Christ Church

Romans

On Christian Disobedience #3

Douglas Wilson on

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Introduction

We continue to consider the increasingly relevant subject of Christian resistance to tyranny. But as we look to the Scriptures, beware of the danger of excitement over “right- wing red meat.” If ever a conflict with the magistrate comes, it must be a plain matter of submission to divine authority, and not an obvious example of a scofflaw who has just recently discovered a few Bible verses. It must be a matter of an upright man standing before a lawless throne, and not two dogs fighting over a piece of meat.

The Text

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 12:18–13:10).

Milestone’s in Paul’s Argument

Not only is general context important in understanding “Romans 13,” but it is also crucial to grasp the much-neglected immediate context.

Lovers of Peace: effective resistance will never be accomplished through those who love rabble-rousing (v. 18).

Give Place to Wrath: Paul opposes the spirit of vigilantism. Do not avenge yourselves, but return good for evil (vv. 20- 21). This is not inconsistent with calling the cops. In fact, it requires calling the cops. God is the one who executes wrath and vengeance (v. 19), and He does it through His deacons, discussed in the next few verses. God says “vengeance is mine,” not “vengeance is bad.” Note here that we are talking about vengeance, and not emergency self-defense. It has been rightly observed that when every second counts, the police are only minutes away.

Subject to Authority: we must not even think about resistance until we have learned this demeanor. Where must we learn it? First, we learn in godly families and churches. Learn the basic tune before you attempt the part with the difficult harmonies and complicated words.

Do Right: the existing authorities are the ordinance of God (v. 2), established to reward righteousness and punish evil. Therefore do what is right—the Christian is to be a model citizen. Too often resisters say they hate the tyranny, but what they really hate is the very idea of authority. But if we love God, we must hate all evil (Ps. 97:10), and we must also love and honor true authority (1 Pet. 2:13-17).

Love through the Law: nevertheless, Paul’s conclusion is not “do whatever they say.” His conclusion is that we are to give ourselves over to loving one another, and this is measured by means of the holy law of God. We keep the Ten Commandments, and whatever other commandment there might be,as we love. This is the requirement of God. We are to obey the magistrates to the extent it is consistent with this charge. This boundary is not just limited to major issues like “preaching the gospel.” It applies to anything that is covered by the revealed will of God.

The Deacons of God

Now remember the broad context of the Bible as we consider this. The authorities established by God are men, and therefore cannot be treated as an absolute authority. Nor does Paul require this of us in the context of this passage.

First consider the word diakonos. The civil authorities are called God’s deacons three times in this section (twice in v. 4, and once again in v. 6.). In other words, they have an authority above them, and that authority has expressly charged them with a specific task. That task is the administration of justice as defined by God. Paul assumes throughout this particular discussion that the assigned task is being faithfully discharged.

Put another way, he is not talking about a situation when the civil authority is penalizing the righteous and mandating celebration of iniquity. A deacon is a steward. He is entrusted with something, and is not the inventor of that something.

Second, consider the reason for taxes. The reason we pay taxes is that the recipients of these taxes are God’s deacons, attending continually to the administration of justice. Third, we obey for conscience sake. We submit for the Lord’s sake (1 Pet. 2:13). We are directed by conscience, and not because we granted any final authority to our earthly rulers. We obey because God says to, to the extent God says to.

When to Just Say No

To the extent a regime is in high revolt against Heaven they forfeit the investiture of the Lord. Nevertheless, because of the deceitfulness of our own hearts, even when we have determined the general right of resistance, we must take care to pick our battles carefully. A refusal to resist can be as principled before God as drawing a line. Do not accept the privilege and then make a “flaming battle for liberty” out of your reluctance to pay the bill. If you did a lot of dancing, then don’t do a lot of objecting when it comes to the piper-paying.

So Then . . .

Focus on the meaning of marriage. Sodomy is not what a federal judge says it is. Sodomy is what the Lord who rained fire from heaven on the Cities of the Plain says it is. It has been the good pleasure of God to send us this particular challenge in the “glorifying” professions—photography, floral decorations, cake baking.

Remember the politics of child-bearing. We have many duties with regard to our children are given directly to us, without any civil middle man. This includes all questions of spanking, nurture, conscription, education, and, on their side, suicidal birth control and abortion. “In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined.” (Proverbs 14:28, ESV)

Be jealous for the liberties of the church. The church answers to her Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has said we are to preach the gospel to every creature, baptize the nations, and teach them all. He did not say to ask permission from others, or to make sure we got a license.

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Romans 6:1-14

Douglas Wilson on

The Text

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? . . .” Romans 6:1-14

Not Under Law

You, no doubt, have at some point in your Christian life heard the last verse from this passage quoted at you completely out of context. “You are not under law, but under grace.” This is usually extracted from the text, without regard to what went before, in order to free you from legalism. But I’d like to argue that it is intended to do something far better. It’s intended to free you from sin.

