Chapter # 13 Paragraph # 1 Study # 2
August 23, 2020
Humble, Texas
(068)
1769 Translation:
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [
execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore [
ye] must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [
is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
1901 ASV Translation:
1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for [
rulers] are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax [
is due;] custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
- I. At Issue: The Believer's Responsibilities To Authorities.
- A. "Every soul..."
- 1. The choice to identify people as "souls" is deliberate.
- 2. The Point: Paul is moving into the "topic" of how one is to "relate to" authority when it is exercised by other men.
- a. This instruction is necessary because of the sinful longing of men to be "authorities" over themselves and others.
- 1) Dominion over others is a goal that seems to be written into our DNA as the primary post-Genesis Three reality.
- 2) It is written there for one reason: men think that, given the ability to make their own choices, they will be able to make "life" "Life".
- a) "Life", however, is the outcome of Divine activity.
- b) Men have no power of "Life" in themselves, but "Life" is The Promise of God to those who receive it from Him (1 John 2:25).
- i. According to Abraham's greatest "theological reality", in respect to the "how" questions of "Life", is that "outcomes" depend upon the One Who made the "promise" of a certain outcome (Romans 4:20-21).
- ii. With all of man's grace-given capacities clearly understood and exercised, no man has the "authority" of "Life".
- b. This instruction is necessary because of the nature of "Life": it does not rest upon the "ability to control".
- 1) No matter how much "control" one possesses, the absence of true omniscience, true "loves", and Truth will guarantee that outcomes will not be as desired or anticipated.
- 2) "Life" rests upon the ability to "respond" to the "control" that exists in a way that makes "joy" the emotional outcome.
- 3) If "joy" is the outcome of legitimate responses to the "control" that dominates all of us, what need have we of "control"?
- B. Paul's use of "authority" (exousia) in Romans.
- 1. 9:21 -- "...does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make ... one ... and another...?" is the question that is raised when Paul sets forth the absolute "authority" of God to "determine" how things will develop. Here Paul is dealing with a "man" having the audacity to "answer back" to "God". This reveals just how critical it is in Paul's thinking that "men" never forget that all they are is "men", and how real is "man's" opposition to "authority" when it impinges upon his experience in both time and eternity.
- 2. 13:1, 2, and 3 -- these are the only other references to "authority" by Paul in Romans by means of his use of this particular word, and, again, at issue is a "man's" response to being in subjection to the "authority" of another.
- C. In Paul's other uses of this term in his other letters, he uses it to indicate "having the 'right' to make personal decisions about his own direction in life" (1 Corinthians 9:4-6 being an example of this meaning). This fits Paul's strong awareness of just how hard men cling to their "right" to be "in control of" their own lives through decisions they make. This is, at root, the fundamental "problem" between men and God: they detest His dominion over them and the situations to which He subjects them as His "subjects".
- 1. Clarity on this issue is established by Paul in several of these other references to this issue: "rights" are those delineated by the Word of God (1 Corinthians 9:3-23) and refusing to exercise them so as to be a "slave" to others is a 'superior' way of responding to the principle of "Love" (1 Corinthians 9:19).
- 2. Paul's "point" is that "rights" really are "rights" when God has extended them to us, but they do not have to be exercised. Being a "slave" to others for their sakes is the "godly" condition. After all, "the Kingdom of The God" is a "Servant Kingdom" (Mark 10:43).
- 3. Being a "martyr" in order to be faithful to Jesus is, on the principle of "if you have done this to the least of My brethren, you have done it unto Me", the same thing as being a "martyr" for the sake of a fellow believer and, even greater, on the principle of "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us", being a "martyr" for the sake of an enemy is the exalted standard of taking part in the Kingdom of The God. Wow, how contradictory is The Faith and The Love to this world's "delusive dreams".
- D. The concept of "higher" authorities.
- 1. The word, "higher", translated "governing" by the NASB, is rare in the New Testament (only in five texts/contexts).
- a. In this text/context, the "meaning" is given to be "rulers" (archontes) in 13:3 and it is clear that the meaning is "civil, governing, authorities" (i.e., those in position to determine the agenda for those "under" their authority and to plot out the methods to be taken to bring that agenda to pass). Thus, "governing" is shown to mean "those higher in these abilities (setting agendas and methods) than those under them".
- b. In Philippians 2:3 this word is used in respect to one's attitude toward fellow-believers, and its "force of meaning" is that the benefit of those others is to be considered above one's own.
- c. In Philippians 3:8 this word is used to reveal the greatness of the difference between the cumulative benefit of all things to be far less than the single benefit of "knowing Christ".
- d. In Philippians 4:7 this word is used to describe the "comprehension" of the peace of God as an "enormous" benefit to the soul when one is in situations wherein "anxiety" might be the norm for the day.
- e. And in 1 Peter 2:13 we have Peter duplicating Paul in his instruction to be "subject" to "kings as 'surpassing', or 'governors' as 'king-sent' executors of his 'rule'...", whether for punishment or praise.
- 2. The point of this term is that there exists all kinds of "authority" in God's creation, and those who possess it are to be very careful to keep themselves in the correct placement within the "levels" that exist for its exercise.