OBLIGATIONS OF A CHRISTIAN.
-ROMANS
13:7-14.-APRIL 19.-
“Love worketh
no ill to his neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
SOME one has well
denominated this 13th chapter of Romans “The Christian Citizen’s Chapter.” We
might consider it remarkable, almost to the extent of amazement, that every
feature of Christian life, duty and character is set forth somewhere in the
apostolic writings, did we not remember that the apostles, as the stars, or
bright ones, of the Church, were specially held in the hand of the Lord;
specially guided in their utterances, that they should set forth the whole
counsel of God, that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished unto every
good word and work.
There is a vast difference between the governmental conditions of the
present time and those which prevailed at about the time of the writing of this
epistle. Monarchs are no longer absolute; and it is difficult for us to
conceive the condition of things in which an emperor had authority not only to
set apart culprits as victims for death in public spectacles, but after these
had been destroyed, had the authority also to instruct his servants to select
further victims from amongst the audience. It is when we get before our minds
this view of atrocious government which prevailed in the Apostle’s day that we
get the full scope of his injunction, “Let every soul be subject to the higher
powers; for the powers that be are ordained of God.” It is comparatively easy
to be subject to the higher powers in civilized lands today, for although
absolute justice might not be meted out in every instance, there is at least an
endeavor to render a show of justice, such as the world has never before
known. We should be very thankful that our lot has been favorably cast in this
respect. In declaring that “the powers that be are ordained of God,” we are
not to understand the Apostle to mean that they are endorsed by God, nor that
their decisions, rules, etc., are approved by him or are in harmony with his
rules and laws. The Apostle’s intimation means simply that in divine
providence things are as they are, and our God, who knows all the circumstances
and conditions, permits them to be as they are, though he could overthrow and
overturn and substitute his own Kingdom of righteousness. Nevertheless, this
is not his plan; but rather for the time being he permits the kingdoms of this
world, whose rulers are under the prince of this world, and largely blinded by
his deceptions, to take much their own course-subject only to certain
limitations by which the Lord hinders Satan and any of his misguided dupes from
doing real injury to the best interests of the Lord’s people or to the
thwarting of the divine plan. His divine power overrules the wrath of man and
makes it to praise him, and the remainder, which will not accomplish anything
of good, but which would be subversive of the divine arrangements, he will
restrain.-Psa. 76:10.
“Render, therefore, to all their dues”-to all men as well as to all
rulers-in financial as well as political matters. A great mistake, we believe,
is being made along these lines today. The general sentiment amongst Christian
people is that Christian citizenship implies engaging in political strife-and
endeavoring to determine who shall be the rulers, striving to better the laws
and have them obeyed, and putting forth efforts to oppose and rebuke bad laws.
It will be noticed that the Apostle gives no such advice. On the contrary, he
elsewhere declares, “Your citizenship is in heaven.” (Phil. 3:20, R.V.) We are
strangers and foreigners in the kingdoms of this world. Our Kingdom is yet to
come; it is promised, and we are praying for it, “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be
done on earth,” and we are expecting it; but meantime, as foreigners, “not of
this world” (John 18:36), it is our business to render obedience to the laws,
customs, usages, of this world, in so far as these do not infringe upon our
conscientious obligations to the Lord and the truth; but this does not mean
that we are to become partizans in political strifes, and contentions amongst
men. Let the world elect its own rulers in whatever way it sees best; we put
up with whatever it provides with thankfulness, with gratitude to God for
whatever may come, with the realization that he will guide and care for us
under all circumstances, and that in any event our highest interests are being
conserved. Obedience to the laws of the land might at some time oblige us to
bear arms, and in such event it would be our duty to go into the army, if
unable in any legal and proper manner to obtain exemption, but it would not be
our duty to volunteer. We are soldiers in another army, which battles not with
carnal weapons, and whose contests are from an entirely different standpoint
and in an entirely different spirit. There could be nothing against our
consciences in going into the army. Wherever we would go we could take the
