Throughout the epistle Paul has described God in authoritative terms. It was His authoritative word that created things that were nonexistent; it is through the obedience of nature to His laws that the visible things portray something of the invisible God; His dealings with His chosen people clearly demonstrate that He is their God and demands their allegiance; and His freedom to deal with them and others as He chooses is defended vigorously, as is His absolute right to judge the world in righteousness. That ultimate authority rests with God is beyond question, but it should be noted that God exercises His authority on earth and in heaven through delegation. The most obvious illustration of this is His appointment of the Risen Lord as Judge. But Paul surprises us by adding that God also delegates His authority to man and appoints “governing authorities” to whom mankind must submit as they submit to Him. In fact, failure to do this is seen as resistance of God’s principles and merits divine judgment.
It is clear that man cannot survive on his own and must, therefore, establish a community in which to live. His involvement in community provides certain things which individualized living would not furnish, but this provision requires a sense of responsible cooperation, particularly with the necessary powers appointed to administer the community. That Christians do not cease to be members of the secular community when they are born into the kingdom of Heaven needs to be reinforced, because throughout the history of the church there have been those who have failed to recognize the benefits the state has provided them and the reasonable expectations the state has of them.
God’s concern for individuals is seen in His concern that society should operate in such a way that man may be free to live as He intended. Authority is necessary if such an environment is to be provided and preserved, so it follows that God-ordained authority is a natural prerequisite for God-ordained order. It is interesting to note that the role human authority is called to play is clearly linked to a realistic appraisal of man’s sinfulness. Society will be spoiled where sinful man is allowed to engage in all manner of evil, and society will never flourish for the common good where man is allowed to squander his life on himself and pursue relentlessly his own self-centered course.
Joseph submitted to the Egyptian authorities; Daniel submitted to the Babylonian authorities; Mordecai submitted to the Persian authorities; Jesus submitted to the Roman authorities. While none of these regimes were godly, God had authorized them all.
Paul encouraged Christians to obey the government even though submitting to a pagan government would be difficult. He also encouraged Christians to love each other. Christians should be well known in their communities for their obedience to government and their love for each other as well as for those outside the church.
Christians must submit to the rule of governing authorities wherever they live. Scripture makes one exception to this command: when obedience to civil authority would require disobedience to God’s Word. The world tries to circumvent the authority of the government. But God says to be submissive to it. God is the ultimate ruler over all earthly rulers. He sets up kings and removes them according to His will. Knowing this, believers are called to pray and submit accordingly. Governments are ordained to protect the community and punish the criminals. For these reasons, they can be a blessing to Christians.
Paul concludes that the Christian must respond to God’s institution of civil authority as the means of working out His purposes in society, as Paul writes in Romans 13: 5-7, “Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. “
Fear is a great motivator, but, while Christians are not exempt from either the possibility of doing wrong or bearing the consequences of wrongdoing, they should be motivated to responsible respect for authority as a matter of conscience. They, of all people, should have the highest view of the authority structures of society because they understand better than others how the purposes of God for society require the institution of authority.
Perhaps the major difficulty that Christians encountered was related to the dilemma that faced them when the divinely appointed Government acted in ways that directly contravened divine law. The rule of thumb enunciated by Peter before the Council— “We ought to obey God rather than men”—applied in those early days and still applies today.
In an era when respect for authority is at low ebb, it is necessary to point out that Christians must be very careful to ensure that any act of civil disobedience is a matter of conscience inspired by divine principle, because there is an unfortunate tendency for Peter’s dictum to be applied in a manner far removed from the original intent. Further, it should be pointed out that when the Christian has a duty to disobey the civil authority as clear cut as he would normally have an obligation to obey, his disobedience should be seen as a striking act of conscience because it is so different from his normal attitude of compliance, cooperation, and support. The habitual troublemaker is easily recognized as troubled even when he may have a valid point to make. The consistent Christian whose regular law-abiding stance is suddenly shattered by a conscience-inspired action is bound to cause a stir to get his message across. The refusal of the early Christians to worship Caesar was striking not only because of its inherent bravery but also because of its remarkable contrast to their regular position of “rendering to Caesar what was Caesar’s.”
(An audio version of this post can be found by clicking this link: Romans 13 verses 1-7 Submission to God-Given Authority)
Bibliography
- Jeremiah, David: The Jermiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1562-1563)
- Briscoe, D.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 29: Romans (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 230-236)
- Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
- MacArthur, J.F.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
