The Christian and Civil Authorities (Romans 13:1-7)

The issue of the relationship between Christians and the state has been a complex and contentious one in the history of Scotland. There is a sense in which the Reformation was a conflict between the true church and the governments of the time which were very influenced by Roman Catholicism; the period of the Covenanters was one of war at times between them and the government of the Stewart kings who did not approve of Presbyterianism; later on, political movements affected the church and the desire of the middle classes to get to vote on issues that were important to them, such as the choice of ministers.

I suppose we are familiar with Andrew Melville’s comment about different kingdoms in Scotland. In speaking to James VI, he said, ‘Therefore, Sir, as diverse times before I have told you so now again I must tell you, there are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland: there is King James the head of this commonwealth, and there is Christ Jesus the King of the church, whose subject James the sixth is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member.’ He went on to say, ‘We will yield to you your place, and give you all due obedience; but again I say, you are not the head of the church: you cannot give us that eternal life which we seek for even in this world, you cannot deprive us of it.”

We may also know that one of the most influential books on political theory and the relationship between the governors and the governed was Lex Rex, written by Samuel Rutherford, the preacher who is best known today for his devotional letters, many of them written during times of persecution in Scotland. Some even trace the founding of American democracy to Rutherford’s book. His book on politics was burned at the stake, and the government wanted to put him there as well, but he died before they could do so. Yet even his deathbed sayings contain political comments in response to the government’s summons: ‘I have got a summons already before a superior judge and judicatory, and I behoove to answer my first summons, and ere your day come I will be where few kings and great folks come.’

With regard to the city of Rome itself, when the empire was eventually defeated, one of the church fathers, Augustine, wrote a book called the City of God in which he considered the differences between the two kingdoms, one marked as the City of Man, which is temporal, and the other, the City of God, which is eternal. For a while Christians live in both cities simultaneously and they need to know how they should respond to human governments.

Paul’s exhortation

We could say from this passage that there two common features that affect every country in the world. One is that each one has a government instituted by God and the other feature is that each Christian in every country has to recognise that his or her particular government has been appointed by the Lord. Of course, we live in a democracy and we are often surprised by what Paul seems to be saying.

So if we think briefly about the first of those features, we can ask, ‘What authority was Paul speaking about as far as he and his readers were concerned?’ The answer is the Roman Empire, which was pagan, autocratic and cruel. Yet Paul recognised that Caesar was there because God had appointed him. So Paul is not speaking about a Christian government, even a nominal Christian one; nor is he speaking about a democratic government in our usual understanding of the term; and he is not speaking about a form of government who recognised that the church could bring benefits to society. Instead he was speaking about a government that opposed the Christian church and which would eventually bring about his execution. Even more striking, the government he has in mind was the government that put Jesus to death unjustly.

Therefore, when a Christian living today in an Islamic state or in a secular state like ours reads these words of Paul, what is he or she to do? He or she knows that their government does not help the church. I suppose we can say that we should obey the state when it enacts laws that are in line with what the Bible wants and that we should disobey the state when it requires us to do what the Bible forbids. In between, there is a wide range of possible demands that are not mentioned in the Bible, and it may be that our greatest difficulties about knowing what to do are connected to this middle set of requirements.

As we look at this passage, we should remind ourselves that Paul here is describing part of what it means to function as living sacrifices. So far, we have seen that living as such requires practising our gifts and living lives of genuine love. Now we come to a third area, which is how we relate to the government that we have. So how do we do that?

The sovereignty of God

First, we have to recognise the comprehensive sovereignty of God. Of course, when we read such a statement we might want to leap from it and speak about examples of government abuse. Yet it is appropriate for us to consider this aspect of the sovereignty of God.

Remember that God raised by unbelieving rulers to fulfil part of his plans.  We can take a couple of examples, each of who was the most powerful individual in the world at their times. One of them was the Pharaoh who opposed the desire of the Israelites to return to the Promised Land. God raised him up, God gave him plenty warnings, but in the end he had to be defeated by God in order for the Israelites to be liberated. The other example is Cyrus the Persian, whom Isaiah predicted would set the Israelites free from their exile in Babylon, and he did because the sovereign God arranged it.

God also used the Roman empire to provide certain benefits for spreading the gospel. It has often been observed that the Roman roads made it easier for people to travel and the early Christians made use of them. Moreover, there was a common language (Greek) spoken throughout the empire, which made it easy to explain the gospel in every place. Further the Roman authorities had put in place a kind of peace in which strife and wars were prevented from causing any unease and disruptions to everyday life. Paul himself made use of the Roman justice system with regard to his first Roman imprisonment, and he was set free from it.

The servant of God

Thrice in this passage Paul calls rulers by the title of servant of God or minister of God. They are a provision of God’s common grace and we can expect them to do certain things, which are summarised as by giving approval or by administering punishment.

