Thoughts From Romans 13 (part 4)

Today we’re continuing a series on Romans 13. After taking a bit of a break to get some biblical background on Paul’s inspired writing about “governing authorities”, let’s get back to the passage itself.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Romans 13:3-4

So, do you want to live in fear? Go rob a bank, steal a car and sell illegal drugs. And you’ll live with fear. Fear of both the authorities, and of God! And it will be your own fault.

On the other hand, if you do good, you will receive approval from the same.

But wait a moment – (we’re all thinking) – what if the government is punishing good, and approving evil?

Well, we’ll talk more about that later. But here are a few basic concepts to start with.

Punishing Good?

The Bible is very honest about evil governments. If you want an easy comparison, think of two “R13s” – Romans 13 and Revelation 13. In Romans 13, the government’s purpose is to approve good and punish evil. But in Revelation 13, we see the government of the Antichrist. Can you imagine a worse government? The whole purpose of this leader is to blaspheme God and persecute His people.

Now, of course, even the Antichrist receives his authority from God. But there is a contrast here with Romans 13, in which the government has a role as God’s servant.

Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

Romans 13:5

Two great motives to avoid evil – first, to avoid wrath, second, for the sake of your conscience.

Now, actually, the ESV says “God’s wrath” to clarify the word wrath. But in the original Greek it doesn’t have the word “God”. So translators and commentators disagree about whether this is talking about punishment from the government, or from God. Of course, if God is using the government to bring His wrath on earth, you could say it’s God’s punishment mediated through human government.

But the second point – conscience – seems to have our position before God in view. In other words, we can have a calm heart before God, because we are not doing evil. We’re obeying.

Obeying what?

If you have a good conscience, it’s because you’re obeying God – God’s Word.

The government punishes the “wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4). That’s someone who does wrong – evil. Evil according to whom? According to God. The government approves the good. The good according to whom? According to God. The government is God’s servant.

And so we ask – where is this wonderful government?

Of course Paul did not say,“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities when they are obeying the Bible.” More on that later.

Was Paul Just Naïve?

But was Paul maybe a bit naïve about governments? Maybe this was before severe persecution really had broken out.

Yes, Nero was the emperor at this time, but he hadn’t gone completely crazy quite yet. He would be much worse later on.

Sadly, some commentators actually suggest that Paul was simply inexperienced at this point. But this is inspired Scripture, and the Holy Spirit certainly knew what was going on.

And I don’t think you can even defend such a position from Romans itself. Just back up to Romans 8 and listen:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Romans 8:35-36

Paul had already suffered persecution, both from Jewish leaders and Gentile leaders. No, he’s not being naïve about governments.

So what exactly is he asking us to do? What are the limits of these commands?

Peter and Paul teach about Governments

I mentioned earlier that Paul nowhere uses the word “obey” in Romans 13. But hopefully you’ve got the idea by now that Paul is not encouraging anarchy. The words “be subject” certainly include obedience. However, we do need to look carefully at Paul’s terminology, because it seems that this was a carefully worded doctrine of the apostles.

It will be useful here to take a look at the two parallel passages that I mentioned earlier. First, one from Paul:

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Titus 3:1-2

“Be submissive” – that’s the same word as we see in Romans 13 as “be subject”. Now, Paul actually uses the word “obedient” here, although it seems to be written in a more general way. But as I said before, submission includes obedience.

And now, from Peter:

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.
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:11-17

“Be subject” – the same word again. And Peter is even more specific here – emperors and governors. In whatever case, at whatever level of government, our leaders are sent by our Lord Jesus to “those who do evil and to praise those who do good”. This is almost the same terminology that Paul uses. Submit to the authorities because of their origin and because of their purpose.

By the way, to dismiss all doubt, the Bible tells us that we should be subject to God and His Word, so obviously this includes obedience (see for example Romans 8:7, Romans 10:3, and James 4:7).

But I think that it’s maybe even more important to think of this “submission” as honour and respect. As Peter says,”Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

This word/phrase – “be subject”/”be submissive” is very important in Romans 13, and so I think it deserves some more study. In fact, we’re going to see that it’s part of a larger teaching in the epistles, which we’ll delve into next time.