank.

Now both of those variations on the meaning of reconcile should help us to get a grasp on it’s theological implications.  To be reconciled to God speaks of a man being made right with God, his account with God being corrected in light of what God’s justice requires.

When Paul speaks though to the Colossians about reconciliation with God, notice that he first shows us the standard of righteousness which is in Christ Jesus.  In vs 19, Paul says that in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells.  He has just given in the preceding verses a liturgy of Christology, all the attributes of Christ which make up HIs deity.  And so he says in 19 that in Christ is all the fullness of deity.  So Christ is the righteous standard of God in every respect.  And if we are going to be made right with God, then Christ is the standard by which we are reconciled.  He is the statement, so to speak, that we balance our checkbook against.

And so Paul says that God is pleased in vs 20, that “through Him (that is Christ) to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”  God reconciles all things to Himself through Christ.  So not only is Christ God, as we saw in vs 15-19, but He is able to save. And we see that Christ is able to save in vs20-23. He is able to reconcile men to God.

Salvation, or being saved, is another of those Christian words that we use very often, but perhaps not always understood. Because when the Bible speaks of salvation, there are at least 6 terms that are often used  to speak of salvation. I want to review them with you for a moment.  Five terms used in salvation; and the first one is justification.  In justification the sinner stands before God as a guilty sinner and is declared righteous.  Abraham was justified by faith, and so are we.

The second term used to describe salvation is redemption. In redemption, the sinner stands before God as a captive slave and is granted freedom by a ransom, or a payment.  That’s redemption.  The third term that is used to describe our salvation is forgiveness. In forgiveness, the sinner stands before God as a debtor, and the debt, having been paid, is forgiven, wiped clean. 

Fourth is the term we are looking at today; reconciliation. In reconciliation, the sinner stands before God as an enemy and through peace offering of Christ becomes a friend of God. Fifthly, is the term adoption,  which also describes our salvation. In adoption the sinner stands before God as a stranger and is made His child.That’s adoption. And sixth, regeneration.  That which was dead has been given new life. So to summarize our salvation; We stood before God as the guilty sinner, and He declared us righteous. We stood before God as a captive slave, and He granted us freedom. We stood before God as a debtor, and He forgave us. We stood before God as an enemy, and He made us a friend. We stood before God as a stranger, and He called us His child.  We stood before God as dead in our sins, and we were given newness of life.

Now all of those speak of different aspects of our salvation, but today we are going to focus on reconciliation because that’s what Paul is addressing in this passage. And there are four aspects of reconciliation that Paul gives us here in these verses. The four aspects of reconciliation are the plan of reconciliation, the means of reconciliation, the aim of reconciliation, and the evidence of reconciliation. 

First, let’s consider the plan of reconciliation. Vs 20 “and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Now the key phrase there is “through Him to reconcile all things to himself.” So God reconciles all things to Himself through Christ.  All things can be taken to mean all of creation. And there is a sense in which as a result of Christ’s atonement all of creation will be restored to rightness with God.  All of creation is under the curse of sin. We live in a fallen world.  But the apex  of creation is man. When man sinned all of creation bore the curse of that sin.  And in like manner, when man is reconciled to God through Jesus Christ then the rest of creation will be reconciled as well. As Romans 8:19 says, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”  And then in vs 21 it explains, “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

All of creation is waiting for the reconciliation of God with man. Sin corrupted the universe. It destroyed the peace between one creature and the other, between all creatures and God. But the plan of God is that through Christ, the universe is going to be reconciled. It’s going to be restored to a right relationship to God. So that as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:13 “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

Now when Paul says that all things will be reconciled that does not mean that everyone will be saved, and  that even fallen angels will be restored.  But what it means is that sin will be done away with, those who have chosen to live in sin will be sentenced to eternal punishment banished forever from the presence of God, and those angels who have fallen will be cast into the Lake of Fire, no longer to tempt or deceive or bind men.  But it also means that those creatures, and every creature on earth and in heaven will bow the knee, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And sin and death will be done away with, and only righteousness will dwell in the new heavens and new earth.

In vs21 he specifies who is reconciled; “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”  The Bible makes it clear that in our natural, sinful state we were enemies of God.  It says in Rom. 8:7 that we were hostile, that means to be at war with God.   It says “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so,]”

And James uses a variation on that term, hostile, to designate the world as an enemy of God. James 4:4  You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” But through reconciliation, Paul says, you who were enemies of God have been made the friends of God.  God made peace through our Lord Jesus Christ by His death on the cross.

Eph. 2:12 says, “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace.”  This was the plan of God from before creation, to create a people for Himself, who are like Him, for fellowship and communion with Him, and who will enjoy Him forever.

