The thirteenth chapter opens with a call for those who are living a life of "spiritual worship" by offering their "bodies as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1-2) even in relationship to the government. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities" (Romans 13:1) is the expectation. The reason being, "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God" (Romans 13:1b). For Paul, the ones who are placed in positions of power are placed there by God. This is true whether the powers are good or evil. An example of good might be David (Acts 13:22). An example of an evil king placed there by God might be Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:8-9; see Jeremiah 52:10-11 and Daniel 3:1-7). The strong admonition regarding resisting authorities is, "Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment" (Romans 13:2). This attitude is seen regularly in the Scriptures (see I Timothy 2:1-2; Titus 3:1 and I Peter 2:13-17). However, one must remember that these are delegated powers of God; He is the final authority (see Ephesians 1:20-21; Philippians 2:9-10, and Colossians 1:16 and 2:10).

It is entirely possible for "the laws of the land" to be in conflict with "the laws of God." If this happens, what is a Christian to do? When faced with this dilemma by being told not to preach, the apostles Peter and John had a very direct answer: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20). A few days later, while they were preaching, they were arrested and brought before the council. The apostles were confronted with the fact that they had been told to stop preaching. Their response? "We must obey God rather than men" (see Acts 5:17-32). When there is a conflict between what God requires and the laws of the land, a Christian will follow God’s will and take the judgment handed out by the government. This concept can be seen in practice in imprisonments suffered by Peter (Acts 12:1-5) and Paul (Acts 16:19-24), and in Old Testament in cases such as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:8-30) and Daniel (Daniel 6:1-28). When there is conflict between what God wants and what the government demands, Christians are always expected to follow God.

In Romans 13: 3-4, Paul offers a gnomic statement, a statement of general truth. This statement does not always hold true as seen in Paul’s life. Ironically, he was put to death by the Roman government that he spoke about. Although the event is not recorded in the Bible, tradition tells us that the sword of the Roman government executed Paul. The striking difference here is between the attitude of the average Jew and that of Christians. The Jew was in constant rebellion against Rome. Even a religious order, the Zealots, was formed to fight Roman domination. Christianity, on the other hand, had the marching orders of, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18).

The practical application of subjection to the governmental powers is summarized in Romans 13:5-7:

The next section emphasizes the way that living a life of sacrifice can be done in a single word: love. The message is, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other" (Romans 13:8). It is Paul’s belief that any and every part of the law can be summed up in the word "love" (Romans 13:8b-10). This agrees with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22:36-40.

The final thought in chapter 13 has to do with the urgency that each Christian should feel. Using terms such as "wake from sleep" (Romans 13:11) and "The night is far gone; the day is at hand" (Romans 13:12) Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that it is important to "walk properly" (Romans 13:13). To do this, one must avoid sin and "put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Romans 13:14). In Galatians 3:27, Paul reminds us that, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." In our study of Romans 6, Paul made it clear that those who have been baptized into Christ have chosen a different lifestyle, even to the point of stating, "So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ" (see Romans 6:11; the student is encouraged to read Romans 6:1-14). Paul describes this classic battle that is going on in each Christian in Galatians 5:16-24. He encourages us to put on the armor of God to be successful in fighting this battle (Ephesians 6:10-18a). Just as a soldier must be ready to fight the battle at any time, the follower of Christ must feel the urgency of being ready at all times.

Review Questions:

1. As a Christian deals with a law, how does he/she decide whether or not to follow it?
2. What should the attitude of a Christian be toward a government that is less than godly in the way it works?
3. What are the three applications of being subject to the powers of government that are listed in Romans 13:5-7?
4. While the law was made up of a multitude of commands, what word does Paul say summarizes the life of sacrifice?
5. What are some of the terms that Paul uses to point out the urgency involved in the Christian life?