Lord with us, the Captain of our salvation, and wherever we would go we could
find opportunities to serve him and his cause. If it came to the point of
battling we above all others need have no fear of death, but we, assuredly,
would be obliged to draw the line when commanded to fire, and we could not, in
harmony with the divine program, fire upon a fellow-creature with the intention
of taking his life. If we fired we should be obliged to fire either into the
air or into the ground. All this army service would come in under this
heading, “Render to all their dues.” The governor of the state has the right,
under the laws, to call for and to conscript, if necessary, soldiers for the
defense of the state and of the nation; and if such requisition be enforced
upon us we must render our dues and take our share in the trials and
difficulties of the service, whatever they may be. The Apostle, however,
stipulates more particularly what he means by dues, showing that he does not
mean that we owe it to others to vote, to participate in political strifes. He
had particularly in mind the paying of tribute, custom, fear, honor, to whom
these are due. Tribute was the tax payable by a subject nation to the
principal power, as, for instance, by the Jewish nation to the Roman Empire
while its vassal. Custom is a tariff duty, or tax, levied in one form or
another for the support of government, by a tax upon imports or exports or by
direct taxation. Fear, or reverence, is differentiated from honor, or respect,
in the sense that it may be the duty to salute an officer or representative of
the government, by baring the head or bowing the knee, or otherwise, thus
showing him honor or respect, not necessarily as a man, but as an officer,
regardless of his personal character. The fear that is to be rendered is in the
sense of obedience, as we elsewhere read, “Fear the judge.” The commands of the
judge or court are to be obeyed-whatever others might be disposed to do,
Christians are never to be found in contempt of court, but are to obey its
rules to the very letter, whether they consider them just or unjust, because
the judge is the representative of the law, and God permits the law and the
judge, and commands us to be subject to whatever he permits. If, therefore, as
our Lord explained, some one shall sue us at the law, and take away our coat,
or if it include our cloak also, all that we had, we are not to resist; we are
to be obedient to the powers that be. This does not mean, however, that we
shall willingly submit to the coat or cloak or other articles being taken from
us illegally or unjustly without process of law.
Having thus considered the Christian’s obligation to the government, the
Apostle next passes to the consideration of the Christian’s obligation to his
neighbors. He is to owe no man anything. This does not necessarily mean that
he must not, under any circumstances, borrow, but that if he borrows with a
specific understanding respecting the time of return of the money or goods, he
shall be prompt to meet the obligation. And unless he is absolutely certain of
his ability to meet the obligation, or can give security such as a mortgage, he
should not borrow. There is, however, the standing advice of the Word of God
that the children of the great King should be lenders, and not borrowers. “Do
good and lend.” Indeed, we believe that it would be to the advantage of every
child of God if he would put in practice the Apostle’s words in this lesson in
the most absolute sense, and never borrow anything; never owe anything; paying
for what he needs at the time of purchase, or else waiting for it until, in the
Lord’s providence, he is able to pay for it in advance.
There is one thing, however, the Apostle implies we are continually owing
to our fellow-creatures, not only to the members of our own family and our own
neighborhood, but to all men; viz., love. We owe them this, under the divine
law, and it is a part of Christian duty to discharge this obligation daily. A
parent or member of the family is to see that he does his part in support of
the home and its comforts and privileges and quiet and harmony, that his
influence in his neighborhood amongst his friends and acquaintances shall be
for good and not for evil, for peace and not for strife. And as the Apostle
elsewhere remarks, if he is to do good unto all men, as he has opportunity, and
because he loves all and desires their welfare, much more especially is he to
have such sentiments and conduct toward those of the household of faith. (Gal.
6:10.) He is to be ready to do good at the expense of
his own time and convenience, to all men, but he is to be ready to lay down his
life for the brethren-he is to seek opportunities for laying down his life day
after day, in the sense of giving his time to the communication of the truth,
or helping the Lord’s brethren in any manner, to put on the whole armor of God,
and to stand in the evil day.
