Romans 13

Paul teaches believers how to live under government: submit, pay what is owed, and honor those in office. He then widens the picture to the debt of love, which sums up the whole law. He closes with a call to wake up, because salvation is nearer, and to clothe ourselves with Christ.

Romans 13:1

Believers are to place themselves under the governing authorities. Paul’s reason is that all authority ultimately comes from God. Rulers hold their office only because God allows it. This is no flattery of any ruler. It places every ruler beneath God.

BSA: submit (“put under authority”): The word pictures taking one’s proper place in an ordered line, a willing choice and not mere cringing. appointed (“assigned or ordained”): God has set each authority in its place, so government is part of his ordering of the world.

Greek: ὑποτασσέσθω (hypotassesthō, G5293) — “let him arrange himself under.” It is a military word for ranking under a commander. Paul asks for a willing ordering of oneself, which is different from blind obedience in everything.

See also: Daniel 2:21; John 19:11.

Romans 13:2

To fight against lawful authority in general is to fight against the order God has set up. Such people bring consequences on themselves. Paul speaks of the ordinary role of government, not of every command a ruler might give.

BSA: judgment (“condemnation, punishment”): Rebellion carries real penalties, including the ruler’s punishment, and ultimately it answers to God.

See also: Acts 5:29.

Romans 13:3

In general, rulers punish crime and commend good behavior. A person who lives rightly usually has nothing to fear from them. Paul states the normal purpose of government. He is not claiming that every ruler acts justly.

BSA: approval (“praise, commendation”): Good citizens can expect public recognition, not only the absence of punishment.

See also: 1 Peter 2:14.

Romans 13:4

The ruler is called God’s servant twice, serving for your good by restraining evil. The sword stands for the real power to punish, even to the point of death. Government, at its best, is a gift that keeps society from sinking into chaos.

BSA: servant (“minister, attendant”): Even a secular official is cast as one who serves God’s purposes, whether or not he knows it. retribution (“punishment, vengeance”): Justice is carried out by the state so that private revenge is not needed.

Greek: διάκονος (diakonos, G1249) — “servant, minister.” This is the same word often used for Christian ministers and deacons. Paul uses it of a ruler to show that he serves under God.

See also: Romans 12:19.

Romans 13:5

Submission rests on more than fear of punishment. A believer’s conscience, knowing God stands behind order, also moves him to obey. We do right because it is right and God is watching, not only because we might get caught.

BSA: conscience (“for conscience’ sake, because of the conscience”): Obedience is a matter of inner conviction before God, not only outward compliance.

Greek: συνείδησιν (syneidēsin, G4893) — “conscience, a shared knowing.” It means knowing something together with oneself, an inner witness that agrees or disagrees with what we do.

Romans 13:6

Paying taxes follows from this. Officials give their time and effort to keep order, and the community pays for it. Paying what we owe is a way of respecting God’s design for government.

BSA: devote (“continually attending to, persevering in”): Officials are pictured as steadily occupied with their duty, and that work deserves support.

See also: Matthew 22:21.

Romans 13:7

Paul gives a simple rule: pay what you owe. Money goes to the tax collector, and respect and honor go to those who hold office. A believer gives each person his due, and this honest dealing is itself a witness.

BSA: respect (“fear, honor”): Some people are owed a reverent regard for their position, not only payment.

See also: Mark 12:17.

Romans 13:8

Paul moves from taxes to a debt that never ends. Money debts should be paid and not left hanging, but love is always owed and never fully paid. Loving your neighbor carries out what the law was aiming at all along.

BSA: love (“agape”): This is the self-giving love that God shows, not mere liking or feeling. fulfilled (“completed, satisfied”): Love does not cancel the law but brings it to its full intent.

Greek: ὀφείλετε (opheilete, G3784) — “you owe.” Paul plays on the idea of debt. Pay every debt, he says, but keep owing love, a debt you never finish paying.

See also: Galatians 5:14.

Romans 13:9

Paul picks commandments about adultery, murder, theft and coveting. All of them concern how we treat other people. He says they, and every other such command, are gathered up into one: love your neighbor as yourself. Whatever we want for ourselves, we are to want for others.

BSA: summed up (“gathered together, comprehended”): All the separate commands are brought under one heading, like items gathered under a single head.

Greek: ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται (anakephalaioutai, G346) — “is summed up, gathered under one head.” It carries the picture of adding up a column and writing the total at the top. Love is the total of the commandments about others.

See also: Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39-40.

Romans 13:10

Love never harms a neighbor, so it does what each command was meant to protect. Someone who truly loves will not murder, steal or betray. Love is therefore the whole law lived out, from the heart.

BSA: fulfillment (“completion, perfection”): Love fills the law to the full, giving it its complete meaning.

See also: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Romans 13:11

Paul urges believers to live with awareness of the time. We have slept too long, and the hour calls for waking. Every day brings the final deliverance closer than when we first believed, so how we live now matters.

BSA: slumber (“sleep, spiritual lethargy”): Sleep here means spiritual drowsiness, being careless about the things of God. salvation (“rescue, deliverance”): Paul looks ahead to the final rescue when Christ returns and our deliverance is complete.

See also: Ephesians 5:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:6.

Romans 13:12

Paul pictures the present age as a night that is almost over, with the dawn of Christ’s coming close. In the dark we threw off nothing, but now we take off the works of darkness like night clothes, and put on the armor of light for the fight.

BSA: armor (“weapons, protection”): Light is a defense and a weapon against the sin that surrounds us. lay aside (“cast off, put away”): It means taking off sin as one removes dirty clothes.

Greek: ἀποθώμεθα (apothōmetha, G659) — “let us throw off.” It is the word for stripping off clothing. Paul sets this beside putting on, so the Christian life is like changing clothes.

See also: 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8.

Romans 13:13

Daytime is open and honest, so believers should live as though everyone could see them. Paul names three pairs of sins: wild parties and drink, sexual excess, and quarrels and envy. They range from the bodily to the relational. Each belongs to the night.

BSA: decently (“with right behaviour, honestly”): It means conduct that fits the light, and such conduct has nothing to hide. jealousy (“envy, zeal”): Even respectable-looking rivalry belongs on the list of works of darkness.

See also: Galatians 5:19-21.

Romans 13:14

The answer to sin is a person. We are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ as one puts on clothing, letting his character cover our lives. And we must not plan ahead to feed the flesh, giving its cravings room to grow.

BSA: clothe (“put on, dress in”): It pictures taking on Christ’s life and character as our daily dress. provision (“planning ahead”): The warning is against making plans that leave room for fleshly desires.

Greek: ἐνδύσασθε (endysasthe, G1746) — “put on, clothe yourselves.” It is the ordinary word for putting on a garment. To be clothed with Christ is to be covered by him and to live as he lived.

See also: Galatians 3:27; Colossians 3:12.