{"id":2328,"date":"2011-02-14T22:33:09","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T04:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.com\/blog\/?p=2328"},"modified":"2011-02-14T22:33:09","modified_gmt":"2011-02-15T04:33:09","slug":"romans-135-submission-by-conscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-135-submission-by-conscience\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 13:5 – Submission by Conscience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 13:5 <\/strong>– Submission by Conscience<\/span><\/h2>\n

Therefore<\/span> <\/strong>you<\/em><\/strong><\/span> <\/span>must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience\u2019 sake.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

We are to submit to authorities because it is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cYou mus<\/span>t\u201d is a translation of the Greek word anangk\u0113<\/em><\/span>, which means, \u201cit is necessary.\u201d It expresses a stronger sense than simply, \u201cit is appropriate\u201d or \u201cit is proper.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words \u201cbe subject<\/span>\u201d are translated from hupotass\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which we saw back in verse one means \u201cto place oneself under the authority of another.\u201d It is frequently translated as \u201csubmit.\u201d It is expressed here as an infinitive. Thus, a literal translation of the opening part of this verse could be \u201cTherefore it is necessary to be submissive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConscience<\/span>\u201d is translated from the noun suneid\u0113sis<\/em><\/span>, which is from the verb suneid\u014d<\/em><\/span>. This is made up of sun<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201ctogether,\u201d but often carrying the meaning of \u201ccompletely\u201d when used in a compound word, and eid\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning \u201cto know\u201d or \u201cto perceive.\u201d Hence, suneid\u014d<\/em> <\/span>means \u201cto be completely aware of\u201d or \u201cto be conscious of.\u201d Thus we can see that suneid\u0113sis<\/em> <\/span>refers to the state of being conscious or completely aware of something. It is that state which presents us with a moral decision of doing what we know to be right or not.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Paul now summarizes the two reasons why we should be submitted to the authorities over us. He says that it is necessary for us to submit to authorities and that it is necessary for two reasons. The first reason is \u201cbecause of wrath.<\/span>\u201d That is, the authorities over us have the power and responsibility to punish disobedience. It is necessary for us to be subject to and obey the authorities over us because if we refuse to submit to them and obey them, they have the God-granted power to punish us. The second reason we are to be submissive to authorities is \u201cfor conscience\u2019 sake.<\/span>\u201d Since we are completely aware of our responsibility to submit to authorities, we have a moral obligation to do so. In other words, in order to have a clear conscience before God, it is necessary that we submit ourselves to those in authority over us.<\/p>\n

But what about Henry David Thoreau\u2019s eloquent treatise On Civil Disobedience<\/span><\/em>? Isn\u2019t it sometimes appropriate, in fact isn\u2019t it sometimes necessary, to be part of civil disobedience? For Christians, according to the Apostle Paul, unless the authority is commanding us to act contrary to the Word of God, the answer is No! We have an excellent example of this type of submission in the person of the prophet Daniel. He was taken captive to Babylon, forced to take on a new name and a new language. But he did not compromise when it came to obeying what God had commanded him to do, even though it nearly cost him his life. Not only did he survive, he prospered under the authority of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler, and he also prospered under the authority of the Medo-Persian king Darius who conquered Babylon. Daniel was submissive to the authorities over him because he was submitted to God.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

As Christians. our ultimate objective is to be submissive to God, and part of that is to be submissive to authorities because we know that it is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –<\/p>\n

If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, send an e-mail to:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 13:5 – Submission by Conscience Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience\u2019 sake. Truth to Learn We are to submit to authorities because it is the right thing to do. Behind the Words \u201cYou must\u201d is a translation of the Greek word anangk\u0113, which means, \u201cit is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1519,1520,512,906,1521,1522],"class_list":["post-2328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anangke","tag-be-subject","tag-conscience","tag-hupotasso","tag-suneidesis","tag-you-must"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-By","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}