Romans 13 - Christians and Human Government

Last time in Romans, we saw how we as believers are to yield ourselves as a living sacrifice unto God, and how this translates into obedience. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Continuing on what this should look like, Paul writes to them regarding their relationship with human government.

There are four institutions God has ordained, and their purpose is to restrain evil and to promote righteousness in this world. The first of which is man’s freewill. God has given each person the ability to choose or reject Him. Freewill is the prerequisite to love. The second is marriage, which is a union of one man and one woman for life (Genesis 2:21-25). One reason for marriage is procreation, to provide a safe place to birth and raise children to further the human race. In addition to procreation, marriage is a model of intimacy that reflects the intimacy the Church has with Jesus Christ Ephesians 5:22-33) Third, is the nuclear family which, in a perfect world, consists of a mom and dad and their children. Parents are to be those solely responsible for raising children to serve and fear God (Ephesians 6:1-4). Lastly, the fourth institution is human government which Paul will discuss in this chapter of Romans. If these are the four institutions God has ordained, it’s no wonder then the radical Left, which are really Socialists and Marxists, have sought to corrupt and gain control of all four. At its heart, it is really a devilish attack on what God says is good. If God has ordained them for our good, then we should agree with Him, and seek to promote them in society.

So, what does the Bible have to say about human government? To understand this, we have to go all the way back to Genesis. If we recall, Cain became envious of his brother, and out of hatred, murdered him. This unleashed a string of violence that grew exponentially worse until the Lord destroyed the whole world with a flood. After the flood, the Lord spoke to Noah, and said, “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. ‘Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.” (Gen 9:5-6) Here, the Lord was giving Noah and his family the basis for human government, and that basis was capital punishment for murder. The Lord did not want violence to erupt in the way it had before the flood, so His deterrent was capital punishment for murderers and even for animals who killed a person. God’s reasoning for this is that man is created in His image. The Lord loves us so much He created us in His image, so hatred carried to its natural end is a direct attack on Him. This was given before the law, so it is still in effect today. Every society (including our own) that has turned its back on God has gotten away from capital punishment, and this has only served to lower the standard of justice and emboldened criminals to do more.

It is important to note that human government from a biblical perspective does not mean a one-world government. We see the first example of this in Genesis 11:1-10 where all the people were united with one language under the leadership of Nimrod, and sought to build a tower to heaven, probably an astrological temple. The Lord came down, confused their languages, and spread them out over the earth. As we can see then, it was never the Lord’s intention for the whole world to be united under an earthly leader, but several nations with their respective leaders Acts 17:26-27). A one-world government or the world under the control of one leader as we can see from the beginning is, at its core, anti-God, and will ultimately culminate with the antichrist during the tribulation. The only time God intended the whole world to be under the control of one man is when His Son, Jesus Christ, the God-man, rules for one thousand years, and one day soon, this will be the reality. With this back-drop, let’s jump into Romans 13.

Paul begins by saying, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” Here he is affirming again that human government is one of God’s institutions for mankind. Not only this, but God is the one who appoints governments and their leaders. Because of this, believers are to be subject to these authorities, and those who fail to do so will bring judgment on themselves. This is God’s judgment administered through earthly rulers.

Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil ones. If we want to be unafraid of the authorities, we should do good, and we will be praised for doing so. Rulers are God’s ministers (servants) for good. However, if we do evil, we should be afraid, because they do not bear the sword in vain, a reference to capital punishment. They are actually God’s servants to administer vengeance on those who practice evil. Believers submit to authority, not only to avoid wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. By submitting to authority, we can have a clean conscience before God because we are really doing it unto Him.

Not only are we right before God, but we are a good example to those very leaders and may open them to receiving the Gospel. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:1-4) Paul was not alone in his teaching of submitting to authority, for Peter also writes, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” (1 Peter 2:13-17)

For this reason, we also pay taxes, because this is how the government is funded to do its job. Most of us understandably do not like paying taxes, especially when they are exorbitant and/or used to fund immoral behaviors and lifestyles. However, even Jesus, when speaking to the Pharisees, told them to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Matthew 22:15-22). Rome was definitely corrupt during Jesus’ time, and no doubt was using tax revenue to fund immoral practices. If the government is collecting exorbitantly or funding immoral behaviors, the Lord will sort it out. We just need to render to all their due whether it be taxes, customs (tariffs), fear to whom fear, and honor to whom honor.

