Romans chapter 13

by Keith Simons. Free online Bible course and commentary from the Useful Bible Study Centre.

Governments and the attitudes of Christians

(Romans 13:1-2)

Rulers and governments often use their power in a wrong, evil or even cruel manner. Many people therefore argue that governments should have as little power as possible. Nobody should have authority over anyone else, they say.

That is not what the Bible teaches. It says that governments do important work in this world. They organise our cities and our societies. They deal with and punish criminals. They make laws to try to stop certain kinds of wrong behaviour. When governments do these things properly, they are doing God’s work in this world.

We might think that our governments gained their power by political skill or military strength. That may be correct, but in reality their authority comes from God. So, Christ told Pilate that all his power in fact came from God. Pilate would have no authority if God had not given it to him (John 19:10-11).

That means that rulers and governments are responsible to God for their actions. That is a very serious matter, because God will be their judge (Psalm 2: Psalm 110:5-6).

That also means that Christians should respect their rulers. Of course they cannot obey any laws that tell them to do evil things. Of course they try to help the weakest people in their country. They care about those people who suffer because of their government’s actions. However, usually most laws are not for an evil purpose, but for a good purpose. Therefore, Christians must obey the laws of their country. They should be good citizens, not just because of the power of their government, but also because of their duties to God.

Rulers as the servants of God

(Romans 13:3-4)

Here, Paul describes rulers and government officials as ‘servants of God’. To us today, that seems an unusual use of that phrase. We would expect the ‘servants of God’ to mean loyal Christians. They serve God by their prayers, by good works and when they declare his message. However, many rulers and officials do none of these things. Sometimes they use their power in a cruel or evil manner. Many of them do not know the true God; however, Paul still calls them God’s servants.

God works powerfully in our world (8:28). God has the right to carry out his plans by means of anyone whom he chooses (9:17). In Isaiah 44:28 to 45:6, God appointed the powerful foreign king, Cyrus, to carry out his (God’s) work in the world. Cyrus did not know the true God, but God used him to return Israel’s people to their own country (Ezra chapter 1).

A judge may not know the real God, but that judge’s authority to punish criminals still comes from God. Our governments may not respect God, but their power to make laws still comes from God. The purpose of those laws is to make evil people afraid, because there will be judgment of evil acts. Government officials have real power to punish guilty people, which Paul expresses in his reference to their ‘swords’.

With so many evil governments in the world, we may ask whether good people should also be afraid of their power. Christ’s answer was that we should not be afraid of them. God is the judge of all people. A powerful person might be able to kill someone’s body, but he cannot send that person to hell (Matthew 10:28). Governments may deal cruelly with God’s people, but God will always support his people (8:35-39). God will protect his people; he will bring them safely to heaven (John 14:1-3).

Christians and the law

(Romans 13:5)

Since the beginning of the Christian religion, some people have tried to change God’s message into a message about freedom. They say that Christ has given them both moral and political freedom; therefore, they oppose any kind of authority. They want to be free to behave in any way that they wish.

Paul had seen this kind of behaviour in the church at Corinth. There, people were saying that they possessed the rights of kings (1 Corinthians 4:8). One church member even believed that he had the right to have sex with his father’s wife. Even people who were not Christians were not behaving like that (1 Corinthians 5:1). At church meetings, Christians were behaving in ways that would cause shock to other people (1 Corinthians 11:20-22).

Paul could see how much trouble this kind of behaviour would cause with the government. If Christians would not even obey God’s law, they would not respect the laws of their country. Therefore, Paul urged Christians to respect God’s authority. God had permitted the government to rule their nation, so they should respect its authority too.

Of course governments will punish people who refuse to pay their taxes. Of course people who do not obey the law will go to prison. Governments and officials even owe a duty to God to make sure that these things happen. So of course Christians should obey the law and they should pay their taxes. Otherwise, they will suffer the same punishment as anyone else who will not obey the law. Even a Christian who cannot obey an evil law will often suffer punishment for it (1 Peter 4:15-16). Christians are not free from these matters.

Christians and taxes

(Romans 13:6)

We ask what money really is. It is not really wealth. Money cannot pay for the things that are truly good, even in this life. We cannot buy a good family or a happy life. In fact, when a country has political troubles, our money itself can lose its value.

Rather, money is a way that governments show their power over us. They pay us with money so that they control our power to buy and to sell (compare Revelation 13:16-17). For that reason, each government puts its own mark on the coins and notes that it provides for our use. That mark shows us to which country the money belongs.

Because the money belongs to our country, its government has the right to demand its payment (Mark 12:13-17). That is what taxes are. The government provided the money for our use, so it can demand its return. Christians should pay their debts (13:8); so they should also pay their taxes. They do not do it merely because they are afraid of punishment. They do it because they consider it the right thing to do (13:5).

