Matthew 22:17-21 (English Standard Version)
17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. 20And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" 21They said, "Caesar’s." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s."
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My question is not, should I pay my taxes, although I have pondered at what point a government (e.g. Hitler's Germany) no longer warrants a Christian's allegiance. Rather, my question is: Am I rendering "to God the things that are God's"?
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I've been in Leviticus as part of my daily reading plan and have been praying for God to help me see Him as He's painted in and through this, um, challenging book. There are some grand pictures of God's grace and justice, especially in the description of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). But today was special because there is this small, easily missed by skim reading, snapshot of God's tenderness in Lev 19:9-10. Interestingly, that section ends with a verse we are very familiar with, but maybe didn't know its context: Lev 19:18 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself".
SDG
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My question is not, should I pay my taxes, although I have pondered at what point a government (e.g. Hitler's Germany) no longer warrants a Christian's allegiance. Rather, my question is: Am I rendering "to God the things that are God's"?
-------------------
I've been in Leviticus as part of my daily reading plan and have been praying for God to help me see Him as He's painted in and through this, um, challenging book. There are some grand pictures of God's grace and justice, especially in the description of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). But today was special because there is this small, easily missed by skim reading, snapshot of God's tenderness in Lev 19:9-10. Interestingly, that section ends with a verse we are very familiar with, but maybe didn't know its context: Lev 19:18 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself".
SDG
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