Romans
Chapter 13
[Chapter
12 and 13 gives a good list of what to do and then what NOT to do to
"Walk in the More Excellent Ways of Jesus Christ"]
{Verses
1-7: Submission to Civil Government}
1a~~All
'human beings'/souls {psuche}
subordinate
{hupotasso} yourselves
to
the 'governing authorities'/'higher powers' {huperecho exousia}.
1b~~For
there is no authority/powers {exousia}
except
'delegated by'/'from the source of' {apo} God.
1c~~That
is those authorities which exist
have
been delegated {tasso} by God.
2a~~In
fact they who oppose/resists {antitassomai}
such
authority/power {exousia}
resists
the ordinance {diatage} of God.
2b~~And
those who resist
will
incur judgment {krima}.
{personal judgement and/or national discipline in time}
3a~~For
'government authorities' {archon}
are
not 'a cause of fear' {phobos}
for
'good of intrinsic value production'/
'moral
function' {agathos ergon}
but
for evil {function} {kakos}.
3b~~Really,
do you desire not to fear {kakos} the authority?
3c~~Keep
on doing 'the good of intrinsic value' {agathos}
{see Romans 8:28 - understanding and doing the will of God
the good is doing whatever God's plan tells us to do}
and
you will have recognition from it
{from human government}{epainos}.
4a~~For
he
{the governing authority - referring to the police officer,
the military, the civil authorities}
is
a minister {diakonos} from God
to
you
for
the purpose of 'good of intrinsic value' {agathos}.
4b~~But
if you do evil/reversionism {kakos},
keep
on being afraid.
4c~~For
he {the policeman}
does
not wear the sword for nothing {eike}.
{used for the means of enforcing the law}
4d~~For
you see,
he
is the minister of God {diakonos}
for
the purpose of divine wrath {ekdikos}
to
him who practices evil
{referring to the criminal, the traitor, the revolutionist, etc.}.
{Two
Systems to Obtain Respect for Authority - Fear of Punishment
and Conscience}
5~~Therefore
for this reason,
it
is necessary
to
be subordinate {hupotasso}
{to governing authorities},
absolutely
not {ouk} only {monon}
because
of punishment/wrath {orge}
{principal of restraint}
but
also because of your conscience {suneidesis}.
6~~For
this reason also,
keep
on paying taxes,
for
they {the governing authorities}
'keep
on being'/are public servants {leitourgos} of God
attending
continually {proskartereo}
to
this very thing {serving the public}.
{Note: A Public servant is anyone who dedicates his or her life to the welfare of the public as a whole. This would include the police and military and civil leaders, but it also includes the gasman, the postal worker, the electrical worker, the garbage collector on and on. They are ALL public servants of God and are to be respected for the honorable work that they do - and they deserve to be paid - so pay your taxes whether or not YOU feel these taxes are fair or even follow biblical standards - your job is to pay not to judge.}
{General
Statement Regarding Christian Responsibility to Civil Government}
7a~~Therefore
{oun - an inference from what preceded}
render/'discharge
an obligation' {apodidomi}
to
all - to their advantage -
what
is obliged/owed {opheile}.
7b~~To
whom 'direct taxes' {phoros} {are due} . . .
{pay}
'direct taxes'.
7c~~To
whom 'indirect taxes' {telos} {are due} . . .
{pay}
'indirect taxes'
{telos here means customs or duties - it is being used for all
indirect taxes such as sales taxes, import duties, etc. - pay these
as well as income taxes}.
7d~~To
whom respect/fear {phobos} {is due} . . .
{give}
respect/fear
{this is a double meaning concept - first respect the offices of
governing authorities and, from verse 4 above, we see this is only
the principal warning the criminal to properly fear the sword of
justice as a deterrent to crime}.
7e~~To
whom honor {time} {is due} . . .
{give}
honor.
{principal of also having respect for the person holding the job as
well}
{Next
Paragraph Verses 8-10: Christian Responsibility to Others}
8a~~Owe
{opheilo} nothing {medeis - neuter}
to
anyone
{medeis - masculine: literally 'no one' but in Greek,
a double negative is a stronger negative - so in English is
'anyone'},
except
{ei me - idiom: literally: 'if not'}
to
"impersonally love based on who you are" {agapao}
one
another of the same kind {allelon}
{this is a reciprocal connotation - each other . . . loving each other
- relaxed mental attitude no judging, maligning, gossiping, -
respect for the +R in the other believer}.
8b~~For
when he loves/tolerates {agapao}
'another
of a different kind' {heteros}
{here is another believer with a different opinion - means
toleration of opinions foreign to your own}
he
has fulfilled {pleroo}
the
Law
{the negative commands in the Mosaic law}.
{Note: By necessity, the Mosaic Law is Holy, Just and Good - it is also intolerant. It was made up of a series of 'negative commands'. It was deficient in that it was limited in its design and function. It told mankind what you could eat and not eat, what was a sin and what was not a sin, what rituals to follow to understand the Messiah when He came, what to do when laws were violated, etc. Impersonal love (agape) for all believers fills up the deficiency of the 'negative commands' in the law. Love allows believers to move to the 'higher law' of live and let live'.}
{Examples
of some of the Negative commands in the Mosaic Law}
9a~~For
instance these . . .
{referring to 'negative commands of the Mosaic Law}:
you
shall not commit adultery;
{the crime of 'taking' the wife of another}
you
shall not commit murder;
{the crime of taking the right to life of another}
you
shall not steal;
{the crime of taking the physical property of another}
you
shall not give false testimony/witness {pseudomartureo};
{as in a court room setting - law is the means of punishing crime}
{and}
you shall not covet/lust.
