Being a Good Citizen

Michael Howard

Living In Two Kingdoms • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

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INTRODUCTION

Over the last few weeks, we have spent our time in Romans 13:1-7.

This is the classic passage of government in the New Testament and it has given us the opportunity to understand government’s origin and purpose.

We have seen the role that it plays in our lives as a grace to the common kingdom of man.

Just like the family, God has given government as a restraint to evil and to preserve order.

The magistrates should bear the sword of justice as a terror to evil and to provide a peaceful and quiet life for the citizens.

But we also saw how God has a people. He has a redemptive kingdom and all who have the faith of Abraham are citizens of that kingdom.

As His redeemed people, we are ruled by Christ. He is the King.

And yet, we live in the here and now and we have hold citizenship in physical countries.

So we are dual citizens. We are like exiles—people of another kingdom, living in this one, alongside unbelievers in the kingdom of man.

We have talked about how God chose to rule the world through a man.

In the beginning, that man’s name was Adam.

Adam was given a mandate to be a King and a Priest who would rule creation and work and keep the Garden.

If Adam kept covenant with God, he would be blessed.

But Adam did not. He failed in this covenant and when that happened, the perfect marriage of government and worship in the Garden was broken.

Sin and death enter the world and death spreads to all men.

In this fallen world, Christians live and move and breathe alongside unbelievers.

We believe Jesus Christ is the Second Adam who did not fail and was perfect in every work.

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

He is the Great High Priest.

And until our Perfect King-Priest returns and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of the Second Adam, we are what you would call dual citizens.

Here is Scott Aniol, whose work, Citizens and Exiles, has been a great help to me in this series.

We Christians are dual citizens—we are still part of the common kingdom as human beings, but we are also citizens of the redemptive kingdom because of our relationship to Christ. One day, these kingdoms will be united into one eternal kingdom after Jesus comes again.

Scott Aniol

We know that our posture toward the state as Christian individuals should be one of subjection.

God has put the authority of the state in place.

Our subjection to the state is truly an act of worship in the sense that we are acting wisely in our relationship to the state, knowing it is a terror to good, because we fear the Lord.

Our reverence for Him leads us to be in subjection to His servant.

To render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to render to God what is God’s.

Pay to all what is owed to them

Taxes, revenue, respect and honor.

This catches us up to verse 8. It is now time for us to consider how we live as dual citizens.

How do we live as those who represent the kingdom of God in the kingdom of man?

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

OWING LOVE TO ALL (v. 8)

WHAT DOES PAUL MEAN?

Verse 8 begins exactly where verse 7 left off. In fact, they go together.

That is clear because of the talking of “what is owed,” in verse 7 is carried on in verse 8.

Paul says that as believers who live in the common kingdom of man, we should “owe no one anything.”

The Greek word is verse 7 and verse 8 that translates to “owe,” has a sense obligation.

We talked about this last week—taxes are an obligation you have toward the servant that God has put in place to restrain evil.

And Paul spoke of revenue and respect and honor all in the same way.

Now he says, “owe no one anything.”

This is the negative way of re-stating what he said in verse 7.

Pay everyone what you owe and owe no one anything are two ways of saying the same thing.

Some people have taken these words too far and argued that this means Christians can never borrow money, but we have other Scripture that would tell us that view is wrong.

The Bible talks about lending and not charging back-breaking interest.

The Bible talks about re-paying debts.

So we wouldn’t say that this is a steel curtain New Testament law forbidding the borrowing of money.

But we would read these words and everything the Bible has to say about money and we would declare that the business of borrowing anything should not be entered into lightly.

Christians should be endeavoring to re-pay all debts, down to the book you borrowed from your friend.

But I won’t stay too long on this because it would be short-sighted for us to simply make this about borrowing and lending.

It would even be short-sighted to simply make this about rendering Caesar’s things to Caesar because as we get into verse 8, we are really beginning to talk about our role in the common kingdom of man.

As we get into verse 8, we are really beginning to talk about how we represent the redemptive kingdom of Christ in the common kingdom of man.

We’ve talked about a submissive attitude toward the state.

We have talked about paying our taxes.

But as we arrive at verse 8, we are now speaking about the main badge of distinction that we wear when we go about into the world as kingdom ambassadors—and that is love.

In fact, love is the only thing that a Christian should feel comfortable owing the world.

And that is our first point this morning.

Teaching Point #1: Christians owe love to everyone in the common kingdom of man (v. 8)

OBLIGATION/OWE

To really understand what Paul is saying, we need to compare his words with what he says in the opening chapter of Romans.

Romans 1:13–14 ESV

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Obligation.

Greek word opheiletes

To owe—to have an obligation to someone like a debtor

Why would Paul say that he owes Greeks and Barbarians? Wise and foolish?

Well in the context, Paul is lamenting that he has not been able to get to Rome in the way he desires.

And he wants to come to reap the harvest of Gospel work in the believers and to see the Gospel advance as it is preached to unbelievers.

And Paul is so eager to do this that he says he is under obligation.

See here is what has happened in Paul’s life...

He was a kidnapping, head-hunting, execution-approving, terrorist.

He was an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ and he attacked and harmed the body of Christ.

And yet, God showed him grace.

God revealed His Son’s glory to Paul on the Damascus Road and his life did a complete 180 degree turnaround.

He is now a Christ-proclaiming, Christ-exalting, church-planting, Gospel preacher.

And having not just received God’s grace, but also receiving the ministry of proclaiming Christ by mercy of the Lord, Paul feels he owes something to the world.

And the thing he owes is the very thing that saved him—The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:15–16 ESV

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Martin Lloyd-Jones’ commentary on Romans 13 has been a jewel to me in my preparation for this series.

And in it, he compares Paul and all Christians to a man who was very sick.

The man is hopeless until he meets a Physician one day who heals every ailment he has.

He is overjoyed.

Then he goes out into the world and starts looking around and sees that most of the population around him is also suffering from this ailment.

What would the man do? Would he bypass the and go about his life?

Maybe he would do that if he were a monster.

No—he would feel he is obligated to tell them all about the Physician and the cure.

He would be so grateful for his healing that he would feel he owes the remedy to the whole world.

This is Paul is Romans 1.

So going back to Romans 13, Paul says, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other...”

“Owe” is opheilo. It is a form of the same word that Paul uses in Romans 1 that translates to “obligation.”

Have no obligation of anything to anyone, except love, which you have to everyone

That is really the heart of verse 8.

As Christian people who represent the redemptive kingdom of God in the common kingdom of man, we are obligated to love everyone around us.

Why? Why is love the badge we wear that distinguishes us from the world?

Because we are people who have been greatly loved.

This is much the same as Paul in Romans 1. Grace has touched our lives through the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ just like it touched Paul’s life.

We were dry bones. We were dead. We were residents of a graveyard, where the coffins are filled with the spiritually dead who live in rebellion against God.

We deserved the fire of Sodom to fall on our perverted lives.

We deserved the fire of Carmel to fall on our idolatrous hearts.

We deserved the fire of the lake of sulfur to fall on our God-hating souls.

But God is rich in mercy and great in love and in His good pleasure, He chose to send His Son, Jesus, to come and die for our sin and resurrect from the grave and ascend to the right hand of the Father.

He called us to Himself and said, “Receive my gift of salvation. I earned it for you. Let me cast your sins as far as the east is from the west. I LOVE you.”

And now, having receiving this incredible gift of love—this remedy for our depraved and hell-bound souls, what else can we do, but take it to the world?

What can we do but go to everyone—the wise and the foolish-- and say, “The Physician has loved me and I am here to love you in His name?”

CHURCH AND WORLD

We do this inside and outside of the church.

Inside of the church, we love with the highest of ethics. We love as Christ has loved us.

John 13:34 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

But Paul is speaking more broadly here in Romans 13. He is talking about the love we show to all people in the common kingdom of man.

That is evident in the language that comes after.

He moves to talking about the Law and fulfillment of the 2nd Table of the Law.

THE 2ND TABLE OF THE LAW (v. 8-10)

So let’s go there now. Paul says that “The one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

And then he begins to list out the 2nd table of the moral Law--the Ten Commandments.

The first table of the Ten Commandments have to do with our love for God.

No other gods before Him.

No bowing down to idols.

No blaspheming of His name.

No dishonoring of the Sabbath.

The second table of the Ten Commandments is what Paul lists out here in verse 8.

You shall not commit adultery

You shall not murder

You shall not steal

You shall not covet

He doesn’t specifically list bearing false witness or honoring your father and mother, but they would be covered under the phrase, “any other commandment.”

Jesus told us that the whole of the Law could really be boiled down to two commandments.

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

As Paul speaks about the love we should have for everyone, he is pointing to the second commandment, which is like the great and first: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That is why he says that all these commandments and any other commandment are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Paul uses the very words of the Lord Jesus to sum up the 2nd table of the Law.

Now, you might wonder, “Why does Paul bring this up?