Sin That Grace May Abound?

First, we should note the question that Paul is trying to answer. Does God’s grace free us to live in sin? Paul’s answer to this has to do with the nature of our salvation. We were saved by being united with Christ (v. 5). This union was declared in our baptism.

Dead to Death, Alive to Life

Paul describes here what our pre-Christ self was like. He was an old man, a slave to death itself. When death spoke, the old man jumped. The power of death is sin, via the law (1 Cor. 15:56). But God’s great victory came when he took that old man’s strength and used it against him, conquering the old man with the death of Christ. And when Christ conquered death, he brought all who were united to him to new life.

Not Under Sin, But Under Grace

With death dead, the power of the old man is gone. The power of the law, which once drove us to sin, is gone. We now live a new life, in the new man. And this new man has no business returning to the grave of the dead man for orders. Because of the conquest of death, on that first Easter morning, you now have the right to walk out of this church as a living man, a free man, free of the chains of sin, free of the fear of death.

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Surveying the Text: Romans

Douglas Wilson on

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Introduction

The book of Romans is the Magna Carta of the human soul. The book of Romans contains as thorough a statement of genuine liberty as can be found anywhere in all of human literature. The book of Romans is a book of life, a tree of life. The book of Romans is a three-foot-thick vein of gold in a mountain range of glorious Scripture. The book of Romans is a book filled with inexpressible joy, anchored forever in the decrees of the everlasting Father. What should we think about the book of Romans?

The Text

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16–17).

Brief Background

The letter is likely written from Corinth around 57 A.D. Compare 1 Cor. 16:1-7 with Romans 15:25-26. The book of Romans is a fund-raising letter, showing a marked difference between Paul’s way of doing that kind of thing and ours (Rom. 15:17-29). He emphasizes what he has been doing, and what he teaches, with a glance at the need. Unfortunately, we tend to reverse this. And what is the result? Apart from whether it helped on his mission to Spain, Paul wrote a fund-raising letter that is arguably the most influential book in Christian history. We should meditate on that for a moment.

Summary of the Text

Paul begins here by declaring that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (v. 16). The gospel therefore is something we should not be ashamed of, but it is something that provokes the world into trying to make us ashamed of it. If you found a cure for cancer, you would not say “I am not ashamed.” If you invented a perpetual motion machine, you would not say “I am not ashamed.” If you wrote an epic poem that won the Nobel Prize for literature, you would not say “I am not ashamed.” But if you found a cure for sin, given the nature of sin, you would have to make this your constant refrain—“I am not ashamed.” This is because sin always pushes back. Whenever sin is attacked, there is always blowback, and one of sin’s central technique is the ever-popular coolshame.

But we are not ashamed because the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, whether Jew or Greek. By this powerful means, the righteousness of God is made manifest, from beginning to the end. And why? How? It is manifested through how the just live their lives, which is by faith (v. 17).

Overview of the Book

The first three chapters outline man’s dilemma for us. Man is trapped in sin, trapped in himself, trapped by his idols. Chapter 1 shows us that the Gentiles are under sin, despite God’s revelation of Himself in nature. Chapter 2 shows us that the Jews are under sin, despite God’s revelation of Himself in the Torah. Chapter 3 shows us that the Jews and Gentiles are together under sin, trapped in the same way. Sin has them both by the throat.

In the next two chapters, we have two different cases made for the gospel. The first is an exegetical case in Chapter 4, showing us how Abraham was justified by faith. In Chapter 5, we have a theological case outlining the gospel. We are shown that Christ is the last man, delivering us from the death brought down upon us by the first man.

The gospel always generates objections, and so then Paul begins anticipating and answering them. The form of the book of Romans is what was called a diatribe in ancient times—where you are dealing with an imaginary opponent throughout (see Rom. 2:1-5; 17-24; 8:2; 9:19-21; 11:17-24;14:4, 10).
In Chapter 6, he shows us how liberation from sin does not liberate us to sin. In Chapter 7, he shows what the law is for then, now that we have learned that it is not for our justification. In Chapter 8, Paul describes what life in the Spirit looks like, now that we are freed from the law.

At the end of Chapter 8, Paul exults that nothing can separate God’s elect from His love for them in Christ Jesus. But wasn’t the old Israel elect? What about that? In Chapter 9, Paul shows how God’s sovereignty extends through both kinds of election, both covenantal and individual. Is there no place then for ethnic Israel? In Chapters 10 and 11, Paul shows how God’s gifting and calling are irrevocable.

In Chapter 12, Paul turns to the practical ramification of living how this glorious gospel. In this chapter he addresses issues of spiritual gifts and government.

