A Study of the Book of Romans
Romans # 28
“Living Under Authority”
Romans 13:1-7
Paul
ended Romans chapter twelve with a reminder about how Christians are to relate to others
both those inside and outside the household of faith. Now in chapter thirteen he turns his
attention to how believers should relate to civil government.
Matthew relates
(22:15-22) how the Pharisees once tried to trap Jesus over the issue of paying of taxes to
the Romans. A delegation was sent to Jesus with the order to flatter Him and then trap him
with the question (22:17)."Tell
us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes (poll-tax) to Caesar, or
not?" The question was really quite clever. If Jesus answered no he would be
branded a traitor to Caesar. If he said yes he would be called anti-patriotic, and his
ministry would be discredited. His enemies were sure they had him. But instead Jesus saw
through their attempt and he answered, (22:18-19) “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? (19) Show me the
tax money (the coin used to pay the tax).”
A hush came over the crowd as Jesus held the coin
for all to see. Then he asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this? (21) They said
“Caesar’s,” And He said to them, ‘Render therefore, to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”
(Matthew 22:19-21).
It was a brilliant
answer, and all his critics could do was walk away shaking their heads in wonder. With
this single sentence our Lord established the validity of human government
The
Reasons for Obeying Human Government (13:1-2)
“Let every soul be
subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the
authorities that exist are appointed by God. (2) Therefore
whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will
bring judgment on themselves.”
Paul begins this section with an amazing
command. “Let every soul be
subject to the governing authorities.” The word "every" is the word (pas). It that this applies to means each and
everyone with out exception. When Paul wrote this letter the government
which was in power in that day was the Roman government, a government which at times was
both harsh and repressive. Paul gives very practical directions about how to live under an
unfriendly government.
Peter writes pretty
much the same thing when he said, 1 Peter
2:13-17, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s
sake, whether to the king as supreme, (14) or to governors, as to
those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. (15) For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men— (16) as free, yet not
using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. (17)
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood.
Fear God. Honor the king.”
The first reason given for obeying human
government is that it derives its authority
from God. The word “appointed” (NKJV) is “ordained”
in (KJV).
Because all human
government receives it authority from God, disobedience to governmental authority is
disobedience to God.
Kent Hughes says, “Taken by itself, without any other Scriptural illumination,
this statement can be wrongly illumination, this statement can be wrongly interpreted to
teach blind devotion to the state regardless of what it commands. Indeed this is how some
Christians interpreted it in Nazi Germany despite Germany’s treatment of the Jews.
However, as we consider Christ statement and parallel Scriptures, we see that Christian’s
obedience to the state is always conditional, and sometimes disobedience is a duty.” [R. Kent Hughes. Romans: Righteousness From
Heaven. (Wheaton: Ill.: Crossway Books, 1991) p. 240]
Dr. Charles Ryrie, a professor who served at Dallas
Theological Seminary, had this to say about civil disobedience. “When
civil law and God’s law are in opposition, the Bible obligates Christians to protest
or disobey. But when a Christian feels he should disobey his government, he must be sure
it is not because the government has denied him his person rights, but because it has
denied him God’s rights.”
So when is it right to be disobedient to civil authority?
(1) When a Christian is asked to violate a command
of God. (2) When a Christian is asked to commit an immoral
or unethical act. Or (3) When a
Christian is asked to go against his Christian conscience.
[Hughes. p. 242]
Again the response of the Christians in Germany to Nazi
rule comes to mind. The Christian response varied. Some did nothing but when “it
became clear that the Nazis were pursuing their terrible racist policies, Pastor Martin
Niemoller continued to preach the truth and as a result was thrown into prison. The
prison chaplain upon visiting Niemoller asked somewhat foolishly, “What brings you
here? Why are you in prison?” To which Niemoller replied angrily, “And, brother,
why are you not in prison?” [Hughes. p. 246]
The Role of Human Government (13: 3-4)
“For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the
authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. (4)
For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does
not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (5)
Therefore you must be subject, not only
because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.”
These two verses outline three practical
functions that human government is to serve.
· Protect
the Community (v. 3a)
“For
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.”
