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The church in Rome had people of Differing Backgrounds.

There was this problem in the early church - they were allowing Disagreement to Divide the body of Christ.

In these verses Paul calls us to 4 things:

Watch Vigilantly, War Valiantly, Walk Virtuously and Wait Victoriously.

Our focus and attention is on Jesus.

Our motivation for obedience as believers is Not Fear of Punishment.

Our motivation as believers is Love for the Lord.

There are times when we need to Refuse to Obey government.

- There are examples in Scripture of Civil Disobedience. Paul and Peter, who wrote concerning obeying government:

- Both of them Practiced Civil disobedience.

- Both of them were Jailed repeatedly.

- Both of them were ultimately Martyred by the state.

- There are 2 major reasons for us to Disobey Government.

There has always been a certain degree of tension between Church & State.

· We see this at the Beginning of the church because the church began with the Death and Resurrection of Christ.

· When the Jesus Died on the Cross, the State put him to Death, because they though he was going to Overthrow Roman rule.

· Within that tension, God has given us definite Guidelines:

- He does Not tell us what Political Party to join or vote for.

- He does give us guidelines on their Responsibilities and Rights.

Paul is addressing believers as they live out their life in the world. Paul gives some practical guidelines for us here. The right mentality, manners and method.

Verses 9-13 describes love among Christians. 1. True Love Rejects Sin but not the Sinner. 2. True Love is seen in Relationships. 3. True Love for another - knows we are Saved to Serve.