17
Citizens of the World and Citizens of Heaven
Romans 13:1–14
Outline
- Submitting to the Governing Authorities (13:1–7)
- Fulfilling the Law through Love (13:8–10)
- Living in Light of the Day (13:11–14)
Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
- Explain what submitting to the governing authorities means.
- Explain why Christians need to submit to governing authorities.
- Explain how love for the neighbor fulfills the Old Testament law.
- Appreciate the time in which Christians live and how that time should affect the way we live.
In the world but not of the world” is a popular way of summarizing the Christian life. Though we live in this world, we are not to let the world squeeze us into its own mould (to echo J. B. Phillips’s paraphrase of Rom. 12:2). The temptation that most of us face is to let the values of the world around us influence us too strongly. But the opposite temptation also exists: to think that not being “of the world” requires us to withdraw from or to ignore this world. While God calls us to live his heavenly values in the midst of the world, we must also recognize that God has not abandoned this world. He continues to work in it by his common grace. To turn our backs on everything associated with this world might be to turn our backs on some things that God intends to use for our good.
Government is one of those things. Paul knows that his teaching about not being conformed to the world in 12:2 might be taken by some Christians as a call to renounce all the institutions of this world. We have evidence from elsewhere in the New Testament that some early Christians took just such an attitude, condemning, for instance, marriage (see 1 Tim. 4:3; cf. 1 Cor. 7). So one of the reasons that Paul brings up the need for Christians to submit to governing authorities is to squelch this antiworld extremism. But he has at least two other reasons for introducing this topic here. First, Rome at about the time Paul writes is rife with antitax fervor. Paul may be afraid that the Christians will join in this movement, and so he reminds them of their obligations to government and of the need to pay their taxes (see v. 7). Second, Paul has just encouraged believers to avoid taking vengeance, leaving these matters in the hands of the Lord (12:19). Government, he now teaches, is one means that God is using to right wrongs and to punish evil (13:3–4). Christians therefore need to recognize government as one part of this world that they should uphold. But, after a short passage on love and the law, Paul reminds us again of the other side of the matter, the need to avoid the world’s values and lifestyle (vv. 11–14).
Inscription of Romans 13:3 from Caesarea
Submitting to the Governing Authorities (13:1–7)
The point of this paragraph is clear enough: people are to “be subject” to the governing authorities (v. 1a, repeated in v. 5a [“submit”]). Paul provides two reasons why we should submit: God himself ordains the authorities (vv. 1b–2), and they have the right to punish people who do evil, or who do not submit (vv. 3–4). After repeating his basic command, Paul briefly touches on both these reasons again, in reverse (chiastic) order. We submit “because of possible punishment” (v. 5b; cf. vv. 3–4) and “as a matter of conscience” (v. 5c; cf. vv. 1b–2). Paul brings the teaching of the paragraph home with practical application: we must show our submission to government by paying our taxes (vv. 6–7).
A Be subject to government! (v. 1a)
B Because God ordains it (vv. 1b–2)
C And because government can punish you (vv. 3–4)
A' Submit to government! (v. 5a)
C' Because of fear of punishment (v. 5b)
B' And as a matter of conscience (v. 5c)
D Therefore: Pay your taxes! (vv. 6–7)
Two words in verse 1 are critical for our understanding of this passage: “submit” and “authorities.” “Authorities” translates a word (exousia) that Paul often uses elsewhere to denote spiritual powers (see 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 2:2; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:16; 2:10, 15). Thus, a few interpreters—most notably theologian Karl Barth—have thought that Paul here might be hinting at the spiritual beings that stand behind human rulers. We then should obey our earthly rulers, so this interpretation runs, only as long as they follow their spiritual counterparts in submitting to the rulership of Christ.1 Few interpreters today hold this view, and rightly so. While Paul can use the word exousia to refer to spiritual beings, we have no evidence that he does so here. He interchanges this word with others in this context that clearly refer to human rulers (e.g., archontes in v. 3). The “authorities,” then, are people who hold positions in human government—from the emperor or the president on down to the local bureaucrat.
