For God and Country

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists the ordinance of God... For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain... Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Some of the clearest passages in Scripture are the hardest to live out — and few are clearer than this call to submit to government and pay your taxes.

Two Simple Principles

As I said last week, some of the most easily understood sections of Scripture are not always the easiest to apply. This passage is not difficult to interpret — you don't need a Strong's Greek/Hebrew dictionary to grasp it. There are two primary principles here in Romans 13:1-7. First, the Christ follower must submit to governing authorities. Second, the Christ follower must support governing authorities, and Paul says we do this by taxes.

Because the text is so very clear, I'm certain this is probably many of your favorite passage in the entire Bible — submit to governing authorities and pay your taxes! That is really what is being said here.

The Scope of the Exhortation

Paul makes it clear in verse 1: "Let every soul be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Notice first the scope. No one falls outside this exhortation; there is no partiality and there are no conditions.

We may have a difficult time with that, but remember what we've been saying since beginning this new section, Romans 12 through 15:7. Paul is outlining very clear exhortations for how we, as Christians, are to conduct ourselves in the world. Chapters 1 through 11 are clear doctrine — this is what we are to believe — but those beliefs should affect our behavior. We don't live this out so that we can go to heaven; rather, because God has saved us from death and hell and saved us to heaven one day, He desires that we now enter into the experience of the abundant life. The abundant life is walking in the things outlined in this passage.

Government Is God's Design

Paul gives us the reason: "there is no authority except from God." Human government is by divine decree and design. While not every government or everything that a government does fully reflects the nature of God, the institution of government is ordained by God.

A vivid example: just eleven days ago, the Syrian government unleashed a chemical weapon attack on its own citizens. More than 1,400 people died, including more than 400 children. That is not at all a reflection of the character and nature of God. But we must recognize that the institution of government is something God ordained.

The Bible makes clear that God ordained and designed three institutions. The first, given in the opening chapters of the Bible, is marriage, and through marriage comes the family. The second is His own family or people — the church. The third is civil government. God has decreed that people would exist under a civil government framework.

The word "subject" in verse 1 is the Greek word hypotassō, the same word translated in Ephesians 5 where we are to submit to one another in the fear of God. It carries the idea of subordinating oneself under, or obeying. Paul says let every soul be under the obedience of the authorities that govern them.

Peter Says the Same Thing

Paul is not the only one. In 1 Peter 2:13 the apostle Peter writes:

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors... For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men... Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

One of the most often-asked questions of pastors is, "What is God's will for my life?" Here is one place Scripture explicitly answers it: this is the will of God.

But What About Bad Government?

This may be hard for some in the church to accept. We might wrongly assume Paul and Peter were living under some utopian government where everything was just fine, and say, "Paul, that was easy for you to say." Many Christians don't want to submit to authorities or pay taxes because they don't like their governing authorities or the way they are being governed.

The evangelical church typically relates more to a conservative view of politics. Knowing that we are not currently governed by a conservative president, nor here in California by a conservative legislature, we may look at decisions made at the local, state, and federal level and say, "I don't like these decisions, and I don't recognize these leaders as following righteous decrees." Our own mayor recently had to step down because of impropriety; our state legislature has passed laws that don't fit with a biblical worldview at all. We look at how the government deals with homosexuality, abortion, stem cell research, and a host of other things and say, "It doesn't fit with what we believe."

But consider the historical setting. When Paul wrote these words, there was a man on the throne, four years into his fourteen-year reign — Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. If you know anything about the Roman Empire and Nero, you know this was not a good time as it related to governing authorities. Less than ten years after Paul wrote this in A.D. 58, in A.D. 66 it was Nero who decreed that Paul would be beheaded for his faith. And yet Paul says we are to subject ourselves to governing authorities because we recognize it is a God-ordained institution.

When May We Resist?

Verse 2: "Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." Resistance to government is rebellion against God. Our flesh immediately asks: Is there ever a time we may defy or resist government? Yes. When the government commands the Christian to do what God has forbidden, or forbids what God has commanded, we have the opportunity and obligation to resist.

