Romans 13.6-The Christian Pays Taxes To Governmental Authorities Because They Are God's Public Servants, Dedicated To This Very Thing
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday January 13, 2010
Romans: Romans 13:6-The Christian Pays Taxes To Governmental Authorities Because They Are God’s Public Servants, Dedicated To This Very Thing
Lesson # 441
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13:1.
This evening we will study Romans 13:6, which advances upon the statement in verse 5 and intensifies it emphasizing with Paul’s readers in Rome that they pay taxes to the governmental authorities because they are God’s public servants who are dedicated to this very thing.
Romans 13:1, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
Romans 13:2, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”
Romans 13:3, “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same.”
Romans 13:4, “For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
Romans 13:5, “Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.”
Romans 13:6, “For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.”
Paul’s statement in verse 6 advances upon his statement in verse 5 and intensifies it.
“Because of this” presents the reason for the statement in verse 5 and is relating the Roman believers’ conscientious subjection to the governmental authorities in Rome mentioned in verse 5 with their paying taxes to these authorities.
Paul is teaching the Roman believers that they pay taxes to the Roman governmental authorities because of their knowledge that they, like all human government, were established by God and are His servants to encourage good conduct and discourage evil conduct.
They also pay taxes because of their knowledge that it is God’s will that they subject themselves to the governmental authorities.
Paul’s statement in verse 6 is teaching the Roman believers that their paying taxes to the government is an implicit recognition of the authority and power over them that was delegated to them by God.
“You pay taxes” is composed the second person plural present active indicative form of the verb teleo (televw) (ta-lay-o), “you pay” and the accusative masculine plural form of the noun phoros (fovro$) (foe-roce), “taxes.”
The noun phoros appears fives times in the Greek New Testament (Luke 20:22; 23:2; Romans 13:6, 7 twice).
In Romans 13:6, the noun phoros is in the plural and means “taxes” referring to the direct tax which was received by the Roman government from its citizens and those nations that were subjected to it for services rendered.
The other type of tax was an indirect tax called telos, “custom” that appears in verse 7 and refers to the taxes that were levied at ports of entry such as bridges, crossroads and places of commerce on the transport and sale of goods.
The Roman government in New Testament times collected a variety of indirect taxes and tolls from the provinces through members of the local populations.
One became a tax collector by bidding against others to guarantee the highest amount of money to the tax farmers (the true publicani) who were directly responsible to the Roman government.
Under this arrangement, there was the opportunity for corruption at several levels where individuals inflated taxes and tolls for personal profit.
Paul is echoing the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ that is recorded in Luke 20:19-26.
It is important for Christians to understand that they are still to pay their taxes to the government even if they think their money is not being used wisely by the government.
Governmental leaders are accountable to God and will have to give an account as to how they used their citizen’s tax money.
They have a stewardship for which they are accountable to God just as parents have one as well as pastors and employers.
In Paul’s day, the Roman Empire did not always use tax money for godly purposes, yet he commanded believers to obey the government and pay their taxes.
“Also” is the “ascensive” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which introduces a statement that emphatically expounds upon the statement in Romans 13:5 and introduces an accessory idea and denotes that what is to follow, as an addition to the previous statement, is out of the ordinary or unexpected.
Paul is teaching that not only is the Roman believers’ continued voluntary subjection of themselves to the Roman governmental authorities absolutely imperative because of their conscience but it manifests itself “even” through their paying taxes to these authorities.
This was out of the ordinary from the perspective of Paul’s Christian readers in Rome since paying taxes under the Roman system was very unpopular since taxation in the Roman Empire in Paul’s day was in most instances heavy, severe and unjust and filled with corruption.
Romans 13:6, “For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.”
“For rulers are servants of God” indicates that the Roman Christians pay taxes to the Roman governmental authorities because they are God’s servants.
“Servants of God” is composed of the nominative masculine plural form of the noun leitourgos (leitourgov$) (lay-torg-oce), “servants” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$) (thay-oce), “of God.”
In Romans 13:6, leitourgos denotes that the Roman governmental authorities have been commissioned by God to not only to serve Him but also those who are under their authority, which has been delegated to them by God.
It describes the Roman governmental authorities and all those in human government as “public servants.”
Paul does not use diakonos as he does in Romans 13:4 to describe the governmental authorities’ relationship to God and His plan for the entire human race.
Rather, he uses leitourgos, which in the ancient world described doing a service of special importance, thus it describes one who is highly respected and honored by his fellow citizens.
It is a word that emphasizes a service that is performed not only on behalf of God but also for one’s fellow human beings.
Therefore, in Romans 13:6, the word has a double sense in that it describes the Roman governmental authorities as servants of God and the public, i.e. those whom they exercise power and authority over.
“Devoting themselves” is the nominative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb proskartereo (proskarterevw) (pros-kar-ta-ray-o), which means “to be dedicated to” being God’s commissioned public servant.
To be dedicated to something or someone means to be set apart to God for His purpose and means to be devoted wholly and earnestly for God’s purpose.
“To this very thing” refers to this previous causal clause indicating that the Roman governmental authorities are dedicated and devoted to their function of being God’s commissioned public servants whether they are aware of this or not.
So Paul is teaching here in Romans 13:6 that whether they are aware of it or not, those who hold positions in government are commissioned by the Father to serve Him by governing members of the human race assigned to them by the Father.
This prepositional phrase has been variously interpreted as referring to the promotion of good conduct and the discouragement and punishment of evil conduct referred to in verses 3-4 or the collecting of taxes mentioned in verse 6 or servanthood itself.
It does not refer to the collection of taxes since governmental authorities are not continually devoted this activity but rather their function as taught by Paul in verses 3-4 is to discourage and punish evil conduct and encourage and reward good conduct.
It does not refer to the discouragement and punishment of evil conduct and the encouragement and rewarding of good conduct because the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos, “this” is pointing to something in the immediate context, which verses 3-4 does not constitute.
Therefore, the prepositional phrase eis auto touto, “to this very purpose” refers to this previous causal clause indicating that the Roman governmental authorities are continually dedicated and devoted to their function of being God’s commissioned public servants whether they are aware of this or not.
So Paul is teaching here in Romans 13:6 that whether they are aware of it or not, those who hold positions in government are commissioned by the Father to serve Him by governing members of the human race assigned to them by the Father.
He is teaching in this passage that the institution of human government is a manifestation of God’s sovereign rule over human beings and functions as His servant to carry out His purpose of protecting and sustaining and blessing the human race.
