Well, the time has come. Between now and the end of April, we will all have that wonderful relationship with the government that comes every year when we get to file our taxes. Is this a happy experience for you or a troublesome one?
There was a time in ancient Rome when many people were so upset with the Roman system of collecting taxes that they engaged in a tax revolt. As I understand it, part of the problem was that the government subcontracted tax collection and these sub-contractors often collected way too much and were corrupt, like Zacchaeus who was such a tax sub-contractor. It got so bad that in 58 Nero reformed the tax system. Some people have suggested that Paul’s reason for writing Romans 13:1-7 may have been that some in the congregation were participating in the tax revolt.
Whether this was the issue, or something else or if Paul was simply teaching the people how to have transformed thinking in the difficult tension which exists for Christians relating to government, the teaching of this passage is certainly applicable to us today as well. We relate to government on many levels all the time. A nurse’s strike seems imminent and that will impact us – both those who are nurses and those who may be patients. Whenever we get behind the wheel, we are relating to the laws made by the government. Farmers have been involved with the government in regards to the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly on buying grain. So, as we can see, we all relate to the government and so we need to think about how our faith in Christ impacts that relationship.
The Bible actually has quite a bit to say about government and about our relationship to government.
Jeremiah 22:16, speaking of king Josiah says, “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.” In John 19:11 Jesus warns Pilate, “you would have no authority if it had not been given you from above.” In these passages we see that government is accountable to God.
I Peter 2:13 is one passage that calls for submission to government, but Acts 5:29 is an example in which Christians engaged in civil disobedience.
Today our focus will be on Romans 13:1-7, so let us read it and then examine it together.
Government: Ordained or Ordered?
One of the questions which this passage raises is the relationship of the government to us and to God. How is that relationship structured?
This question arises because of the different ways of translating Romans 13:1b. We have been reading NIV which says, “there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” In the King James Version we read, “…there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” That is even a stronger reading with the use of the word “ordained.” The Good News Bible, however, says, “…no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.”
It seems to me that there is a significant difference between “ordained” of God and “put there” by God. What is the difference and does it matter?
As we think about these things, we need to remember that the context in which this was written was one in which the government was perceived to be equal with God. Statues of Roman emperors and even the coins minted by them commonly indicate the belief that “Caesar is Lord.” Jonathan Reed, in a book I have been reading in preparation for our trip to Israel, writes, “The real son of God, according to almost every coin minted in the Roman Empire, was the Roman emperor. Julius Caesar was divinized by the Senate upon his death, and his son Octavian, later named Augustus, proclaimed that a comet over Rome was Julius Caesar taking his place among the gods, and featured that star prominently on his coins. Augustus then called himself the son of god…”
If the government or the emperor is God, then Christians have a terrible problem when they declare that only Jesus is Lord. The problem which Paul and those with him had in Thessalonica, when they were there, was that they refused to acknowledge that Caesar was Lord. We read the accusation of those bringing charges against Paul in Acts 17:7, “They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”
Romans 13:1 establishes first of all that God is above government. When we read that “The authorities that exist have been established by God” we understand that no government has the right to claim to be God and no government has that kind of authority. How bold of Paul, then, even to write such a statement. We know that it was this understanding which caused many believers to be persecuted.
Separation Of Church And State
In 313, Constantine embraced Christianity and since that time Christians have not had to face that problem, but the difficulty of relating to God and government has continued. After Constantine, in most European countries, although God was not seen as equal to government, there was a very close relationship to government. In most places, belonging to a certain state implied that you belonged to a certain church. Our forefathers did not believe that this was right and one of the things we have been known for is an understanding of the separation of church and state. In North American societies today, that separation is the way in which most people look at the relationship between themselves, God and government today.
What has happened in many places because of this separation of church and state is that people have compartmentalized their lives and have separated their relationship with government and God into two different spheres. So they relate to government in one sphere of their life and to God in another sphere of their life. They try very hard to keep the two sphere’s separate.
However, this is a very difficult way to live. One of the problems is that, inevitably, one of these spheres becomes dominant.
