Romans 13:1-7: Christians and the Civil Government

Romans 13:1-7: Christians and Civil Government

Please turn with me in your Bible to Romans 13. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 785. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Romans, and this morning we come to Romans 13:1-7. Romans 13:1-7: 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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. 

Regardless of whether you lean Democrat or Republican, there are probably some laws and some leaders in our country today that you’re not a very big fan of. Just to be honest with you and say something I think we would all say, there are some laws that I personally wish were not on the books and some leaders that I wish were not in office. And I expect that to always be the case to one degree or another until Jesus comes back. However, Paul gives us some fairly clear instructions here in this passage about how Christians should relate to government. He says that Christians should be subject to the governing authorities because those authorities have been instituted by God. That’s the main idea we see here. Christians should be subject to the governing authorities because those authorities have been instituted by God. 

And before we get into the meat of this passage, let me begin by giving you some background. By the way, this sermon is going to be a bit unique because I don’t really have a super-tight outline for you this morning. But generally speaking, I plan on first giving you some background information that will frame Paul’s instructions here. After that, I plan on doing a simple walkthrough of Paul’s instructions. Then finally, we’ll end by drawing out some conclusions from the things we’ve discussed. 

Background of Paul’s Instructions

So first, let me give you some background and set this passage in the context of all of Scripture. The Bible teaches that those of us who are Christians may presently live in this world and have dealings in this world but that our true citizenship is actually not in this world but in heaven. In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes that “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” So even though most of us in this room are citizens of the United States, our primary citizenship is actually not in the United States. As Christians, we’re first and foremost citizens of heaven. 

You see, when we came to faith, several different things happened to us. Number one, our sins were forgiven. We had sinned and deserved to be punished for our sins, but through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, all of our sins were washed away. Jesus took upon himself the punishment we deserved so that we could be free from any kind of guilt or condemnation. In addition to that, when we came to faith, we received a new heart. God performed a spiritual heart transplant. He removed our old sinful heart that wanted nothing to do with him and replaced it with a new heart that loves him. That’s why, if you’re truly a Christian, you’re going to think and live as a new person. And then one other thing that God did is save us into something. He certainly saved us out of something—namely out of our sin—but he also saved us into something. And that something is his heavenly family. You may remember that from earlier in Romans. In Romans 8:16-17, Paul wrote, 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…. So as Christians, we’ve been adopted into God’s family. We’re “children of God.” And our new status as children of God means that we’re also heirs of God. We now have a claim on the family fortune—an eternal inheritance in heaven. And according to the Bible, that inheritance is, in many ways, ours even now. Even now, we’re citizens of heaven. Even now, our primary identity is a heavenly identity rather than an earthly one. 

So here’s what that means. It means that we shouldn’t expect to feel at home in this world or necessarily comfortable in this world. Since this world isn’t our home any longer, so we shouldn’t expect to feel at home here or comfortable here. In 1 Peter 2:11, Peter refers to Christians as “sojourners and exiles.” We’re sojourners and exiles temporarily residing in a foreign land. And it should feel that way. Kind of like when I go back to my hometown in Virginia. I spent much of my childhood growing up in a small town in Virginia named Rustburg. And nowadays, whenever I drive through the town of Rustburg on my way to visit my parents, it’s a bit of a strange experience. Because on the one hand, I have no problem finding my way around the town. I know my way around pretty well. Obviously, things look a little different than they did 12 years ago, but it’s still the same basic town. However, even though there are a lot of familiar sights in that town, it just feels different as I drive through it. It doesn’t feel like I’m from there anymore—because I’m not from there; I’m visiting. And that’s the way it is with Christians in this world. We may have a lot of knowledge about this world and be familiar with the way it functions and have a lot of history here, but we’re no longer from here. This world isn’t our home any longer. So there should always be a very real sense in which we feel out of place here as we wait to be taken to our true home in heaven. 

Walkthrough of Paul’s Instructions

However, though we may be citizens of heaven, the fact is that we are indeed presently located here on earth. And because of that, there are certain things we have to understand about relating to earthly governments. That’s why God gave us Romans 13. So let’s walk through some of the instructions we find in Romans 13. Verse 1 summarizes those instructions pretty well. Paul writes, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” So Paul says we’re supposed “be subject to the governing authorities.” That’s the central command here. We’re supposed to obey the governing authorities and do what they tell us to do. Why is that? Well, Paul says, those authorities have actually been “instituted by God.” In other words, God’s the one who’s ultimately responsible for them being in power. He’s the one who—for reasons known to himself—ultimately gave those people their positions. “Therefore,” Paul says in verse 2, “whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” That means when you disobey the government, you’re actually disobeying something God’s put in place and therefore will incur judgment on yourself. 