In Chapter 13, he talks about our relationship to the civil authorities. In Chapter 14, he turns to keeping the peace within the church over “debatable matters.”

In Chapter 15, we have an outline of gospel mission, and in Chapter 16, he wraps up and then extends his greetings to the saints.

Not an ‘Improve Your Golf Swing’ Gospel

As you reflect on how the gospel is presented in this great book of liberation, notice how death features in the goodness of this powerful gospel. Our problem was Adamic death, and Jesus Christ came to this earth in order to die in such a way that this shared death of ours could finally die, and be raised to life again. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3). In Adam, we live in a living death, and in Christ we are finally able to crucify that way of living death. And because it is finally crucified, it can be brought to life again. That is what the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus does.

So this is not a message that pats the back of your hand and encourages you to start living your best life now. If a man wants to follow Jesus, at least according to Jesus, he has to take up his cross daily and follow Christ. Whatever could that mean? Well, guess. The only way out of the hellhole of self is to have that wretched selfish ego hanged on a gibbet until dead. That is final freedom.

Why? Because in our poverty, Christ brings His riches. In our darkness, He is the only pure light. In our swamp of misery, He brings the solid ground of joy. In the midst of our cursing, He brings His blessing. In our uncertain vagaries, He brings His everlasting and predestinated love—the only kind of love that could do us any good. When our blind eyes were staring at the outer darkness, He opened our eyes, turned us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. When our fists were clenched against Him, His hands were opened wide toward us, and with a nail hole in each one.

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Three Chains IV: Deliverance

Douglas Wilson on

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Introduction

We have been considering the ways in which men are held in bondage by fear, guilt, and shame. Fear threatens their safety. Guilt challenges their righteousness. Shame assaults their glory. Given the reality of sin, our response to this has to be true safety, genuine righteousness, and real glory—all given to us by another.

The Text

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:1–6).

Summary of the Text

Those who are in Christ Jesus are described as those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh (v. 1). For these, there is no condemnation. There are two contrasting laws. One is the law of the Spirit of life and the other is the law of sin and death (v. 2). The former sets us free from the latter. What the law could not do, God accomplished by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be condemned on the cross (v. 3). This condemnation on the cross did what all the righteous injunctions of the law could not do. This is what enables those who walk after the Spirit to fulfill the righteousness of the law (v. 4). Fleshly minds seek out fleshly things. Spiritual minds seek out spiritual things (v. 5). This means, at the end of the day, the fleshly mind seeks out death while the spiritual mind seeks out life (v. 6).

Freedom from Three Chains

In this passage, we see that the gospel liberates us fully and freely from fear, from guilt, and from shame. Fear? There is no condemnation. We are set free from the law of sin and death. Guilt? The righteousness of the law is now fulfilled in us. Shame? Our minds are elevated to the things of the Spirit.

What Liberation is Like

“When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Ps. 126:1–6).

This is a passage of Scripture that brings into high relief what it is like to be saved. Getting saved is only a cliché if you are unaware of the threat, or the condemnation, or the shame. There is good news that can just fall out of the sky on you (like winning a lottery you never entered), but there is another kind of good news—this is the good news that presupposes a full awareness of the antecedent bad news. This would be like finding out that the governor had signed the pardon preventing your execution ten minutes prior to them flipping the switch. You were fully aware of the dilemma, and you are fully appreciative of the salvation.

The Eyes of Faith

We sometimes try to create the exhilaration of “getting saved” by finding some bad sin and wallowing in it for a while. If we can’t get saved, we can at least rededicate our lives. That’s almost as good, right? Wrong. We don’t see the goodness of God by plunging into the badness of rebellion. We don’t need a covenantal and Reformed rumspringa. We see that we were objects of wrath by nature in the same way that we see everything else that is important—by faith. Scripture tells us what we are apart from Christ, and when we consider the bent of our hearts, we can find confirmation enough.

Jesus the Savior

Jesus is our Deliverer. He was named Jesus because His mission was to save His people from their sins. “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Ps. 18:2).

So then, we are saved from fear of death because Jesus has conquered death, and because we fear God through Him. We are freed from fear. We are saved from guilt over our unrighteousness because Jesus lived a perfect sinless life on our behalf, which has been imputed to us, and He died on the cross as the perfect satisfaction for the penalty we owed God because of that unrighteousness. We are freed from guilt. We are saved from shame because God has resolved to glorify us with His own glory. We are freed from shame.

We walk by faith now. The time will come when we will see what we have been walking toward, and at that time everything will come into perspective. At the same time, because God knows our frame, He has given us an earnest payment of the deliverance to come. He has given us His Spirit as a foretaste of all that is coming, and this Spirit is a seal and guarantee of the life everlasting. When that day arrives we will see it as the culmination of all our days.

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