Because Paul is wanting us to know that in the same way you pay your taxes to the state in the common kingdom man, as a recipient of God’s grace, you need to render love to everyone.

In the name of Jesus Christ who have saved you, you must fulfill the law by loving your neighbor as yourself.

Teaching Point #2: Christians show love to everyone by fulfilling the 2nd table of the Law (v. 8-10)

THE NATURE OF TRUE LOVE

Has God’s love done you wrong?

Of course not.

Because that is not the nature of true love.

Imagine meeting someone who is constantly fighting with their significant other.

They dog them behind their back.

They sabotage their lives.

They seek to control them and manipulate them.

And their significant other does it all right back.

And then imagine they look at you and say, “This is true love.”

You would say— “NO! It is not. It’s abusive co-dependency! Get out!

Because we understand that true love is for the good of another, even if it requires sacrifice and loss for yourself.

We understand that true love is not just sentiment, but it action.

If your actions have the intent of harming and damaging another person, that is not love.

To steal from them or lie about them or murder them, would be to trangress the Law.

But to give to them when they are without, or to tell the truth to them or to help preserve their lives—this would be the fulfillment of the Law.

This is not rocket science, but it the most important of sciences.

Because we are ultimately talking about the most central of Christian virtues.

There are so many Bible verses directing the Christian to love that we cannot list them all this morning, so I will just choose a few.

We start with the Mosaic Law:

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Then we see the great requirement of man:

Micah 6:8 ESV

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

To do justice is to do what is good and right toward everyone in the common kingdom of man

To love kindness is to have an affection in your will for pouring affection on others

We are called to love God by walking humbly with Him, expressing our love in obedience

We are called to love the world by executing justice and loving kindness

When Christ is ministering on earth, He summed up the Law. We saw that already. Here He is speaking of enemy love in Luke 6:31

Luke 6:31 ESV

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

And these ethics carry on in the rest of the New Testament. Here is the Apostle John:

1 John 4:7–8 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

And then the most famous of love passages in the New Testament—Paul’s words to Corinth in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

And if you don’t have it, you are just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

ONLY CHRISTIANS ARE CAPABLE OF TRUE LOVE

And the reality is that not only are we representing the kingdom of God in the kingdom of man by showing this love, we are the only ones truly capable of showing this love.

This is why Christian witness is unique.

To understand this, we need to take a brief theological detour and remind ourselves of the state of the human soul.

Because Adam, our representative, sinned against God in the Garden, we all fell with Him and sinned in Him.

This is evident in the fact that all of the children that came from human moms and dads in Adam’s line are born with a sin nature.

No one has to teach a kid how to break the 2nd table of the Law.

They lie to preserve themselves without a lesson.

They steal to satisfy their lusts without a lecture…even in the nursery.

So if you could get down to the core of the human heart and pull out the root and look at it, you would find that every person who has not been saved by grace has a root that is sinful.

And that means that what comes from that person’s life is sinful.

Now that does not mean that our unbelieving neighbors cannot do good in this world.

Your unbelieving neighbors love their families and pay their taxes, just like you.

They can be good citizens and great helpers to the community.

They can be good coaches and teachers and politicians and culture-shapers.

But here is the difference between you and them—they cannot do it as an act of worship to God.

The unregenerate man…He may give a million dollars to build a hospital, but cannot given even a cup of cold water to a disciple in the name of Jesus.

Lorraine Boettner

The reason this is the case is due to the depravity of the soul...The futility of a mind that has not ended its rebellion against God and agree to His blood-bought terms.

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Our unbelieving friends and neighbors have a mind set on the flesh.

Even in their good works, there is no thought of honoring God, but honoring the desires of their own flesh.

They cannot submit to God’s law in an act of worship because they are enslaved to sin in their flesh.

They simply cannot please God.

They can be great citizens, but their citizenry is not reverence to the Lord because it is polluted by sin.

They can be great fathers, but their fatherhood is not ultimately pleasing to God because it is still rooted in a dead heart.

They can be wonderful school board members, but their social action is still a product of a heart enslaved to sin.

These seemingly pure actions get contaminated with lust and pride and self-congratulations.

And this is because the heart has no faith.

The person that believes God and trusts in His Son will be saved and will be freed from slavery to sin.

They are given a new heart.

If you could take the Christian heart out and look at it and dissect it, you would find that it’s root is not a dead and poisonous.

The root of bitterness is gone and there will be a heart that is alive to God.

A heart that belongs to Him and desires to please Him.