Then Paul goes on to talk about God’s intention in giving government rulers the authority he’s given them. Verses 3-4: 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. So God has instituted human government to promote the general welfare of a society. He’s charged them with approving those who do good and punishing those who do wrong. And sometimes, people do something that’s so wrong and so harmful that capital punishment is warranted. As verse 4 says, an earthly ruler “does not bear the sword in vain.” That’s referring to capital punishment. Governments are authorized to “bear the sword.”

Now, sometimes at this point, people wonder, What about Jesus’ instructions in Luke 6 to “turn the other cheek”? Didn’t Jesus say to love your enemies and, if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other cheek also? I believe we actually just looked at that verse last week, as a matter of fact. So how does that fit with what we read here in Romans 13? Well, Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6 was spoken to people as individuals. As individuals, we’re supposed to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. However, God’s given governments a different responsibility. The responsibility of governments—and of Christians who hold government office—is not to turn the other cheek but rather to enforce justice by punishing those who do wrong. A few weeks ago, I was in Washington DC attending a conference for pastors. And I found myself driving through a neighborhood at night that was a pretty sketchy neighborhood. It was the kind of place were, let’s just say, the safest thing to do was to not stop at the stop signs or really stop for any reason. And I remember driving past a couple of police vehicles and thinking to myself, “I’m sure glad they’re here.” I’m glad there were police in that neighborhood who didn’t have the philosophy of turning the other cheek but rather of enforcing the law. For all I know, that may have made the difference between me getting through that neighborhood safely and me not getting through safely. So the job of governments is to enforce justice and punish wrongdoers. As Paul says, they do not “bear the sword in vain.” That means they don’t bear something potentially lethal for no reason. God has authorized them to use force and sometimes even lethal force. 

Then Paul continues in verses 5-7, 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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. So here, Paul describes what it means to do what he said in verse 1 and “be subject to the governing authorities.” He says it includes paying taxes—really practical—and showing respect and even honor to those in office. Yes, that’s in the Bible. Now I know there are probably a variety of political views represented in this room and a variety of views about our current president, Donald Trump. However, even if you aren’t a big fan of Donald Trump, even if the mere mention of his name causes you recoil a bit in your seat, even if you think he’s the worst president we’ve ever had, it doesn’t matter. Donald Trump, like any president, is the authority God has put into office, and yes we are called to honor him. That doesn’t mean you can’t publically disagree with his policies or argue that another candidate would be more fit for office in 2020, but it does mean there’s a certain honor we should show to him simply because he’s our president. Even if you can’t in good conscience honor the person, you should at least honor the office. That’s what Paul’s saying here. And by the way, guess who sat on the throne of the Roman Empire when Paul was writing this letter? It was Nero. And if you know anything about Nero and the kinds of things Nero did, he makes Donald Trump even in Trump’s worst moments look like choir boy. So if Paul could honor Nero, you can honor Trump. 

And that brings up a good point. Regardless of who’s in power, human governments are always going to be deeply flawed. There’s always going to be a certain amount of corruption and injustice and mismanagement and abuse of power. After all, who is it that runs governments? Human beings, right? And what do human beings have? A sinful nature. Therefore, governments will always bear the marks of that to one degree or another. Now hopefully, in a democracy, the sinful tendencies of our leaders can be curbed to large extent as government leaders hold each other accountable. But we’re never going to have a perfect government until Jesus comes back. And yet, we’re called be subject to our government. 

Now I do believe there are certain, very rare, situations in which governments are doing very evil things and are directly responsible for so much human suffering that it is permissible for Christians to participate in a revolution to overthrow the government. In other words, I don’t think Paul’s command in verse 1 to “be subject to the governing authorities” is an absolute command. I think it’s dependent on the government doing what Paul outlines in verses 3-4 of approving those who do good and punishing those who do evil. So if a government strays far enough from those guidelines in verses 3-4, I do believe efforts to replace that government with a more just government are in order. For example, that’s what our founding fathers believed they were doing in the American Revolution. As the Declaration of Independence states, they believed King George was abusing his power to such an extent that a revolution was justified. Now, personally, I don’t know enough about that historical situation to have an opinion about whether a revolution was justified in that particular instance or not, but that’s what our founding fathers believed. And I do believe Scripture leaves room for that possibility. So, for example, if we found out today that there was a revolution underway in North Korea, I personally would have no problem praying that that revolution would be successful.  