Two examples come to mind. In Exodus 1, the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, multiplying faster than the Egyptians, and Pharaoh decreed that the midwives kill every male child at birth. But Exodus 1:17 says, "the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they saved the male children alive." They defied the governing authority because they had a moral obligation to God to protect life.

The second comes in Acts 5, when the Sanhedrin told the apostles to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. Peter stood and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

So if a government tells us to do what God has forbidden, or not to do what God has commanded, we submit to God first and foremost. But in any other matter, Paul says we subject ourselves to governing authorities.

The Judgment You Invite

When Paul says those who resist bring judgment on themselves, he is not necessarily speaking of the judgment of God, but of the governing authorities. If you determine the government is calling you to disobey God, and you stand against them, understand they have the authority and jurisdiction to punish you. You may, as the Bible describes, suffer for righteousness' sake.

Two come immediately to mind. Jeremiah the prophet called the nation of Judah to repent of their sin about 2,500 years ago. The leadership did not like what he said, and he found himself in prison for preaching righteousness. John the Baptist spoke out against the unrighteousness of King Herod, a wicked and immoral man, and ended up imprisoned and ultimately beheaded.

When we see people stand up for Christ and be persecuted, we remember Jesus' words in Matthew 5:10:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.

Rulers Discourage Evil and Promote Good

Verse 3: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain." Governing authorities bear their rule to discourage evil and promote good. That's how God instituted them. In some way human governments are supposed to discourage us from evil and promote good — as we saw last week in Romans 12:9, we are to abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.

My parents blessed me at the beginning of the year with my dad's convertible sports car. There's one problem: when you touch the accelerator, it goes. I've found that occasionally I drive just a little bit over the speed limit, and as I do, my hands clench the steering wheel a little tighter, my heart beats a little faster, and I become very aware of my rearview mirror. Why? Because rulers are not a terror to good works. If you are doing what is against the law, you should rightly be concerned, because God has placed here on earth a minister of justice to discourage wrong behavior and promote right behavior. The general principle of verse 3 is simple: do what is good, and you will have the praise of the governing authorities.

Even Jesus, condemned to die by human government, did what was good. Three times in John 18 and 19 Pontius Pilate said of Jesus, "I find no crime in this Man." So too with Paul — in Acts 23 and 25 the authorities said of him, "He's done nothing worthy of death or chains." They recognized he walked in righteousness.

Governing Authorities Are God's Servants

Paul says in verse 4 they are "God's minister to you for good." Governing authorities are God's servants. A society faces its greatest difficulty when governing authorities forget that they are servants; when they forget they occupy an office ordained by God; when they forget they are placed there for our good and not for their own privilege; and when they forget they are there to serve and not to be served. Mark 10:45 tells us that Jesus, the King of kings, came "not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." When leaders forget these things, a society faces ruin.

In our nation, when leaders forget their proper place, we have the opportunity to replace them. We live in a great experiment — we can peacefully overthrow our government on a regular basis. If we have a hard time with the way we are being governed, we need to let our voice be heard. We live in a representative democracy; our leaders have been appointed by us, and by not speaking up or not voting, we allow unrighteousness to continue. So if we are concerned, it falls upon us to do something — not by force, but through the ballot. We should never take that for granted.

One clear application of these verses is that we need more good servants of God in public life — more Christians on the school board, the city council, running for office at every level, bringing the influence of Scripture into that place. Maybe God is touching your heart to step into that sphere this morning.

The Sword of Justice

What service are they there for? Verse 4: they are His ministers "to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister... to execute wrath on him who practices evil." They are not Gospel ministers or spiritual leaders, but they provide a divine service: executing justice — the very thing you and I were commanded not to do in chapter 12.

Look at Romans 12:19: "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." We, the church, do not avenge ourselves. The governing authorities, however, are placed by God to execute vengeance as His proxy here on earth. One day God will execute righteous judgment — Romans 2:5 speaks of a day of His wrath — but until then God has instituted human government to execute justice swiftly, impartially, and without pity against those who practice evil. And if an individual cannot rule justly with a good conscience, he ought not to bear the sword.

