Romans Chapter 13

Romans Chapter 13

Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. There is no power but God’s, the powers that exist are all ordained by God. If you resist the power and the ordinance of God then you will be damned. Rules are not a terror to good, but rather to evil. So now are you afraid of their power? Do that which is good and you’ll be praised.

Rulers are the ministers of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, because the ruler has his sword for a reason. He is the minister of God and an avenger who will execute wrath on anyone who does evil.

But you need to be submissive, not just for fear of his wrath, but also for conscience sake. So, you should pay your tribute because they are God’s ministers attending always to this very thing. Render your leaders all their dues, pay tribute to those to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear and honor to whom honor is due.

Don’t owe any many any thing, but love one another, for he that loves has fulfilled the law (is this the same law that you on and off care about Paul?) Don’t commit adultery, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, and if there’s some other commandment then it can be understood by saying that you should love your neighbor as yourself. (Err… uh… Paul, maybe little more studying of the old testament would teach you that the one’s your missing are… 1. No worshipping other gods, 2. No making idols… sometimes it’s written images, 3. No blaspheming in the lord’s name… this especially includes the holy spirit, but we don’t learn that until the new testament which Paul didn’t have, 4. Keep the Sabbath holy… which we know JC wasn’t a big fan of, and 5. Honor your mom and dad. Contrary to what is written in the New Testament gospels, love your neighbor as you love yourself is a sweet sentiment but not one of the ten commandments, nor does it adequately express the intent of the missing commandments. Time to go back to the synagogue for some religious education Paulie, or should I call you Saulie?)

Love doesn’t do bad things its neighbor, so love fulfills the law.

Now that we know the time, it is high time to awake out of sleep. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The night is almost done and the day is at hand, so let’s cast off the darkness and put on an armor of light. Let’s walk honestly, just like in the day. Let’s not go out rioting drunkenly, and stay away from the whore houses, and let’s not have strife and envy.

Get on board with Jesus and ignore your fleshy pursuits to fulfil those lusts.