The Apostle calls attention to the comprehensive statement of the
Law set forth by our Lord; viz., that love is the fulfilling of the law, and
that, therefore, love for the neighbor signifies that the law of God is
fulfilled toward our neighbor. It will be remembered, however, that the law of
love is divided into two parts; first, love to God; second, love to our
fellows; and the loving of our neighbor would, therefore, be only a part of the
fulfilling of the entire love to God. After loving our neighbor, and even
laying down our life for him, we would need to see to it that we do not neglect
the first feature of this law; viz., that we should love God more than our
neighbor and more than ourselves, so that every human interest and matter would
be sacrificed gladly in response to our conviction of the divine will.
Going on to speak of the fulfillment of this second part of the Law of
Love-the duty toward the neighbor,-the Apostle enumerates the essence of some
of the commandments respecting murder, adultery, false witness, theft,
covetousness, and all other commandments that relate to our
fellow-creatures-they are all met by the Law of Love to our neighbor. The
commandments of the Decalogue were all of a negative character, “Thou shalt
not” do this or that which would be injurious to thy neighbor. But the new Law
of Love is positive, and declares, upon the other side of the question, “Thou
shalt love” thy neighbor. Love, therefore, meets all the requirements of the
“shalt nots” of the Ten Commandments and much more. For whosoever, in obedience
to this Law of Love, is seeking to do good to his neighbor, will surely not
slander him nor murder him nor steal from him nor covet his goods, nor
otherwise do, or wish to do him injury, or even to think of him with
unkindness.
Having considered these two points; viz., duty to rulers and duty to
neighbors, the Apostle next turns to the Christian’s duty toward himself,
declaring, “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.”
The Christian is to realize that he, and in general the whole world, has been
asleep in a sort of stupor, in respect to the highest and best and noblest
things. Now having gotten the eyes of his understanding opened, and being, at
least, partially awake to righteousness, he begins to weigh and measure matters
after a fashion different from his previous course. He begins to estimate
rightly the things of this present life, as not worthy to be compared with the
glorious things which belong to the eternal life. He begins to realize that
the world has now been six days (a thousand years each-2 Pet. 3:8) under the
reign of sin and death, and that the morning of the great Sabbath of
refreshment and blessing and rest is at hand. As he realizes this he should
feel disposed to arouse himself and shake himself thoroughly from the dust of
ignorance, superstition, blindness and sordidness, and to live in harmony with
the glorious hopes he now entertains-living for the new era, the new
dispensation, which he sees is approaching, realizing that day by day since
first he believed, his salvation is drawing nearer. Instructed by the Word of
God, he will not expect his salvation except in connection with the second
coming of our Lord Jesus and the establishment of his Kingdom; as the Apostle
in another place declares, “The grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”-1 Pet. 1:13.
The thought of the second coming of the Lord was continually before the
Apostles; and our Lord evidently designed that it should be constantly an
incentive to all the members of his Church throughout the age. This,
undoubtedly, was one reason why he did not particularly explain the length of
time that would intervene-it would be a short time, from God’s standpoint, and
even from the human standpoint it would be a short time to each individual who
would have only the few remaining years of life wherein to make ready for the
glorious things of the future; since “in death there is no remembrance of thee;
in the grave who can give thee thanks?”-Psa. 6:5.
Looking back, and perceiving that about 4178 years had already passed in
sin and gross darkness upon the world, the Apostle realized that the night was
surely far spent, and the day not far distant. And now we, living eighteen
centuries nearer to the day, are highly favored by the Lord in this due time,
in that we are permitted to see the particulars that were obscure to some
extent in the Apostle’s day. We believe that the day is actually at hand; that
we are now living in the early dawn of the new dispensation, and that as soon
as the harvest of this Gospel age shall be gathered, the work of change, or
transformation, by which the kingdoms of this world shall, in a great time of
trouble, become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, is nigh, even at the
door. What is the force of the Apostle’s argument to those who see as he did
the approaching Kingdom of light, that shall banish all the darkness of sin,
ignorance, superstition, etc.? It is expressed in his words, “Let us,
therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of
light.” The works of darkness would be any works
whatsoever that would not stand the fullest investigation; that would not stand
approval in the light of the new dispensation, if it were already fully ushered
in. Let us remember that we belong to the new dispensation, and not to the
old, and should, therefore, live in accordance with our citizenship and our
responsibilities toward the Prince of light and in opposition to the prince of
darkness, his works and his ways.
