For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority,For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
4 sermons cite this verse
… And those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of one who's in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval. For he's God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Now, there's so much there to unpack, but when it comes down to it, this much is simple and clear, yet missed in political discussion, even among Christians in the church, on issues like this. The Bible teaches that government, so very simply, government is given by God for the good of people. So government is given by God. It exists under the authority of God. It's instituted by God to be a terror to bad conduct. So those who do what is good are approved by the government, and those who do what is bad are not. …
… has spoken even when it comes to civil authorities leaders and our relationship to them so i don't have time to turn there but you might write down romans chapter 13 verse 1 through 4 where paul in the New Testament addresses our relationship to civil authorities and God's purpose for civil authorities. Let me, let me read it to you. Romans chapter 13, verse 1. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there's no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. God has instituted governing authorities. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers, now this is the key verse, verse 3, for rulers, the leaders, are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad conduct. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval. For he is God's servant for our good. This is where we say, oh, there's so much to unpack here in Romans chapter 13. But this is, this is so simple and clear, yet so missed in much political discussion, even among Christians in the church. The Bible teaches that government is given by God for the good of people. That's what Romans 13 is saying. …
… the duty to restrain evil and to protect the sheep from the wolves. See Romans chapter 13, verses 1 through 4. At the same time, God's law also makes it clear that while we should support those commissioned to temporarily restrain evil, we should also keep an ever-cautious and watchful eye on governmental lethal force because governments can and have in the past become a monster much worse than what they were trying to protect us from. But even more, for those who trust in the gospel, our hearts can never become comfortable with capital punishment because the gospel tells us that while God has made such temporary provisions to protect the sheep, he has also made eternal provision to save us all because he loves us all, sheep and wolves included. That's Tim's story. But what does his story mean for yours? This isn't a message about the pros and cons of capital punishment. Rather, it's about how God is dealing with you wherever you are. God is dealing with you in love by talking to you in these two ways, law and gospel. …
… and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience's sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, and honor to whom honor. The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let us pray. Now, our Father, as we embark upon this segment of the epistle to the Romans, we ask that you would help us, that you would stoop to our weakness and dullness of understanding and our slowness of heart to believe all of those things that you have set forth in your word. …