1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
This has been a wonderful lesson this last year. When George Floyd died it sparked all kinds of riots and looting, yet now we know that he died of a drug overdose and there was no physical evidence from the coroner that the policeman kneeling on him killed him. We also know that his behavior from the drugs was why he had to be restrained in the first place. After January 6 there were many accusations against the people in the Trump rally that they were dangerous rioters and insurrectionists. We now know that only about 8% of those arrested were in fact Trump supporters. The rest that were arrested had ties to various extremist groups, both Antifa and White supremacists groups, but not pro Trump. We heard from AOC how she felt threatened even though she was half a mile away in a different building. We heard that the rioters bludgeoned a cop to death, which was then exposed as a lie. They changed the lie to say he died from being exposed to Bear Spray and yet refuse to provide even the slightest evidence that this is true. How could they know such a thing if they didn’t have a toxicology report and if they do have one why not share it with the public? When the Senate hearing asked they even refused to give evidence concerning what caused his death to them. Bottom line, it doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you are on, wait for the facts, be subject to the governing authorities. If you jump to some kind of snap conclusion to justify criminal behavior you will be fighting against God and will be put to shame.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
There were those who were outraged at the hypocrisy and unrighteousness of this last impeachment. It violated the US constitution. But it turns out that rebelling against the constitution is rebelling against God who instituted it. Now we see judgement being brought on those who tried to bring judgement on others. The only charge that seemed to really matter was what they did when they knew the capital was under threat. However, it turns out that Pelosi is responsible for that security. When the threats were made known she rejected troops from Trump. She was the one who had inadequate security and she is the one who is responsible for rejecting additional security.
3 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 you will be commended.
Recently the threats were made that they wanted to count all those who attended Trump’s rally as participating in insurrection. They were going to banks and credit card companies to see who rented a room and who bought gas in the vicinity. But now we know that of the hundreds of thousands of people at that rally there might have been less than ten who violated the law by trespassing in the Capital. Not only so, but none of them were guilty of murder as was originally suggested. To hold a public protest that is peaceful is a constitutional right in this country. Despite the threats you can be free from fear.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
In a bizarre twist some of the nominees to Biden’s cabinet and administration have claimed that the riot at the capital rises to the level of domestic terrorism but attacking, burning, and destroying other government properties done by Antifa this last year doesn’t. Why? Because those riots were at night. Obviously that logic is absurd and sure enough 71% of Americans now view Antifa as domestic terrorists. The other 29% responded that they were clueless as to who Antifa is. Since this country is a “Democratic Republic” the will of the rulers is expressed by the will of the people.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
That’s right, don’t even try to come up with some scriptural excuse for why you don’t need to submit. Lebron James and the NBA need to apologize. They incited a riot in Wisconsin and are now paying the price. They may not be prosecuted in a criminal court but they have already been convicted in the court of public opinion. Ratings have plummeted since their behavior. For example the ratings at the Golden Globes were down 64% from a year ago despite the fact that people have been locked up in their homes, are bored out of their minds, and have nothing better to do than watch it. But people are not interested in listening to these people preaching to them because they know they are hypocrites.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
They are trying to legalize abortion right up until birth. They also want our tax dollars to pay for abortions worldwide. Once again I feel this is a heinous sin. But we have heard many heinous things from our elected officials and I have to believe that they are not the ones in charge but God is. We have seen time and time again that elected representatives are caught and dealt with when they commit crimes. Look at what is happening to Cuomo. Ten months ago people were outraged by his mandate to put people sick with Covid into the nursing homes. They said it would cause thousands of deaths. Well, he is being prosecuted and will be forced out of office and may be criminally prosecuted. Likewise with Newsom and Whitmer, they also will likely be forced from office. You cannot use what Cuomo did to justify not paying taxes because those taxes also paid for all those people who are now doing their job to remove him from office.
Love Fulfills the Law
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Right now the love of the many has grown cold. The silver lining of this is that showing love to one another and to your neighbor will shine even brighter against this black background.
9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
You don’t actually fulfill the law simply by “not doing something”. You fulfill the law by loving your neighbor as yourself. It doesn’t matter if they agree with your politics, it doesn’t even matter if they have ridiculed and insulted you.
The Day Is Near
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
All these things that you are seeing happen that are outrageous, or absurd, these things are there to wake you up.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Behind the injustice and illogical behavior are people living in the flesh. Carousing, drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery are all reasons that some people will go to great lengths to cover up and hide their behavior. The Lincoln Project was a group that published the ugliest and nastiest attacks against Trump and the MAGA movement. Well now we know that these ones were pedophiles. The attack was motivated because they were concerned that the Trump administration would do their job to uncover their sins and prosecute them.
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[c]
Get dressed. The Lord has given you the wake up call, now it is time to clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Every day I want to have a testimony that I belong to Jesus, not simply because of the things I don’t do but even more because of the things that I do do.
