Questions of Priority

MEMORY SELECTION: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” —Matthew 22:21

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:15-32

THE Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-14 elaborates and gives more meaning to the above statement by Jesus. The apostle states, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation [judgment].” (vss. 1,2) The apostle is saying that the governments of the world are permitted of God in order to keep the peace and provide other functions that are necessary to life. Therefore, as concerns those necessary things, Christians should be submissive and obedient. And to the extent that they oppose those things—to that extent they are liable to a just punishment.

In verses 6 and 7 he continues, “For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” All of this is reasonable inasmuch as a properly functioning government provides protection from outlaws, a measure of freedom for religious worship, certain health services, etc. All of these things must be paid for and certainly a Christian should be willing to bear his share of the cost.

The point of our lesson is that we should be able to discern between those things that rightfully belong to Caesar or the governments under which we live and the things which rightfully belong to God. The Apostle Paul in Hebrews 13:14 states, “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” The thought of the apostle is that as Christians we have made a full and unreserved consecration to the Heavenly Father, which means that we have surrendered our wills to him. It means that no longer are we to be concerned with things of self—or material things that gratify selfish desires and ambitions. But on the other hand we should be concerned with God’s will, which we have taken to be our own. It is his will for us that, even though we are in the world, we are not to be a part of it, for our citizenship is in heaven.

In Hebrews 11, the Apostle Paul explains how God’s servants in past ages were also set apart by the hope which God had given them concerning the promised kingdom and the part that they were to have in it. In verses 9, 10 and 13 we read: “By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

God in some way revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob a knowledge of the coming kingdom here on earth, and even though it was afar off—many centuries—they had full faith that God would resurrect them from the dead and establish them in their lot in that kingdom. They professed citizenship in that kingdom or city, and not with the arrangements that then existed. Because of this, the apostle states that they considered themselves as pilgrims and strangers in the land. A pilgrim is one who is mobile with no roots but as he passes through the land he very often partakes of the material things that are offered. But a stranger in a strange land is one who is isolated from the things in that land. The apostle states that they were both pilgrims and strangers. They had no roots and kept themselves apart from the things of the land.

This is the lesson that Jesus would have us learn, that our citizenship is in heaven—we are in the world but we are not to be a part of it. We recognize that some things provided for us by the governments of the world are for our good and enable us to promote the interests of the future government of the earth, the kingdom. We should be in sympathy with these things and even support them with tribute. The thing the Lord wants from us, only we can give, and that is our hearts. If we have given our hearts to the Lord, the things of the earth should never be a problem to us.

| Home Page | Table of Contents |