· Promote
Good
(vv. 3b-4a)
“Do
you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from
the same. (4) For he is God’s minister to you for good.”
· Punish
Criminals (v. 4b)
“But
if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s
minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
This right of government to punish crime is up
to and including capital punish-ment
(Genesis 9:6).
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his
blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.”
Every time a prisoner on death-row is executed in the
United States you can be certain that people protesting the death penalty will be holding
a vigil outside the prison. Some if not most of these individuals will claim to be
Christians and claim to be making their protest based on the Bible. The text they always
use to protest capital punishment is one of the Ten Command-ments, the Sixth Commandment
which says, “You shall not kill” (Ex 20:13).
The question is, “what does that mean?”
Does the Sixth Commandment say you can’t execute a criminal who’s killed another
person? Some people think the Sixth Commandment it means you can’t kill a fish and
eat it, and they don’t. Some think the Sixth Commandment says you can’t kill a
mosquito if it lands on you. They take it that literally. Some of them take the Sixth
Commandment to mean you can’t go into battle for your country and kill the enemy. But
in reality the Sixth Commandment says, “You
shall not commit murder.” There’s another word in Hebrew for general
killing, and it’s not that. While murder is wrong,
execution for the taking of another’s
life, by the state (government) is justified.
According to verse five there are two
good reasons to obey the government. “Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath
but also for conscience’ sake.”
(1) The possibility of punishment. Let give you an example of what
I mean. You are driving along the highway (just a little bit over the speed limit) and you
see a state trooper or a policeman parked alongside the road, what do you do? Your
immediate reaction is to take you foot off the accelerator and put it on the brake (even
if you are not exceeding the speed limit). Why do we do that? Because we don’t want
to get a ticket. You don’t want to have to pay a fine. That is the external reason to
obey the law.
(2) In order to maintain a clear conscience.
The point is that when we are choose to break the law,
we are constantly looking over our shoulder, afraid that we will be caught, we are the
possessors of a guilty conscience.
The Rights
of Human Government
“For because of this you also
pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. (7) Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom
fear, honor to whom honor.”
Human government has the right to expect
certain things from its citizens.
First, it has the right to expect monetary support (i.e. taxes). Two kinds of
taxes are mentioned in the text; (1) taxes
(v. 7) (rendered “tribute” in KJV). The word for "tax" is (phoros).
That was an income, personal income and personal property tax and customs – sales taxes. (2) The
second is
Dr Wayne Barber brings home
just how heavy the tax base was upon the Jews.
When God established the nation of Israel He established six taxes upon the people. The principle is that if they are going to enjoy the privilege, then they are going to have to be a part of the responsibility to support what they had. So therefore God set it in order.
The first three taxes were tithes that when totaled amounted to about 24% of their income. The first tax was to be a tenth of their income. It was to support the priests who were of the tribe of Levi. (Leviticus 27:30)
The second tax
that He put on the people, also in the form of a tithe, was what they called the annual
festival tithe, which was to support the tabernacle and the temple.
The third tax was also a tithe, but it was only taken
up once every three years so it amounted to about 3.3% of their income. (Deuteronomy
14:29) It was a welfare tax to take care of the widows and orphans.
The fourth tax
was used to support the tabernacle and the temple. It was levied on every Jewish male who
was 20 years old or older (Exodus 30:14).
The fifth tax was levied after every growing season. They had to leave some of their crops unharvested so that the poor and the needy could come by and get the crops from the land. (Leviticus 19:10)
The sixth tax that God put upon the people was in the form of a sabbatical year. Every seventh year they had to let the land lay fallow for a year. That seventh year they couldn’t plant. They couldn’t harvest. If any crops came up, that was for the poor. If anything was left over of those crops that came up even though they hadn’t planted, then they would use that for food for the livestock.
So there were
six taxes, and when you put them all together they came up to about 24%. [Dr. Wayne A. Barber.
Secondly, they have the right to expect moral support “honor”
(v. 7b).
Thirdly, they have the right to expect spiritual (prayer) support. In 1 Tim 2:1-3 Paul wrote, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, (2) for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”