We have elsewhere considered this matter of putting on the armor of
light; and the necessity, as expressed in the Apostle’s statement, that the
particular period of time in which the change from the dominion of the prince
of this world to the Kingdom of God’s dear Son will be a specially evil day-a
day, a period, in which all the children of light will be crucially tested;
such a day as will try every man’s work and faith what they are; a day and a
fiery trial through which only the gold, silver and precious stones will pass
unscathed, and in which all the hay, wood and stubble of error and sin and
human tradition and falsehood will be entirely destroyed. No wonder, then,
that the Apostle repeatedly urges us to put on the armor of light-preparation
by the Lord’s people for the trials of this particular time, which we perceive
is now just upon us-in fact, we are already passing into these very fires of
this day of trial. We are already in the time when the wood, hay and stubble
is being consumed, and when Higher Criticism, Evolutionary theory, Christian
Science, Hypnotism, under its own name and known as Mind Cures, etc., are
devouring as a flame all that are not fully devoted to the Lord, and, therefore,
specially kept by his power through his Word and providence.
Let us walk honestly, as in the day. We are not yet fully in the day, but
we belong to the new era, and are, therefore, to live even in this present time
as nearly as possible up to the perfect standards of the future. So to live
will signify self-denial-will imply that we will be misunderstood by the world;
will imply that we will be thought foolish, and that we will be considered
enemies, not only by those who are in gross darkness, but particularly by those
who profess to be the Lord’s people, children of the light, but who really
prefer darkness and error rather than light and truth. We are inclined to lay
special stress on this word “honestly,” and to believe that the Apostle used it
advisedly and in a particular sense.
As we look all about us we find that dishonesty is very prevalent; not
merely in the world, where we expect a certain amount of duplicity and
misrepresentation and deception, and people passing for what they are not, but
we find this kind of dishonesty very prevalent amongst professing Christians;
yea, we have known ministers to boast of their dishonesty-to declare that they
never did believe the creed which they had professed to believe and vowed they
would teach to others. Intelligent ministers are today preaching in all
denominations what they do not believe, standing for creeds and theories which
misrepresent their true sentiments. They are acting dishonestly; they are
searing their own consciences; they are putting themselves into a condition
where they cannot make progress into the light of the truth; for surely God
does not want dishonest people in his elect Church. Surely, unless they become
honest, they will have their portion with the hypocrites, for the hypocrites
are the dishonest. “Let us walk honestly,” appeals to every true child of God.
Each one should see to it that he is honest, not
only in matters of dollars and cents, but honest in his treatment of his
neighbors, in his treatment of the brethren, in the Church, and above all,
honest in his confessions respecting his God and his faith. The test is being
made along this line, and those who love the favor of men rather than the favor
of God, and who dishonestly are willing to confess and profess a lie, will be
given up to their lie, will be permitted to blight their eternal interests,
will be proving themselves unfit for the Kingdom-whatever else they may
ultimately become fit for. This is the very essence of the Apostle’s
declaration in his letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:11), when speaking
of this evil day, and the great trial that would come upon the Church, he
declares that God will send them strong delusions that they might believe a
lie-because they were not honest-because they did not obey the truth in the
love of it, but acted deceptively, hypocritically, two-facedly.