THE CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIP TO THE LAW

So as the Christian keeps the 2nd Table of the Law and they perform neighborly love in the world, their actions are truly an act of spiritual worship.

Everything that we do as mothers, fathers, coaches, employees, employers, operators of motor vehicles, citizens at a voting booth—all of it becomes these acts of neighbor love that we perform to the glory of God.

Often we are doing the same sorts of things as unbelieving friends, but as we do these things, they are acts of reasonable, spiritual worship

The unbeliever says, “I do this to make society better for the coming generations. I do this to make society better for me. I do this so that I feel good inside. I do this so that my neighbor won’t be without.”

All admirable motivations, but they are motivations that live and die under the sun.

And they are motivations that tend to be rooted in the self.

Even the desire to see your neighbor not be without can be rooted in a sort of guilt where you just can’t have peace if you know someone else is suffering.

But the Christian is different.

The Christian approves of all of God’s commands and says they are good.

The Christian takes delight in the commandments of God, even when we struggle to keep them.

The Christian makes a real effort to keep the commandments of God because we delight in them and desire to please the Lord.

And Thomas Watson says that though our obedience is imperfect, wherever it falls short, Christ is there to atone.

Evangelical obedience is true in its essence, though not perfect in its degree, and where it comes short, Christ puts his mercies into the scales and then there is full weight.

Thomas Watson

Unless Christ puts his mercies in the scale, there is no weight with God.

Those who do not trust in Christ only have weightless works before the Lord.

Their attempts at goodness may impact society positively, but it gains no eternal ground with God.

LOVING PILGRIMS (v. 10)

Ultimately, what this means is that believers, as those who have been freed from slavery to sin and as those who can truly do good as an act of worship to God, should be the most loving people on the earth.

As sojourners and exiles, we should be the first in line to love.

We should be fulfilling the Law by executing justice and loving mercy—performing good works toward our neighbors.

Because we see an eternal significance to everything that we do and we believe that good neighborly works will lead to God being honored among those who currently profane His name.

1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

You are a sojourner. A foreigner.

You might be an American living in America, but the Bible says you do are not from around these part.

You are an exile.

A citizen of another kingdom living in a place that is not your home.

And in light of these realities, Peter says, “Be careful how you live.”

Do not let the passions of your flesh, which wage war against you, overcome you. Abstain.

Keep your conduct honorable so that when they go to make accusations against you, they really cant.

Instead, they will see your good deeds, your neighborly fulfillment of the Law, and they will give glory to God on the day that Christ returns.

Meaning, they will become worshippers like us because of how we live among them.

Teaching Point #3: Christians go in love to everyone in the common kingdom in a variety of ways (v. 10).

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Let me ask a very important question.

What is the mission of the church?

As I ask it, some Bible verses may come to mind.

Matthew 28:18-20...

Make disciples

Baptize them in the name of the Triune God

Teach them everything Jesus taught us

They go and repeat the action

Making disciples

This is the work that God has prepared for us as the workmanship of Christ.

Acts 1:8...

Spirit-filled witnesses to the end of the earth

John 20:21...

Sent by the Son as the Son was sent by the Father

And so we go into the world and we evangelize for the sake of what?

Building the Kingdom of God, soul by soul, through the preaching of the Gospel.

Evangelizing. Baptizing. Teaching.

And then one day, the Second Adam will return.

The First Adam failed in his covenant with the Father to be a King-Priest, but the Second Adam did not.

Right now, we see God restraining evil with the imperfect state.

We also see the church working to fill the redemptive Kingdom of God.

And once it is filled and all of the people of God who have faith like Abraham—what Paul calls the true Israel—come into the Kingdom, the Second Adam will return.

And when He goes, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of the Son.

Until then, the one job of the church is to build the kingdom through Gospel-proclamation and discipleship.

It isn’t to transform the culture and society around us.

There may be times that we speak to the culture and call it to repent.

We warn the Babylon that she is wrong to think she will never be judged.

We call evil what it is from our pulpits and at our dinner tables and maybe even in the public square, but to what end?

To transform the culture? To transform society?

No. That is not our mandate.

That was Adam’s mandate.

He was the one who was supposed to shape the world and he failed.

The Second Adam upheld the covenant of works and never sinned.

When He returns, His dominion will be perfectly realized on every square inch of the earth.

And this is key.

Sometimes you hear people say that Christians need to take over the physical world—the old “church rules the state” business.

They believe the church should spend her time and money and efforts seeking to transform society.

Liberal AND conservative Christians fall into this.

