Wednesday, 16 September 2026

Romans part 199 - Life in the Body 24

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Romans 13:5-7 Therefore it is necessary to be in submission - not only because of punishment but also because of conscience. For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, attending diligently to this very thing. Pay to everyone what is due them - tribute to whom tribute is due; tax to whom tax is due; respect to whom respect is due; honor to whom honor is due.

Two foci today (and they're related), "be in submission," and "honor to whom honor is due." Isaiah rightly declares ... Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Submission is not the way of this world, but it is God's way.

Yeshua came in the flesh to be our example of God's ways. Who was/is more submitted than He? Philippians 2:8 He humbled Himself - becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And look at the result ... Philippians 2:9a For this reason God highly exalted Him. Like Yeshua, we also must not elevate ourselves. Romans 12:3b ... I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think ...

Yes, we are to be in submission, and similarly, we are to give honor to whom honor is due. The term "honor" has several meanings. It can mean "to treat with respect." 1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. It can also mean "to pay what is owed" such as an honorarium. Deuteronomy 24:14a-15 You are not to oppress a hired servant ... On that day you are to give him his wages - the sun is not to set on it - for he is poor and sets his heart on it. Otherwise he will cry out against you to Adonai, and you will have sin on you.

Life as a follower of Yeshua requires that we do the right thing. The "right thing" is always consistent with God's righteous principles found in the Scriptures. Being in the family of God requires obedience to the Father. Everything else is rebellion. Too many "believers" are giving the Father a bad name by falsely saying, "There is grace for that." There is no grace for sin, there is grace for sin that is repented of. And sin that is repented of is not continuously repeated. Romans 6:2b How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Now I'm quoting Romans to prove Romans. I've done it twice in this post alone. Romans is the first of Paul's letters in the Canon because it is the greatest of his writings. Be blessed in learning to both submit and honor. Shalom shalom.