Romans - Lesson 51

Romans 13:1-14

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

A. Governing Authorities and Marriage: 

We begin in chapter 13:1-7 with this famous passage about our obligation to governing authorities. First question, why does that passage come here? Why suddenly this passage in this context? 

Student: 
We talked about an authority and submission issue 
 

Dr. Moo: 
The Roman Christians may have had a tendency to think too much of themselves and think that they didn’t have to listen to the government. This was a problem that we see the New Testament apostles facing at various times in the early church; the sense that believers had of being liberated from this world. We belong to Christ and we are now people of the Spirit. 

This often led very often in the early church to an overreaction in which nothing in this world became significant for believers anymore, including the government. We see this surfacing in several places in the New Testament text in which Paul and the other apostles have to say you must not be of this world, you can’t take your values from this world, but don’t think that everything in this world is an evil thing that you should have nothing to do with. 

There is such a thing as common grace; God is still doing things in the world that He is supportive of. He has put some structures in place that are designed for our good to create orderly situations and Christians need to continue to recognize those. Government is one of those and marriage is another. 

There are a couple of places in the letters of Paul where he deals with people who were saying marriage was a bad thing. It was something that involves this world and we would be better off with not having anything to do with marriage or sex because those are evil things. Paul has to come along and say that these are things that God created for our good so don’t despise marriage. Not everyone has to be married but on the other hand, don’t think that it is a bad thing to be married. This is a structure that God has put in place by His common grace for the good of human beings generally including His people, the church. 

Student: 
He gives a balanced view in Philippians, second chapter, that is in absolute agreement, I think. A balanced view on life itself: “do nothing out of selfish ambition and vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” And then he uses Christ. 

Dr. Moo: 
That passage is a really good parallel to a lot of things that Paul has been saying in this part of Romans. because it is some of the same language. Don’t think highly of yourself, don’t think you’re so important. This creates disunity in the church as well.

Student: 
We were talking at the end of chapter 12, that he shoots some things here and there, mixes in a lot of stuff, there is no clear outline.  If he would have stuck the first sentences of chapter 13 in with that, and then went on to something else, we would have said okay.  Instead, he develops that in a pretty significant paragraph, and now we have something pretty big to deal with, especially as you consider the context of their situation. But I guess you could say that about a lot of things; why develop this and not that?  

Dr. Moo: 
That is the question that sometimes we ask and we can’t answer. Sometimes we can guess at some answers. What are some other answers here? Why is Paul dealing with this here? 

Student: 
Verse 21, do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good… even the governing authorities, for instance? 

Student: 
Or would you go back farther to verse 19, “never avenge yourselves, leave it to the wrath of God.” The context of the Jews being expelled, then coming back to the city. There is definitely a governmental aspect to this situation.

Dr. Moo: 
In verse 19 – I think(student) you have hit on an important point here –  you don’t have to take revenge, let God do that. One of the points Paul emphasizes in 13:1-7 is the way God has appointed rulers to punish evil. There could be a connection there as well in which Paul is saying that you can let God handle the punishment of evil, you don’t have to take it on yourselves. One of the ways God is doing that now is by the government. He has appointed government, among other reasons, to have that function at the current time. Let the government do its work.

Student: 
Two ways you can handle it would be to heap coals on their head by doing good to them, and then trust the government to take care of it. 

Student: 
I assume it follows along the theme of chapters 9 through 11, in which he is saying all this Jew and Gentile thing makes sense in God’s understanding. And so, too the government makes sense in God’s understanding. There is a theme there.  

B. Submit to Governing Authorities: 

Let’s look at the paragraph. I suggest a basic outline of what is going on in the paragraph. In verse 1, “be subject to the governing authorities,” repeated pretty much similarly in verse 5. Both times Paul explains why we are to submit, talking about the appointment of God, God’s appointing of the authorities. It is also talking about the way government functions to punish evil and reward good. (Dr. Moo misspoke when he said, ‘punish good, reward evil.’) So, for practical reasons, submit to the authorities because you don’t want to receive punishment but instead you want to receive commendation. 

In a general way it’s clear that Paul is saying the same thing again: we are to submit to governing authorities not only because of possible punishment but also because it is a matter of conscience. You recognize how God has worked to Himself appoint these authorities. 

What Paul says then in verse 1 is fairly standard biblical teaching: be subject to the governing authorities. Why? Because there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Throughout the Bible, there is a sense that in God’s sovereign rule over this world, He is the one behind the governing authorities that exist. He puts them in place and He takes them out of their positions again. This isn’t any kind of new teaching here. 

The reaction that we are to have to this fact then is to submit. That is the key word we have again in verse 1 and then again in verse 5: submit to the governing authorities. Paul explains that we are to submit, not only because we realize God has appointed them but also because we want to avoid punishment. You see this in verse 3 where Paul says that rulers hold no terror for those who do right but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and then you will be commended.

