Romans 13 Romans 13:1 7 In Romans 13, Paul s big idea is a touchy subject: submission to authority. Submission can be a tough pill to swallow, especially in a democracy where we champion individuals rights to protest or voice ideas. After all, if those in authority were elected by the people, shouldn t we have a say in what they do or how they do it? Paul provides challenging principles and blunt answers to these kinds of questions, even though there was nothing like an elected democracy in his day. Paul begins with an exhortation for every person to submit to the governing authorities. To make the point, he structures the Greek to add emphasis to governing authorities. Paul s rationale for obedience has nothing to do with the rulers godliness, competence, or any other qualification. Instead, his call for submission to their authority is grounded in God s authority. The only authorities that exist are the ones whom God has placed there, according to His sovereign plan. Think about that for a minute. In Paul s day, many leaders achieved their position through hereditary lineage. A great many others obtained authority based on nepotism and their connections to the intelligentsia. Merit and qualifications often had little to do with it. So if there was ever a time to beg for special exemptions from submission based on rulers ungodliness or incompetence, it would have been in Paul s day rather than ours. We may not like who won an election or the direction the ruling party might take our country, but this does nothing to change the confidence we should have that God is sovereign. 1
Two Views on Authority: How do you respond to authority figures, especially ones you don t like or respect? In a modern democracy, where we have had a say in who governs us, we might feel entitled to speak disrespectfully about our government officials. But there are forces at work behind the scenes that challenge this notion. In terms, what does Paul s divine mean when it comes to authorities? Well, the ones who rule are those God has in then the to submit is not shaka at the ruler, but at God. In Paul s mind, cannot the one the other. The word translated submit in most versions is the same one found in Ephesians 5:21 and 24 to describe submission of believers to one another and to Christ. Paul uses the same term in Romans to describe the failure of some to 2
submit themselves to God and His authority (see Rom 8:7; 10:3) or the process by which creation is subjected to the destruction of sin (8:20). In each of these cases Paul makes no hint of merely going along with something grudgingly and under duress. The obedience he describes is respectful and complete. I know that we have clear examples elsewhere of civil disobedience, even by the apostles themselves in Acts 4:19 (see 4:1 22). How do we reconcile these examples with Paul s commands in Romans 13? We must resist the urge to view them as mutually exclusive. God placed Annas, Caiaphas, and the other rulers in their positions of authority just as He has with any modern head of state. We have a clear command to submit to their authority based on its origin: God. Two Views on Authority: Despite what we might think, God has a hand in appointing ruling authori- 3
ties. If we really believe in God s omnipotence and divine sovereignty, Paul reminds us we ought to consider how this theology informs our respect for government officials. In 13:2b Paul goes on to describe the natural consequences of disobedience: condemnation and judgment. He makes clear in the principles he outlines in 13:3 4 that he is describing those who exercise their authority appropriately, punishing evil and rewarding good. So if we want to avoid living in fear of authority, then obedience and pursuit of good should lead to praise (13:3). Once we understand the divine intention for these authorities, we have a basis for reconciling the apparent contradiction between submitting to Godordained authorities while still honoring God. God invests people with authority, but that does not guarantee they will exercise it as He intended. We have already examined the case of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God Himself placed Pharaoh in authority and used Pharaoh s disobedience to make His own power known (9:17). 4
Two Views on Authority: If God has indeed appointed those in authority over us, there are important ramifications. If we choose to resist these authorities, we are at the same time choosing to resist God. Paul urges submission to authority based on the divine origins of that authority rather than the rulers capabilities or godliness. He pictures the authorities here as obedient, just as they are in Titus 3:1 or 1 Peter 2:13 14. If they exercise authority properly, then our submission should lead to a positive relationship. Although Paul is silent regarding unjust rulers, Peter is not. Peter describes an example of subjecting oneself to a master even if he is unjust (1 Pet 2:18 19). He takes the position that even in the face of unjust authority, it is still better to submit and suffer than to rebel. He offers Jesus 5
as an example of suffering unjust judgment (1 Pet 2:21 24), that we might follow in His steps. Two Views on Authority: Whether we like or respect a leader, voted for them or not, our response should be the same. If we believe that God is sovereign, then this belief requires that we respect those in authority over us. If we choose to resist them, then we have reason to fear we are resisting God as well. If we distilled Paul and Peter s teaching about authority from Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:21 24 into basic rules of engagement, here s what we would get: 1. Honor God above all else, even human institutions. 2. Submit to authority, since it is placed there by God. 3. When it is not possible to do both, then expect to suffer for honoring 6
