Romans 13 — Submission to Authorities

Chapter 13 of the Epistle to the Romans: “....Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.

Therefore, whoever opposes the authority resists what God has established, and those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves. For rulers do not inspire fear in those who do good, but in those who do evil. Do you want, then, not to fear the authority? Do what is good, and you will receive its praise, for it is God’s servant—that is, the person in authority is God’s servant—for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain, since it is God’s servant, an avenger who punishes the one who does evil. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject to it, not only because of punishment, but also for the sake of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for they are God’s servants who devote themselves continually to this very thing.

Pay everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; revenue to whom revenue is due; respect to whom respect is due; honor to whom honor is due. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For, ‘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 statement: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to one’s neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time: it is already time for us to awaken from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and the day is approaching. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honorably, as in the daytime—not in gluttony and drunkenness, not in lust and sensuality, not in strife and envy—but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

May the Lord bless His word. Remember what we have said: these chapters, from chapter 12 onward in the Epistle to the Romans, are very down-to-earth chapters. They are fatherly counsel from the Apostle Paul to believers, applying all those things that he has just established in the preceding chapters. Now it is as though he were sitting with you in the living-room rocking chair and beginning to give you grandfatherly advice, fatherly counsel about how you should live that life of a child of God, that life of a renewed mind and a renewed spirit, as a living sacrifice before the Lord, expressing the values of the Kingdom of God.

And he takes time to address key areas of human life in which we can put into practice that principle of living a life that pleases the Lord, in keeping with the great calling we have received. In the previous chapter, he has just addressed matters such as how we Christians should live with one another, how we should conduct ourselves in the responsibilities we have in the church, and how we should treat one another in love, giving preference to one another.

Last Sunday we spoke at length about this attitude of mercy and generosity: forgiving those who offend us and blessing those who curse us. Treating those who persecute us well, identifying with those who weep and also with those who celebrate, being humble and not treating a person of humbler standing with a sense of superiority on our part, but instead rubbing shoulders and associating with one another and maintaining that benevolent, merciful, generous attitude toward one another. All of that was in chapter 12.

Now he enters another dimension, another very important aspect, and the first seven verses of this chapter 13 concern how we relate to legal authority—that is, how we Christians should treat the police, the government of our nation or our state, and all civil authorities; how we should conduct ourselves with regard to the laws with which we interact in life. In other words, what kind of citizen should a child of God be? What kind of citizen, and how should we relate to authority?

And what Paul is saying, evidently, is that Christians should have an attitude of respect toward civil authorities, and I would say it goes much further than that: toward all authority. He speaks of the governing authorities and is referring specifically to governments, to the people who carry the revolver here. He speaks a great deal about what today we would call the police, the military, the government in Washington, or here at City Hall or at the State House, the governor, and so on. But I believe that, beyond that, it has to do with authority in general—all the authorities over us.

But for a moment, so as not to complicate matters too much right away, let us talk about how we should relate to the authorities—to everything having to do with the government over us. Well, Paul says, hey, you have to be model citizens; you have to obey the laws of the nation where you live. You must distinguish yourselves by being respectful toward authority, not going around defiantly or rebelliously, and not looking for ways to evade the law. You must respect all laws and be citizens who exemplify submission to authority.

Did you know that one of the problems Christians had was that they did not worship Caesar? The Roman Empire had declared that Caesar—that is, Caesar was like the emperor, the emperor of the Roman Empire, which ruled much of the known world. The Roman Empire had established its law over many nations of the earth, and Christians accepted only Jesus as God, along with the Father; they worshiped God alone, as did the Jews. So Christians had a serious problem, which was that they did not worship Caesar; they did not worship the Roman emperor. In that sense, then, the Roman Empire regarded them with great suspicion, and in fact that was also why it persecuted them on many occasions: because they would not kneel to worship Caesar as God. This brought many suspicions upon them that they were not good citizens.

