Two Kingdoms

Jayden typed: Book 2 talked about coming out of the Babylon system. But we also said it is near impossible now. How does the kingdom of God relate to the world’s system practically.

AI➤ The world operates on a triangular authority structure. The powerful at the top accumulate authority, wealth and control. Everything flows upward toward the few. The kingdom of God operates on the inverted triangle. The powerful serve the lesser. Matthew 20:26-28 — whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister. The King of Kings came to serve not to be served.

AI➤ Matthew 17:25-26 — from whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes. From their own sons or from others. From others. Then the sons are exempt. Jesus was teaching that sons of God are not under obligation to earthly tax systems. Luke 23:2 confirms the authorities had heard him teaching this — they accused him of opposing taxes to Caesar. The Caesar question was a trap based on the sons are exempt teaching. The answer that silenced them — give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. To the Pharisees everything belongs to God per Psalm 24:1. Their own law condemned them for giving to Caesar at all. Jesus caught them in their own hypocrisy. The answer did not endorse paying Caesar. It condemned those who already were.

Jayden sat up straight.

J➤ The sons are exempt. I have heard that verse my whole life and never once heard it explained that way. The Caesar question was a trap and Jesus turned it back on them. He did not say yes pay Caesar. He said everything belongs to God. Their own theology condemned them.

Jayden typed: And Romans 13. The tradition says Paul is telling believers to obey civil government.

AI➤ Under Rule 1 this does not survive contact with the text. Obey and submit are not the same word. Obey means consent to the command. Submit means accept the authority to judge and punish. A believer submits to civil authority by accepting punishment for doing right in God’s eyes. They never obey a command that contradicts God. Acts 5:29 — we must obey God rather than men.

AI➤ Paul’s own experience contradicts the standard reading. He was beaten by the Jewish authorities five times. Beaten by Roman magistrates. If those authorities were established by God as God’s servants then God’s established servants were overcoming Paul’s good with evil — which contradicts Romans 12:21.

AI➤ Romans 13:4 — the governing authority bears the sword as God’s servant. The sword in Ephesians 6:17 is the sword of the Spirit. The governing authority bearing that sword is not Caesar. It is Peter. Acts 5 demonstrates it — Peter as judge with the sword of the Spirit. Romans 13:6 calls the authorities God’s ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Caesar was never called God’s minister. The apostles were. The believers had their own governance system. Their own King in Jesus. Their own judges in the apostles and elders.

Jayden pushed back from the table slightly. Not physically. Just the feeling of needing more space.

J➤ I grew up in a church that spent a lot of time on Romans 13. Submit to the governing authorities. Pay your taxes. Honour the king. I watched people use that verse to shut down every conversation about whether something was right or wrong. The government said it so we do it. Romans 13. End of discussion.

He looked at his hands for a moment.

J➤ And the whole time the governing authorities Paul was talking about were the apostles. Peter. James. The elders in Jerusalem. The people Paul and Barnabas walked three hundred miles to put a dispute in front of. Not Caesar. The ones bearing the sword of the Spirit. The ones God called his ministers.

He shook his head slowly.

J➤ The church handed Caesar the Romans 13 authority that belonged to the apostles. And then used it to tell people to sit down and obey. For two thousand years. That is not a small mistake. That is a complete inversion of what Paul wrote.

Dive Deeper

Two kingdoms — the inverted triangle Dive Deeper ➡Sons are exempt — Matthew 17:25-26 Dive Deeper ➡Romans 13 — the apostles not Caesar Dive Deeper ➡

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