Motives For Christian Citizenship

Transcripts for Dr. Wiersbe's sermons are forthcoming. Below is an outline of his message.

There have always been times of sin in our country.

Romans 13 talks about what it means to be a Christian citizen.

Christians are commanded to be subject to the government because the office over us has been ordained by God.

God ordained three institutions, and each has responsibilities to fulfill: the home, government, and church.

The church is not responsible for raising children; the government is not responsible for running the church; and the home is not responsible for the government.

Four motives for Christians to be good citizens:

• For wrath’s sake (Romans 13:2-4)
  • God ordained human government and gave it the power of the sword.
  • God established government because men are sinners.
  • Most governments no longer serve God; they serve themselves or a political party.
  • We are commanded to respect the positions in authority over us, even if we don’t respect the specific person.
• For conscience’s sake (Romans 13:5-7)
  • Conscience is the inward judge that God gives every person and helps them know right from wrong.
  • Conscience is the window through which the light of God shines.
  • We are commanded to give the government what we owe the government and to God what we owe Him.
• For love’s sake (Romans 13:8-10)
  • The law never changed someone’s heart.
  • If you love God and others, you’re not going to break the law.
  • The world should notice a difference in Christian’s lives in how they follow the law.
• For Jesus’ sake (Romans 13:11-14)
  • While Christians sleep spiritually, the devil moves in and takes over. It is time to wake up.
  • Do we live like Jesus could be coming back soon?
  • We cannot expect the government to be something we aren’t.

To be a good Christian citizen means to respect authority, follow your conscience, live in love, and act as though Jesus could come back today.

If Christians lived as we should, we would see a change in the world.