It is interesting, then, that in writing to a church located in Rome, Paul addresses that subject. That is revealing, because it is evident that he wanted to clarify for Christians what their attitude should be, since there may often have been Christians who said, ‘Well, we belong to a higher kingdom; our King is Jesus Christ, and we do not respect the Roman authorities who persecute us and do not accept Christianity.’ Paul says, ‘That is not so. We must submit. We are in the world, we benefit from certain privileges and protections that civil life provides, and we must submit to that law. At no time can we be identified as rebellious people.’

I believe there was also an element there of defending themselves and covering themselves in advance before the Roman authorities. Many of the great Church Fathers in the early centuries often wrote to the emperors and rulers in the various provinces where they lived, letting them know that Christians submitted to their law and prayed for their superiors, and seeking to make that clear. They simply said, ‘We do not worship Caesar as our God, but we submit to Caesar and recognize his lordship. We are not a subversive force seeking to destabilize the government; quite the contrary, we are respectful people.’

And the Bible is full of various calls to respect the authorities, and it is important for us to understand that. For example, if we look in 1 Timothy, chapter 2, it says there in verse 1:

“....First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for all people—and then he adds—for kings and all those who are in positions of authority, so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty....”

In other words, one of the things we Christians must do is pray for our authorities. We have to pray for President Bush even if we do not like him. How many say amen to that? Okay, if you do not like him—or for President Clinton in his time, or for any president. We have to pray for Deval Patrick; we have to pray for anyone in authority so that the Lord may enlighten them—not eliminate them, but enlighten them, enlighten them—and give them wisdom so that they can make just decisions and establish laws that accord with the Lord’s will, and so that we can live peaceful lives. Because if they are enlightened by God, they will make just laws. It is therefore to our benefit to bless those who are in authority. That is part of God’s calling.

Notice that: we cannot curse our authorities. I also believe that we have to speak about them respectfully. If we are going to criticize them, we may criticize them, but it must not be done disrespectfully. In Titus, chapter 3, there is another very interesting call along the same lines. It says there in verse 1:

“....Remind them—Paul says to Titus, the pastor on that island of Crete where Titus is ministering—remind them to be subject to rulers.......—you see, submit—......to rulers and authorities, to obey, and to be ready for every good work....”

Good, that is verse 1. And finally, in 1 Peter, chapter 2, beginning with verse 13, it says:

“....For the Lord’s sake—notice how interesting this is: it is not because you prefer it or because you want to do it, but out of respect for the Lord—....submit yourselves to every human institution, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors as those sent by him to punish evildoers and praise those who do good. For this is the will of God: that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as free people, but not as those who use their freedom as a pretext for doing evil; rather, live as servants of God. Honor everyone, love the brothers, fear God, honor the king....”

In other words, there is an attitude there... It is a kind of mixture in which fearing God and honoring God are joined with submitting to the authorities as well. I believe there is so much to discuss here, brothers and sisters. Volumes and volumes have been written in human philosophy about this idea of how we should relate to the state. But it is evident that the most important thing is this: the essential stance of every Christian man or woman should be one of respect for authority and submission to authority.

We have to be exemplary in that regard. Peter speaks to them there and tells them to conduct themselves in such a way that they silence people’s ignorance. Why? Because Christianity was a new religion, and people did not know what to make of Christians. They did not recognize the emperor’s deity, so they were under suspicion. All kinds of rumors were spread about Christians, and so they were compelled to be very law-abiding people in order to show others, ‘Those accusations against us are lies. We are God’s people; we respect authority. We are not here to subvert authority.’

And as Christians, we must always remember that we have a great responsibility to exemplify good conduct in civil affairs: to respect the laws as far as possible, walk uprightly, pay our taxes, pay the debts we owe, and not go around acting quarrelsomely, but always respectfully. For authority, Paul says, has been instituted by God.

That is, what I believe Paul meant by that is the very source of the concept of civil authority. Many books have been written—Rousseau, Locke—well, many writers wrote about the origins of government, because that has not always.... Well, biblically we believe that it has, but many theories have been proposed about how the concept of government arose among humankind. Humanity benefits from having a state, from having an authority that builds roads, establishes public-service systems, has police and a military to protect people, prevents the weak from being oppressed by the stronger members of society, and keeps all-out war from breaking out in society—and that is from God. That is a grace God has given to fallen humanity, which does not govern itself according to God’s law. Governments are not perfect, but they are the best thing we have. Therefore, we must respect government, and we must help those in government by praying for them and cooperating in every way for its advancement.

