1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
One of the most striking things about this passage is what Paul does not say. His admonitions are absolutes, and the government he describes is morally upright. He does not address the question of “What if rulers do evil?”
It is also striking that Paul uses two different words for government: “powers” and “rulers.” The word translated “power” in these verses is a Greek word that means “authority.” The word translated “ruler” means a person who rules. Paul says that each of us is to be subject to the higher authorities because all existing authorities have been put into place by God. Thus, if a person stands in opposition to an authority, they stand in opposition against an ordinance of God and will receive judgment (the word translated “damnation” means “judgment”).
Yet, God commended Moses’ parents because “they were not afraid of the king's commandment” (Hebrews 11:23). God protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they refused to worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had made, and He protected Daniel when he refused to stop praying to God for 30 days, as Darius had commanded (Daniel, chapters 3 and 6). The apostles Peter and John refused to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus, though the Jewish rulers told them to stop (Acts 4:18-21). During the future period of Tribulation, God will condemn forever anyone who submits to the false Messiah by accepting his mark on their hand or forehead (Revelation 14:9-11). Paul also clearly displeased rulers in his ministry. In II Corinthians 11:31-32, he said, “In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.” When the Pharisees told Jesus that He should flee from Herod, Jesus said, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected” (Luke 13:32).
It seems that Paul is making a difference between an “authority” and a “ruler.” Human government and the places of authority in human government are instituted by God. Those places of authority are established by Him for the praise of people who do good and for the exercising of wrath against people who do evil. Thus, the place of authority is always good and is to be submitted to. The individual rulers who occupy those places of authority, however, may themselves be good or may be evil. A ruler who praises those who do evil and exercises wrath against those who do good is an evil ruler. In the future, the Antichrist will be such a ruler.
That this difference exists in Paul’s words also seems clear from events in history. In different places and times in history there have been violent overthrows of existing rulers. If “ruler” and “authority” mean the same thing, then the person who deposed the ruler was opposing an appointee of God. But, when that same rebel leader sat on the throne of the person he deposed, he thus became the appointee of God. Clearly, there seems to be a difference between an “authority” and a “ruler.” An “authority” is an office of government. A “ruler” is a person who holds that office.
Peter made this difference when he said, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (I Peter 4:14-16). Human government is a good thing and is established by God. We are to submit to it and support it. Paul himself declared the legitimacy of the office of the Caesar by appealing his own case to Caesar (Acts 25:9-12). Individual rulers, however, may call evil good, and good evil; they may put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Isaiah spoke of such men in Isaiah 5:20. We must maintain godly respect for their office but set ourselves against their sin.
Because we have respect for the offices of government, we should faithfully pay our taxes. Every ruler is to use those monies to fulfill his duty to praise those who do good and to exercise wrath against those who do evil.
So why does Paul not address the question of “What if rulers do evil?” Indirectly, he does, by specifying the right function of every ruler. Also, by not speaking of error in government, he admonishes the believers in Rome that nothing worthy of judgment should be found in us.
8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
In the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, He said, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). The debts that He spoke of are moral debts, such as are incurred when one person commits adultery, murder, theft, perjury, or coveting against another person. In verse 8, Paul continues his reference to debts (“dues”) in verse 7 by saying that we should owe no one anything. Just as we should not fail to pay a debt of tax or respect to governmental authorities, we should not be responsible for a breach of morality against anyone. The one ongoing debt that rightly pertains to every believer is the responsibility to love one another. Since Paul says, “one another,” rather than “others,” we understand that he is talking about the love to be present among believers. His reference in verses 9-10 to our “neighbor” both completes his argument that love incurs no moral debts and restates his admonition that we have no such debts toward anyone.
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). Though He, God’s Light, was present in the world, most people did not come to that Light because they preferred darkness (John 3:19-21). Similarly, at God’s creation of the universe, He separated the light that He had spoken into our world from the darkness and called the light “day” and the darkness “night” (Genesis 1:4-5). He did this even before He created the sun and moon. Even so, those who refuse what God calls “day” remain in spiritual night. When Jesus returns, the Sun of righteousness will arise (Malachi 4:2), and God’s Light will no more be refused. But today, our world remains in the time of spiritual night.
In I Thessalonians 5:5, Paul said, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Paul explained this in Colossians 1:13, when he said that God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
In Romans 13, Paul exhorts the believers in Rome to get up out of sleep because the time of our salvation is constantly growing nearer. He was talking about the salvation which he described in 8:23: “...we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” We will receive a new body that is free from sin and the effects of sin. Spiritual night has been the home of most of the population of planet earth for a long time, but the time is near for Christ’s return to judge and to reign as King in perfect righteousness. Like the believers in Rome, we need to put away the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. Paul said the same thing to the Thessalonians: “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (I Thessalonians 5:8). The darkness of the world we live in wants us to join them in partying, getting drunk, having sex outside marriage, focusing on sensuality, being contentious and envying those who seem to be getting ahead.
Paul’s word in verse 14 sums up the lifestyle of a real Christian: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” This word contains a positive admonition and a negative one. The positive admonition is to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said the same thing to the Galatians when he wrote: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The negative admonition in verse 14 is to not live a double life; that is, not to wear Christ part of the time while holding back part of the time for things we know are wrong. We can follow these admonitions only by dependence on the Spirit of God who indwells us.
We live in a world where night is 24 hours every day, but we are children of Light and of what God calls “Day.” John wrote to us, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (I John 2:28).
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.