Romans
13:6-7
Honor
to whom Honor
Rom 13:6 For this
cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually
upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render
therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom;
fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
1. A
Government’s Duty is Protect and Provide for Her Citizenry
a. Government
is a God ordained wall between the chaos of anarchy and civility of order. To
find a guide on what government should look like we should turn to the only
perfect government in existence.
i.
Isaiah
11:1-5
2. If
Government’s God Given Duty is to Protect and Provide for Me What is My Duty to
Her as a Christian?
a. Pay
your taxes
i.
Taxes may include:
1. Tribute
a. Is
not something we have to pay here in America, but it is a tax levied on a
conquered people.
2. Customs
a. These
are taxes levied on travel and the exchange of international goods
3. Tolls
a. Taxes
that are charged for the use of roads and services given by the government
4. Property
taxes
a. This
is the taxation of the property owned by an individual
5. Income
Taxes
a. Taxation
of an individual’s salary
6. Sales
Taxes
a. The
taxation of the exchange of goods and services
7. Supporting
local congregations
a. For
many countries in the world, you are required to pax a tax for the maintenance
of a state religion. Here in America because of our beliefs regarding the
separation of church and state you are not compelled to pay such a tax.
i.
The Levites were to collect a temple tax
to support the work of the temple
1.
Exodus
30:13-16
ii.
Jesus condemned the system when it became
corrupt and filled with greed, implying the need for taxation systems to be
keep accountable
1.
Matthew
21:12-13
ii.
Can taxation ever be unjust?
1. Yes, it can, but our response in such
situations should not be simple disobedience but collective petition.
a. Jesus
told Peter pay a tax to a system he would later publicly condemn. Peter was to pay
this overbearing tax by seeking provision from God.
i.
Matthew
17:24-27
2. Taxes
can be illegal?
a. No
taxation without representation
3. Taxes
can be immoral?
a. There
are many forms of taxes that are condemned by the Bible, one of which is death
taxes
i.
Proverbs
13:22
b. Fear
Her
i.
Fear is a form of respect. Paul has
already been very clear that the wicked need to fear the government because
they will receive the punishment that they deserve from Her.
1.
Proverbs
14:35
ii.
Fear is not blind obedience
1.
Ecclesiastes
10:4-6
c. Honor
Her
i.
We can honor our government in the
following ways
1. By
being patriotic
a. Nationalism
is not wrong it is part of the way God created us to be. We need to have a
loyalty to our people and a love for those that God has called us to serve.
i.
Proverbs
14:34
ii.
Romans
9:1-4
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