However, even though there may be extreme situations in which a political revolution is in order, Christians should normally—in the vast majority of situations—be subject to the government. That’s what God’s called us to do. We may be citizens of heaven, like we talked about earlier, but as long as we live in this world, we’re called to be subject to the governing authorities here. It would be kind of like one of us traveling to another country. You might be a citizen of the United States, but if you were to travel to India, let’s say, you’d probably find it in your best interest to follow the rules of the Indian government. And that would be very appropriate. And likewise with us as Christians: we’re presently located here on earth and are therefore called to live obediently under the rule of our earthly government. 

Conclusions from Paul’s Instructions

So where does all of this leave us? Well, in many ways, it leaves us caught between two worlds. On the one hand, we’re called to live like citizens of heaven, but on the other hand, we find ourselves under the authority of a secular government that, I might add, here in America, is becoming less and less sympathetic to Christian convictions. So that means, even though we’re normally called to be obedient to the government, that there may be instances, either now or in the future, when the two worlds collide and we’re forced to choose between obedience to God and obedience to the government. In those situations, our loyalty has to be first and foremost to God. Our answer should be the same as that of the apostles in Acts 5 when they were commanded by the civil authorities to stop preaching the gospel. The apostles boldly responded in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” “We must obey God rather than men.”

When you think about it, it’s really not all that different from the way some people decide who they’re going to root for in a football game. I know a lot of people who are living here in Pittsburgh but who used to live in another city and are still loyal to that city’s football team. Let’s say they used to live in Denver. So whenever the Broncos are playing they’re going to root for the Broncos. That’s their primary loyalty. But since they’re now living here in Pittsburgh, they also have no problem rooting for the Steelers as well—as long as the Steelers winning doesn’t get in the way of the Broncos winning. So they’ll root for the Steelers until the Steelers play the Broncos. Then they’re going to be all about the Broncos. They’re Broncos fans first and Steelers fans second. And to some extent, that’s how it should be with Christians as well. As long as we’re here on earth, we understand that we’re called to obey the earthly government God’s put over us. However, our primary loyalty isn’t to this earthly government but to God in heaven. We’re citizens of heaven first and citizens of America second.

And since our true and highest citizenship is in heaven, the primary concern we should have while we’re here on earth is to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel. That’s what the King of Heaven has left us here on earth to do. Even though there are legitimate concerns and causes for us to be involved with in the political realm, we always want to keep the gospel as our priority. After all, Jesus didn’t commission us to change government structures but rather to make disciples. He said, in Matthew 28:19-20:  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…. So those are our marching orders. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t exercise influence on the government to the extent that we’re able to. However, our main focus should be on making disciples. 

And in fact, that’s the ultimate way to bring about real change in society anyway. Real and lasting change to society comes not as we try to change society from the outside but as we seek to change the individuals who comprise society from the inside. Let me say that again: real and lasting change to society comes not as we try to change society from the outside but as we seek to change the individuals who comprise society from the inside. That means legislation is rather limited in what it has the power to accomplish. If we really want to bring about change, we’ll focus not on legislation but on reaching people’s hearts with the gospel. Then as the gospel changes more and more people, it will eventually change society as a whole and result in legislation that honors God. But the place to start is with the hearts of individuals. 

Think about it like this. If you have shrubs near your house that keep dying because of bad soil, you could approach that problem in a couple of different ways. If you wanted to, you could keep running to Home Depot every month or two in order to buy new shrubs and plant those shrubs near your house. And you’d have to keep doing that over and over again because the shrubs would keep dying. However, a better approach would be to fix the soil. Maybe you need a soil that has more nutrients. Maybe you have to get rid of slugs in the soil. Whatever it is, fix the soil. And then, once you do that, the shrubs you buy will hopefully be healthy. And in the same way, if we want to see lasting change in our society, we have to focus on changing the soil—on changing people’s hearts with the gospel so that they begin to love Jesus and the teachings of Jesus and the ways of Jesus. And then, once enough hearts are changed in that way, that will be reflected in the legislation. 

And of course our ultimate hope for a solution to the problems of this world isn’t in an earthly government anyway but rather in Jesus. Neither government policies nor government programs are the ultimate answer to our problems—Jesus is. Our hope is ultimately in him. Here’s what the Bible says about what Jesus is going to do. Revelation 21:1-4: 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

So our ultimate hope isn’t in any government policy or program but rather in Jesus. It’s his coming that and will wipe away every tear. It’s his coming that will do away with sin and death and mourning and crying and pain. It’s his coming that will bring heaven down to earth. No president elected in 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032 or a thousand years from now will be able to fix the problems of our world in any decisive way. So our hope isn’t in a president but in a King—King Jesus, as he comes back to renew and restore the goodness of his creation.