Paul makes a surprising statement about the work of people who collect taxes in Romans 13:6. We know how much other people often dislike them (compare Mark 2:13-17). However, in the collection of taxes, governments are using the authority that God has given them (13:1). Therefore, the people who collect taxes are carrying out a public service on God’s behalf. It impressed Paul how well they carry out this special work for God. They do not neglect their work; they constantly carry out the tasks that God has given them. From their attitudes, as from so many other things in this world (Proverbs 30:24-28), Christians can learn an important lesson.

The duties of Christians in this world

(Romans 13:7)

Christians are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). So, they might argue that they do not need to respect people in authority in this world. However, Paul insisted that the opposite is true.

In fact, Christians are people who respect God’s authority. Therefore, they should be able to understand more clearly than other people what authority really is (compare Luke 7:1-10). It is God who chose to give authority to governments in this world (13:1). He did it in order to place a limit on the power of evil people (13:3-4).

Therefore, Christians should respect the power of their government. They should give its officials whatever is rightly due to them.

That often means the payment of money, in other words, taxes. Paul mentions two kinds of taxes here. One of these perhaps means a tax on people and their property. The other probably refers to a tax when people buy and sell goods.

However, there are also other ways by which we show respect to people in authority. There is a proper sense of fear that we should show, for example, towards our judges (13:3-4). That sense of fear should cause us to avoid wrong behaviour and to do what is right. Also, we should show honour to people who carry on important and responsible work. In Acts chapter 26, we see how politely Paul himself spoke to powerful and important people. He showed great respect to them.

It is interesting to compare Paul’s words in Romans 13:7 with the answer that Christ gave in Mark 12:13-17. Christ too insisted that God’s people should pay their taxes. However, he then reminded the people that we all owe a much greater duty to God.

Debts, duties, and the duty to act in love

(Romans 13:8)

In financial matters, Christians are like other people in this world. They may have homes, families and businesses. They have people whom they must pay; they have duties that they must carry out.

In all these things, Christians should be honourable. Christians should pay their debts; they should carry out their duties. They should be people whom other people can trust (Luke 16:10-11).

When we have paid our debts, there is nothing more to pay. When we have carried out our duties, we are free from those duties. However, there is one duty that Christians will always have towards other people. It is the duty to act in love towards other people. (Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:25-37; 1 Corinthians chapter 13). That kind of love is not an emotion. It is the decision to offer help and kindness to everyone that God places in our lives. That love does not depend on whether we like that person. In fact, it shows greater love to help someone whom we do not actually like.

It is by our acts of love that we truly carry out God’s law (13:9-10). In other words, the law of God in the Bible is teaching us to show love to other people. A person might obey some of the rules in the Bible, but still have an attitude of hate towards other people. That person would not truly be obeying God’s law, because he is not showing love. However, by means of love, a person does what the rest of God’s law is teaching him to do. It is that person’s desire to show to other people the same kind of love that God has for them (Matthew 5:43-48). There can be no better attitude than that towards other people; that person is doing what God wants him to do.

Love and God's commands

(Romans 13:9-10)

The list of commands that God gave to Israel’s people appears twice in the Bible: Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Those commands are not, of course, the whole of God’s law. Rather, they are a series of lessons to teach people how God wants them to live.

The commands are in two parts. The first few commands are lessons about a person’s relationship with God. The other commands are about a person’s relationships with other people. That is how Christ could explain the lessons even more simply in Mark 12:28-31. People should love God, and they should love other people. Those are the most important lessons that God’s law teaches.

In that passage, Christ was not in fact teaching a new lesson. He was simply repeating words that already appeared in the Bible: Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. Paul repeats only the last of these passages in Romans 13:9, because his subject is relationships between people. He is teaching us how Christians should deal with other people.

Christians should act in love, and therefore they should offer kindness and help to other people. That is how God’s law teaches people to behave; therefore, that is how God wants his people to behave.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, you can read Paul’s description of the nature of true love. That kind of love is entirely good, because it comes from God himself (1 John 4:16; see also James 1:17). People who offend against God’s commands are not showing true love. Rather, the reason for most of these wrong acts is people’s selfish and evil desires (James 1:14-15). When people behave in a selfish manner, that is the opposite of true love. Love is when we care about other people; we are selfish when we care too much about ourselves.

Our salvation is nearer that when we first believed

(Romans 13:11)

The first Christians often gathered for their meetings at night, and the meetings continued until early in the morning (Acts 12:12-18; Acts 20:7-12). It was the only time when Christian slaves were able to attend the meetings.

We can only imagine how impressive Paul’s words were on such an occasion. However, Paul is not speaking about the start of a new day, but about the return of Christ. For God’s people, that will be the day of their full salvation. Salvation means rescue and safety. Christ is coming to rescue them from all their troubles in this world. Under his rule, they will always be safe (Revelation 21:3-4).

We often use the word ‘salvation’ to mean the time when a person first believes in Christ (compare Romans 1:16). That is also a correct use of the word, because God’s work in a person’s life is both certain and immediate (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:17). God will certainly carry out all his promises to his people, but that has not happened yet (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). It will happen only when Christ returns to rule all things.

