Romans 13--Authority Song

“I fight authority; authority always wins
Well I fight authority; authority always wins
Well, I have been doing it since I was a young kid and I come out grinning
Well, I fight authority; authority is always winning…”

You may remember this John Cougar Mellencamp song from the 1984. If not, you can check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po47SNloMBg

It is a funny song that we can all resonate with. Somewhere in each of us is something that wants to do our own thing and resist authority. Paul gives us the good news that the law and the authorities are gifts to us from God because they restrain evil—both Evil from others and the evil within. That might not seem too special, but travel to a third world where the authorities can be thoroughly corrupt and compromised and you will see that good authority is a gift from God.

So we are to pay our debt to the authorities for they provide a service under God. We should not allow any debt to roll up to anyone except for one. That is the continuing debt of love.

We all owe a debt of love that we will never be able to pay back. Jesus in his love and grace has credited our account with infinite “cash flow” of love, truth, affection and approval. His command is not that we “pay him back,” but that we “pay him forward” in the way we love others—and therefore truly fulfill the law.

So Christians live under a greater authority and that is the authority of love. It is good when that authority wins.

Posted by Marc