“Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.”
Romans 13:6-7 NLT
Paul calls his readers to swallow another bitter pill…pay your taxes! However, he was quoting…not from Roman law but from the highest authority possible…Jesus Himself.
The Jews groaned under the Roman government’s heavy taxes. This was a hot potato for them…and the Pharisees cashed in on the issue. They tried to trick Jesus into committing treason by asking whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar! Clever move…except that Jesus was always one step ahead of them. It was the image on the coin that decided the issue. Whose image was on the coin…?Caesar’s, of course! Then give to him what belongs to him! It’s that simple!
The other side of the coin…pardon the pun…is…whose image is on us! God’s image! Therefore, we are to give to God what belongs to Him…bodies…ourselves… our love, submission, and obedience.
Now, since God requires obedience to delegated civil authority, He includes our paying taxes because a government needs resources to carry out its mandate…and those resources come from its citizens. Therefore, we are obligated to pay taxes as part of our obedience to God, through His delegated authority.
However, much as it is imperative that we obey the government…we owe God a greater debt…to keep on loving one another for one big reason…
“Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
Romans 13:8-10 NLT
Loving each other through humble and loving service…especially as we use our spiritual gifts to encourage and build each other up…we fulfil God’s law in the best way possible…not from obligation but from hearts that have been transformed by His mercy and grace.
Even in the first century after Jesus, there was an expectation that He would be returning soon. With this hope burning in them, Paul encouraged his readers to live with the thought that Jesus would come back at any time. “Don’t live carelessly. Live responsibly.”
“This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
Romans 13:11-14 NLT
“Don’t be part of the world’s wickedness.” What wise counsel for us today! Our world is getting darker by the day. People are throwing off restraint and indulging in every form of rebellion just because they can…and they think that God doesn’t notice or the He doesn’t care.
God may seem to be indifferent but…He never forgets. Much as He chooses to forget our sin because of Jesus, He remembers and stores up for judgment those who sin in defiance of His holiness.
“But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Romans 2:5 NLT
How important, then, that we live out who we are in a wicked world…God’s people, recreated in His image…indwelt by His Spirit…and witnesses to His mercy. He has made this possible so that, in the end, it’s His presence in us that shines as light in the darkness…for all to see…in our obedience to the Father when we pay our taxes, when we serve each other in love, and when we live clean lives in a dirty world.
“…Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”
Philippians 2:15-16 NLT
To be continued