Now, one question may be: what happens when a government is evil? Because notice how interesting it is that Paul here paints instead the picture of a government that functions justly. In verse 4, he is speaking of:

“....for it is God’s servant for your good....—right? And farther on—....it is God’s servant, an avenger who punishes the one who does evil....”

So I believe Paul is describing a government that functions properly. Now, I believe that within the complexity of the word of God there is room, first, to resist laws that are contrary to the law of God, definitely. For example, the Jewish women and midwives did not obey Pharaoh’s law requiring the killing of all the Jewish firstborn as Pharaoh wanted; instead, they let them be born and told Pharaoh, “These Jewish women are so healthy that they give birth before we arrive; before the ambulance pulls up at the door, they already have the baby in their arms.” So, how many sisters would like to be like that? Isn’t that right? Say amen, glory to God. So they violated—they did not obey—the unjust law.

And I believe there is a place for it; there are governments so terrible, so bloodthirsty, so oppressive that I believe there is a place for resisting them. This nation was born out of a revolution against the British Empire, which was enacting unjust laws. They tried to negotiate; it was a long process of trying to get England to treat them more justly, but the situation kept escalating until blood was shed, and finally the North American colonies said, “No more,” and broke with the mother country. And this nation today was born out of that rebellion, and almost all nations, if we look throughout history, were born out of some break with an empire, an unjust nation, or whatever it might have been, as they understood it.

In other words, there is a place for it. An Idi Amin in Africa, who killed thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people, has to be resisted; he had to be resisted. That animal had to be put out of his misery and disposed of somehow; he was a human beast, completely demon-possessed.

And I believe one also has to... there is a tension in Scripture. We do not have time to discuss it in such depth, but as far as possible, I believe what the Word says is this, brothers and sisters: the Christian’s essential posture, the primary posture, must be one of respect for authority, and as far as possible we must try to relate to the governing authorities from a standpoint of respect and obedience to the laws. Only in extreme cases, when no other recourse remains, when we have exhausted every means within the legal system of changing an unjust law, should we then—and only with fear and trembling, with great sorrow in our hearts, commending ourselves to every saint there ever was or will be—undertake a rebellion against authority.

That is how I see it, and you may not agree with that. Many people say, “No, authority must be respected one hundred percent, even if a beast occupies that position of authority. That person must be respected because God allows them to be placed there; we must pray for them, etc., etc.” I do not go to that extreme, and neither do the great thinkers of the Church. I do not believe that the word of the Lord, even when considered theologically in its full breadth, leaves room for believing such a thing.

But I do say that in everything... God—and here I am moving into another very important matter—God takes authority extremely seriously, because He... you know that kings look out for one another, right? The first emperor of the universe is God; that is the first authority. So He is very jealous about how we relate to authority, and He confronted His great crisis, so to speak, countless centuries ago, when His most exalted creature rebelled against Him. That creature was Lucifer, Luzbel, and the Bible gives us to understand that there was some kind of civil war and rebellion by a great number of angels, led by that creature now called Satan but who had been Luzbel, the highest creature God had created. There was a rupture and a rebellion, and God expelled those angels from His presence. They are the demons and those terrible beings that do so much harm to humanity today. And God is very sensitive about that. Furthermore, rebellion is also written upon the heart of the human race—the disobedience that took place in Eden—and from then on we see that rebellion of the human race against divine authority. God abhors rebellion in any form, any rebellion against authority, anything in the heart against authority. To God, that... there is a passage that says that, to God, rebellion is like witchcraft. He regards it that very, very seriously.