Student: 
I think there be a bit of naivete here. (unable to hear) … causing all kinds of harm to Christians who had only done what was right. It is interesting that he is stressing it in this way.

C. What About the Unjust Rulers: 

I think (student) makes a good point here. When we read that verse here and Paul goes on to say similar things in the context, there should be a sense in which we ask how Paul can say this so blandly? How can he make that general point? He is serving a Lord unjustly crucified by Romans. He is part of a people who has suffered persecution again and again, unfairly and unjustly from pagan rulers. How can Paul here make such a general statement? 

I think is what good reading of the scriptural text should do. It should be a reading that is critical in the best sense of the word in which we should pause and wonder why things are said the way they are, particularly if they don’t seem to make sense at first sight. 

Student: 
I was worried over that myself, but the thing I’m more stumped over. There’s like a page and a half where he acknowledges these are the things he doesn’t cover. When I went through that and actually read that to my congregation, I said let’s acknowledge he doesn’t cover this or that, let’s get it off the table and quit worrying about it, and deal with exactly and precisely what he is talking about.  I think we have a tendency to bring in too many “yeah, but’s.”

Dr. Moo: 
I’m sympathetic to that, but only to a degree. There is no question that in a lot of the teaching on Romans 13 that I hear, the bulk of the time is spent on trying to get out what the text is saying rather than to deal with what it is saying. On the other hand, it does seem that it is appropriate when we come to a passage like this to ask why Paul puts it this way in terms of what he is trying to communicate here. Why does he only look at one side of the government here? Why doesn’t he acknowledge the many, many exceptions in one way, but in other ways very run-of-the-mill situations with governing authorities who often maybe even persistently, reward evil and punish good? I think that a careful sensitive reading will surface those kinds of issues. This is not trying to bring in what Paul doesn’t say, but to do justice to what he does say which begs certain questions. 

Student: 
Do you think that part of it might be that Paul has such a sense of the time that he had, that he says stay calm for now so that God can do His work?

Dr. Moo: 
It is possible that he is looking at things in light of that – for him –imminent end. The idea of imminence doesn’t come up much in Romans but which is certainly a basic kind of New Testament perspective on things. We have talked about the already and not yet. From the perspective of the New Testament, the already has taken place and the not yet could take place at any time. I don’t think Paul himself says that he knows when the end events are going to happen. But he does clearly live under the sense that this is the next step in God’s program and it could happen at any time. These end events could begin unfolding at any moment. That could be part of it as well.

D. God Used Unjust Rulers to Judge His People: 

Now let me come back to the text for a moment and recognize that what we have here is a part of a consistent biblical theme about the sovereignty of God in appointing authorities (governing authorities) and the appropriate response of God’s people to that situation; that appropriate response being submission or obedience; doing what governing authorities tell us to do. 

This is fairly consistent biblical teaching about the way God is using government to rule His world, and even as we see in the Old Testament at times, God uses governing authorities to judge His people. It’s not that the governing authorities under God sovereignty will always reward God’s people. God uses governing authorities as He did in the Babylonian exile and Assyrian exile to judge His own people. God certainly is working in those ways.

Student: 
Will we deal with the institution or the individual when it comes to this authority?

Dr. Moo: 
Great question and issue here. When you just look at what Paul said, he is talking about the actual authorities. Verse 1, Let everyone be subject to governing authorities. There is no authority; the authorities that exist; rulers in verse 3; verse 4, the one in authority, with also rulers again being mentioned. They are God’s servants. Submit to the authorities in verse 5. Throughout this text, Paul is talking about the actual people doing the ruling. He never talks specifically about the institution. 

That creates issues in trying to figure out how we move from this passage to what we might call a ‘political theology’ which is largely an untapped area particularly for evangelicals. A political theology is building from the Bible and reflection on the Bible in a theological way as to how we are to understand the process of politics and government. This is where many Christians have a very superficial approach to the whole issue, on both sides of the political spectrum and from various angles. 

It is one of these matters where we have various Old and New Testament texts that talk about the issue from a certain angle. But there is no text that sort of gives us a rounded exposition of what government is, how it is to function, and how Christians are to respond to, respect, and understand their place in government in the political world. There is a great need to develop that.

E. We Must Obey God Rather than Men: 

Sticking to this text for a moment. The point where we would need to begin if I am preaching this text, is to recognize the way in which in His sovereignty, God is using government providentially to order the world and to establish a means of rewarding good and punishing evil. The Christian response to government then should be the response of submission, of obedience, of recognizing government as a continuing legitimate institution used under divine authority. 

