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What Does the Bible Say About Marijuana?

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Respect the System, Love Everyone, Wake Up.

Q: Should Christians Be Political?

Your citizenship is in heaven, but you still live on earth. The Bible helps you navigate both.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About the Death Penalty?

The Bible has passages on both sides. Here's how to think through it honestly.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About War?

The Bible contains wars commanded by God AND commands to love your enemies. Here's how Christians have understood both.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Cheating?

The Bible treats all forms of cheating as violations of the same principle: dishonesty destroys trust, and God values integrity.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About Fighting and Violence?

Jesus said turn the other cheek AND flipped tables. The Bible's view of violence is more nuanced than either pacifism or blanket permission.

Q: What Does the Bible Say About the Rise and Fall of Nations?

The Bible shows a pattern: empires rise, become arrogant, are judged, and fall. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome — all followed the script. God's kingdom is the only one that endures.

Romans 13 — The chapter where Paul says pay your taxes, love everybody, and stop hitting snooze

4 min read

Key Takeaways

Paul says respect authorities — God set them up. Not 'cause every gov is perfect, but believers gotta have integrity in whatever system they're dropped into.
Love isn't a loophole to skip the rules — it's the foundation that makes all the rules unnecessary because you'd never wrong someone you genuinely love.
Paul hits the church with a wake-up call: stop living like it's nighttime when you've already been given armor made of light and the clock is ticking.

📢 Chapter 13 — Respect the System, Love Everyone, Wake Up ⏰

has been building his case across the entire letter to the . He's covered , , , , place in God's plan — all of it. Now he shifts to the practical stuff: how do you actually live this out? Chapter 12 was about surrendering your whole self to God. Now Paul gets specific — starting with a topic nobody expected: government.

Inside this Chapter

Love Work Growth Justice Community Integrity Relationships

Questions about this Chapter

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Should Christians Be Political?

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What Does the Bible Say About the Death Penalty?

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What Does the Bible Say About War?

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What Does the Bible Say About Cheating?

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What Does the Bible Say About Fighting and Violence?

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What Does the Bible Say About the Rise and Fall of Nations?

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From the Spotlight

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The US-Iran War

Isaiah described a world where nations beat swords into plows. He wrote it during an actual war.

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Remember, these believers were living under the Roman Empire. Not exactly a democracy. Paul isn't writing a political theory paper — he's telling a persecuted minority church how to navigate life under authority without losing their witness or their minds.

Submit to Authority ⚖️

Justice

opens with something that would have been just as uncomfortable then as it is now:

"Every person needs to be subject to the governing authorities. Here's why: there is no authority that exists except what God has put in place. Every authority that's there? God instituted it. So when you resist the authorities, you're actually resisting what God has appointed — and that comes with consequences.

Rulers aren't supposed to be a threat to people doing the right thing — they're a threat to people doing wrong. Want to live without fear of the person in charge? Do what's good, and you'll get their approval. Because that authority figure is God's servant for your good.

But if you're doing wrong? Yeah, be afraid. They don't carry the sword as decoration. They are God's instrument of justice, carrying out His wrath on wrongdoers.

So submit — not just to dodge punishment, but for the sake of your own conscience. That's also why you pay taxes. The authorities are ministers of God, dedicated to this exact purpose. Give everyone what you owe them: taxes to whoever taxes are owed, revenue to whoever revenue is owed, respect to whoever respect is owed, honor to whoever honor is owed."

This passage isn't Paul saying every government is perfect or that authority figures never get it wrong. He's saying that the concept of authority itself comes from God, and believers should be known as people who operate with inside whatever system they're in — not as people looking for chaos. Pay what you owe. Show respect where it's due. Live above reproach. 💯

The Only Debt That Matters 🫶

After talking about what you owe the government, pivots to what you owe everyone else:

"Don't owe anyone anything — except to love each other. Because the person who loves others has fulfilled the law. Think about it: 'Don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't covet' — every single one of those commandments, plus any other one you can name, all get summed up in this one line: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Love does no wrong to a neighbor. That's it. That's why love is the fulfillment of the law."

Paul just gave the ultimate cheat code. You don't need to memorize six hundred rules if you genuinely love people. won't let you steal from someone. Love won't let you lie on someone. Love won't let you covet what they have. Every commandment about how to treat other people? Love covers all of it. Not as a loophole — as the foundation. ✨

Wake Up — Time's Almost Up ⏳

closes the chapter with urgency. This isn't casual advice — it's a wake-up call:

"You already know what time it is. The hour has come to wake up from sleep. Salvation is closer to us now than when we first believed. The night is almost over. The day is right there.

So let's throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let's live properly, like people who walk in the daytime — not in wild partying and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. And stop making plans to satisfy every craving of the flesh."

This is Paul saying: you're not living in the dark anymore, so stop acting like it. Every day that passes, the return of gets closer. That's not meant to scare you — it's meant to sharpen you. The things you used to chase in the dark? They don't fit who you are now. You've been given armor made of light — Wear it. Stop leaving room for the old patterns to creep back in. No cap — the clock is ticking and how you live right now matters more than you think. 🔥

Key Takeaways

📢 Chapter 13 — Respect the System, Love Everyone, Wake Up ⏰

Inside this Chapter

Questions about this Chapter

Should Christians Be Political?

What Does the Bible Say About the Death Penalty?

What Does the Bible Say About War?

What Does the Bible Say About Cheating?

What Does the Bible Say About Fighting and Violence?

What Does the Bible Say About the Rise and Fall of Nations?

From the Spotlight

The US-Iran War

My Notes

Submit to Authority ⚖️

The Only Debt That Matters 🫶

Wake Up — Time's Almost Up ⏳