Our translators seem to have forgotten that these epistles were written to
“the saints” (Rom. 1:8), and not to the world, hence, when speaking of certain
sins they used English words, which would be applicable to the most depraved
class in describing the crimes and wrong course-instead of using such language
as would properly represent the misdemeanors that might be expected amongst the
saints. There is an illustration of this in our lesson (verse 13), where the
Apostle is represented as saying to the saints that they should not indulge in
rioting, drunkenness, chambering and wantonness. It is true that the saints
should not indulge in any of those things; but it is true also that no saints
would think of indulging in such orgies.
The Apostle’s meaning, to our understanding, is a much more refined one
than these words would represent. He urges us that in view of the time, and
that we are children of the day, that we should not engage in worldly
revelries, time-killing pleasures, harmless though they be, and that we should
not be intoxicated with the spirit of this world. As, for instance, some have an intoxication for money, wealth; others an intoxication for business; others for
dress; others for music; others for art; but as the Lord’s people, who have got
a glimpse of the new day, and the great work of God which is to be accomplished
in that day, our hearts should be so absorbed in the work of God that these
matters, which would be thought proper enough and right enough in others,
worldly people-because they are not awake as we are, and because they see not
the future as we see it-should be far from our conception and our course.
In urging the saints to avoid chambering and wantonness, we are not
to understand the Apostle to mean fornication and adultery, and general
lasciviousness, as he might warn the most depraved and most benighted of the
children of this world. We are to understand him to address these words to the
saints, urging them to continence in their social relations-urging that the
thoughts of the Kingdom shall lift their minds and disengage their affections
to a large extent, at least, from the earthly affections and the lawful sexual
congress. This is a statement to the Romans of the same thing that he mentions
to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 7:29); “Brethren, the time is short; it remaineth
both that they that have wives be as though they had none, ...and they that use
this world as not abusing it.” The Apostle, however, puts limitations to this
counsel, as expressed in vss. 5-7 of the same chapter. This interpretation of
the Apostle’s sentiments is fully corroborated by the concluding words of this
verse (13). By the general rules of language he would not begin his argument
with the grosser sins, and end with the less, but reversely, conclude with the
stronger argument. Here he concludes with the exhortation that the saints, in
watching as in the day, shall avoid strife and envy.
The other difficulties would be comparatively their own concern-their
participation in revelries might do no harm to others, their being overcharged
with a spirit of intoxication for wealth or fashion or art or music, might do
no injury to others, their inordinateness in lawful sexual matters might do no
injury to the cause in general; but when he comes to strife and envy he notes
two qualities which reach out and would not only imply a wrong condition of
heart on the part of the transgressor, which indulged would ultimately bar him
from the Kingdom, but would represent also elements of character which would be
injurious to the whole body of Christ, which is the Church. And be it noticed
that these various dispositions, carelessness of life, the overcharged, or drunken
condition, as respects earthly affairs (Luke 21:34), and lack of self-restraint
in connubial relationship, would be very apt to go hand in hand with a wrong
spirit in the Church-a spirit of strife, contention, willfulness-not submitting
to the divine Word and providence, but, on the contrary, the arousing of
jealousies, ambitions, on behalf of self or others, for prominence in the body.
To the contrary of all this, the saints are to seek more and more to put
on the Lord Jesus Christ-to take each to himself the characteristics of the
Lord Jesus-his meekness, his patience, his gentleness, his forbearance, his
love, his willingness to be servant of all, his temperateness and moderation in
all things, his complete devotion to the Father, his complete submission to the
holy spirit in all of his affairs.
In thus seeking to be like the Lord the saints are to “make no provision
for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” They will find the flesh
continually insisting that it be recognized, that it be not mortified, that
plans and arrangements shall be made for its comfort, pleasure, gratification.
The saints, however, are to make no such provision; they are to ignore the
flesh, to the extent they are able; they are to consider its tastes, appetites
and preferences, as generally depraved and improper to be gratified. They are
to do this so thoroughly that they will make no provision for it, but merely
provide for the doing of the will of the Lord in all things, whether the will
of the Lord be pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable to the flesh.