This has been a wonderful lesson this last year. When George Floyd died it sparked all kinds of riots and looting, yet now we know that he died of a drug overdose and there was no physical evidence from the coroner that the policeman kneeling on him killed him. We also know that his behavior from the drugs was why he had to be restrained in the first place. After January 6 there were many accusations against the people in the Trump rally that they were dangerous rioters and insurrectionists. We now know that only about 8% of those arrested were in fact Trump supporters. The rest that were arrested had ties to various extremist groups, both Antifa and White supremacists groups, but not pro Trump. We heard from AOC how she felt threatened even though she was half a mile away in a different building. We heard that the rioters bludgeoned a cop to death, which was then exposed as a lie. They changed the lie to say he died from being exposed to Bear Spray and yet refuse to provide even the slightest evidence that this is true. How could they know such a thing if they didn’t have a toxicology report and if they do have one why not share it with the public? When the Senate hearing asked they even refused to give evidence concerning what caused his death to them. Bottom line, it doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you are on, wait for the facts, be subject to the governing authorities. If you jump to some kind of snap conclusion to justify criminal behavior you will be fighting against God and will be put to shame.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
There were those who were outraged at the hypocrisy and unrighteousness of this last impeachment. It violated the US constitution. But it turns out that rebelling against the constitution is rebelling against God who instituted it. Now we see judgement being brought on those who tried to bring judgement on others. The only charge that seemed to really matter was what they did when they knew the capital was under threat. However, it turns out that Pelosi is responsible for that security. When the threats were made known she rejected troops from Trump. She was the one who had inadequate security and she is the one who is responsible for rejecting additional security.
3 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 you will be commended.
Recently the threats were made that they wanted to count all those who attended Trump’s rally as participating in insurrection. They were going to banks and credit card companies to see who rented a room and who bought gas in the vicinity. But now we know that of the hundreds of thousands of people at that rally there might have been less than ten who violated the law by trespassing in the Capital. Not only so, but none of them were guilty of murder as was originally suggested. To hold a public protest that is peaceful is a constitutional right in this country. Despite the threats you can be free from fear.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
In a bizarre twist some of the nominees to Biden’s cabinet and administration have claimed that the riot at the capital rises to the level of domestic terrorism but attacking, burning, and destroying other government properties done by Antifa this last year doesn’t. Why? Because those riots were at night. Obviously that logic is absurd and sure enough 71% of Americans now view Antifa as domestic terrorists. The other 29% responded that they were clueless as to who Antifa is. Since this country is a “Democratic Republic” the will of the rulers is expressed by the will of the people.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
That’s right, don’t even try to come up with some scriptural excuse for why you don’t need to submit. Lebron James and the NBA need to apologize. They incited a riot in Wisconsin and are now paying the price. They may not be prosecuted in a criminal court but they have already been convicted in the court of public opinion. Ratings have plummeted since their behavior. For example the ratings at the Golden Globes were down 64% from a year ago despite the fact that people have been locked up in their homes, are bored out of their minds, and have nothing better to do than watch it. But people are not interested in listening to these people preaching to them because they know they are hypocrites.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
They are trying to legalize abortion right up until birth. They also want our tax dollars to pay for abortions worldwide. Once again I feel this is a heinous sin. But we have heard many heinous things from our elected officials and I have to believe that they are not the ones in charge but God is. We have seen time and time again that elected representatives are caught and dealt with when they commit crimes. Look at what is happening to Cuomo. Ten months ago people were outraged by his mandate to put people sick with Covid into the nursing homes. They said it would cause thousands of deaths. Well, he is being prosecuted and will be forced out of office and may be criminally prosecuted. Likewise with Newsom and Whitmer, they also will likely be forced from office. You cannot use what Cuomo did to justify not paying taxes because those taxes also paid for all those people who are now doing their job to remove him from office.
Love Fulfills the Law
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Right now the love of the many has grown cold. The silver lining of this is that showing love to one another and to your neighbor will shine even brighter against this black background.
9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
You don’t actually fulfill the law simply by “not doing something”. You fulfill the law by loving your neighbor as yourself. It doesn’t matter if they agree with your politics, it doesn’t even matter if they have ridiculed and insulted you.
The Day Is Near
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
All these things that you are seeing happen that are outrageous, or absurd, these things are there to wake you up.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Behind the injustice and illogical behavior are people living in the flesh. Carousing, drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery are all reasons that some people will go to great lengths to cover up and hide their behavior. The Lincoln Project was a group that published the ugliest and nastiest attacks against Trump and the MAGA movement. Well now we know that these ones were pedophiles. The attack was motivated because they were concerned that the Trump administration would do their job to uncover their sins and prosecute them.
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[c]
Get dressed. The Lord has given you the wake up call, now it is time to clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Every day I want to have a testimony that I belong to Jesus, not simply because of the things I don’t do but even more because of the things that I do do.