Therefore, verse 5: "you must" — an emphatic imperative — subject yourself to them, "not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake." We submit to the governing authorities out of duty to God, because we submit to Him and reverence His authority.

Support Through Taxes

Now we come to the more difficult one — we not only submit to government, we support it. Verse 6: "For because of this you also pay taxes." We love April 15th, don't we? But it's not just April 15th — we pay taxes at the gas pump, at the store, on our property, all the time.

A number of Christian ministries have tried to show people how to escape their taxes, and a number of Christian ministers are now serving time in federal prison for not paying them. They point to all kinds of loopholes, but they have no loophole in the Bible to support it.

Paul continues: "for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing" — governing society. "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." Taxes are the general taxes you pay on your income; customs are a sales tax; fear is reverence and respect for the office; honor is honoring the person who heads that government. We render to them what is due because they are God's ministers. The reality is simple — pay your taxes. Taxation is scriptural.

Taxation in Israel's Theocracy

Consider the taxes God placed on the theocratic government of Israel in the first five books of the Bible. In Leviticus 27:30 He tells them to pay a tithe — ten percent. We often think "tithe" means money given to the church, but Numbers tells us this tithe was given to the Levites, who functioned not only as priests but as the judges, magistrates, and leaders of the nation. There was no separation of church and state in Israel; the Levites served both religious and social functions, so this tithe was essentially a tax to support the nation's governance.

Deuteronomy 12 describes a second tithe to support the nation's religious days and high holy days — now we're at twenty percent. Deuteronomy 14:28 calls for a third tithe every three years (about 3⅓ percent annually) for the needy and the poor — now we're at 23⅓ percent.

It didn't stop there. As primarily farmers, they were to leave the corners of their land unharvested, making only one pass and leaving whatever fell on the ground for the poor and the stranger to reap — a state welfare program. Exodus 23 describes a national savings plan: every seventh year they left their land fallow for a Sabbath rest, which forced them to save during the preceding six years. And Exodus 30 required every man twenty years and older to give a half-shekel temple tax annually, which also served as a census with a poll tax attached.

All of this came before free-will offerings to God. And God told them in Deuteronomy that someday they would want a king, and when they did, their taxes would only increase — which is exactly what happened.

Render to Caesar

Taxation is scriptural. Jesus paid the temple tax in Matthew 17. When asked whether His Master paid it, Peter said yes, and Jesus told him to go to the Sea of Galilee, cast in a hook, and find money in the mouth of the fish he caught to pay for them both. Quite a way to fund a tax!

In Matthew 22:15 the Herodians, who supported the Roman government, asked Jesus, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Israel at this time paid the 23⅓ percent, left the edges of their land, gave the temple tax — and also owed tribute to Rome, which they resented. Jesus asked for a coin, asked whose inscription it bore, and when they said Caesar's, He answered, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, render unto God what is God's." I suggest that had Israel rendered to God what was God's due, they likely would not have had a Caesar to render to in the first place.

For God and Country

You may not like the government under which you live. If that's the case, you might go live somewhere else and discover how good our form of government truly is. You may not like every law our government has enacted, but recognize that we have a voice to speak about it. Beyond that, God has called us, as members of His kingdom, to live in this world in a way that represents Him well.

How do we do that? "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God." Although these things may be difficult, this is the path into the abundant life God has called us to. And by His grace and His Spirit, we can do what these Scriptures call us to do.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for Your word, even though it is challenging; like a sword, it is sharp, it cuts deep, it divides between the thoughts and intents of our hearts, revealing what needs to be changed and made right. God, help us to apply these things this week. Help us to live as ambassadors of Your kingdom in a world where we feel pressure and tension, because we recognize the world in which we live is not Your kingdom. But we know there is coming a day, Jesus, when You will return and rule and reign with righteous judgment. The unrighteousness we see in governments today, here and around the world, stirs us to say, "Lord, come quickly." We look forward to the day when You are the King of kings ruling and reigning here. Until that day, help us to walk in a way that brings grace and glory to Your name. We ask it in Your name. Amen.