The question that often arises is, what do we do when government and its rulers are corrupt? It seems clear from verses 3-5 that Paul is operating under the assumption of godly rulers (e.g. they are not a terror to good works, they are God’s ministers for good, they do not bear the sword in vain, etc. What do we do when they are a terror to good works, they are ministers of evil, and they are putting people to death unjustly? In the same passage of 1 Peter, he tells servants to submit to their masters even though they are harsh, so it is pleasing to the Lord to submit to authority even when they are corrupt as much as possible. However, I believe there are times when we should not.

First, we should absolutely not submit to authority that is asking us to do something contrary to the word of God. When the apostles were told by the religious leaders to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and the other apostles answered, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) Second, I believe there are situations when we should not submit to authority when they are blatantly violating God’s moral law, attempting to force others to do the same, or if we or those we love are under threats of serious bodily injury or worse. If we look at the whole counsel of God’s word, we will see instances where the Lord did tell His people to overthrow a corrupt leader, and there were times when, due to the disobedience of His own people, He told them to submit to another leader as a means of discipline. I believe then, it comes down to seeking the Lord’s will through prayer and asking Him to search our hearts to make sure we are not simply doing it out of a rebellious spirit.

Some criticize our forefathers for fighting the American Revolution, stating they were in rebellion to God for doing so. If you have not done so in a while, I would encourage you to read the Declaration of Independence. It was not for trivial or petty offenses that they declared their independence from Great Britain. Among some of these offenses were keeping standing armies among the colonists in times of peace without the consent of the legislatures, declaring the military independent of and superior to the civil power, forcing them to house British soldiers, and protecting those same soldiers with mock trials from punishment for murdering colonists. They were deprived of trial by jury, shipped overseas and tried for pretended offenses, and even kidnapped at sea and forced to bear arms against their own countrymen or be killed. As we can see, the American colonists were both being asked to partake in evil, as well as being subjected to serious bodily injury and death by King George III. And the British parliament. Those who signed the Declaration appealed to the ‘Supreme Judge of the world,’ and relied on His protection. This does not seem to be a declaration done out of a rebellious spirit; in fact, they did everything they could to resolve their grievances peacefully. They did what they did out of their love for God and for their neighbor. Our nation has been a beacon of freedom and one of the largest promoters of the Gospel in the whole world, so when you examine the fruit, it is hard to think this was the wrong thing to do when God has blessed us so much. Again, I believe this should be done through much prayer and not taken lightly.

I don’t normally cover these things in a Bible study, but there is a bill in our state legislature, SB 5974, in which if enacted, will create an unelected state board to remove a duly elected sheriff from office. No doubt, this goes back to the COVID years, and our state politicians know one of the weapons in our arsenal against government tyranny is our county sheriffs. We had sheriffs in rural counties that were not enforcing the governor’s illegal mandates, and they don’t want this to happen again. The county sheriff is an elected officer, and therefore, is accountable to the people and the constitution only. SB 5974 would shift the balance of power away from voters into the hands of unelected bureaucrats. Not only that, the Senate Bill is illegal since the power of voters to elect their sheriff is derived from the state constitution. They would have to amend the state constitution in order for this to be legal. This means they would be the law breakers, not us. So then, counties have every legal right to not comply with this bill if it passes, and should not do so. They need to band together with the Washington State Sheriffs’ Association (WSSA) and the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) to figure out what their options are, because success will be in the numbers.

Make no mistake, if this bill passes and is not overturned by the courts, we will absolutely have tyranny state-wide. This means that all the crazy legislation coming out of Olympia whether it be gun control, transgender lunacy, health mandates, etc. would be enforced regardless of what county it is. If the sheriff does not comply, then he is removed. I say all this to point out that this is a good example of when we should not comply with governing authorities.

What is our attitude toward authority, in particular as it relates to government? Do we find ourselves having a rebellious spirit and try to find ways to disobey them? If so, we will only hurt ourselves in the long-run. God has set up earthly rulers for our good and for the good of society. Or maybe we find ourselves on the other end of the spectrum: maybe we just want to comply with everything, even if it means disobeying God. We should obey the Lord first, and seek to have a government that values the things He values. In this country, that means voting for leaders and legislation that support biblical morality, and speaking out for what is right. Above all, we need to pray for our leaders and be good citizens in hopes that more will be reached for the Gospel.

 

Additional Links

 

Governments exist to restrain evil - The Christian Institute

Power and Authority of the County Sheriff

Duties-of-the-Sheriff

Romans 12 - A Living Sacrifice

 

In our last study, we finished up Romans 11. We saw Paul likening the nonbelieving Jews to natural branches of an olive tree that were broken off due to unbelief, and the Gentiles, as wild olive shoots, were grafted into the tree by faith. If God grafted unnatural branches into the olive tree contrary to nature, how much more will He graft in the Jews who choose to place their faith in Jesus Christ? Israel is experiencing a partial blindness to the Gospel until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. During the latter half of the Tribulation, The Lord will begin dealing with them so that by the end of the seven years, they will be ready to say, “ Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” The remaining Jews will turn to Christ for salvation, and He will take away their sins.

Similar to his pattern in the book of Ephesians, Paul uses everything he wrote in the first 11 chapters of Romans, which is primarily doctrinal in nature, to then proceed to tell us how we should act in light of these doctrines. There are those today who seek to down-play or outright reject sound doctrine, but it is these doctrines that make it clear all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ. He says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Paul is urging the Roman believers, because of all the mercies God has shown them through Jesus Christ, to act in a different manner. As believers, the Lord wants us to act differently than the world.

Believers are to present (yield) their bodies as a living sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the animals were killed, dressed, and then offered on the altar as a sacrifice. Paul probably had in mind the burnt offering in which the entire animal was burned on the altar. Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, however, we are living ones. As I have heard it said, the problem with a living sacrifice is that it doesn’t want to stay on the altar. We are to continually yield every part of us to the Lord, holding nothing back, for we are called to live a life of holiness which is being set apart from sin. This is the reasonable or logical thing to do in light of all God has done for us. This word for ‘reasonable’ can also be interpreted ‘of the word,’ so the Scriptures tell us how to live and why we should live this way.

We are not to be conformed to (pressed into the mold of) this world. The world (nonbelievers) in rebellion to God will try to force you and me into doing what they do. This pressure to be molded can be great at times since they have the benefit of the masses. In addition, they are controlled by the evil one who is out to derail us as well.

The answer to not being conformed to this world is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The word ‘transformed’ in the original language is where we get our word metamorphosis, a complete change from the inside out. This metamorphosis begins at salvation when the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside us, and we are made into a new creation. Then, as we begin reading and studying the Scriptures, we begin changing how we think to align with the Word. This then manifests itself in our outward words and actions as we yield ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit. We can then know and approve that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. Missler writes, “As a Christian is transformed in his mind and is made more like Christ, he comes to approve and desire God’s will, not his own will for his life. Then he discovers that God’s will is what is good for him, and that it pleases God, and is complete in every way. It is all he needs.” In the remainder of the chapter, Paul will begin telling us what a life yielded in sacrifice and transformation looks like.

Next, Paul will shift his focus to spiritual gifts which may seem like an abrupt change, however, our ability to walk in the will of God is impossible without the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are there to profit us and aid in the maturing process (1 Co 12:7 and Eph 4:11-16). Before diving into the gifts themselves, Paul first begins by admonishing them to be humble, and not think of themselves more highly than they ought. For some, spiritual gifts are a source of pride, those who operate in a particular gift thinking they have arrived spiritually. However, as Paul points out, it is God who gives each person a measure of faith to operate in a particular gift. Who are we then to think highly of ourselves? Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Co 4:7)

Just as our physical bodies have different parts with different functions, so too, each person in the body of Christ are members of each other. These differing gifts, as Paul says, are according to grace, meaning none of us have done anything to deserve them. In fact, the word for ‘gifts’ itself means a gift of divine grace. So, it’s a double-whammy. If we have a gift Paul says we are to use it. God’s intention for us is to operate in the spiritual gifts He has given us. When we hear the phrase ‘spiritual gifts,’ our minds often go to the more sensational gifts discussed in 1 Corinthians 12-14, but here Paul will primarily cover several gifts that are often overlooked due to their unsensational nature. These gifts are often behind the scenes, but are equally or even more important for the proper function of the body of Christ.

If our gift is prophecy, we are to prophecy in proportion to our faith. Prophecy can be prediction, but it is more than that. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul said prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Co 14:3). It is really forthtelling a message from God. In proportion to our faith is more accurately translated in agreement with the faith, so it is to be in agreement with the accepted body of doctrine held by believers. In other words, we do not get to add to the Scriptures, change the existing ones, or re-interpret them how we like such as Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and Ellen G. White have done. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” (Gal 1:8-9) The doctrines of the Christian faith are set in stone, being preserved in the Scriptures, so no true word of prophecy will contradict or seek to undo them. If it does, the person is preaching a false Gospel, and they are eternally condemned unless they repent and believe in the true Gospel.

The gift of ministry simply means to be a servant. This is whether we are in the office of elder or Deacon, teaching the Bible, or performing acts of charity in the Church or community. If they see a need, they try to meet it. We all should be like Jesus who came to be a servant, but apparently there are those in the Church who are specially gifted to do this.

Teaching is just like it sounds. Although all pastors should be teachers, not all teachers are pastors. The obvious context is being gifted by the Holy Spirit to teach the Scriptures, but not necessarily limited to that. Exhortation encourages others to put into practice what they have been taught. This exhortation can be a gentle encouragement, or it can be quiet stirring at times, like a coach telling you to get your head in the game. Sometimes, we can take this as a personal attack, but when done right, it is meant to get our attention and provoke us to the right action. Teaching and exhortation go together. As one commentator put it, “Those who are taught but not exhorted become ‘fat sheep’ that only take in and never live the Christian life. Those who are exhorted but not taught become excited and active, but have no depth or understanding to what they do and will burn out quickly or will work in wrong ways.” So, the body of Christ needs both teaching and the exhortation to do what the Word says.

Those who give are to do it with liberality. This means they give sincerely, selflessly, and generously. Again, as believers, we are all to be generous, but there are those in the body of Christ who are especially gifted to do so. They give abundantly, and they enjoy doing it.

Those who lead are to do it with diligence. This means they take their job seriously, they are prompt to take care of their responsibilities, and they do it to the best of their ability. This not only applies to a pastoral role, but any leadership role in the Church.

Lastly, those who have the gift of mercy should do it with cheerfulness. Mercy is showing compassion for someone, and at times means doing so by not giving them what they deserve. We may have a tendency to do so begrudgingly, especially if they have brought on their own problems, but the Lord wants us to be ready to show them mercy with a cheerful attitude just as He has done for us. Next, Paul will give a series of instructions on how to live as a Christian.

As is proper, following the topic of spiritual gifts, Paul tells them to love. It does not matter what gift we operate in if we do not love one another. What he tells the Romans is similar in some ways to what he wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 13.

Love is to be without hypocrisy.  In other words, it is to be sincere rather than seeking its own. We are to hate what is evil and cling to what is good. We are to be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. We are to honor others by placing their wants and needs ahead of our own. We are not to be lazy in our work, regardless of what it is, whether we enjoy it or not. We are to be fervent in spirit, enthusiastic about what we are doing, especially when it comes to the things of the Lord. We are to rejoice in hope, believing God is going to keep His promises to us. We are to patiently endure the trials the Lord allows in our lives. We are to be people of prayer, and we see examples of this in the Scriptures, both privately and corporately.

We are to distribute to the needs of the saints, and be given to hospitality. We are either going to them or bringing them to us. Hospitality means love for strangers, so it means even seeking out those we do not know.

Concerning those outside the Church, Paul continues, that we should bless those who persecute us rather than cursing them. This tends to go against our nature since we usually want to retaliate in some way. However, not only are we not to retaliate, we are to bless them and pray for them (Mat 5:44-45). It’s those offenses in which we have been seriously wronged that are often the most difficult to forgive, but the Lord is faithful to help us show mercy and grace in those situations.

We are to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Again, this may be difficult if we are on the opposite end of the spectrum from them. It causes us to get our attention off ourselves and to be considerate of others. Who knows, maybe our weeping will be turned into rejoicing when we choose to rejoice with others. When we weep with others, we can rest content we have shown them the love of Christ, and this is pleasing to the Lord.

Paul then gives another admonition for believers to walk in humility. We are not to think ourselves more important than our neighbor, nor only associate with those who fit a certain image. This is pride, and the Lord wants us to associate with the humble, viewing everyone as the same in God’s eyes.

We are not to repay evil for evil, but rather be good to everyone. If possible, as much as it depends on us, we are to live peaceably with all men. There are some who will not allow us to live peaceably with them, because it is conditioned on us following their way of life rather than the Lord’s. We are never to compromise what is right, but in our standing for the Lord, we can seek to do it in such a way that makes others want what we have.

We are not supposed to take vengeance on our enemies, but let the Lord do it. “’Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Our vengeance is cruel and merciless, and most likely will only make the problem worse. However, the Lord’s vengeance is just, and is rooted in His love and mercy toward that person. He wants them to repent and be right with Him just as much as He wants that for us. In addition, He knows exactly what is needed to accomplish this, whereas we only see a partial picture.

Our part, again, is to bless them. Paul quotes from Proverbs 25 when he says, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Rather than responding with vengeance and make the problem worse, overcome their evil with kindness by giving them what they need. This will stand the greatest chance of softening their heart to a point where they may be willing to listen. In chapter 13, Paul will continue his practical instruction as it relates to human government.