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Romans 13:1–7
“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” (v. 1).
Sin affects every part of us and every part of the rest of creation, as texts such as Romans 3:9–20 indicate. The fall has tainted everything, even the foundational institutions of human society that God has established, including the family, the church, and the civil magistrate. Among other things, this means that authorities will sin, at least on occasion, and may even abuse their subordinates or command them to do things that God forbids.
Continuing our study of the fifth commandment, let us begin today by noting that the call to honor earthly authorities that is given in that law (Ex. 20:12) is not a call to unquestioning obedience. Human authorities may not treat those whom they lead in any manner that they see fit; there are limits to what these rulers may do. Scripture tells us that we are not ordered to follow authorities when they impenitently abuse their authority by hurting those in their care or by commanding us to break God’s law. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:1–4 that obedience is to be rendered unto authorities “in the Lord” and that authorities are not to exasperate their subordinates. The call is for godly obedience that recognizes God’s law as supreme over all and that understands that we must obey God rather than men when human authorities forbid us from doing what God commands or command us to do what the Lord forbids (see Acts 4:1–22). Similarly, God’s concern for those who are suffering under true oppression means that those who are suffering real abuse are not commanded to put up with it if they can find rescue (Ex. 22:21–24). John Calvin comments on the limitations of human authority in all spheres: “If a father enjoins anything unrighteous, obedience is freely to be denied him.”
Nevertheless, we must note that Scripture generally calls us to obey authorities, including the civil magistrate, even when he is not a Christian. We see this in today’s passage, wherein Paul tells us to submit to the governing authorities, since they have been put in place by God (Rom. 13:1–7). At the time, the Roman Empire was not Christian and certainly fell short in many ways in administering justice. Still, the Apostle encourages us to do what we can to submit. Of course, Paul was no fool, and he knew from history that governments can become corrupt and can even try to force us to do what the Lord forbids (see Dan. 3). Obviously, he does not expect us to obey in such situations. Still, such circumstances will likely be rare for most of us, so let us submit to the authorities according to godliness.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Determining when not to obey earthly authorities can be difficult, so we should be careful about not making every bad decision on the part of our leaders an excuse not to submit. Yet we must not forget that God has put limits on the civil magistrate, and as we are able we should call leaders to act within those limits.
For Further Study
- 1 Timothy 2:1–7
- 1 Peter 2:17