Paul passed from a loosely connected series of exhortations in 12:9-21 to a well-organized argument about a single subject in 13:1-7.
"Forbidding the Christian from taking vengeance and allowing God to exercise this right in the last judgment [cf. 12:19-21] might lead one to think that God was letting evildoers have their way in this world. Not so, says Paul in 13:1-7: for God, through governing authorities, is even now inflicting wrath on evildoers (vv. 3-4)."371
13:1 When Paul said "every person"(Gr. psyche) he probably had every Christian person in mind since he was writing to Christians. Nevertheless what he said about his readers' conduct toward their civil government also applies to the unsaved.
Subjection or submission involves placing oneself under the authority of another so that he or she does what the authority requires. Paul did not say "obey."Submission includes obedience, but it also includes an attitude from which the obedience springs. Submission involves an attitude of compliance that is not necessarily present in obedience. Submission is essentially support. The Christian may have to disobey his government (Acts 5:29). Still in those cases he or she must still be submissive and bear the consequences of his or her disobedience (cf. Dan. 4:17, 25, 32). "Governing authorities"is a term that embraces all the rulers who govern the citizen.
Every ruler exercises his or her authority because God has allowed him or her to occupy his or her position, even Satan (Luke 4:6). The Christian should acknowledge that the government under which he or she lives has received authority from God to govern regardless of whether it governs well or poorly.
God has established three institutions to control life in our dispensation: the family (Gen. 2:18-25), the civil government (Gen. 9:1-7), and the church (Acts 2). In each institution there are authorities to whom we need to submit for God's will to go forward. Women are not the only people God commands to be submissive or supportive. Male and female children, citizens, and church members also need to demonstrate a submissive spirit.
13:2 Refusal to submit to one's government is tantamount to refusing to submit to God. Those who resist God's ordained authority can expect to suffer condemnation by the government. This is really the indirect judgment of God (cf. Matt. 26:52).
"Capital punishment was ordained in Genesis 9:5-6, and it has not been abolished [by God]."372
13:3 There are two possible ways to explain this verse that on the surface seems very naive. Each of these interpretations will have very different results for those who hold them. The problem, of course, is that rulers are sometimes, perhaps often, a cause of fear for those who do right. Government authorities sometimes abuse their powers for selfish ends. If they do not but serve the welfare of the people as they should, we have no fear of them and can submit to them fairly easily. What if they are evil?
The first way some people have interpreted this verse is to assume that Paul was speaking only of the norm. The normal situation would be a good government that punishes evil and rewards good. Obviously rebellion and revolution would be wrong in such a situation. However those actions might not be wrong if the state ceased to serve its God-given function and began denying the rights and removing the liberties of its citizens. Moderate advocates of this interpretation usually do not suggest that the church as an institution should lead a revolution. Most of them would say, however, that Christians as individuals could justifiably participate in a revolution against such a government. Christians should speak out against such abuses at least. We must be careful not to confuse submission with silence. Silence can express approval.
The second way of interpreting this verse is to take Paul's words at face value and trust in the fact expressed in 8:28. The Christian who takes this view would not participate in a revolution though he might speak out against a government's evils. He should prepare himself to accept the consequences of his actions. Such was the position of some pastors in Nazi Germany during World War II, for example, who went to prison not for revolting against the government but for speaking out against it. Another alternative might be to flee from the persecution of a hostile government (cf. Matt. 10:23). This is what the Huguenots, who fled from France to England, and the Puritans, who fled from England to America, did.
I tend to prefer the second option mainly because I am uncomfortable if I assume that Paul meant something that he did not state. I prefer to accept what he said at face value. In this case the rulers would be a cause of fear for the Christian neither if the rulers were just nor unjust. The Christian would be obedient to God by submitting in either case. The problem with this view is that evil governments do not praise those who oppose them. But in a sense they do. For example, a German pastor whom the Nazis jailed for disobeying the law received the commendation of the rest of the world. The martyrdom of Christians by Nero shortly after Paul wrote Romans was an indirect praise of them for their fidelity to Christ. The evil government may not issue a certificate of commendation to the faithful Christian, but his or her submissive conduct can be the cause of his praise. Even if no other human being ever learned of the martyr's conduct, God would know about it and would praise him or her.
13:4 God will use government, good and bad, to bring the submissive Christian what is good from His perspective (cf. 8:28). Christians who are not submissive should fear because government has received its power to punish evil-doers from God.373
13:5 There are two reasons a Christian needs to be submissive to his government. One is that the government may punish him if he is not submissive. The other is that God may punish him. God's punishment may be during the Christian's lifetime or after that at the judgment seat of Christ. In this case the punishment might involve the loss of some reward that the believer would have received had he or she been submissive. "Conscience"refers to the believer's knowledge of God's will and purposes.374
"The United States Government maintains a Conscience Fund' for people who want to pay their debts to the Government and yet remain anonymous. Some city governments have a similar fund. I read about a city that had investigated some tax frauds and announced that several citizens were going to be indicted. They did not release the names of the culprits. That week, a number of people visited the City Hall to straighten out their taxes'--and many of them were not on the indictment list. When conscience begins to work, we cannot live with ourselves until we have made things right."375
13:6 This double duty to government and God should also make the Christian submissive when the bill for his taxes falls due. Government workers are indirectly God's servants, and we should support God's servants (Luke 10:7). Individual rulers may be unworthy, but the institution is not. Governments cannot function without incomes. This is the third time Paul referred to government (twice in v. 4).
13:7 Paul as Jesus commanded believers to give back (Gr. apodote) to the government what we owe for services it renders (cf. Mark 12:14, 17). Paying taxes has always been repugnant to people including Christians. Some Christians argue this way. Since the government uses my tax money for purposes that are contrary to God's will, I do not want to support evil by paying taxes. Jesus came out flatly in favor of paying taxes and led his disciples in doing so even though the Roman government to which He paid them crucified Him. Likewise Paul here urged Christians to pay tribute ("taxes") to a foreign ruler, revenue tax ("custom,"as in the "Internal Revenue Service"). He commanded his readers to respect ("fear") those in positions of high authority because of their office if not for personal reasons. He called us to "honor"all who serve the public in civil service positions.
Peter practiced and taught submission to governmental rulers as Paul did (Acts 4:1-3; 12:3-5; 1 Pet. 2:13-17). Peter did disobey his rulers but willingly suffered the consequences for his disobedience. He only disobeyed the law under which he lived as a citizen of Israel when it conflicted with the law under which he lived as a citizen of heaven (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29).376I believe Paul's emphasis on submission rather than obedience allows room for civil disobedience when the civil government requires, but not permits, the Christian to disobey God (cf. Exod. 1:17-21). When the will of man conflicts with the will of God, the Christian must choose to do the will of God (Acts 5:29).377
For example, the Christian's obligation to submit to a government that requiresabortions would be different from his or her duty to one that only permitsthem. I believe a Christian should disobey a government when it requires him or her to practice abortion but not if it only permits abortions (cf. Exod. 1:15-22). I do not believe a Christian should break the law to protest an ungodly practice that his or her government only permits. If he or she disagrees with a law, that Christian should pursue whatever legal options exist to change the law. I believe that those who choose to break the law to make a statement, even though they are willing to suffer the consequences (e.g., go to jail), violate New Testament teaching on this subject.
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