For many Christians, God becomes dominant and the relationship to government diminishes. This is how our forefathers have tried to live. They have avoided government as much as possible and not become involved in politics and tried to hide in their little corner of the world as much as possible. But this is almost impossible. Somewhere along the line one has to relate to the state. The other difficulty is that it can result in an attitude shift by which people begin to judge the government and obey only those laws which suit them.
Others have gone to the other extreme and that is to see government as more important than God. The danger on this side is that those who want to follow God find it very difficult to obey government and also to obey God, especially when the government outlaws following Christ.
The very fact that Paul is explaining that government is of God and that we are called to submit shows that this is not an acceptable way of looking at this relationship?
Another way of looking at it is that which is implied when we translate this verse as the King James Version does, “…there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” The implication of this is that God has put every government in place and that government is ordained of God. This implies that the government is the representative of God, is especially blessed by God and has the authority of God without question.
There are problems with this way of looking at government. One problem is that if the government is ordained of God, then we must obey it. In fact, it would mean that the way to obey God is to obey the government. If that is our understanding of this passage then even when the government does things that are against God’s will, we need to obey them. When the government calls for us to participate in war or support abortion, we are called to go along with these things.
If that is our understanding of this relationship, it becomes very difficult to know how to relate to oppressive and ungodly governments. It is difficult to see how Nazi German or Communist Russia could be “ordained” of God. These were evil regimes and one can hardly believe that God ordained them. We can understand that He permitted them and that even they were there to provide order for society, but we could hardly imagine that God ordained them and blessed all they stood for. In Revelation, quite opposite to what we read here in Romans, these governments are described as a terror to good instead of a terror to evil. In such a case, we would hardly want to say that government is ordained of God.
These are not the only options and I would suggest a fourth option. The Greek word which NIV translates “established” and KJV translates “ordained” is translated “put there” in the Good News Bible . The Greek word is best translated “ordered.” In John E. Toews’ commentary he makes a direct translation which goes, “For not there is power except from God, and the ones being, from God have been ordered.” Interestingly the word “submit” has the same root and so a good way of understanding this passage is that government has been placed or ordered by God and we place ourselves, or order ourselves under the government. The advantage of this kind of an understanding is that although government has been placed by God to rule over us, they are nevertheless still accountable to God and at the same time, we order ourselves under government, but understand that we are primarily accountable to God.
John E. Toews writes, “Paul does not talk about powers being ‘ordained’ or ‘appointed,’ that is, somehow specially blessed by God, as in most translations. Rather, he talks about the powers being ordered, or literally lined up like troops for battle, and people’s relationship to the powers as properly ordered…or…intentionally lined up improperly.”
If we understand the text in this way, then several things become clear. First of all, it is clear that government is accountable to God because it has been put in place by God to create order in the civil world. Secondly, we are accountable to government and to God. Thirdly, we can speak to government and hold them accountable to God. Above all, however, our first allegiance is to God.
Our Response: Obedience Or Submission?
With such an understanding of our relationship to God and government, how do we respond?
The word which Paul uses in this text is the word “submit.” Why does he use this word instead of the word “obey” and is there any difference?
If government is ordained, then obedience is expected. Obedience implies unthinkingly doing whatever the government says including obedience to that which is against God’s will. Is this what God wants? If we think of how our children respond to us, we know that children can obey what we as parents tell them to do. They can obey reluctantly or willingly, but I think we would agree that we would rather have a child who submits. I would understand submission to imply a thoughtful choice.
We have already seen that God has ordered government into place and instead of obedience, we are called to order our lives under the government. This means that we consciously choose to understand who the government is and understand that they are accountable to God and so we place ourselves under the direction of the government while all the while placing ourselves under the direction of God.
John Ziesler says, “submission is not the same as obedience.” John Toews says, “The call for submission is not a call for obedience. Submission means to accept the claims of, to be subject to, to be properly lined up or ordered…”
So, in this text, we are called to submit to the government. Romans 13:5 gives two reason for such submission. The first is because of possible punishment. This is a summary of all that Paul has said in Romans 13:2-4. The argument is quite clear and simple. The role of government is to punish those who do wrong in order to maintain order in society. If we are the ones doing wrong, we should not be surprised if we are punished by the government.