So that is the plan of reconciliation.  Now that brings us to the means of reconciliation.  Paul says how it was accomplished in vs 20; “And having made peace through the blood of His cross.” How did Christ reconcile man to God, who were His enemies, and make peace? He made peace between God and man through the blood of His cross.  He is speaking of a peace offering, a sacrifice. Now when the scripture speaks of the blood it is not referencing some sort of mystical power in the actual blood of Jesus Christ. We should not view the actual blood of Christ in some superstitious manner.  But what Paul means when he speaks of the blood of Christ or the blood of the cross is simply the death of Jesus Christ. Blood refers to the violent manner in which someone or something dies, not in some power of the actual element.

We see the parallel between the blood of the cross and and death for instance, in Rom 5:10 which says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”  So we were reconciled through the death of Christ.  Not by some mystical element of the blood, but blood being representative of the sacrificial death of Christ.

In verse 22; it says it another way, “In the body of His flesh through death.” The death of the substitute Lamb of God was the way that God dealt with our sin, so that we might be reconciled to Him. The justice of God had to account for sin, and we had to pay the debt of sin, the penalty for sin.  But Christ offered Himself as a substitute for us, and by dying on the cross he satisfied that debt.

So the means of reconciliation was to offer Christ as as sacrifice and a substitute for our sin, so that our sins are forgiven, and we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  By the death of Christ we are made right with God.

Then Paul addresses the goal, or the aim of our reconciliation. And we find the goal of our reconciliation in the second part of vs 22, “yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” In order to have complete reconciliation with God, there are three areas in which God has to make right.  We must be holy, blameless and beyond reproach.

To some extent these might look like synonyms.  But perhaps there are some aspects of each that have a particular meaning which might be instructive for us.  Holy refers to our relationship with God.  Blameless has to do with ourselves.  And beyond reproach refers to our relationship with others.  There has to be a holiness between us and God. There has to be a faultlessness within our own selves. And we have to be above reproach in our relationship to others.

Now when we are justified by faith in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, then we are made holy, blameless and beyond reproach.  But Paul adds an important little phrase, “before Him.”  In other words, we are holy, blameless and above reproach in HIs sight.  He sees us in Christ.  God sees the righteousness of Christ in us.  It’s what we sang about this morning in the hymn the Solid Rock.  “Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”

An important verse in this regard is found in 2 Cor. 5:21.  We will be looking at this verse this coming Wednesday night in our Bible study in 2 Corinthians.  But it fits so well into what we are talking about this morning.  It says, “(God) made (Jesus), who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  In salvation, God transfers our sin upon Jesus, and transfers Christ’s righteousness to us.  So that when God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness.  He sees us as Christ is; holy, blameless, and above reproach.  That’s why Paul can say in Romans 8: 1 that now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  

Now that phrase “In Him” also indicates our position before God.  In practice we may not always be holy in all we do, or blameless, or above reproach.  But positionally, we are in Christ.  And so God sees us as dressed in Christ’s righteousness.

Paul says in Ephesians 5 that we are  the bride of Christ, which will be presented without spot and without blemish.  And on that day, when the bridegroom appears, when sin will be done away with, when all things become new, when creation is reborn without corruption,  when we will be given a new, glorified sinless body, then we will become in practice what we are now in position.  Holy, blameless, and without reproach.

Now let’s look at the last point, which is the evidence of our reconciliation. Vs.23, “if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

Notice that Paul says if you continue.  That’s the first evidence of someone who has been reconciled to God.  If you continue in the faith.  If you continue to walk by faith and not by sight. If you continue in the faith firmly established.  That means you haven’t deserted the faith.  You haven’t believed some higher level of intellectualism which denies the truth of the gospel.  Steadfast, means to tie your ship firmly to the anchor  so that you are not tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine.  This was really the danger in the church at Colossae.  It was in danger of being shipwrecked by false doctrines that denied the deity of Jesus Christ. 

In Luke 8:13, is the parable of the sower.  And as Jesus explains the parable, He says ““Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.”  What does to fall away indicate?  It means they were never saved. True Christians will continue. In John 8:30 it says, “Many believed on His name. But Jesus said, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of mine.’” The evidence of  a true Christian is he continues in the faith.

Listen to 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they all are not of us.” And then in verse 24, “As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” Who gets eternal life? Those who continue.  And one more, John 6:66. “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” True Christians continue.

And notice what they are to continue in; “not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.” The gospel is the message of Christ, the gospel of salvation. The gospel which Paul was preaching. They were to continue in the faith and hope of the gospel.  That is what we are preaching.  In 1Cor. 1:21 it says, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” There is a lack of gospel preaching today in the modern church.  People don’t want to hear about sin, about salvation, about sanctification. So the modern pastor teaches about relationships, about finances, about receiving material blessings.  But God’s message is the message of Christ crucified.  It’s the message of the cross, the gospel of reconciliation.

