Unfortunately, there is some bad doctrine floating around on the interpretation of Romans 13. Today’s post is an excerpt from my new book, American Meltdown, Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles. In this passage of the book, Pastor John Robinson gives a practical message on Romans 13. I hope you enjoy it!
Pastor John began with prayer then went straight to the announcement of the states and territories that had decided to secede from the authority of Washington, D.C.
“Church, we have known for some time that a season of testing was coming for our nation. We know that the enemies of freedom have taken root in our nation’s capital. We were able to reasonably predict that the economic disaster, which has now fallen on us, would come. No one knew the day, nor could we guess the severity of the collapse, but simple fourth grade math told us that this day would inevitably come. Now, it is upon us. We have done the best we knew to prepare, and we’ll trust God to take it from here. As I have said many times, ‘do your best and trust God with the rest.’
“With that being said, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that those who have been elected to lead us have submitted to the governing authority. Here in America, the governing authority is the Constitution. The first line of the Constitution plainly spells out who is in charge of seeing that the governing authority is followed. The framers, who established that authority with God’s help, wanted to make it abundantly clear who were to be the ultimate overseers of that authority. To accomplish this, they wrote those words larger than any other words on the document. Can anyone tell me what those words are?”
Four or five people near the front row yelled out at roughly the same time, “We the people.”
“We the people,” Pastor John echoed. “When we read Romans 13, we must keep that in mind. It is the guidestone to correctly interpreting this area of scripture which I will be speaking on today. Romans 13:1 reads ‘Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.’
“So we have determined that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the governing authorities that were established by our founders. Verse one also states that they were established by God and, in fact, there is no authority except that which has been established by God. The entirety of our legal system and our government system has its foundation on that governing authority. If any of our leaders are to derive authority, it must come from that ultimate authority that was originally established by God.
“Romans 13:2 reads ‘Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.’
“Our present administration has risen up in rebellion against that authority. The Bible says that the present administration is rebelling against what God has instituted. They have rebelled against the authority established by God by going against the Bill of Rights. They have rebelled against the First Amendment by suppressing freedom of religion for the very men and women who have fought to keep this nation free. Our military are no longer free to speak of their religion if they are Christian. They can be punished for belonging to a Christian church or even donating money to a Christian church. They are not allowed to pray in the name of Jesus.
“The press is no longer free. Any member of the press that crosses certain lines can expect to be arrested or harassed by the DOJ or the IRS.
“I don’t think I have to mention the infringements against the Second Amendment which reads ‘A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.’ I won’t insult your intelligence today by enumerating the infractions by this administration in violation of the Second Amendment.
“The constant snooping by the NSA and the increasing warrantless searches of homes, personal effects and automobiles are gross injustices against the Fourth Amendment.
“The Fifth Amendment states that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, yet even Senator Paul Randall is hiding out from a criminal government that sought to assassinate him in the middle of the night.
“The Sixth Amendment guarantees a speedy trial, yet the 2012 NDAA Indefinite Detention Clause allows our government to indefinitely hold citizens without charging them. This unjust law also violates the principles in the Eighth Amendment which prohibits excessive bail. I would say indefinite detention would have a more egregious effect than excessive bail.
“And finally, the Tenth Amendment is grossly violated. It states ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.’
“The Federal Government has taken over education, welfare, healthcare, agriculture and many other areas that no government, state or federal, has authority over. Laws about what drugs are allowable for medicinal purposes ought to be the decisions of a state. If a person feels the laws in one state are excessive or too relaxed, they ought to be able to move to a state where they are more agreeable. States ought to be in charge of their own food regulations. If Idaho wants to drink raw milk and folks from Utah don’t because of the health risk, so be it. All the minor rules of day-to-day governing are supposed to be set by the states. The Federal Government has a very, very small role to do in defending our borders, maintaining a post office, writing bankruptcy laws and coining money. Notice the government was allowed by the constitution to coin money, not print it.
“Romans 13:3 and 4 says, ‘For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.’
“For this verse we need to know who the rulers are. Does anyone remember who the Constitution puts in the top position of authority?”
This time, most of the congregation yelled out almost in unison, “We the people.”
“You guys are catching on!” Pastor John complimented playfully.
The congregation laughed.
“Okay, this one is a little bit harder, but I’ll give you a hint.” Pastor John continued to teach the heavy subject with a light heart. “We just went over it. Who is granted the authority of bearing the sword by the constitution? Who is the one that Romans 13:4 calls the agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer?”
The same group in the front that had answered the first time answered somewhat together, “The militia.”
“Everyone up here in this front section gets an extra piece of cake at dinner tonight.” Pastor John kidded. The room laughed for a bit then quieted down to hear more of what the pastor had to say.
“The militia is the only group specifically tasked by the ultimate authority established by God, the Constitution, with the security of a free state.” Pastor John continued, “Now I want everyone to get extra cake at dinner, so you folks put your thinking caps on because this one is tricky. Who is the militia?”
The crowd cried out in perfect unison, “We the people.”
Pastor John smiled as he said, “I think you’ve got it!”
If you enjoyed today’s post, you can purchase the entire book through Amazon in Paperback or Kindle Edition.
God bless and happy prepping!
MDG