Government has been placed in order to establish order. If it is not there, it is amazing how quickly things can deteriorate. I recently read Lord of the Flies which is a text in high school English. The story is about a group of boys whose plane crashes on a tropical island. There are no adults around and the boys have to fend for themselves. The story shows how quickly a society can deteriorate to anarchy if there is nothing in place to provide order.
In Romans 13:2 when it says, “will bring judgment on themselves, the question is, “whose judgment, the government’s or God’s?” There is good reason to believe that it is God’s judgment. Because government has been placed there by God, when we disobey government, we are not only in danger of experiencing judgment from them, but also ultimately from God. This is a powerful reason to submit.
The second reason mentioned is “because of conscience.” Conscience is that inner voice which helps us understand what is wise and good. As human beings we have an understanding that it is right to submit to government and that it makes sense to do so. As Christians, that conscience has been sharpened by the Holy Spirit and for that reason we should be even wiser and more intentional about submission.
So what are the practical aspects of submission?
First of all, the text tells us in Romans 13:6,7 that we are to give to the government what they are owed. Tax and revenue were technical terms for the two different kinds of taxes. Taxes were the direct taxes collected by the government. Revenue was the indirect tax collected by the tax contractors. Even though the tax revolt which was happening at that time was due to the indirect tax, Paul encourages them to pay both kinds of tax. When Jesus was asked if he paid taxes, he replied that although he had no reason to pay them, he nevertheless did, so as not to give offence. So as we fill out our T1General, it is a submission called for in Scripture and, therefore, we must fill it out honestly and willingly.
But as we read on, we see that paying taxes is not the only way of exercising this submission. We are also called to show respect and honor. This tells me that we need to place ourselves under the government and with honor and respect follow the laws of government, recognizing that they are there to bring order to our world. I believe, that in the context of transformed thinking, we as Christians must be model citizens. I think another part of honor and respect is the willingness to pray for our leaders. I Timothy 2:1,2 gives such an instruction when it says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
However, if we have the understanding I suggested that we order ourselves under the government, with the recognition that God is the ultimate authority, then there is also a place for us to hold the government accountable to God.
This means that when the government proposes legislation which is contrary to the will of God, we need speak to government, not only as citizens of Canada, but also as citizens of God’s kingdom. Of course, we need to be wise in the strategies which we use to speak. We need to have a clear understanding not only of why this legislation is not God’s will, but also of why it is not wise for the country. Furthermore, we also need to be careful about the way in which we communicate. To be belligerent or obnoxious is not helpful. To assume that government will operate from the perspective of obedience to God is unrealistic, but that does not mean we cannot speak to them with wisdom about what is righteousness. Gentleness, clarity and wisdom should mark this kind of correspondence and we are called to this kind of communication.
If legislation passes which is contrary to God’s will we have a further responsibility when we understand our relationship to God and government in the way in which I have described. If we are required to obey legislation that would involve a compromise of our faith in God, then we are called to civil disobedience. Because our first allegiance is to God, we are called to obey God rather than men. When Peter was told by the government not to proclaim the gospel anymore, he responded in Acts 4:19, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” There are still situations in which civil disobedience is called for. Some of you refused to participate in the military during WW II because it violated your understanding of what it meant to obey to God. We continue to support such a choice. Today I suspect that there are times when nurses or doctors may have to make such a choice if called to participate in an abortion. If anyone among us engages in civil disobedience, we should help those who do to make wise decisions about this and if they choose to disobey, let us also support them. When we do engage in civil disobedience, submission means that we must be prepared to place ourselves under the punishment the government will carry out, knowing that we are not then under the judgment of God, but rather have God’s blessing.
In Romans 12:1,2 we began to talk about having our minds transformed. Romans 13 is still a part of that theme. We are recipients of grace and have made a covenant with God. He calls us His children. How then do we live in our world?
Transformed thinking requires a different way of thinking about how we relate to government. Government is not equal to God, it must not be separated into a separate compartment apart from our relationship to God and it is not ordained of God. It is put in place by God and thus a gift from God for bringing order to society, but at the same time still accountable to God.
Since that is the case, we are called to respond by being exemplary citizens because we place ourselves under the order mandated by the government while all the time remembering that our first submission is to God.
May God give us wisdom and guidance to do so.
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