Dais in the Roman Senate, a symbol of Roman authority
What does it mean to “submit” to these authorities? (The NIV “subject” in v. 1 and “submit” in v. 5 both translate the same Greek verb, hypotassō.) As it is used in the New Testament, this word usually commands Christians to recognize that they stand in a certain hierarchy to others. Christian wives are called on to submit to their husbands (Eph. 5:24; Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5; cf. 1 Cor. 14:35), Christian slaves to their masters (Titus 2:9; cf. Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22), Christian prophets to other prophets (1 Cor. 14:32), Christians in general to their spiritual leaders (1 Cor. 16:16), and Christians in general to one another (Eph. 5:21 [5:22–6:9 explains]). In each case, the believer is to recognize his or her need to stand under someone else. When applied to rulers, then (as here and in Titus 3:1), “submit” means to recognize that a hierarchy exists and that we stand under the rulers in that hierarchy. Normally, therefore, submission to the authorities means that we obey what they say. In all of Paul’s hierarchical structures, however, the uppermost authority, though not always mentioned, is God. He stands at the top of all our hierarchies. What this means is that we must always submit to those over us in light of our ultimate submission to God. In certain cases, this might mean that we will disobey the authority immediately over us (a master, a husband, a ruler) in order to obey our ultimate authority. Paul, of course, does not spell this out in this paragraph. His concern is with our submission, and he plainly expects that our submission will normally entail obedience. We are justified, however, in the light of the teaching of Scripture elsewhere (e.g., Acts 5:29; Revelation), to think that Paul would allow exceptions to his demand for obedience when the ruler insists that we do something contrary to the will of God.
Paul’s first, and primary, reason for insisting that we submit to governing authorities is that God himself has appointed the authorities. God’s role in raising up human rulers and casting them down again is taught throughout Scripture (e.g., Dan. 4:17 [cf. 4:25, 32; 5:21]; 2 Sam. 12:8; Jer. 27:5–6; Prov. 8:15–16; Isa. 41:2–4; 45:1–7). Paul allows no exceptions: “there is no authority except that which God has established” (Rom. 13:1). Our consciences, then, or our consciousness of God, require us to submit to those whom God has appointed (v. 5). But there is another reason why we should submit. God has appointed rulers to carry out a definite purpose. They are to reward people who do good and punish people who do wrong (v. 3). God uses governing authorities as “agents of wrath” to visit his judgment on people who rebel against him and do evil (v. 4). Christians therefore also should submit to rulers in order to avoid the punishment they would rightly deserve if they disobeyed. Again, as we read these verses we wonder about exceptions. Paul talks about rulers rewarding good and punishing evil. But suppose we find ourselves under rulers who reward evil and punish good. Suppose we find ourselves under a Hitler or a Stalin? Paul certainly was not so naive as to think such a situation would never occur. He knew his people’s history, and he served a Lord who had been crucified unjustly by the governing authorities. So perhaps we can legitimately infer that Paul would allow us to disobey rulers when they fail to carry out their divine mandate to reward good and punish evil. Nevertheless, we must be very careful not to go too far down this road. Many interpretations of Romans 13:1–7 end up being explanations of what the text does not mean rather than what it does mean. Paul does not even mention exceptions. His concern is to get us to recognize the place that governing authorities rightly have under God as those placed over us. That should be the focus of our reading and application.
As we noted, Paul may conclude by calling on us to pay taxes (vv. 6–7) because Rome at the time of Paul’s writing was wracked by antigovernment agitation over taxes (the Roman historian Tacitus mentions these disturbances [Annals 13]). But there might be another reason for Paul to bring up the subject of taxes. As we have seen in 12:9–21 particularly, Paul refers often in this context to the teaching of Jesus, and when Jesus taught about the disciples’ responsibility to government, he did so in the context of a debate about taxes (Matt. 22:15–22). In fact, some interpreters think that Paul might be alluding to Jesus’s teaching directly in verse 7 when he requires us to give “respect” to whom it is due, for “respect” translates phobos, “fear,” a word that often denotes the attitude we are to have toward God. Like Jesus, then, Paul might be calling on believers to “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s” (e.g., taxes; Matt. 22:21) and to render to God what is God’s (“fear” and honor).2 A direct allusion is not certain, resting, as it does, on a single word; dependence on the general teaching of Jesus is more likely.
Fulfilling the Law through Love (13:8–10)
Romans 13:1–7 is a bit of a detour in Paul’s outline of the transformed Christian life. The passage is not unimportant or irrelevant to the overall topic,3 but the general focus of 12:9–21 was Christian love, and 13:8–10 returns to this topic. The transition from verses 1–7 to verses 8–10 comes by means of the concept of “debt.” In verse 7, Paul urges us to “give to everyone what you owe them.” Now, in verse 8, he repeats the idea, “Let no debt remain outstanding.” But he then adds “except the continuing debt to love one another.” Our obligation to love one another is a debt that can never be repaid. It always remains outstanding. We can never love enough. God will always be bringing new people into our lives whom we are called to love, and there are those people we have known for a long time whom we are called to love in new ways as they go through the ups and downs of life. But the bulk of this short paragraph is devoted to the reason we should love one another: loving one another fulfills the law. Whatever commandments of the law one might want to name, they all are “summed up” in the command to love the neighbor as ourselves (v. 9, quoting Lev. 19:18). When we love the neighbor, we do no harm to him or her, and so love fulfills the law (v. 10).