Now, in closing, I would like for you to look at a summary of the gospel of reconciliation which is found in 2 Cor. 5.  This passage which we are “coincidentally” studying right now in our Wednesday night Bible study parallels and summarizes this gospel of reconciliation for us.  It’s like a series of bullet points, and I will not expound on them at this time, but just set them out as principles of the gospel of reconciliation. 

Number one, it transforms men. Verse 17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The gospel transforms people into a new creation.

Number two; it appeases God’s wrath. Verse 21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ bore our sins, so God could give us righteousness. It satisfies the wrath of God.

Number three; it comes through Christ.  Verse 18, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Fourth, it is our ministry.  End of vs 18, “He gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” And the end of vs 19, “He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  This is our ministry.  To tell the world that Christ has died to reconcile us to God, that we might become the children of God, and inherit eternal life in Christ. 

Vs. 20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  From time to time I hear Christians ask what kind of ministry opportunity can I get involved in at your church?  I want to participate in some sort of ministry.  And usually they are thinking of something along the lines of a homeless ministry, or a children’s ministry, or maybe a music ministry.  But God has already given us a ministry.  That being the ministry of reconciliation, where we act as ambassadors for God, representing Christ to a world that is at enmity with God, and giving them the word of reconciliation; that God has sent Jesus to die as our sacrifice and substitute so that we might be made right with God and receive the righteousness of God.  Our ministry is to go to the lost, the unsaved, those that have not yet trusted Jesus Christ by faith and believed in the work that He did on the cross to pay my penalty, so that we might be given the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

That is our ministry.  That is our responsibility.  I pray that you accept that position of ambassador of the kingdom of God, and carry out that office, pleading with those that are at enmity with God to accept the peace of Christ, so that they might be reconciled to God.

In the previous chapter, Paul has given us exhortation on the believer’s proper attitude towards God and towards God’s church. And in that commentary he describes how we are to exercise our spiritual gifts for the benefit of the church, and how we are to act in love towards other members of the church. Then at the end of chapter 12 he describes how as the church we are to act in love towards outsiders of the church.

Now in chapter 13, Paul describes how the church is to act in response to the governing authorities. And perhaps this passage is more pertinent today than usual given the effects of the virus and the government’s restrictions that they have enacted as a reaction to it. However, I want to make sure that you know that I have not composed this message in response to the government’s current restrictions on the church, nor should we limit the scope of this passage only as it relates to the virus and the ensuing government restrictions. But this message is timeless, in the sense that it was applicable in the day when Paul wrote it, living under the Roman Empire, and it has been applicable throughout the ages, whether in democracies or monarchies, whether under kings or presidents, whether in times of crisis or peace.

I would also suggest that if we understood the original context to the audience that this passage was written to address, the predominate issue in Paul’s day would have been the subject of taxation. And I think that becomes evident from the emphasis of the latter part of the text, verses 6 and 7. From history we know the Jews in particular had a lot of difficulty with taxation. And in fact Peter got Jesus and the rest of the disciples mixed up in a bit of controversy about whether or not it was right to pay taxes to Caesar or not. The Jews saw even the bust of the Emperor on the head of a coin as an offense to the law of God. Thus they had money changers who would sit at the temple to exchange Roman money for Jewish coins, so that they did not have to have a graven image in the temple, which is how they viewed the Roman coins.

There was also a popular counter revolutionary movement among the Jews of that day which was known as the Zealots. They recognized no king but God and paid taxes to no one but God. So the primary concern among Jewish people living under the Roman Empire was whether or not they were obligated to submit to the Roman government’s taxation.

But remember the counterpoint which Jesus made in regards to this issue of taxation. He said; “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but render to God the things that are God’s.” Now as you might expect, this was a particularly brilliant response on the part of Jesus which is applicable on a much broader scope than just the subject of taxes. And that statement stands today as the governing principle which we can use to properly interpret this passage before us. Caesar or governments have some legitimate authority. And furthermore, God has given them this authority. But all authority on earth is subject to a greater authority, that being the sovereignty of God.

Notice in that regard what Paul says in vs 1, “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” It’s interesting to note that when Jesus was at His trial, He said to Pilate in John 19:11 “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.” Government’s authority then is not due to it’s own sovereignty, as if it is equal to, or independent from God, but governments are ministers to a degree of God’s authority which he has delegated to government.

