Romans 13:1-7 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities..."

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due” (Romans 13:1-7).

Comment:

Paul is writing to the fledgling Christian church in Rome, presenting his “credentials” in anticipation of traveling there in the near future. (He is writing from Jerusalem.) He did not found this group—as he did so many others in Greece and Asia Minor—so he wants to offer them a clear statement of the message of Jesus Christ as he (Paul) understands it. Since this group is at the very center of political power—the city of Rome—the question of relations between individual believers and the government would be of great importance to them. Paul carefully chooses to see and affirm the Roman state as just and beneficent, expressing God's will and maintaining divine order. The many early Christians being tortured and executed by the empire might see things differently—and, indeed, Paul himself will soon be under arrest in Rome. The point is, I think, that he is here describing an ideal situation, in which human governments exist to express and carry out our collective spiritual purpose. Are there times when governments are out of alignment with that spiritual role, just as we individuals are sometimes out of alignment with our innate Christ guidance? Of course. Are there instances when our spiritual guidance leads us to turn away from one government and allow another to express through us? Yes. After all, there wouldn't be a United States of America otherwise. What's important is that the only effective measure—for ourselves and for governments we create and accept—is whether we, and those governments, are in alignment with our spiritual nature and purpose.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed