Chapter Thirteen

On submission to authorities as the primary duty of a person in civil life (1–6). On rendering to each what is due, and on love (7–12). On the sanctity of the Christian’s private life (12a–14).

Romans 13:1. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. In civil life, the Christian must express his reverence before God by submitting to the authorities established by God. It is very probable that the Apostle was already aware of some instances of disobedience to the authorities among Roman Christians. This could have been an echo of the agitation that the Jews at that time were showing toward Roman power; at the same time, the expectation of the imminent end of the world must have made Christians somewhat indifferent to the discharge of those obligations they were bound to bear as citizens of Rome. Finally, the cult of the emperors also prompted Christians to protest against the ordinances of the Roman authorities, who did not tolerate Roman citizens refusing to burn incense before the statues of the emperors. “Every person.” The Apostle speaks here of the Christian as a citizen of the state; if every citizen is obligated to render obedience to the authorities, then the Christian is obligated to do so all the more. — “There is no authority except from God.” This is the first incentive for obedience. Authority in general, by its very idea, is a divine creation or ordinance. — “The authorities that exist.” This is the second incentive for obedience. The forms of authority (cf. v. 3 — governing officials and Rom 4:6-7) are likewise, in each particular case, divine institutions. The Apostle does not enter here into the details of this question (it is not clear, for example, how a Christian should act at a change of authorities following a bloody conflict between them). He establishes only the principle of civil life. — On the basis of these words of the Apostle, Christian sovereigns (from the time of Louis the Pious) began to describe themselves as rulers “by the grace of God.” — The thought of the Apostle is partly similar to the teaching of the book of Wisdom (Wis 6:1-4).

Romans 13:2. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment upon themselves. Christians who disobey authority are justly subjected to trial and condemnation. This condemnation, in the Apostle’s thought, is pronounced against the disobedient by the Lord Himself, and is carried out by the rulers (v. 3). The discussion is therefore not about eternal punishment but about temporal punishment.

Romans 13:3. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will receive its approval, Romans 13:4. for the authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain; it is God’s servant, an avenger carrying out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Here the Apostle grounds the thought he has just expressed — that the one who disobeys authority harms himself. He brings upon himself punishment instead of receiving encouragement from the authority. — “For good conduct.” Good conduct, as well as evil conduct, is presented by the Apostle Paul here as if they were living persons. It should be noted that when the Apostle wrote the epistle to Rome, Nero was not yet raging against Christians — these were the first three or four years after his accession to the throne, the best days of his reign. Besides, the Apostle again speaks of authority here from the standpoint of the ideal. — “Does not bear the sword in vain” — that is, the sword was not carried before a judge in Rome and in Greece without reason. The Apostle considers it possible, regards it as natural, that a judge or ruler should use the sword to carry out an execution upon a criminal. This right of the sword — Jus gladii — its use in necessary cases was especially granted to the governors of Roman provinces (Ulpiani Digest. II.1–3).

Romans 13:5. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid punishment but also for the sake of conscience. Given the moral character of the rulers’ service, it is necessary to obey them not only out of fear of punishment but also for moral reasons — “for the sake of conscience” — or, as the Apostle Peter expresses it, “for the Lord’s sake” (1 Pet 2:13). From this it is clear that if the Christian conscience, having in view the clearly expressed will of Christ, resists the fulfillment of demands by the authority that go against that conscience, then the Christian is obligated to obey the voice of conscience more than the demand of authority. That is, the Apostle here establishes a certain right to pass judgment on the actions of authority. He himself showed an example of such an attitude toward the actions of the authorities (see, e.g., Acts 16:36-37). But again it must be repeated here that the right of non-fulfillment of the authority’s commands is granted by the Apostle only and exclusively in matters of religion, when the state authority begins with despotic measures to eradicate the true faith. Here, indeed, the Christian is obligated to stand for the faith, yielding not a step; but his protest cannot, even in this case, encompass all relations of life. His civil obligations the Christian must fulfill under all circumstances and remain always a faithful servant of the government in civil matters, even though that government were taking harsh measures to eradicate the Christian faith. So acted the Christians of the Roman Empire during the most severe persecutions raised against them by the Roman emperors.

Romans 13:6. For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. “For this reason” — that is, in view of the fact that the authorities had great significance in the life of the state. — “You pay taxes.” Therefore the very payment of the taxes established by the government attests that Christians consider themselves morally obligated to obey the authorities in general, in everything, and apart from the payment of taxes. — “For the authorities are ministers of God.” The Apostle repeats the thought of verse 4 (God’s servant) in order to further urge Christians to obey the authorities. “Ministers” (λειτουργοί) was the term used among the Greeks for citizens who served the state or the people in some way, chiefly through their wealth (from λαός — people, and ἔργον — work). The Apostle means by this designation that rulers must serve the good of the people, care for the people’s welfare, and that for this they are appointed by God (cf. Luke 22:25-27), while Christians must pay them taxes as if in reimbursement of the expenses they have borne for the good of the state. — “Devoting themselves to this very thing” — that is, to the collection of taxes, which go to public needs. This was indeed the chief occupation of various provincial officials (some interpreters refer this phrase to the service of the authorities, but this term for service does not appear earlier in the passage).

Romans 13:7. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. No less important a civic duty of the Christian is the duty to render to each what is due. Only Christian love, of course, is such that a person will always remain in its debt, however hard he tries to fulfill it... To urge Christians to a virtuous life, the Apostle reminds them of the nearness of the final glorification of believers, which must coincide with the second coming into the world of Christ the Savior. The Apostle speaks of legal obligations, especially those established by law (cf. Matt 22:21). — “Taxes” (φόρος) — these are direct taxes (land taxes, poll taxes); “revenue” (τέλος) — indirect taxes or trade duties. — “Respect” — not only toward officials but also toward masters, if the matter concerns slaves. “Honor” — this is respect for every citizen.

Romans 13:8. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:9. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet” and any other commandment are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love, or the commandment to love, is so inexhaustible that a person will always remain in its debt, no matter how hard he tries to fulfill it. — “The law.” Here, according to the context of the passage, we are to understand civil law. In fact, love of one’s neighbor could not be designated by the Apostle as the fulfillment of the law of God in its complete form. One cannot even say that Paul saw the fulfillment of the second table of the Mosaic law in the obligation not to do anything bad to one’s neighbor. Yet the purpose and content of civil law can be defined in no better way than by such a purely negative requirement (not to do to another citizen anything that would be a violation of his rights). — It may be objected that in verse 9, the individual clauses of the law are taken from the Decalogue. But the same points are also present in civil law. Even desire, in the sense of malicious intent — an attempt to seize another person’s property — is defined in civil law as a crime. If the Apostle characterizes the content of civil law by the words of the Decalogue, he does so with the purpose of showing that the state and its government with its laws performs the work of God, and therefore obedience to the laws is a religious duty.

Romans 13:10. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. “The fulfillment of the law.” Having love for one’s neighbor, the Christian cannot do his neighbor wrong and in this way fulfills everything the law requires of him.

Romans 13:11. Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. “You know the time” — that is, because you know the sign of the time (τὸν καιρόν), you yourselves understand that this time has been given to you in order to wake from sleep. The Apostle means to say: “Let the consideration that the remaining time of your life is given to you for preparation for the second coming of Christ serve as your motive for virtuous living. By that day you must settle all your debts.” — “Salvation” — that is, the glorification that will be granted to the righteous at Christ’s judgment (Matt 25:34). The Apostle Paul, together with all Christians, believed that the coming of the Lord was near (cf. Phil 4:5; 1 Pet 4:7). “Than when we first believed.” The Apostle takes into account a fairly long period of time that had elapsed from the conversion of the Romans to Christ up to the moment when he was writing his epistle (about twenty-five years). For such — one might say, long-standing — Christians, it is shameful to remain so long in a state of drowsiness. In such a state they could have been found perhaps at the very beginning of their conversion to Christ, but now it is time for them to shake off sleep, especially in view of the nearness of Christ’s second coming. “At the door,” says the Apostle, “stands the time of judgment” (Chrysostom).

Romans 13:12. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. The time before the second coming — the time when people sleep the sleep of sin — the Apostle describes as night, while from the moment of the second coming a bright day will dawn (cf. Heb 10:25). — “The night is far gone” — more precisely: it has advanced, little of it remains (προέκοψεν). In view of the nearness of the second coming of Christ, we must take care to improve our private lives and to dwell in strict self-restraint. “Cast off” — that is, throw off, like a night covering. — “Works of darkness” — that is, sinful habits. — “Armor of light.” Military equipment was put on partly as clothing (cf. Eph 6:11; 1 Thess 5:8). The Christian is conceived here as a warrior of Christ against the kingdom of darkness.

Romans 13:13. Let us conduct ourselves properly, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and licentiousness, not in strife and envy; Romans 13:14. but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” — that is, be united most closely with Christ, so that your life would be the life of Christ (Gal 2:20). Although believers put on Christ already in baptism (Gal 3:27), by this putting on at baptism only the beginning is properly laid. Then the entire life of the believer represents the continuation of the work begun. — “Make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” A Christian cannot live apart from the flesh⁴⁰: it remains the instrument of our activity (cf. Eph 5:29; Col 2:23; 1 Tim 5:23 and others) as long as we live on earth. Therefore one must care for it, but let these cares not serve as fuel for intensifying our lusts. Although the flesh, or the sensory-bodily side of the Christian, has ceased to be the source and seat of sin — since sin in it has been done away with in principle (Rom 8:3) — yet it has been done away with only in principle. Its power may revive; it is awaiting a favorable moment to do so. * * * Flesh here means the same as body. The Apostle uses the word “flesh” to show the weakness of the body and hence the necessity of caring for it, and also to show that the body has sinful (fleshly) desires that must be struggled against (cf. Rom 8:13).