But what, exactly, does Paul mean when he claims that loving others fulfills the law? The commandments that he cites in verse 9 reveal that he is thinking of—as he usually is when using the word “law” (nomos)—the law of Moses, the torah. Perhaps, then, he wants us to understand that we really have not obeyed the commandments of the Mosaic law until we add love to them. We can refrain from murdering someone, but our attitude toward that person might still be far from what God would want it to be. As Jesus has reminded us, we must go beyond the outward act and deal with the inner attitude. We should not only refuse to murder people but also cease to be angry with them (Matt. 5:21–22); indeed, we should love them (Matt. 5:44; cf. Rom. 12:14). So loving others might fulfill the law by filling it up to its ultimate meaning.4 But there is another option, one that might do more justice to Paul’s customary use of the language of “fulfillment.” In Paul’s writings, and in the New Testament generally, this language usually refers to a new situation or teaching brought about by Jesus in the new age of redemption. Thus, love’s fulfillment of the law could be a matter of the love command standing in place of the other Mosaic commandments. Jesus himself has singled out the love command as the essence of the law (along with, of course, love for God; cf. Matt. 22:34–40 and parallels). Perhaps what Jesus intended is that true obedience to the love command would make unnecessary all the other commandments about our relationships with other people. If we truly love our neighbors, then murdering them, stealing from them, committing adultery with their spouses, and so on are unthinkable. Paul may intend a similar idea. Love is the essence of the Christian ethic. It is so important, so fundamental, that it can take the place of all the other commandments in the law about our relationships with other human beings.5
Living in Light of the Day (13:11–14)
The last paragraph of chapter 13 takes us back to the very beginning of this section, 12:1–2. Both of these texts emphasize the nature of the time in which we live as a fundamental basis for our Christian obedience. These passages remind us that New Testament ethics is not simply a new moral code to be added to the list of other philosophies and religions. The ethical behavior that the New Testament requires is bound up inextricably with the New Testament teaching about the age of salvation that God has brought into being through Jesus Christ. In 12:1–2, Paul uses the framework of old age/new age to make his point. Believers no longer should conform their behavior to the old age, which is passing away. They need to live out the values of the new age, to which they belong through Christ. Romans 13:11–14 uses the language of “night” and “day” to get a similar point across. But matters are complicated, because Paul very skillfully uses the language of “night” and “day” at two different levels.
On one level, “night” and “day” refer simply to ordinary nighttime and daytime. This application of the language is especially clear in verses 12b–13. (Note that the NIV distinction between “day” [v. 12a] and “daytime” [v. 13a] is an interpretation, as the Greek in both places is the same: hēmera, “day” [cf. the NRSV].) The ancient world, without electricity to keep cities lit at night, viewed darkness as the time of evil and corruption. Criminals could carry out their deeds under cover of night and escape detection. Decent people would fear to venture out after the sun went down. So it was natural for people to associate evil with the nighttime. Hence, Paul can call on us to put aside the “deeds of darkness” and to behave “decently, as in the daytime” (vv. 12b–13). Believers are to have nothing to do with those activities conducted in the dark—wild parties, excessive drinking, and sexual misbehavior. Instead of participating in activities such as these, we are to put on “the armor of light.” Paul’s introduction of a military metaphor, “armor,” is striking. Perhaps he means, as Calvin suggests, that the believer is not only to be characterized by good deeds, the deeds done in daylight, but also to “carry on a warfare for the Lord.”6
But “night” and “day” have another level of meaning. In the Old Testament, the prophets predict that God will fulfill his purposes for his people and bring redemption to the earth on “the day of the Lord.” Jewish writers have picked up this language, and it appears frequently in the New Testament as well, Christianized with references to Christ (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:8; Phil. 1:10; 2:16). When, therefore, Paul says that “the day is almost here” (v. 12) and that we are to live decently, as in “the day” (v. 13 NRSV), surely we are to see an allusion to this idea. Reflecting a typical New Testament perspective, Paul implies that that “day” is both present (v. 13) and future (v. 12). In his first coming, Christ inaugurated the day of the Lord, but the culmination of that day, when our full salvation will be finalized (see v. 11), is still to come. What Paul wants us to do is to live in light of this period of time. We have new power to please God, because we can draw from the power and blessings provided for us since that day of Christ has dawned. But at the same time, we long eagerly for the fulfillment of that day, when sin finally will be conquered and right will be established in all the earth.