Perhaps that relationship can be understood in light of how civil government works. In our government, there is the President and Vice President of course at the top of the hierarchy of authority, but the President appoints certain ministers of various branches of government to act on his behalf, such as the Department of Defense, of which the head may be called the Minister of Defense. So the Minister of Defense acts on behalf of the president to carry out the policies and programs of his administration through that department.

Now I believe that is how this passage indicates civil governments are supposed to function under the sovereignty of God, and how they act as a minister of God to carry out governmental responsibilities. And as God’s ministers of earthly government, we as the church are to be in subjection to them. Paul says in vs 1, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” God has granted or extended a certain measure of His authority to civil governments and we must be subject to them as they carry out their duties.

But the question arises, what if the government tells me to do one thing, and God through His word tells me to do the opposite, what must we do then? Is there a point when government might overstep their authority and counter the supreme authority of God? Well, it should be obvious that government does sometimes act contrary to the law of God. But what we have already established is that whatever authority government has it has as a minister of God. So as it carries out the will of God then we are to be subject to them, as they are acting on behalf of God. But when they act in opposition to the will of God, then that is when we must obey God rather than men.

For instance, in Acts 4 there is the account of Peter and John who were arrested by the high priest and the Council, which was the ruling party of Israel, and they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”. When Peter and John persisted preaching Jesus, they were arrested again and put in prison. But during the night the angel of the Lord released them from jail, and the next morning when the rulers came to examine them they found that they were no longer there, but in fact were preaching in the temple. And so they brought them back to the council for questioning and they instructed them not to teach anymore in the name of Jesus. But Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

So there are obviously times when government can overstep it’s authority and in such cases it is right to obey God rather than men, because God is the ultimate authority, and government’s authority is only extant when it conforms with God’s rule. If government should demand that we sin, or that we go against God’s law or commands, then we have a higher obligation to obey God rather than to that government.

Another example of that is found in the life of Daniel. Daniel was a high level official in the king’s administration. But jealousy on the part of other commissioners towards Daniel caused them to propose to the king that no one should pray to any god or man other than the king for 30 days or he would be thrown into the lion’s den. Now Daniel had been in the habit of praying three times a day from his open window facing Jerusalem. And that was well known to the other commissioners who had devised this plan to do away with Daniel. There were perhaps a lot of ways that Daniel could have secretly continued to pray and they would not have found out about it. But Daniel deliberately disobeyed the edict, and continued his practice of praying facing the window of his room which was obviously in plain sight of anyone watching. Consequently his enemies reported him to the king and Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. But the fact that God delivered Daniel from the lions is evidence that Daniel’s disobedience to the government was approved by God.

Let me give you one other example. Because believe it or not, I have heard many preachers attempt to debunk both of those examples as not relevant to civil disobedience. In the days of Moses, Pharaoh decided to kill all the baby boys born in Israel that were under the age of 2 years old. And as more babies were born it seems that the midwives were tasked with putting the boy babies to death as soon as they were delivered. But Exodus 1 tells us that the Hebrew midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. And once again, we see that God commended the midwives rebellion as it says in Exodus 1:21 “Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.”

Now there are other examples of that sort of civil disobedience as well that are to be found in scripture, but I think that should suffice. So what kind of authority does the government have and to what extent is Paul saying that we should be subject to it? Well, I think the answer may come from noticing some key phrases of this passage.

Notice the first part of vs 2. “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God.” Now what should be recognized in that statement is that the ordinance of God is carried out by the governing authorities. What is the ordinance of God? Ordinance means legislation enacted by a governing authority. So then the law of God, the rules of God, the commands of God are carried out by the governing authorities.

Perhaps the best way to understand that is to recognize that all law, in every nation, has as it’s foundation a moral code which is based on the moral code of God. I would dare to say that I doubt you could find any government on earth, regardless of it’s prevailing religion, that does not view murder as a crime, that does not view lying as a wrong, or stealing as wrong. Back in Romans 1:32 Paul spoke of this universal realization of right and wrong, saying, that even thought they did not acknowledge God, they knew the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death.

And so God’s ordinances for how men should conduct themselves in this world are universally accepted principles that governments have adapted into their own legislation. Government’s primary responsibility is to enforce the law, to keep the peace, to make laws regarding conduct and trade and so forth in order to regulate society for it’s good.

And notice how Paul references that aspect of government in vs 3. “For rulers are not a fear for good behavior but to evil.” Notice that phrase – good behavior, or good conduct. That is what government is to promote as an minister of God. In other words, they enforce God’s laws, God’s ordinances regarding human conduct.

So Paul continues, “Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it 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 on the one who practices evil.”

Paul says if you do what is good you will have praise from the government, for it is a minister of God to you for good. Another way of saying that is government is God’s minister to do you good. If the government enforces and regulates conduct which is good, by laws and ordinances which are good, then it is acting as a minister of God. And by and large, most legislation which government enacts is good. It promotes lawful, peaceful life in community and that is good for us, especially as the church.

