by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 21, 2020 | Daily Encouragement |
Christianity is Practical
Christian living is practical and the last five chapters in the book of Romans (12-16) are just instructions on practical Christian living. Not a long list of do’s and don’ts, there isn’t anything in these five chapters that would take you out of the mainstream of your community. Nothing the Lord commands us to do would make the unsaved around us say “these Christians are nuts”. The bottom line is Christians are to live peaceably and with love for ALL mankind. And what could possibly be wrong with that?
It is crucial that Christians know they are commanded by God to obey ALL civil authority; from our local police to our Presidents and Prime Ministers regardless of their political affiliation or whether or not they are believers. There is no Scripture support for Christians to fight civil authority period! We are not left here to take over the government or dictate policy.
The reason the Lord doesn’t just take us home with Him the moment we believe the gospel is so we can share the good news with the lost world around us we are ambassadors for Christ. Again, there is no Biblical record of God commanding members of the body of Christ to fight civil authority or dictate policy. This belief is man’s idea and in total opposition to what the Lord has commanded.
On the other hand, Romans 13 does NOT say that Christians can’t own guns, join the military or fight to defend their life or the lives of their loved ones. Nowhere does the Lord say because we are Christians we are to let people walk all over us without defending ourselves from physical harm. Remember Paul himself disobeyed the local magistrates when he refused to leave out a side door in secret (Acts 17:35-40). More about this in another post.
Romans 13:1-5 and the Command to Obey Government
Romans 13 admonishes believers to submit to government authority because ALL GOVERNMENT and Civil Authority are placed there by God himself whether they are believers or not.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Romans 13:1
That can’t be any more clearer, can it? The next verse is a warning and instructs believers to obey civil authority or they will face punishment, not from God but the government He placed in authority.
Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Romans 13:2
In the following verses, the apostle Paul expands on why Christians are to obey civil authority.
Romans 13:3a
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil…
Again, look at the practicality. First, God Himself ordained all government authority, from the local level like our police departments right up to Prime Ministers and Presidents of the world. They are in their positions of authority for our benefit, even ungodly countries have laws to maintain order and punish the criminal element. Now the second part of verse 3…
Romans 13:3b
Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
Simple enough right? This isn’t pie in the sky stuff. If you don’t want to be in fear of government authority obey government authority. Furthermore, Christians above all should be setting the example of being obedient and living peaceably with our fellow man regardless of the government’s, beliefs or political affiliation. Governments don’t punish law-abiding citizens.
In the next verse, Paul expands on what he has written in the previous three verses by reminding believers that God is Sovereign and that ALL civil authority is placed by Almighty God. Read on…
Romans 13:4
For he (government or whatever civil authority like our police) is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil (disobey), be afraid; for he (civil authority) does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath (judgment) on him who practices evil (brakes civil law).
Repetition is the mother of learning and I hope you are seeing the repetitiveness in so much of what Paul writes regarding this subject. As verse four is more of the same as in the previous verses with more emphatic language. Civil authorities are God’s ministers, for our good! So if we go contrary to what God has ordained we should expect punishment. In Romans 13:5, we have the underlying reason why Christians are to obey the government.
Romans 13:5
Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
The wrath portion of verse five was already expanded on up in verse three. But the last part of verse five “for conscience’ sake” is not only the underlying reason why believers are to be subject to civil authority but it is at the core of the Christian experience.
In Conclusion
Ultimately, we obey the government because Christ died for us, was buried for us and was resurrected from the dead never to die again so that we too will be raised from the dead to be with the Lord forever. We no longer are compelled to do things according to what the world instructs us to do, we are compelled to obey civil authority because we are compelled because what God did on our behalf.
‘For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.’
II Corinthians 5:14-15
‘For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.’
I Corinthians 6:20
‘For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. ‘
II Corinthians 1:12
‘Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ‘
Colossians 3:22-23
‘Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ‘
Ephesians 6:5-7
‘Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.’
Titus 2:9-10
The bottom line is that we submit to the government but ultimately we obey God.
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 20, 2020 | Christianity |
God is Sovereign over everything. Yet He permits mankind to exercise free will and we’ve come almost 6000 years and mankind and nations are exactly where they are according to His timetable.
For, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
1 Corinthians 10:26
Mind-boggling how God does it all without making us robots is beyond our understanding. But as believers, we know it’s true because we have His word and we take it by faith. Everything that was prophesied in the Old Testament concerning Christ first coming was fulfilled to the last jot and tittle.
Today, most of what was prophesied about the End Times have fallen into place. All according to His timetable, nothing caught God off guard. He knew it all before it happened because of His foreknowledge and nothing can change His mind because God is Sovereign over everything.
God’s Sovereign Promise for Believers
It’s a good idea to remind ourselves from time to time that God is Sovereign not just over the Universe and everything in it but in every aspect of the believer’s life. Christians can rest in God’s Sovereignty and the assurance that no matter what trouble we may face, God is Sovereign over it, and He will never allow us to take on more than we can handle.
‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’
I Corinthians 10:13
Lastly, knowing that as members of the body of Christ, because we believed the gospel of grace by faith alone, God’s Sovereign promise is that He will complete what He started our lives (Philippians 1:6). And what is that promise? That no matter what happens to us during this temporary earthly sojourn, we will spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
‘being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ‘
Philippians 1:6
‘But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.’
I Thessalonians 4:13-18
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 15, 2020 | Daily Encouragement |
‘For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.’
I Corinthians 12:12-14
‘Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. ‘
Acts 20:28
As America deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, our leaders regardless if they are saved or not, regardless of political affiliation they are making decisions “on the whole” for the safety and benefit of everyone.
Until the time comes when our government make laws or decrees that are complete opposition to the Word of God we are to submit ourselves to our Government.
In Romans 13:3-5, we have the reason why we have a government?
‘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’ sake. ‘
Romans 13:3-5
It is crystal clear that believers are to subject themselves to our government because they are placed in their positions by God Himself.
MUST SEE These Powerful Photos Prove Faith Is Undefeated by the Pandemic: The Church of Jesus Is Not a Building
As Christians around the US and around the world are forced to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pastors and believers are adapting to the loss of Sunday gatherings. These powerful photos prove that the Church of Jesus is not a building, it’s His people. And the God who offers salvation for each individual is still able to meet with you one-on-one, whether it’s the middle of a parking lot, or in your own living room.
George DeCola, of Richmond, talks with someone who drove up for a prayer at a shopping center on April 2, 2020, in Richmond, Va. DeCola, who is a worship leader at a Lutheran Church offers prayers for those wanting spiritual guidance. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
A prayer vigil for all the healthcare workers at Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital is held in the parking lot by hundreds of members of Belin Memorial United Methodist Church and members of the Murrells Inlet, S.C., community holding signs, praying and singing in support of the hospital staff April 2, 2020. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
Victoria Cornell waves her arms in prayer during a drive-in Easter service Sunday, April 12, 2020, at the Happy Gospel Center Church in Bradenton, Fla. The outdoor service was an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
In this Sunday, April 5, 2020 photo, a Palm Sunday community-wide drive-in worship and prayer service is held at the 411 Twin Drive-In in Centre, Ala. (Joe Songer/The Birmingham News via AP)
Lone Star Cowboy Church Lead Pastor Randy Weaver raises his hands in prayer during a live stream of their Easter service Sunday, April 12, 2020, in Montgomery, Texas. The service was held in the church’s empty dirt arena where normally thousands would have attended but could not due to social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Pastor Paul Marc Goulet prays to people in their cars at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas due to the coronavirus outbreak, Sunday, April 12, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People hold up their hands in prayer at an Easter drive-in service at the International Church of Las Vegas, Sunday, April 12, 2020, in Las Vegas. The church held the service where worshipers stayed in their cars due to the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Prayer is seen written in chalk outside of the Calvin Presbyterian Church, on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, in Zelienople, Pa. Parishioners were not attending the church for the Easter services that were being streamed on the internet because of the concern of spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Churchgoers attend an Easter service in the parking lot of Xtreme Harvest Church in San Antonio, Sunday, April 12, 2020. Many churches are adapting their services as Christians around the world are celebrating Easter at a distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Pastor Jon Duncan of Cross Culture Christian Center greets a congregant before giving a prayer outside of Bethel Open Bible Church in Lodi, Calif., Sunday, April 5, 2020. Cross Culture Christian Center, a church in California’s Central Valley that said it intended to still gather for worship, canceled its plans Sunday when someone changed the locks to the building. Duncan told congregants who drove to the church for Palm Sunday service that the building the church uses for services was shut. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Pastor Jon Duncan of Cross Culture Christian Center kneels while giving a prayer to a congregant member parked outside of Bethel Open Bible Church in Lodi, Calif., Sunday, April 5, 2020. Cross Culture Christian Center, a church in California’s Central Valley that said it intended to still gather for worship, canceled its plans Sunday when someone changed the locks to the building. Duncan told congregants who drove to the church for Palm Sunday service that the building the church uses for services was shut. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Keeping to safe social distance guidelines, worshipers pray at their own vehicles as they attend an outside drive-in Easter service at the Living Word church due to the coronavirus Sunday, April 12, 2020, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
People gather at the Mount Davidson Cross in San Francisco, Sunday, April 12, 2020. Mount Davidson’s annual Easter Sunrise Service was canceled for San Francisco’s shelter in place orders over coronavirus concerns. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Around the world, Christians are still finding ways to express their faith. People pray in their cars during an Easter Monday church service in a meadow in Sonsbeck-Achterhoek, Germany, April 13, 2020. The sermon of the priest, who is standing on a stage, is transmitted via loudspeakers. (Arnulf Stoffel/dpa via AP)
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 12, 2020 | Daily Encouragement, Doctrine, Salvation |
The Mystery or Secret of the Cross
…according to the eternal purpose which He (God the Father) accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, – Ephesians 3:11
Sometime in eternity past, before anything was created the Triune God in counsel, determined a plan for the Ages. That God the Son, would step out of the invisible, take on flesh, to be the Supreme sacrifice for the sin of the world.
Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
Acts 2:23-24
II Timothy 1:9
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
In God’s foreknowledge, He could see every detail from the beginning to the end. And in this predetermined plan, laid out before God created one star, one grain of sand before anything was created, the HIGHLIGHT of this plan would be the “Cross”. Which is the mystery or the “secret” of the gospel of the grace of God that up until revealed to the apostle Paul by the risen and glorified Lord has been hidden, kept secret since the world began (Romans 16:25).
That now (not before or during Christ’s earthly ministry) on this side of the cross, because the sin debt was paid in full by and through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, His burial and resurrection God could now temporarily blind His chosen people Israel because of their disobedience (Romans 11) and pour out His grace to ALL mankind by offering the free gift of salvation to all mankind Jew or Gentile by faith alone in the gospel apart from the Mosaic Law and temple worship.
This was unheard of for 2000 years until the gospel of grace comes on the scene around 40 AD.
‘Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.’
Romans 16:25-27
He is not here: for He is risen…
Matthew 28:6
If you need salvation or have questions about salvation scroll down to the Good News!
by Jamie Pantastico | Mar 26, 2020 | Daily Encouragement |
Words and language are crucial to understanding meaning and when it comes to the word hope in Scripture it is crucially important to know its meaning
Unlike the common everyday English usage of the word HOPE, the Biblical, New Testament meaning contains zero uncertainty; instead is a promise of something not yet realized. It’s going to happen!
For example, no matter what tremendous trials and tribulations believers face we have hope that no matter what may happen to us even in death we are destined to spend eternity with the Lord. And this hope can not disappoint us, because this hope is defined by God Himself, in that, God the Father sent His only Son Jesus Christ, to die in our place, to pay for our sins, and was buried and raised from the dead three days later, the gospel. God has promised those who believe this gospel by faith alone; to have the HOPE of spending eternity with God.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
We have crystal clear promises from God through His Word. Without His Word, believers have no basis for hope but our faith is documented. Get into your Bible and study don’t just read it, study it.
‘For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. ‘
Romans 15:4
New Testament Hope is a certainty of a promise not yet realized.
Thanks for reading. Please consider sharing this post on social media.
Prayers for all…
In Christ.
Jamie Pantastico
Faith, Sine Qua Non
