Summary:Romans 13: 1- 7

The Christian and Government: Romans 13: 1- 7

In Romans 13: 1 - 7 Paul praises the function of secular government … and indeed, declares that the authority for the government comes from God. In thinking about this passage it might be useful to remember the following things:
• The Roman empire was a marvel. Although there had been great empires that preceded Rome, there had been no previous civilization in the West that had provided the infrastructure (roads, water supplies, sewer systems) that Rome had provided. Nor was there another civilization that had created a legal system that was uniformly applied over a wide area and that guaranteed the safety of its roads to the extent that private citizens could travel long distances.
• Paul had personally benefited from the existence of the Roman government. On more than one occasion he had been rescued from a mob by Roman authorities after reminding those present that he was a Roman citizen.
• The universal “peace” that Rome had provided enabled the kind of missionary travel that made it possible for Paul’s work to be successful.
• In our recent history, we have been able to watch what happens when secular authority fails. Life in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union was abysmal in the absence of communist bureaucracy. For the common folk, life’s uncertainties overshadowed gains in freedom they may have achieved. Indeed, the citizens of Russia seem to be allowing a police state to be re-established by Putin, largely in response to the misery in the period under Yeltsin.
• One could argue that life in Iraq has been harder for ordinary citizens in the absence of government that it was during the terribly corrupt government of Saddam. Predictability, even when bad, is often better than chaos.
• Even though the persecution of Christians had not yet reached the crescendo it reached in decades to come, Christians continued to preach support for government in the next two centuries. Writers such as Tertullian and Justin Martyr in the second century, when some of the worst persecution occurred, continued to urge their readers to offer prayer for the “peace and pardon for all who are in authority.”


Read Romans 13: 1-7 As you read, make notes in the following columns
Thoughts, surprises, and insights Questions


If we used these seven verses alone as our measure of how we respond to government, we might imagine that we should never oppose a governmental mandate.
• Can you think of circumstances in which you might contemplate such opposition?
• Is there a difference between “submitting to authorities” and unconditionally obeying them?
• Can you think of examples from history in which Christians defied the mandates of their governments?

After class was over, Ed wished he had summarized the conversation a bit before ending it. Below you will find some summary comments. Observe that they are heavily laden with Wheeler’s opinion.

Summary a la Wheeler:
• Wheeler certainly supports the Apostle Paul in his assertion that God often uses nations, governments, and people to accomplish his purposes … even when they are not aware of God’s part and God’s goal in what they are doing. Much of God’s good work in this world is done by persons and agencies who are not aware that they are serving God.
• Devin’s observation that God wills order over chaos for his people gives additional understanding for the Apostle Paul’s strong support of existing governments.
• The Apostle Paul’s observations that Christians serve God by honoring the laws of the land in which they live and paying taxes (and, in a democracy, voting) should make some inconvenient obligations easier to complete.
• On the other hand, the history of the last 2000 years is ripe with circumstances in which Christians, in response to their understanding of God’s will, found it necessary to oppose their governments [Christians who hid Jewish persons from Nazis in 1930’s and 40’s, Puritans who fled England to find better place to establish the Christian communities that they desired, Christian abolitionists in 1850’s who refused to return slaves to masters despite the rulings of the U. S. Supreme Court, Chinese citizens who persisted in attending house churches despite official prohibitions …]. These examples remind us that we live in a tension between faithful service to the government under which we live … and obedience to God’s coming kingdom in which our citizenship surely lies.