To that end, Paul told us in 1Tim. 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties [and] prayers, petitions [and] thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” That is God’s purpose for government, to produce a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and dignity, and it’s one that the church should support and submit to.

But on the other hand, if the government should encourage the practice of evil, then it no longer is acting on behalf of the authority given it by God, and if we do good in opposition to the evil which it promotes, then we cannot expect to receive praise from the government. But the fault then is on the part of government when it does not promote good in coordination with the ordinances of God.

What government should be doing, according to this verse, is promoting good and punishing evil doers. “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 on the one who practices evil.” Punishment is a necessary part of the administration of government. In fact, when government punishes evil, Paul says it acts as an avenger for God to bring wrath on the evildoer.

So simply speaking, when government is working as God intends it to work, then it is punishing evil and promoting good. And when it does that by regulation of conduct by the law of God that is written in our hearts and codified in our legislation, then such government is a minister of God.

Now to bear the sword is a phrase that in that day and throughout most of history has meant to put to death. That verse then makes it clear that capital punishment is something that governments are tasked to do in their administration of God’s authority. Such governments, Paul says, are acting as God’s servant, an avenger to bring God’s wrath upon the one who practices evil.

“That is why,” vs 5 continues, “it is necessary to be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.” He is speaking of the fact that government is acting on behalf of God when it executes punishment, and so he says because of that, it’s necessary to be in subjection not only to avoid wrath, but also for the sake of your conscience. A Christian obeys God rather than man. And we obey God for the sake of our conscience. Whether man sees us or not, we obey God because we have an enlightened conscience. If we love God we must obey God. The punishment aspect of government should not concern us because we operate on the basis of a higher principle, out of a love for God and our conscience convicts us when we deviate from that. We should not need the penal aspects of government to keep us from sin. Love keeps us from sin.

Now this enlightened conscience convicts us and helps us to not only obey God, but by application to obey government. The principle is that we submit to government, and now the application is we submit to the arm of government that collects taxes. And Paul states that by saying in vs 6, “This is why (for the sake of conscience) you pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.” I don’t know if Paul wrote that a little tongue in cheek or not. But what he is saying is that rulers devote themselves to collecting taxes.

Now none of us like taxes. And the Jews in particular hated tax collectors. But what Paul is saying is that we should not consider taxes as some sort of tyrannical oppression. But taxes are necessary for the maintenance of government. Therefore those who collect taxes are doing so in their capacity as God’s ministers of government.

In the Old Testament, under a theocratic rule of government, we read about tithing, which was a form of taxation. And since the priests were ministers of God both in religion as well as civil matters there were several different tithes that took care of all their governmental functions. Someone has said that all the taxes or tithes that were paid by the Hebrews in those days totaled around 33 percent. But a large portion of that went for the upkeep of the temple and the administration of government. So the Jews were not strangers to paying taxes. They just didn’t like paying taxes to Caesar. Nevertheless, God says that it is right to pay taxes to government because they must use that money for the maintenance of civil government, which is by extension, God’s government.

The government after all is working for your good, if it is operating as God intended it, and as the scripture says a worker is worthy of his wages. Therefore, Paul concludes this commentary on the church’s responsibility to government with a summary application in vs 7; “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax [is due;] custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.”

Peter has a passage in his first epistle in which he says virtually the same thing, but he also gives us more exposition as to why we must do so. So I will let Peter be the final commentary on Paul in this case. In 1Peter 2:13-17 Peter says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. [Act] as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but [use it] as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

Notice once again the emphasis is on doing right, doing good. By doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish men. We have a freedom as God’s people and we might say that because of that we need not honor government, but that is not what the scriptures say. It says we are to submit to such as ministers of God as they punish evil and praise good. We are to pray for them that they might do the job which God has given them to do, so that we might lead peaceful lives and live in godliness and dignity. And when it’s necessary, due to the fact that they are not acting on behalf of God but in opposition to His ordinances, then we must obey God rather than men.

But as much as it is possible, Paul says in the previous chapter, If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. We cannot do evil, no matter if the government should call for it, but we must do good for sake of conscience towards God. Let us pray our government acts as ministers of God for our good that we may silence the critics of the church. Let it not be said that we should ever suffer for doing evil, but let our good behavior be a testimony to a watching world.

Paul has spent the first eight chapters of Romans detailing the need of salvation; because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  He has described the means of salvation; the righteous man shall live by faith.  And He has detailed the purpose of salvation; which is to bring many sons to glory by their adoption as sons of God. 

