Let Us Cast Off the Works of Darkness and Put On the Armor of Light

Paul says not to take revenge but to leave it in God’s hands, and, as far as possible, to live at peace with everyone. He goes on to teach that every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for those authorities have been established by God. These words were given even in the days of Nero’s reign.

To submit to those in authority does not mean surrendering to evil; it means seeking to understand why God set that authority in place. Just as Israel was able to cling to God precisely because Pharaoh was wicked, even an evil ruler is put to use for God’s purposes. The laws of the world are to be kept so long as they do not stand in the way of the gospel, but where they forbid the worship offered to God, they must be boldly resisted.

God’s people must cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Rather than trying to change the world, they need to find within it the brothers and sisters God has entrusted to them and bring them the gospel. To owe no one anything except the debt of love, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself: that is the way the whole law is fulfilled.