God over human authority. We see a practical example of this theology in the American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s 60s. Civil disobedience drew attention to the injustice, and many suffered dreadful consequences for protesting the inequality of segregation and Jim Crow laws. Most, but certainly not all, of these protesters chose respectful non-violence to bring about needed change. Unfortunately, what we see most often among Christians today is an appeal to the examples of civil disobedience in Scripture without a balancing commitment to the clear and repeated commands in Scripture to submit to authority. We cannot cling to one principle while denying the other. In 13:5 Paul provides another reason for submission to authority: having a clear conscience before God. Conscience is not just the basis for submission, but also for paying the taxes due to the authorities (13:6). We owe these taxes because the leaders are God s servants, and their governing is characterized as a service to God. Think about that for a minute. Paul s statement places these governing servants in the same realm as God s other servants: priests (Num 18:21, 24) and vocational ministers (1 Cor 9:7 12). Taxes allow them to serve, much like the tithes and offerings received by those in ministry. This can be a frightening thought, but all the more reason to honor them as God s sovereignly appointed servants, fulfilling His divine plan even when we might not see how. In 13:7 Paul sums up and closes this section, but he moves beyond monetary issues like taxes and duties to what can seem even more costly: respect and honor. He declares that God is far more concerned with our inward attitude than our outward, potentially hypocritical, compliance. Just as our love for others must be authentic regardless of whether they are friend or foe the same holds true for our submission, honor, and respect for the authorities 7
God has placed over us. Romans 13:8 14 Continuing from the payment theme in verses 6 7, Paul adds love as yet another thing we owe others. Taxes, duties, honor, and respect can be paid in full, but love cannot be measured, whether in giving or withholding. Paul portrays love as an ongoing obligation, one that can never be fully paid. In the second half of verse 8, Paul equates loving someone with fulfilling the law. But wait the righteous requirements of the law were fulfilled in us as a result of Christ s triumph over sin through His death and resurrection. True, and Paul is not saying otherwise here. He has already declared that there is no other path (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16). In two letters Romans and Galatians Paul equates loving others with fulfilling the law. In the first half of each letter, Paul focuses on correcting misconceptions about how a person obtains a righteous standing before God and declaring what must be done. Paul is not changing what he previously argued. Instead, he is elevating the value of loving one another to a much higher position: equal to fulfilling the law. Paul could not have created a better analogy to explain the importance of love to his Jewish audience. The other passage, in Galatians 5:14, achieves the same purpose: For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (LEB). 8
Debt of Love: We should always pay what we owe, but we will never be able to fully pay one debt: love. Paul uses the analogy of debt to describe how we ought to regard love for others. We should not expect that the need for us to love others will ever be fulfilled. By assigning love for one another with such a high value equating it with fulfilling the law Paul emphasizes the importance of this command. We find a similar argument in James 2:8, where James says we fulfill the royal law when we love our neighbor as ourselves. Mark 12:29 31 presents Jesus answer to the question about which is the greatest commandment. Instead of providing only one command, Jesus answers with two: loving God with all your soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these, He says. It s easy to let our priorities fall out of sync with God s. Circumstances often 9
cause us to focus our priorities on right doctrine or spiritual gifts. But by promoting loving one another (and loving God) as the highest calling for a Christian, Paul reminds us that following this command enables everything to function in God s order. This is the tack Paul takes in 1 Corinthians 13, examining what otherwise good things would be like if love was missing. Although it may seem that Paul is changing his tune about our human ability to fulfill the law, it is best to understand his claim in verse 8 as signifying the importance of love above all else. He strengthens this claim in verse 9 with another bold assertion: Many other commandments are essentially entailed within the command to love one another. If we make loving others our singular goal, we will easily avoid committing murder, stealing and coveting, since love does not commit evil against a neighbor (13:10). 10