And then in chapter 8, he summarized the process of salvation by saying in vs 29 and 30, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Now in that summary, we can see that God has a plan and a purpose in which He orchestrates man’s salvation, from the beginning to the end.  He foreknew, that means that He knew from eternity past who would be saved, and He predestined them, which means He predetermined those who would be saved.  And then He called those who would be saved, and He justified them by faith, and those who are justified by faith will be and are being glorified. 

In this summary we see not only the plan and purpose of God, but we see the sovereignty of God.  What God wills, will happen.  What God plans will be accomplished.  How exactly that all works is a mystery which cannot be answered.  My feeble attempt to explain it is that God is outside of time and space and as such He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  He is eternal.  He is infinite.  According to Hebrews 12:2 He is the author and finisher of our faith.  So as the infinite, eternal God He is able to predict, predetermine and produce His will in the world and His will is to bring many sons to glory.

But in saying all of that the question arises, then what about the Jews?  Did not God promise that they were the children of God?  Did not Jesus say that salvation came through the Jews? Did not God call Israel His chosen people? Is it possible that the plan of God and the predetermination of God come to naught because the Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, and thus forfeited salvation and their promised inheritance? 

And if that is true, then from our perspective, can Christians in the 21st century really be assured of our salvation? If the plan and purpose of God was thwarted and unsuccessful in regards to the Jews, then how can we then trust in God’s plan and purpose for our salvation?  

Well, these hypothetical questions had undoubtedly been on Paul’s mind as he was writing this epistle.  Because though he was writing to the Gentiles, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, yet he was by birth a Jew and one who had studied the law under the greatest teachers of Judaism and excelled in the law as a “Pharisee of Pharisees.”  In every respect, he was an Israelite who was proud of his heritage and who understood the significance of his heritage.

So while it may seem somewhat unnecessary or even a matter of overkill to us today, Paul is going to spend the next three chapters tackling various issues concerning the Jews and God’s plan for them.  But at the same time, in addressing these issues, we can gain valuable insight into our own salvation, which should serve to greatly strengthen and establish our faith.

So somewhat abruptly, after reaching the heights of joy in the closing paragraphs of chapter 8 in talking about the wonders of God’s love for us, Paul admits in chapter 9 to having great sorrow in his heart.  And the source of that great sorrow is the spiritual condition of his own people.  He says he has great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart for the Jews, his fellow country men.  He goes on to say that he is so anguished over their plight that he could wish, if it were possible, that he would be accursed and cut off from Christ if it meant that they might be saved.

This is quite a remarkable statement.  Especially due to the fact that even though they were his countrymen, the Jews considered Paul their enemy and were trying to have him put to death.  And by all rights, Paul might have considered them his enemies as well.  Because the Jews were certainly enemies of the gospel.  But even as Christ died for His enemies, Paul says he would be willing to die in the place of his enemies, because he so loved his country and his people.  

Folks, this should be our attitude towards the lost as well.  Especially in our culture today it is possible to feel that society hates us as Christians and wants to see us shut down, or at least to shut us up.  We are threatened by the increasing attacks on the church and on our religious liberties.  We feel that our Christian values are under attack more and more every day.  But our response should not be antagonistic.  Our response should be to mourn over our countrymen’s spiritual condition.  It should move us to be more compassionate, even more evangelistic, as we seek to win them to Christ.  Christ is the only hope for America.  And we are only going to be able to truly change society if we have compassion for the lost.

Paul’s language is the exemplary language of a Christian. If a person is unconcerned or has no compassion for the unsaved they really should examine their own Christianity.  But that doesn’t mean we have to condone their sin and rebellion.  But it does mean that we are to have compassion for them and be willing to even sacrifice our lives for their sake that they might be saved.

What makes the situation with Israel even more tragic though is the fact that the Jews had every advantage and yet it did not help them in their unbelief. It should be remembered that an advantage is not necessarily a virtue, and a privilege is not a merit.  Paul lists 9 advantages that Israel enjoyed, that made them the most favored nation in the world in God’s eyes.  The first advantage is found in their name; they are Israelites.  That means they were the descendants of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. God changed the name of Jacob  to Israel after he wrestled with the angel.  Israel means, “he struggles with God.”  Israel’s sons became the 12 tribes of Israel, with all the attendant blessings that God had promised concerning the descendants of Abraham. 

Secondly, Paul says theirs was the adoption.  Back in chapter 8 vs 15 we are told that Christians have been adopted into the family of God.  But our adoption came after the adoption of the Israelites.  God called them His firstborn, His own possession, His son, His people, HIs chosen people.