And brothers and sisters, there is something very, very important here, and I want to go deeper into it, to the fundamental principle behind all of this. Because if we stop at merely, “Okay, obey the law, pay your taxes,” and things like that, that is very superficial. I believe, brothers and sisters, that we Christians who understand the structure of the spirit must have respect for every authority with whom we come into contact. So if, for example, we are at work and have a boss, a superior, a supervisor, as far as possible we must respect that supervisor. Yes, amen. Say amen even if you do not believe it. We must relate to that person by saying, “You are my superior, and I am going to show you respect.” And you know what? Do not act like that child whose mother made him kneel and then asked him from the other room, “Are you still on your knees?” and he said, “Yes, I am physically on my knees, but inside I am standing up.” We cannot be like that. We must be subject to authority inwardly and outwardly. Many people grudgingly respect authority, but inwardly they have rebellion in their hearts. No, Christians love—even enjoy—submitting to authority.

Young people, listen to this; pay attention. Please pay attention, young people, and try to listen to me for a moment. Young people, you belong to a generation that does not like to respect authority; this is a rebellious generation. For many years, especially in this country and in many other countries around the world, it has been preached that authority should not be respected. That is a diabolical lie. That is the demonic spirit. You should respect your teachers, for example; young people should make life pleasant for their teachers. How many say amen to that? Young people should honor their teachers, and needless to say, honor their parents.

We must respect our parents, our authorities. The first authority is our God, and then our parents, and that applies to all of us. “Honor your father and your mother” is one of the commandments. And that is something God has been speaking to me so much about during this season. I feel that it will be one of the defining messages of my life: calling this generation, and young people above all, to respect their parents, to be reconciled with their parents, and to show respect and reverence for their parents. People do not know how much pain they cause themselves when they adopt a posture of rebellion against their parents.

I went with my daughter Abigail to the University of Pennsylvania this past weekend. I came back yesterday; we were there for two days, and I saw a scene that I feel the Lord placed there for me to observe. My wife says that I am—remember I told you—one of the most quarrelsome people in the world; I am always observing things when I am in a restaurant. And I was heading toward the place where we were going to conclude the first meeting. Abby was already there, and I had to walk about a block or so. There were many parents there with their children because it was an information session and all of that, about the university. They passed by me. First, a young woman passed who was from the department Abigail would be in if she goes there. She was about seventeen years old, finishing high school, an American high school senior, and both parents were coming behind her. All I heard as she passed beside me was her saying, “I know, I know...” She told them, “I know, I know,” in English, and kept walking. Then came her two parents, her mother and father, behind her. They had surely paid for her trip and would surely pay for her years at the university; they had fed her, given her clothing, and all of that. But this girl was walking ahead of them, and I measured the distance at times. At times she was almost twenty feet ahead of them, and here came her father, a big man about six foot two, behind her, walking along like this, with the poor mother behind the father, also at a slight distance. And the girl was going full speed, without a care... At one point she opened a door and I think she almost let it slam on them; she held it because it would have been too obvious. And I was watching this scene as I walked behind them, you know? I was watching this rebellious girl walking ahead of her parents, ashamed of her parents, because that is something people in this culture have grown accustomed to nowadays: boys will be boys and that is simply how they are; they do not give their parents any information and do not respect them. And the parents sort of laugh with one another, as though that is now supposed to be normal and that is just how young people are, etc.

Brothers and sisters, until the day I die I will rebel against that system. And this girl was like the symbol of an entire generation that despises authority and despises its parents. And I do not know whom I was angrier with—her or the parents—because they allow that kind of indignity and that kind of offense. That young woman does not know the harm she is doing to herself, you know? Because in the end it is going to come back to her; it is going to rebound on her. That kind of rebellion in the heart is the most harmful thing in the world. And we parents—the text says, “...do not be conformed to this age...” This means that we cannot conform to this culture. This culture says it is all right for children to rebel against their parents. This culture says, “Do not correct your children, do not confront them, do not speak sternly to them, do not discipline them, because you will deform them, because you do not want to be an abuser,” and this and that. That is a lie from the devil. It must be thrown back in his face. We must help our children and teach them, for their own good, to respect their parents and to respect their teachers—not merely to respect them, but to honor them.

To honor means to show them preference. To honor means proactively seeking to please your parents, your teachers, and the people who have authority over your life. This is a basic principle from God, brothers and sisters: our hearts should always remain tender toward authority until that authority rebels and proves unworthy of my respect. Then I must find a different way of dealing with it. But the basic posture—“the default posture of a child of God should always be respect for authority until they prove themselves unworthy, utterly unworthy of that respect, of that honor.”

And brothers and sisters, I tell you that there is something special that crowns a young person who respects adults. How beautiful is a young man or woman who respects those in authority! That person’s heart grows pure and pleasing, and there is something different about their face, and adults go out of their way to help and bless them. But when there is that rebellion in the heart, that attitude of, “I do not owe you anything, and you owe me everything,” that is diabolical, that is harmful, and it brings destruction and punishment upon young people. Things will not go well for you. Do you not see that the Word says to respect your parents so that things may go well with you and so that you may live many days?

There is something precious that this culture has lost: respect for gray hair, respect for authority in every form. Sometimes we disrespect our spiritual authorities; in our hearts we harbor things against them. And brothers and sisters, I tell you for your own good: do not allow that... because it makes you stagnant, it makes you stagnant; you cannot grow, you cannot move forward. Black eyes, social failure, going from place to place, and dullness in spiritual understanding come along with rebellion against your authorities. But when someone respects authority and delights in giving honor to the one to whom honor is due, there is great blessing in that. How many say amen?

Amen. That is why Paul concludes by saying in verse 7, “...pay everyone what you owe: tribute to whom tribute is due, tax to whom tax is due; respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due...”

In other words, let us not limit ourselves merely to respecting the law because it has a gun that can shoot me or can give me a ticket if I do not obey it. No; whoever you owe honor or respect, give it to them, and give it joyfully, because you too will be shown respect. You too will receive respect from your children, from someone over whom you will have authority, or whatever the case may be. So let us give it to one another. Respect your authorities, and others will respect you. Let us respect the authorities in the church: the usher, the person attending the parking lot, anyone who has been placed in a position of authority, in a ministry, or whatever it may be. Let us be people who freely and generously give honor, obedience, and courtesy. That is from God, and the church, the family, the young person, and the citizen governed by that respect for authority will be blessed and will prosper. Amen.

I am going to leave it there so as not to complicate things too much, so that this central thought will remain in our spirit. If your parents hurt you when you were a child, there are people who do not relate well to authority. I have observed many such people over the years. They often do not relate well to authority because they harbor resentment against a father or mother who was abusive or oppressive, who did not treat them well, who abandoned them, or whatever the case may be; and that root of bitterness is in their heart and keeps them from relating wisely to authority. So there is always resistance, there are complications; whenever that person does even the slightest thing, it bothers you more than it normally would, because you are already predisposed to see the flaw and imperfection in that authority. So you see it through a magnifying glass.

And we have to be healed of that. It harms you, not the other person, not your parents. Let it go. Forgive, let go, let it pass, and enter another stage of your life in which you relate positively to authority, because it is from God and is meant to bless you. So if you detect or sense in your heart any kind of feeling against a person who holds authority in your life, resolve it. Talk it over with that person if necessary; tell them what you feel and why, whether they offended you or did something. Dare to tell that person; talk with them and make things right, but do not remain in an attitude of rebellion and resistance toward authority, because it is not healthy for you and will not be a blessing in your life. But if you love authority, if you respect your parents, if you revere your parents, if you honor them and your authorities in general, things will go much better for you, and God will bless you greatly.

To the Lord be the glory. Father, we bless your name. You are the supreme authority, and we gladly submit to your authority. If we had to crawl on the ground, though you do not ask that of us, we would gladly do so because you deserve that and much more. We want to be children who honor you. Father, I want to be a son who honors you. We want to obey you; Lord, we want to please you in everything.

Father, we want to have a church of people who respect authority—exemplary people, exemplary young people, young people characterized by that gentle, peaceful, respectful attitude that will lead them to prosperity. We bless these young people this morning, Father. May your word be engraved upon their hearts; and as for any of us, forgive us if in any way we are not exemplifying this attitude of respect to which your word calls us.

Today we commit ourselves to examining ourselves and, with the help of your Holy Spirit, doing everything in our power to live according to your call to respect the governing authorities. Thank you for the sound counsel of your word, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, may God richly bless you. We thank you for being here this morning. Be blessed. Go to your homes with the blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We bless you. Amen. Amen.