It may be that some of the Roman Christians were saying that now that they were Christians, they were governed by God and didn’t need to have anything to do with the government anymore. Government has nothing to do with us because we are in the spiritual realm. We aren’t subject to the government anymore. But Paul is saying, no; you do have responsibility under those governing authorities because God has appointed them and using them. 

Having said that however, in the interest of doing fair holistic biblical exposition, we also need to recognize places in Scripture where Christians are commanded to disobey the government. The Book of Revelation is full of these instances obviously in which faithfulness to God is measured by our willingness to stand against the anti-Christ, the beast, and his requirements. The famous words of Peter and John in the Book of Acts come to mind as well: we must obey God rather than men. 

From a broader Biblical standpoint, the question becomes if I am preaching Romans 13:1-7, I need to respect what this text is saying and talk about a government appointed by God and the need to submit to it. But I also need to indicate where the exceptions to this are. Otherwise, I haven’t preached the text in its biblical context effectively. 

The way in which people find reasons to find exceptions to what Paul is saying here is first the point that we talked about a little bit, why does Paul in describe governing authorities in this very positive, almost naïve, fashion? One thing that Paul might be doing here is saying how a government is ideally supposed to function under God. This is what God has appointed governing authorities to do. Maybe, this doesn’t become explicit so we have to be cautious about this, but maybe he is saying to submit as governing authorities do function in this way. But if, as it says in the Book of Revelation, government takes a form in which it is consistently rewarding evil and punishing good, perhaps that submission isn’t required at that point.

A second matter is to understand this word, submit. A lot of us will be familiar with the word in terms of the marriage relationship. It is used a number of times to talk about the wife submitting to the husband. So, the parallel is obviously with Christians and governing authorities. The point is that the word submit is a kind of general word that talks about recognizing our obligation to respect and follow the lead of somebody else. So, Paul says that wives are to submit to their husbands, they are to recognize that God has providentially ordered marriage in such a way, that the husband is what Paul calls the head in the relationship and wives are to submit, to recognize the husband’s role in leadership in that relationship. This is just as Christians are to recognize their place generally in respect to governing authorities. 

The point in both of these submission relationships is that implicit in all of this is that all of this is governed ultimately by God who governs both of these relationships. So, when a Christian wife is called by her husband to submit in a certain way that is contrary to what God is calling her to do, she has the right to obey God rather than her husband. But somewhat paradoxically even as she continues to recognize her submission to her husband; that she doesn’t try to overthrow her husband’s role. She doesn’t try to say that her husband is no longer her head with the whole submission relationship put aside. No, she says while recognizing that this structure is still in place, at this point, I have to follow God rather than my husband.

I’m sure a lot of us have counseled wives in that situation. I was asked to come and preach in a church one time because they were all in a mess, debating and fighting each other because one of the elders of the church, in reading these passages about submission, counseled a Christian woman in the church who was being asked by her husband to enter into a sexual relationship with himself and another woman at the same time. The elder counseled this Christian wife that she must submit to her husband. The church was up in arms about that. We recognize those situations in which, without doubting the biblical requirement of submission, nevertheless the wife follows God rather than her husband.

There might be an analogous situation here it seems to me with the Christian and governing authorities. When governing authorities require us to do something contrary which is plainly against the will of God, we say as Peter and John said, we have to obey God rather than that human authority. But again, paradoxically in continuing to recognize our submission to the governing authorities; we are still standing under them as a general principle that doesn’t get erased or thrown out because of that particular situation.

F. The Day of the Lord: 

Verses 8-10 comes back to love. You can see why someone like Käsemann would say let’s take 1-7 out of the equation. Paul is talking about love at the end of chapter 12, here he is talking about love in 13:8-10 again. You can see that Paul does return to love. He emphasizes this also in Galatians 5 saying that love is absolutely central to the will of God for us as it is in itself the fulfillment of the law. Whatever the Law is intending to accomplish for us, Paul says following the command of love will take care of those things. 

He wraps up this part of his admonition to us in verses 11-14 returning to what he started in 12:1-2, don’t be conformed to this age. Paul is reminding us of where we are located again. So, in 13:11-14, he is also wanted to remind us that we are people who have already entered into this new life. Our salvation is nearer now that when we first believed. Salvation for Paul is often something that is future, as it is here. But the day is already dawning. 

There is a double allusion here. There is a simple metaphor of day verses night and nighttime verses darkness which is widely used in the ancient world. Nighttime is associated with evil deeds; daytime associated with the light, with good deeds. There may also be a reference to the Day of the Lord. When Paul says to live as in the day in verse 13 not in carousing and drunkenness, etc., part of that idea is to behave because you are people who now experience the Day of the Lord. God’s intervention to save his people, to judge His enemies, that has started, you are in the already of the day that has dawned but not yet been brought to completion.