Romans 13:1 - Meaning and Application

We are taught here how to behave toward magistrates and others in authority over us. They are called the higher powers, which points both to their authority and to their rank. This includes the king as the highest ruler, along with all lower magistrates under him. Yet Paul does not speak mainly about the people themselves, but about the office of power they hold.

Even when the people in office are wicked, those “vile persons” whom the citizen of Zion despises (Psalm 15:4), the lawful authority they hold must still be respected and obeyed. In the previous chapter, the apostle taught us not to take revenge or repay evil with evil. He now makes sure no one thinks that Christian teaching cancels civil government or the punishment of wrongdoing. In fact, civil authority and the proper punishment of evildoers still matter, even if that looks, in a sense, like repaying evil for evil.

The duty commanded is this: let every soul be subject. Every soul means every person, one and all, including the clergy, who call themselves spiritual persons. The Church of Rome claimed such people should be exempt from civil rule, and even placed them above it, so that the greatest princes were made subject to the pope, who exalted himself above all that is called God.

Every soul does not mean our consciences are to be controlled by any human ruler. Only God has the right to make laws that bind the conscience directly. We must give to God the things that are God’s. But this command does mean that our submission should be free, willing, sincere, and heartfelt. “Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts” (Ecclesiastes 10:20). Plotting and imagining rebellion is already treason in its beginning.

This inward submission includes inward honor (1 Peter 2:17) and outward respect, both in speaking to rulers and in speaking about them. It includes obeying their lawful commands, and when commands are not lawful or honest, patiently accepting the penalty rather than resisting. It means shaping our minds to our place as subjects, and accepting the fact of our inferiority and subordination. They are higher powers, so be content that they are higher powers, and submit accordingly.

There was good reason for pressing this duty. First, Christianity was being slandered in the world as an enemy of peace, order, and government. It was accused of turning the world upside down, and its followers were treated as enemies of Caesar, especially because many leaders were Galileans, an old slander. Jerusalem itself was described as a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces (Ezra 4:15-16). Our Lord Jesus was spoken against in the same way, even though he said his kingdom was not of this world. So it is no surprise that his followers have been burdened in every age with the same false charges and called factious, seditious, and turbulent. Their enemies used such reports to excuse their cruelty against them.

Paul therefore shows, to clear Christianity of this charge, that obedience to civil rulers is one of Christ’s laws. Christ’s religion helps make people good citizens. It was very unfair to blame Christianity for rebellion, when its own principles and commands are directly against it.

Second, Christians also faced a real temptation in this area. Some of them were Jews by birth, and many of them had been taught to think it improper for anyone from Abraham’s family to be subject to someone of another nation, since their king was supposed to be from among their brothers (Deuteronomy 17:15). On top of that, Paul had taught them that they were not under the law and had been made free by Christ. To keep that freedom from being twisted into lawlessness, and from being used to excuse faction or rebellion, the apostle strongly commands obedience to civil government.

This was even more necessary because the rulers at that time were heathens and unbelievers, though that did not remove their civil authority. In addition, these civil powers were also persecuting powers, and the law itself stood against the Christians. So Paul presses obedience all the more.

The reasons for this duty are these. First, we must be subject because of wrath, that is, because of the danger we bring on ourselves by resisting. Magistrates bear the sword, and to oppose them is to risk everything dear to us in this world. It is useless to fight against one who has the sword. The Christians in those persecuting times were already exposed to the magistrate’s sword because of their faith, and they did not need to make themselves even more exposed by rebellion.

Even the smallest sign of resistance or sedition in a Christian would quickly be magnified and used against the whole church. So they had more reason than others to be careful in their submission, so that those who already had much against them in matters of religion would have no further cause. This is what Paul means when he says, “Those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:2). They will be called to account for it. God will judge them, because resisting authority reflects against him. The rulers will also judge them. They will come under the power of the law, and civil governments are rightly strict against treason and rebellion. That is why Paul adds, “Rulers are a terror” (Romans 13:3). This is a sound argument, though it is a low one for a Christian.

We must also be subject, not only because of wrath, but for conscience’ sake. Not mainly from fear of punishment, but from love of what is right. This is what makes ordinary civil duties pleasing to God, when they are done for conscience’ sake, with attention to God, his providence placing us in these relations, and his command making submission our duty in them. The same outward act can come from very different motives.

To bind the conscience to this submission, Paul argues from the institution of magistracy. “There is no power except from God.” God, as ruler and governor of the world, has appointed civil government. So all civil authority comes from him as its source, and by his providence he places the administration of power into whatever hands hold it. “By me kings reign” (Proverbs 8:15). The usurpation of power and the abuse of power are not from God, because he is not the author of sin. But the power itself is from him. Just as our natural powers are from God’s creating power, even though they are often abused and used for sin, so civil powers are from God’s governing power.

The most unjust and oppressive rulers in the world have no power except what is given them from above (John 19:11). In a special way, God’s providence is at work in the changes and revolutions of governments, since these affect whole nations, as well as many smaller groups and individuals. Paul may also mean government in general. It shows God’s wisdom, power, and goodness that he has ordered human life so that there are rulers and those ruled, instead of leaving people like fish in the sea, where the bigger ones eat the smaller ones. God arranged this for the good of his creatures.

“The powers that be” means whatever form government takes, whether monarchy, rule by a king, aristocracy, rule by nobles, or democracy, rule by the people. Wherever ruling power is placed, it is God’s ordinance, and people should receive it and submit to it. It is immediately an ordinance of human government (1 Peter 2:13), yet it comes from God in the first place. The phrase “ordained of God” uses a military word, meaning not only that rulers are appointed, but that lesser officials are placed under higher ones, like ranks in an army. Among rulers there are different gifts, duties, and responsibilities.