Paul does not mean that all governments are conscious that they serving the true God. Some of them may be atheistic and others may be of other religious persuasions. Yet there is something that each of them cannot get rid off, and that is the law of God written on their hearts. Unless they are totally corrupt, most people, including rulers, know that it is wrong to murder, to steal, to lie, to be unfaithful and to take what belongs to someone else. They also realise the benefits of stability in homes. Whenever we see a government of any persuasion enacting laws that come into those categories, we see the evidences that these individuals are made in the image of God and are being controlled by his common grace.

The apostle mentions a serious aspect of government responsibilities when he says in verse 4 that a ruler is ‘an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer’. We read about various crimes and of how people are taken to court over them. Often we don’t ask what God thinks about the person on trial. Paul tells us here that God is angry with them and has arranged for them to be dealt with. In the previous chapter, Paul told Christians not to avenge themselves, but to let God take care of it. Here he says that one of the ways by which God avenges is through human rulers punishing those who engage in wicked acts. An example of this might be the situation in which the Persian ruler punished Haman for his wicked attempts to destroy the Jews. When we see a guilty person being punished by the state we see God at work through the agency of government that he set up.

How should we respond to the fact that government rulers are the servants of God? Writing to Timothy a few years later Paul urged him to teach about the responsibilities of Christians with regard to those in authority: ‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way’ (1 Tim. 3:1-2). While no doubt it is appropriate to pray for them in private, the context of Paul’s exhortation is a public prayer meeting.

The spiritual response

There are two ways by which we can go along with what the government does. One response is that of reluctant agreement because we have no real choice but to obey their decisions. The other response is to do it for the sake of conscience.

What is our conscience? It is a faculty we have that enables us to know whether something is right or wrong. This faculty is given to us by God and it depends on us knowing whether or not an action is right or wrong. The conscience does not work accurately if our minds are not correctly informed. For example, traditions can affect our conscience, but traditions are not an adequate basis and if we use them we will find ourselves all mixed up. Or we can be so impressed by the opinions of others, but if we depend on them we will get confused. Instead we are to find out what God’s Word says on an issue.

This means that God’s Word governs our responses to everything that a human government will enact. If a government enacts unjust or sinful laws, it is the responsibility of a Christian to disobey the government, but to disobey in a manner that reveals he respects the fact that human government is instituted by God. When the government passes laws that are in line with what the Bible allows, then the Christian is to agree with them.

Paul here brings to his readers’ attention the responsibility to pay taxes imposed by the government. What taxes were required in Rome? There were taxes on produce, on property, on personal income, on selling slaves, and on other things. Apparently, one reason why the Empire collapsed was due to the reluctance of people to pay tax. We know that taxes in our country are used to provide benefits such as health care, education, provision for the poor, protection from danger, roads and other benefits. I think we can see that these things come into the category of love towards one’s neighbour. When the government uses taxes to provide these things, we should see that it is serving God.

Yet we also know that governments use taxes to pay for things that are not in line with what the Bible advocates. What do we do with regard to this problem? I think we can be helped in this regard by noticing what Jesus did. On one occasion, he was asked was it correct to pay taxes to Caesar and he replied that it was, even although some of the ways the taxes were used would have been wrong. He taught people that Caesar had authority and it should be acknowledged.

On another occasion, Peter was asked if Jesus paid the temple tax, which was based on the instruction of Moses in Exodus 30 that a person could be taxed in support of the tabernacle. By the time of Jesus, the temple authorities had adjusted that divine instruction and replaced it with their own practice of an annual tax. Even although their method did not have written divine approval, Jesus told Peter to pay the tax for them both in order to avoid causing unnecessary offence and even arranged for a fish to have the coin in its mouth (Matt. 17:24-27).  Everyone knew that taxes for the temple could be abused, but Jesus told his followers to pay the tax, otherwise it would give the impression that the temple did not matter.

Payment of taxes is not the only way by which Christians function as living sacrifices concerning the government. In addition, they show respect and give honour to those in authority. We live in a time when such respect is not there at most levels of society. Here is a way in which Christians can show that they live according to different standards. We should never be known for disrespect.

Application

As the disciples of Jesus we should see his common grace in action through the governments he raises up. None of them will be perfect, but when they enact laws that help society to function we should that as expressing love for our neighbours. And we should thank God when that happens. Of course, we should pray for people who have unjust governments that their circumstances will change.

We could say that is our private response. But there needs to be a public response as well, and Paul mentions two areas that people will see – payment of taxes and how we speak about those in authority. Avoiding tax is the same as saying we don’t love our neighbours, and speaking badly about rulers and others in authority also falls into that category.

So we can ask ourselves, with regard to the government, does God see us as living sacrifices?