In Other Words: Paul compares the commandments against adultery, murder, theft, and coveting with the command to love our neighbor as our self. The one summarizes the others; they are two sides of the same coin. In the Boy Scouts, our leaders continually stressed the importance of being prepared. I addressed this at first by packing everything including the kitchen sink so I would be prepared for camping or backpacking. Sure, I was prepared, bringing along a zillion implements, but I was weighted down by a very heavy pack. Over time I learned to prioritize a single piece of gear, like a Swiss army knife, would equip me for any number of circumstances. The same holds true for our Christian walk. We could memorize and attempt to follow countless commandments, but we could also focus our attention on loving one another. If this one commandment is truly as gamechanging as Jesus, Paul, and James say it is, we would be foolish to do anything other than give it our full attention. Rather than introducing another big idea, Paul uses the balance of the chapter to build motivation for pursuing love. He draws on the same type of metaphors he uses in Romans 7:21 8:2, contrasting our former life enslaved to sin with our new life as children of God. But instead of the imagery presenting the contrast as death versus life, in 14:11 14 he presents his concepts in terms of sleeping versus being awake, and darkness versus light. Paul frames things as if there was a time when, figuratively speaking, it was appropriate to sleep, and he connects this spiritual sleep with the spiritual death we experienced while we were slaves to sin. We were bound to slavery and death we had no other choice. But now as redeemed believers, set free from bondage to sin and death (8:2), Paul says sleeping 11
is no longer an option. In fact, in verse 11, he uses already/now to describe the time we should wake up, as if we have overslept. The time to leave behind our old ways is not coming it is here! How can we know that we overslept? Because, Paul says, the day of our salvation is nearer than when we first believed (13:11b). Here we must consider what Paul means by salvation. The mention of when we believed is a clear reference to confessing with our mouth and believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord (10:9 13). Yet Paul clearly has in mind a day of salvation that has not arrived, but that is closer. This not-yet salvation refers back to the discussion in Romans 8:18 25. In 8:23, Paul declares that even though we have the firstfruits of the Spirit a reborn inner person and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we still groan within ourselves while we await eagerly our adoption, the redemption of our body (LEB). In the very next sentence, 8:24, Paul reminds us that we were saved in hope, meaning the salvation process is not yet complete. Although our inner person has been renewed, the outer is still awaiting that final redemption along with the rest of creation. In Romans 13:11 14 Paul gives us a wake-up call for this in the meantime stage of God s plan. 12
Having been set free from sin, we no longer have any excuse for sleeping on the job, so to speak. God has provided us with everything we need to carry out His purposes for us. The big question is whether we will arise and pursue that which Christ took hold of for us (Phil 3:12). The night has passed and the day has arrived, a situation Paul says calls for a response, which he describes in the second half of 14:12. 13
Daylight Living: Sinful activities often take in and/or darkness, based on the notion that we can hide our sin. Paul uses this contrast between done in darkness versus done in the to us our former sinful behavior. as Paul describes it, means aside the old sinful and on the Lord Christ instead. The deeds of darkness are those things our sinful flesh tempts us to do. Having been set free from sin, Paul says we must exchange these remnants of our old, dark selves for the armor of light God has provided for us. In 13:13, he clarifies the reason for this shift in imagery to dark/light and night/day. We are called to decent living, the kind of behavior associated with daylight hours instead of what is typically done under the cover of night. This imagery ties back thematically to 12:9 and Paul s prohibition against inauthentic love. The same genuine nature should characterize our actions. Just as Paul questions in 6:21 the type of fruit we produced from the behaviors of which we are now ashamed dark activities such as carousing, drunkenness, and sexual immorality he now emphasizes the shamefulness of continuing to walk in sin. Living one way in the full light of day and another in the cover of night is not, Paul says, what God intends for us. We must throw off dark deeds by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. As we do this, we simultaneously avoid giving any ground to sinful desires (see Rom 8:5 8). Paul goes even further in Ephesians 5:7 11, when he uses this same darkness versus light metaphor. Paul bluntly tells the Ephesians that they, and we, should do more than avoid dark deeds; we are to expose them and bring them to 14
light. The call to genuine love extends far beyond our love for other people; it must include our love for God. We have been redeemed for a purpose: living a new life as instruments of God s righteousness. But if we continue to indulge in our old sinful ways to any extent even if no one else sees us we undermine our ability to serve as the tools of righteousness God intended us to be. 15