The third advantage was what Paul calls the glory. The word used there refers to the divine radiance, otherwise known as the “shekinah” glory which was the pillar of cloud and smoke that stood over and filled the tabernacle in the wilderness and then later filled the temple.  It was the same glory which rested on the top of Mt. Sinai when Moses went up to the Lord in the sight of the people.  This divine radiance in the center of the camp of the Israelites was a daily, visible evidence that God dwelled among His people.  What a great advantage it must have been to see that every day and know that God was with them.

I don’t have the time this morning to give a detailed exegesis of each of these nine advantages.  But suffice it to say they had the covenants which God had made with their fathers.  Promises, which God who cannot lie made to their ancestors concerning His plan for them. Fifth, they had the word of God, the law which God had delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai in thunder and lightning while they waited in the wilderness.  They had the worship, which God had detailed concerning the tabernacle and the sacrifices and feasts and Sabbaths.  Ceremonies and rituals that were inculcated into the very fabric of their culture to teach them and instruct them in the knowledge of God. And the promises, dozens and dozens of promises that God made to Israel down through the centuries by the mouths of His prophets, all of which were fulfilled.

And Paul says, theirs were the fathers. We call them the patriarchs.  Men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David and many more.  All the ancestors who passed on the traditions to their children.  Perhaps let this be my concession to a Father’s Day message which of course we observe today in our culture.  It is the father’s responsibility to make sure that the truth of God’s word is observed and honored in the home. Far too many fathers have relinquished that responsibility to the mother.  God has appointed fathers to be the spiritual leaders in their homes.  And I hope that is a responsibility that you fathers take seriously.  Because God will judge you for how you handled that responsibility.  May you fathers be like Joshua and declare; As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

And then the greatest advantage of the Jews, Paul says in vs 5, “from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”  This is the epitome of their advantages, that from their nation came the Christ.  Christ is the Greek word for  Messiah.   Jesus’ human nature was Jewish. What an advantage this should have been for the Jews. 

Paul adds though that in addition to His human nature was His divine nature. Christ is over all.  Jesus is God in the flesh.  John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” “And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.”  

So Israel had many great advantages over every other people on the face of the earth.  And yet in spite of this, as a nation they failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.  They failed to respond in faith to God.  And though America’s advantages are much different than that of Israel, I sense that we too have failed to reciprocate according to the measure of the grace given to us.  There has never been since the fall of Israel a nation so fairly situated with the blessings of God as the United States.  We have had freedom of religion that is unsurpassed in the world.  We have had unparalleled access to the word of God.  There is hardly a house in America that does not have a copy of the Bible available. There are practically churches on every street corner in America.  We have been home to some of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen.  We have had the blessing of many great preachers and religious leaders.  And yet barely 200 years since our founding, we have never as a country been further from the truth.  

I’m afraid the prophecy of Isaiah 59 has come true in our day, in our country.  “Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom. …  For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: …  Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.” (Isaiah 59)

As I said a few minutes ago; It should be remembered that an advantage is not necessarily a virtue, and a privilege is not a merit. Our nation, much like Israel, have spurned our advantages and we have not lived up to our potential.

But Paul wants us to know in vs 6 that God’s plan for Israel has not failed. He says, “But [it is] not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are [descended] from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”

God’s promises have not, and will not fail.  They did not fail in regards to Israel, because though God chose Israel to be the recipients of His promises and covenants, those promises were not intended for the entire nation but for the true children of Israel.  For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.  You will remember that Abraham had another son, born before Isaac.  It was the son of the flesh, the offspring of his efforts, who was Ishmael. But God had not chosen Ishmael, rather He had promised Isaac. And from that seed, the child of promise, would come the true children of God.

Therefore, vs 8 says, “it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” Both Ishmael and Isaac were born of Abraham, but one was of the flesh and one of the promise.  And the children of the promise are regarded as true descendants. 

So Paul says in vs9, “For this is the word of promise: ‘AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.’” This verse proves that Abraham’s natural children are not necessarily God’s children, but only those who are the product of God’s sovereign grace.  

I’m sure you remember the story; Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100, and God’s promise came that the next year she would have a son.  The promise came true the next year just as God had said, proving that Isaac was the son of promise.  So the ability to trace one’s lineage from Abraham was not the determining factor for inheriting what was promised to Abraham, but only to that son which was according to the promise.

And what Paul says that is teaching is that salvation is not a matter of human merit.  Salvation is not a matter of heritage or lineage.  It’s not a matter of man’s will, but it’s a matter of God’s sovereign purpose. If you look at the life of the patriarchs, it’s evident that they were not always the best of characters.  They sometimes acted wrongly.  Sometimes they sinned.  They certainly weren’t perfect.  But God chose to shed His grace upon them so they might be declared righteous by faith and not by works.