So Paul says in Romans 13:2 that anyone who resists authority resists God’s ordinance. Some things from God are great hardships, but magistracy, or civil government, is from God as an ordinance, meaning it is both a great law and a great blessing. Those who will not bear the yoke of government break a law and despise a blessing. That is why magistrates are called gods (Psalm 82:6), because they carry the image of God’s authority. People who scorn their power are really treating God with contempt.

This does not settle the special rights of kings and kingdoms, or the details of how governments should be formed. It does not give a fixed rule for original contracts between rulers and the people. Paul is giving direction to private persons, telling them to live quietly and peacefully in the place where God has set them, with proper respect for the civil authorities over them (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Magistrates are called God’s ministers again and again here. “He is the minister of God” (Romans 13:4, Romans 13:6). Civil rulers are God’s servants in a special sense. Their high position calls for faithful duty. Though they are lords over us, they are servants to God, doing work for him and answering to him. They serve God when they uphold public justice, settle disputes, protect the innocent, defend the wronged, punish offenders, and preserve peace and order so that people do not simply do what seems right in their own eyes.

In the same way that killing a lower magistrate while he is doing his duty is treated as treason against the prince, resisting any magistrate while he carries out these duties is resisting God’s ordinance. Rulers are not meant to be a terror to good works, but to evil. Magistracy was designed, first of all, to frighten evil works and evil workers. They bear the sword, not only the sword of war, but the sword of justice. They are meant to restrain wrongdoing and put offenders to shame. Laish needed such protection (Judges 18:7).

Sin and human corruption are so strong that many people will not be kept from serious crimes, or from things that harm society most, by fear of God’s law or of future judgment. Often only the fear of present punishment restrains them. That is why laws with penalties for lawless and disobedient people (1 Timothy 1:9) are necessary in Christian nations. They fit the gospel and do not oppose it. When people have become like wild beasts toward one another, they must be dealt with that way, taken and punished to warn others. The horse and mule must be held in with bit and bridle. In this work the magistrate is God’s minister (Romans 13:4).

He acts as God’s agent, since vengeance belongs to God. For that reason, rulers must be careful not to let personal grudges slip into their judgments. They are to execute wrath on the one who does evil. Even the best and most careful courts only give a faint picture of the judgment of the great day, and they fall far short of God’s judgment. Human justice reaches only outward evil acts. God’s judgment reaches the thoughts as well and sees the intentions of the heart.

He “does not bear the sword in vain.” God did not place such power in the ruler’s hand for nothing. It is meant to restrain and suppress disorder. So if you do evil, and your actions come under civil judgment, you should be afraid, because civil rulers can see quickly and act widely. It is a good thing when the punishment of criminals is carried out as God’s ordinance, appointed by him. As a holy God, he hates sin, and public punishment gives a public witness against it. As King of nations and the God of peace and order, he preserves those things through civil justice. As the protector of the good, he uses it to guard people, families, property, and reputation. And as one who does not desire sinners’ eternal ruin, he warns others through the punishment of some, so that people may hear and fear and not keep doing the same evil.

Even punishment can be a kindness to the punished, if through the destruction of the flesh the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Magistracy is also meant to be a praise to those who do well. Those who keep to their duty should receive the approval and protection of civil powers, which brings them honor and comfort. “Do what is good” (Romans 13:3), and you do not need to fear authority, since it only truly reaches those who make themselves subject to it by their own sin. Fire burns only what can burn. You may even receive praise from it.

That is the purpose of magistracy, and for conscience’ sake we should submit to it, since it is set up for the public good, to which private interests must yield. It is sad, though, when this good purpose is turned aside, and those who bear the sword become a terror to those who do well, while they favor and excuse sin.

But that is how it is when the worst people are lifted up (Psalm 12:1, 12:8). Even then, common protection and a visible rule of law are such great benefits that our duty is to submit, even if we suffer for doing right, and to bear it patiently. We should not try to fix the problem by reckless or disorderly action.

No sovereign prince ever twisted the purpose of government as badly as Nero, yet Paul still appealed to him. Under Nero, Paul more than once received protection from the law and from lower officials. A bad government is better than no government at all.

3. From our own interest in government: "He is God's servant for your good." You gain protection and other benefits from civil rule, so you should do what you can to preserve it and nothing to weaken it. Protection creates loyalty. If we receive protection from government, we owe it obedience. By supporting government, we help preserve the shelter that guards us.

This obedience is also shown by the taxes we pay (Romans 13:6): "For this reason pay taxes." We give them as a sign that we submit and as an honest admission that they are owed in conscience. By paying taxes, you share in supporting the government. If you refuse to obey, you are tearing down with one hand what you help uphold with the other. How can that be right in conscience?

By paying taxes, you not only acknowledge the magistrate's authority, but also the blessing that authority brings to you. In this way, you show that you understand the value of government and give the ruler what is due for the heavy work he carries. Honor is a burden. If he rules as he should, he is always busy with this very task, and it takes up much thought and time. For that reason, we pay taxes and must be subject.

Paul says, "pay taxes" (phorous teleite). He does not say you give them as charity, but that you pay them as a fair debt. In a sense, you are lending them, and they are repaid to you in the blessings and benefits of public government, which you enjoy. This is the lesson the apostle teaches. All Christians should learn it and live it out, so that the godly people in the land may be known, whatever others are like, as the quiet and peaceable ones.