And they often justify it with the Genesis 1 mandate and say, “We are to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth.”

But church family, we are not new Adams.

And praise God.

We are not under a covenant of works any longer.

We are not attempting to live a perfect life before God in order to obtain a blessing. We never would be able to.

We are under a covenant of grace.

We are be made in the image of the Second Adam.

Our covenant is no longer, “Do this and live.” Hallelujah!

It is, “Christ did this for you and so we are alive.”

Remember that the dominion mandate is being exercised by the institution of government in the common kingdom.

It is the imperfect servant of good that God has put in place until Christ returns with His perfect government.

And as we wait on the perfect government of the Second Adam, our job is not to transform the culture or society, but to see hearts transformed through Gospel preaching.

When people start saying things like, “The church needs to take over Capitol Hill,” they are confusing our mission with our destination.

One day, Christ will take over Capitol Hill and every other throne on the earth.

And we will be his co-heirs as those who suffer with Him, reign with Him.

That is the destination.

But when you run around saying that this is the way things need to be right NOW, we have an over-realized eschatology.

You want the end times before the end.

We should be content as the church to be on the mission Christ gave us.

To build the church on the foundation of the Word of God of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself being the Cornerstone.

To lay living stone upon living stone. Redeemed soul by redeemed soul.

Until the temple is complete.

But don’t confuse common kingdom work with redemptive kingdom work.

The government restrains evil and promotes peace with a sword.

We tear down spiritual principalities and slay the dominion of sin with the Gospel.

It is different work.

As the church we exist in the common kingdom, but we are building the redemptive kingdom.

INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIANS

But, you might wonder, “Well, if it isn’t the mission of the church to transform society, what do we do about the iniquity that we see all over the world?”

The corruption

The attack on children

From the womb with DIY abortion options becoming commonplace

To a lack of investment in education

To the state creating laws that encourage irreversible measures to be taken against a child’s body in the name of “gender-affirming care.”

Do we just sit back and watch the world burn as we build the church?

I would say that is not the case.

We will deep dive into how we should live in light of the Second Adam returning, but for now I just want to say that we have to recognize the difference between individual calling and church-wide mandate.

The mission of the church is to build the kingdom through making disciples.

But the church is made up of individuals.

And within the church, there are different individuals called to do different things.

In verse 10, Paul says that when we go to the world in love, we do no wrong to our neighbor.

That is because love is the fulfilling of the Law.

And as we have said, we are the only ones who can truly do that.

But we are all going to fulfill the Law in different ways.

Some of you are school teachers.

Some of you are serving us in the military.

Some of you work for a big company in an admin role.

Some of you work for NASA.

Some of you stay at home and care for children and build the household with a discipling love.

Some of you are retired and you eat breakfast with your friends three times a week.

And everywhere you go, you should be endeavoring to fulfill the Law for the glory of Christ. Loving your neighbor.

And some of you are going to feel called to go down to the school board and speak against LGBT ethics in the public education classroom.

Some of you will write letters to the state senate about justice for US veterans in benefits.

Some of you will get on your knees and pray and you will vote faithfully and you will serve at the local food pantry.

And in doing these things, you keep your conduct honorable, to fulfill the Law for the glory of Christ—loving your neighbor.

You see the point.

God calls all of us to fulfill the 2nd Table of the Law in unique ways.

Be faithful to excellently and obediently serve Him in whatever sphere He calls you to

And then, when the lost people of the world see life in you and they want to know why, you are ready to tell them.

The Second Adam has saved my soul. You can come into His Kingdom as well.

He died for you and rose again.

One day He will come again.

Repent and believe.

And that is how we represent the kingdom of God in the kingdom of man, using our callings in the common realm to springboard into building the redemptive kingdom of Christ.

ASK THE BAND TO COME

THE ANGRY PILGRIM

As the band returns, I’ll tell you of Myles Standish.

He was known as a great leader among the people who arrived on the Mayflower, but he also had a reputation for be enraged.

He was the angry pilgrim.

For whatever good he did, his reputation for anger supersedes the rest.

Don’t be the Angry Pilgrim.

That is my greatest fear for you, church.

That your love would be drown out by the anger you have over things in this world and you would just sound like a clanging cymbal. A noisy going.

Instead, be a good citizen of the common kingdom, by loving your neighbors well and working for their good.

The true love that only we are capable of executing is what the world needs. Not your anger.

In the words of songwriter Andy Gullahorn, if you are sick of the darkness, go light a candle.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Fulfill the Law.

Jesus is coming to take us home soon.

We will pick it up here next week.

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