But that illustration does not sufficiently convey all the conditions of our salvation.  And so Paul gives another in the form of Jacob and Esau.  And in so doing, Paul adds some distinctions concerning God’s sovereignty that many of us find difficult to accept, and perhaps may even cause some to harbor some ill feeling towards God.  Let’s look at verse 10 through 13.

Vs10 “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac;  for though [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,  it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”  Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

When I was a kid, I remember my mother always rebuking me for saying that I hated anyone.  No matter what they did, I was never allowed to say I hate so and so.  I could say I didn’t like what they did, but I wasn’t allowed to say I hate.  So I have always had a little bit of a problem with the language in this verse because it says God hated Esau.

I think that another way of interpreting that which may be more palatable to our ears is that God is speaking of those He accepts and those He rejects.  I think of Cain and Abel and the day when they brought their offering to the Lord.  And Genesis 4:5 says, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.”  The principle of God accepting one and rejecting another.  It is God’s choice, God’s prerogative. 

Salvation ultimately comes from God’s purpose, God’s plan, and God’s call.  In the final analysis the reason why some people are accepted and others rejected is that God has so willed that they might be saved and He uses divine means to obtain it.

The point though that needs to be understood is that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  God has rejected everyone on the basis of their offering.  There is only one offering that God accepts, and that was typified in Abel’s offering; a lamb that was slain. It was a picture of Jesus Christ who would lay down His life for His sheep. Abel was exhibiting faith in the promised seed of Eve who would crush Satan’s head.   So all men are already condemned, they are already rejected, they are all sentenced to death.  God has rejected everyone on the basis of their merits.  Only one sacrifice is acceptable, and that is Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.  And for those who believe in Him and HIs sacrifice on their behalf, God accepts them and declares them as children of God, righteous by the blood of Jesus.

Now how God determines who He will call, and who He will choose or elect to salvation, is a mystery that we cannot understand.  Because Jacob and Esau were twins, and when they were still in the womb, before either had done evil or good, God chose to bestow upon Esau, who would be known as the scoundrel, the supplanter, upon him God bestowed His sovereign grace.  And I believe God did so that He might illustrate the principle found in vs 11, “so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.”  The same principle is stated another way in vs 16 “So then it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Salvation is not by our merits, but by the grace of God.

But whatever evil motives we might feel inclined to count towards God for such prerogatives as election and predestination, we must also be sure to balance our inadequate understanding of God with what we also know to be true of God.  As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” So God loves the world and provides a way for the world to be saved at a tremendous cost of His own.  

We must balance election with this statement from Peter about God not acting impudently but  patiently waiting for men to come to repentance so they can be saved.  2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  So though we don’t fully understand how election works, it must work within the framework that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

So the point of Paul’s argument for election is not to ostracize people that are rejected as if to say that God capriciously counts off “ene me ne mi ne mo, I’ll keep this one and let this one go.” But the point of trying to teach us about election and predestination is so that we might have MORE confidence in our salvation, because it is not given on the basis of our good deeds, or on the basis of our merit, or on the basis of nationality or pedigree or lineage.  But it is given to the least of these, to the sinner, to the ungodly, on the basis of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.  So that we might have a more sure hope because we are saved by God’s mercy and not by our merit.  Our security is made immeasurably more secure by God’s grace than by our own merit. 

We cannot understand election.  Neither can we understand eternity.  You cannot comprehend how God has always existed – He had no beginning.  Not even Einstein could understand that.  And yet we believe in God and we believe that He is eternal.  And in the same way we believe in election.  And without any contradiction, we believe that God said He is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 

So even though we cannot understand these things, we can still say Amen at Paul’s question and answer in vs 14; “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”  God is a merciful God.  Paul says in vs15 For [God] says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  The emphasis is on His mercy and His compassion, not on condemnation. John said in the verse following John 3:16, in vs17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

And I am going to leave it there for today.  We will finish this chapter next Sunday.  But I will close by going back to that prophecy in Isaiah 59 I quoted earlier as a way to summarize this message today.  Isaiah 59:14-16 says, “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.  Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.  And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.” 

God so loved the world, that even though man was in darkness, man was a sinner, and justice had stumbled in the street, sins had multiplied and there was no one to intercede on man’s behalf, God was merciful and sent Jesus to be the substitute for sinners, and to bring about salvation for everyone that would call upon the name of Jesus.  Salvation cannot be obtained by your own efforts, by your own merits, but only by trusting in what Jesus has done for us through His death, burial and resurrection.  God has provided salvation for you, if you will simply trust Him as your Savior and Lord. It’s a free gift to all.  Don’t delay.  Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Whosoever means you.Call upon the Lord today and He will give you the righteousness of Jesus Christ that you might have life in Him.  Let’s pray.