Romans 13: Week 3

Begin by reading the entire chapter of Romans 13 (ROM 13:1-14)

Having examined the believer’s relationship with others in the body of Christ (ROM 12:2-16), and having taught them how to respond to enemies (ROM 12:17-21), Paul addresses other pressing issues for the Christian:
 

What are the subjects of chapter 13?

ROM 13:1-7     Obey governing authorities

ROM 13:8-10   Loving your neighbor  is the fulfillment of the law

ROM 13:11-14 Put on Christ - His virtues -  in hope of His imminent return
 

ROM 13:1-7 13 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

ROM 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

Rom 13:7  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due;  custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
 

There are several parallel passages in the New Testament that say very similar things to Romans 13:1-7.

They include:

1PE 2:13-20

MAT 12:15-22.  and in fact all of Matthew chapter 12 has parallels to all of Romans 13.

MAR 12:17; 1TI 2:1-2 ; TIT 3:1

1PE 2:17 is a succinct summary of all of Romans 12 and 13.

1PE 2:17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

ROM 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

So Paul introduces a new subject here and gives the topic sentence to the first paragraph. “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities”.

Notice the universal nature of what is covered   here.

ROM 13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

This verse applies to every person, whether a believer or not.

And it relates to every authority in our lives.

This verse establishes the fact that the governing authorities have legitimate authority over us, and authority which comes from God.
 

What are some authorities that God has established for you?

Answers: government, law enforcement, parents, husbands, elders in the church, teachers in the classroom, officers in the military, bosses on the job, and ultimately Christ.
 

Why did God establish governments?

To promote good behavior and deter evil behavior.
 

Does verse 1 include wicked governments like dictators, the Nazis, and so forth?
 

Even the worst governments will generally act as a deterrent to crime.  For example, I don’t know of any countries where it is legal to steal or commit murder!
 

What are some common ways that people do not obey the government?

Answers:  speeding, pirated software, cheating on taxes…
 

What would life be like if there were no government? No rule of law?

[answers include rampant crime, the economy would fall apart because contracts would not be enforced, riots, gangs & warlords would emerge….every man for himself….

…Hatfields and McCoys…anarchy…. Think Somalia, Wild west, aftermath of a natural disaster or a massive power failure, the book Lord of the Flies…]

Genesis 6 - wicked nature of man…every man does what is right in his own eyes…

ROM 13:1-5 1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Rom 13:2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

Here three reasons are given why we should submit to authorities.

What are the three reasons given here why we should submit to authorities?

1. All authority is established by God, so whoever resists authority is resisting God.
2. If you disobey the government, you will be punished.
3. We should obey governments so that we will have a clean conscience.

Imagine the life of the criminal.  Always walking around looking over their shoulder, wondering if the police are watching or if they will be caught.  This is a miserable and dangerous way of living. Think Mafia.
 

Have you ever broken the law and NOT gotten caught?   What was that  like?

Did you experience discomfort along these three lines?  Did your conscience bother you?  Were you worried that you would get caught and be punished? Were you aware of how God saw things?
 

How should a Christian deal with a guilty conscience after breaking the law?

HEB 9:11-14 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

HEB 13:18 18  Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.

Our conscience has a role in our relationship with God, and in our relationship with other people.

ACT 24:14 "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 "In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.

There is an exception to this rule of obeying government authorities that we learn from Peter and John in Acts.

ACT 5:27-29 27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, " We must obey God rather than men. NASU

Again, if the government gives you an order that is clearly and directly contradictory to the Word of God, we are to obey God first rather than man.

MAR 12:17 - Jesus speaks of Caesar and God

ACT 5:25-32 - the apostles face government overreach

So if the government gives you an order that is clearly and directly contradictory to Scripture, we are to obey God first rather than men. 

This is NOT addressing situations where government is doing something that is against the word of God. 

Applying this principle, if you were a believer in Germany in World War II, should you obey the government to hunt down and imprison/kill Jews?

If you were living in America at the time of the Revolutionary War, should you have taken up arms in revolt against England?

If you are convinced from God’s word that abortion is murder, what does this say about what is permitted and not permitted with respect to your actions?

ROM 13:1-5 13 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

ROM 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

Now verse 4 talks about the sword that the minister of God bears.

The sword in question in the first century is the machaira sword.

This sword was used by the Roman government to perform capital punishment. Ie the state putting to death certain criminals who committed capital crimes including murder.

The Bible states that government has the right to punish its citizens, including putting them to death for serious crimes especially murder.

ROM 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due;  custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

Here we see that the Bible tells us that we are to pay our taxes.

Jesus said this as well when He said we are to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. 

Government workers are acting as servants of God by maintaining public order and as such deserve to be paid just like any other worker.

 

<Perkins study Guide Unit 22: Submission to the authorities, Romans 13:1-7.>