Romans 13:1-7 | Authority (pt 3)
What a tidal wave of evil would break over the world if there were no civil authorities for restraint—even bad civil authorities.
Since the civil magistrate is “God’s servant,” that clearly implies a responsibility to operate under God’s moral order. A servant is not free to do whatever he or she wishes.
Paul is probably writing to be read by government officials as well as by the church in Rome. In other words, he knows that this letter will find its way into Caesar’s household and into the hands of the civil authorities. He wants them to understand two truths. One is that Christians are not out to overthrow the empire politically by claiming Jesus, and not Caesar, is Lord. Christians submit to laws and pay taxes and show respect and do good in the community. Leave us alone. We are not revolutionaries against your throne.
there is such a thing as good and bad, right and wrong. These are objective realities defined by God, not by government and not by vote. They are what I call the moral law. Paul means that governments should reward what is good and right and should punish what is bad and wrong. The moral law is beneath and above the governing authorities because God is beneath and above the governing authorities.
you have examples of believers submitting to and supporting civil authorities that disobeyed God’s word and often punished the good. Two examples are Joseph (who was a kind of prime minister of Egypt) and Jeremiah (who counseled Judah to surrender and cede power to a cruel, pagan Babylonian civil power—
it’s important to note that no human authority is given all of God’s authority. Each leader is given very limited authority, clearly defined by God in the Bible. No leader has the authority to ask another person to sin. Therefore, if you are asked to sin, you should respectfully refuse to submit.
This was civil disobedience on the basis of religious conscience. And for it they were thrown into the furnace. And they did not resist.
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house, where he had windows in his upper chamber—upper chamber!—opened toward Jerusalem. And he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously. This was an open act of disobedience to the civil authority. It was a public act of putting God before the king’s decree. He took his place at an upper window, so he could be clearly seen. And for it he was thrown to the lions. Which he did not resist. Keep in mind that there is no explicit commandment that one must pray on one’s knees at an open window three times a day. This was Daniel’s conviction about God’s will, not an explicit command in the Bible.
There are at least three features of Esther’s disobedience that stand out: 1) The law Esther broke did not require any active evil of her. It only stood in the way of trying to save the Jews. 2) There was no guarantee that her disobedience would be successful. It might have only galvanized the king’s opposition to the Jews. She risked it because so much was at stake. 3) Her act of disobedience to the state is not incidental to the main point of the book. It is the heart of her sacrificial faith: “If I perish, I perish!”
the Bible gives a very clear basis for civil disobedience; namely, if the state commands what God forbids, or if the state forbids what God commands, then civil disobedience is a Christian duty.
In an era when respect for authority is at low ebb, it is necessary to point out that Christians must be very careful to ensure that any act of civil disobedience is a matter of conscience inspired by divine principle, because there is an unfortunate tendency for Peter’s dictum to be applied in a manner far removed from the original intent.
Don’t act merely out of concern for your own private benefit, your clothes, your convenience, your possessions, your safety.
Instead, by trusting Christ, become the kind of person who is utterly free from these things to live for others (both the oppressed and the oppressors; both the persecuted and the persecutors; both the dying children and the killing abortionists). The tone and demeanor of this Christian civil disobedience will be the opposite of strident, belligerent, rock-throwing, screaming, swearing, violent demonstrations.
We are people of the cross. Our Lord submitted to crucifixion willingly to save his enemies.
Paul writes in such absolutes (“Be subject to the governing authorities.” “Do what is good, and you will receive his approval.” “He carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”) is that he is more concerned with our humility and self-denial and trust in Christ, than he is about our civil liberties. In other words, Paul risked being misunderstood on the side of submission because he saw pride as a greater danger to Christians than government injustice. I cannot imagine Paul writing this way if Paul thought that the ultimate thing was being treated fairly by the government. But I can imagine him writing this way if faith and humility and self-denial and readiness to suffer for Christ is the main thing.
in Paul’s mind, faith and humility and self-denial are vastly more important for the Christian than that we be treated well by the government. And the reason is this: Being persecuted unjustly is not the reason anyone goes to hell. But being unbelieving and arrogant and self-indulgent is why most people go to hell. Jesus never promised his people a fair fight. He promised them the opposite: if they treated the master of the house like the devil, how much worse will they treat you. The main issue is not being treated justly in this world by civil authorities. The main issue is trusting Christ, being humble and denying ourselves for the glory of Christ and the good of others.
We can therefore identify three ways in which Christians are to live with regard to their state:
Submitting (
Submitting in a respectful, honoring manner (v 7). This simply means that we are not only to comply with civil authorities, but to do so in a way that shows them respect, honor, and courtesy. This is the same issue we face in the family and the church. We are to treat parents, ministers, and civil magistrates with deference. Even when the individuals in these positions are not worthy of much respect, we show respect to the authority structure that stands under and behind them.