{lust is the motivation of sin and evil. Sins related to crime (in view
here) start with the mental attitude sin of lusting for something
that belongs to another}
[Per
Jesus the Second Greatest Commandment - Matthew
22:39]
9b~~And,
if
- and there is
{ei tis ("and it is true")} -
any
other of a different kind {heteros}
of
commandments . . .
{they}
are summed up {anakephalaiomai}
in
this saying {logos} . . .
namely
"Love
your neighbor/'those in your periphery' {plesion}
as
yourself."
{Note: The negative commandments of the Mosaic Law were 'simple concepts' easy for people to grasp. They are placed there to tell us what NOT to do while we are building norms and standards in our soul of what is right and wrong. Ideally, these standards are those delineated by the Word. Then the person is operating on Divine viewpoint instead of human viewpoint opinions. So, when we get to Love your neighbor as you love yourself, is NOT a superficial 'well I love ME so I love YOU the same way'. Instead this is reflexive and saying to 'impersonally love' others based on who and what YOU are, not who and what they are! This is reflexive back to the norms and standards in your soul, not based on what others believe is right based on the standards of their souls.}
10a~~[The
one operating under ] "impersonal Love" {agape}
absolutely
does not produce evil {kakos}
to
'the one near him'/neighbor {plesion}.
10b~~Therefore,
[operating
under] "impersonal love" {agape} . . .
{is}
the fulfilling/fulfillment {pleroma} of the law
{means keeping the negative commands of the Mosaic Law -
'love the brethren' is a HIGHER and positive law - it means to
keep a relaxed mental attitude and impersonally love all
believers}.
{Note: Keep this in context. This is talking about sin related to crimes. Impersonal love attitude toward others results in the non-violation of the negative commands of the Mosaic Law. Agape type love is fully explained in I Corinthians 13:4-7. Basically it is the mental attitude of the Royal Family of God toward other believers. It recognizes the Righteousness of God IN that other believer and gives repect to that person for that righteousness no matter how good or what a stinker that other person is. It is the state of being free of all mental attitude sins. It is love based on who and what you are not based on who and what the object of love is.}
{Motivation
to Godly Conduct}
11~~This
do also,
by
having known the period of time {the Church Age},
that
is . . . it is already the time/hour for you
to
awake up from sleep {reversion recovery},
for
now our deliverance {rapture of the Church}
{soteria - also can mean salvation}
is
nearer then when we first believed.
{Note: Every second that passes gets us closer to the fulfillment of the next prophecy - the rapture of the Church - doctrine of the eminency of the rapture.}
12a~~The
night {nux}
{used as an analogy for life in time}
is
'far gone' {prokopto}
{progress in our life toward death or rapture} .
12b~~The
day {hemera - death or rapture}
is
approaching.
12c~~Let
us therefore
{oun - inference from previous statement follows},
'put
away'/'lay aside' {apotithemi}
the
works/production {ergon}
of
darkness {skotos}
{the works of darkness include anything that is not from the energy
of the Spirit, but is from outside the Light and is from the energy
of the flesh},
and
put on the armor {hoplon}
of
light {phos - bible doctrine}
{gearing the mentality of your soul to use the norms and standards
of bible doctrine (divine viewpoint) - in facing experiences in life.
Doctrine is the Mind of Christ Christ is the Light of the World}.
{How
to Walk in Righteousness Summarized -
Positive then Negative Explanation}
13~~Let
keep walking {peripateo}
honorably
{euschemonos}
as
in the daytime {hemera}
{in the Light of eternity future} . . .
not
in rioting/'rejection of authority' {komos}
{principal of rejection of authority of someone else}
and
drunkenness {methe}
{principal of rejection of your own authority - lack of self discipline
- no volitional ability to 'say NO' to alcohol - so this is
excessive drinking until your norms and standards are not
operating};
not
in 'illicit sex'/'sexual promiscuity' {koite}
and
licentiousness/wantonness {aselgeia}
{the act of thinking about illicit sex - failure to regulate volition
lust is a sin and this word describes lust};
not
in strife/discord/contention {eris}
{result of rejecting authorities in life}
and
jealousy {zelos}.
{Note: This verse is designed to help the spiritually immature believers in Rome. If they follow this verse, they will not destroy their reputation before they more fully understand all the requirements of the Royal Family Honor Code. Walking honorably is Walking in righteousness. Next, three ways NOT Walk Honorably - 1) Social Immorality 2) Sexual Immorality and 3) Personality Immorality.}
{Transitional
Verse to Chapter 14}
14~~But,
in contrast,
{de - adversative conjunction}
put
on {enduo}
the
Lord Jesus Christ
{this means to replace your norms and standards in your
soul with His norms - via the intake and metabolization
of the Mind of Christ},
and
stop making 'provision'
{pronoia - literally is fore and knowledge - comes to mean to know
what is coming and be prepared for it - so it came to mean
provision}
for
the flesh/'old sin nature' {sarx} {means to rebound}
{means to know you still are a sinner and confess your sins to God
- Rebound using I John 1:9 - and be purified and back in fellowship
- filled with the Spirit}
with
reference to its lusts {epithumia - plural}
{here lusts is technical and means 'anything that distracts you from
'putting on Christ' in other words - anything that distracts you
from the daily consistent intake of the Word would be 'epithumia'}.
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