So, as we wait for Christ’s return, we must not become lazy. We must not behave like people who do not care about Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:4-11). We must not be like servants who are not ready for their master’s return (Mark 13:32-36). The time of Christ’s return becomes nearer every day. We have believed Christ; we must continue to believe and trust him. We have put our hope in Christ; we must allow our hope to become stronger. We are the people of God; we must live our lives as God’s people should live in this world (2 Peter 3:11). We must not always be like children; we must allow our relationship with God to develop and to become mature (Hebrews 5:11-14).

The day of Christ's return is near

(Romans 13:12)

Paul’s words seem to describe the camp of an army. That army hopes to surprise its enemies with a sudden attack, early in the morning. However, by night the soldiers are pleasing themselves, with foolish and wild behaviour.

They are drinking wine and they are eating too much food. They are having sex with women; and they are arguing with each other. As the night continues, even the guards are sleeping. They are all in great danger. Anyone could enter the camp and attack them.

The Bible uses darkness as a word-picture for people’s evil deeds (for example, Isaiah 8:21 to 9:2). Many people who are now Christians formerly cared only to please themselves (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). However, then God changed their lives in the most powerful manner (2 Corinthians 5:17). The knowledge of Christ changed them completely, like a light that shines in darkness (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The darkness of people’s evil deeds must end because, suddenly, Christ will return (Luke 21:25-28). He will defeat all that is evil in this world (1 Samuel 2:1-10). In Romans 13:11-13, Paul compares Christ’s return to the beginning of a new day.

The beginning of the new day has an astonishing effect on the soldiers in the camp. Long before dawn, they are all awake, and they are preparing themselves for the battle. Now none of them cares to please himself; their only desire is to carry out their tasks well, and to win.

The knowledge of Christ’s soon return (Revelation 22:12) should have a similar effect on the lives of Christians. Christians should not desire to please themselves. Instead, they should loyally do the work that God has given them to do. They should not behave like those foolish soldiers in the darkness. Instead, they should make themselves ready for the day of Christ’s return (Mark 13:32-37).

Wrong behaviour when we start to relax

(Romans 13:13)

Many people may behave well, before the night begins. They may be too busy to carry out their true desires. Or perhaps they do not want other people to see their wrong and evil actions. So when they relax, in the darkness of the night, their behaviour suddenly becomes much worse.

Christians belong to the day, says Paul (compare 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8). There will be no night and no darkness in the New Jerusalem, where God’s rule is complete (Revelation 21:23-25). Christians are the people who accept God’s rule over their lives now. So Christians should not be guilty of evil behaviour, even in this world.

Most Christians understand quite well how God wants them to live. Perhaps they behave well during the day, when they are busy. However, in the evening when they start to relax, they do many wrong things.

When people start to relax, they often try to please themselves. It is that kind of attitude that Paul warns against. Christians should not try to please themselves; that is a selfish attitude. Rather, their desire always should be to please God (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Paul probably wrote the Book of Romans while he was in Corinth. From the experiences of Christians there, Paul knew about the kinds of wrong behaviour that often tempt eager young Christians. All the wrong acts that he mentions in Romans 13:13 had been happening among Christians at Corinth. However, with the help of Titus, Paul had successfully urged them to turn back to God (2 Corinthians 7:6-16). God is eager to forgive us when we are willing, with his help, to stop our evil deeds (1 John 1:9).

'Put on' Christ

(Romans 13:14)

In English, to ‘put on’ Christ, as we ‘put on’ clothes, seems a strange expression. However, the first Christians were familiar with this word-picture, and we often see similar expressions in their books. For some examples, see Luke 24:49; 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 and Colossians 3:10-12. In each of these places, strength replaces weakness when we receive God’s gift to us.

We are all aware of the weakness of our physical bodies. That is why we put on clothes: to cover our naked bodies (Genesis 3:7; 1 Corinthians 12:23). We choose clothes to deal with our weaknesses. So, we wear warm clothes when are cold. We wear cool clothes when we are hot. We choose clothes to protect us from the sun or the rain. In battle, soldiers wear armour: strong clothes that defend the weak parts of their bodies (compare Romans 13:12, and see Ephesians 6:10-17).

However, we have no clothes to deal with our inner weaknesses: our wrong desires, ambitions, emotions and fears. To deal with these weaknesses, we must depend on Christ. He alone frees us from these weaknesses to live in the manner that pleases God (8:1-4).

In Galatians 3:26-27, Paul again uses the expression: to ‘put on Christ’. There, he refers to the beginning of the Christian life, when a person first trusts Christ. However, we cannot stop then - we must continue to trust Christ through our whole lives (Galatians 3:2-3; Hebrews 10:36-39). So, in Romans 13:14, Paul urges people who are already Christians to ‘put on Christ’. In other words, they must trust him every day, even as we put on our clothes every day. We need his help continuously. We constantly need to accept his strength, in order to overcome our weaknesses.

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