Let every soul be subject to the authorities that are above [him]. For there is no authority except from God; and those that exist are set up by God.
Here the letter turns from how believers treat other people to how they stand toward the state, and it rests the whole matter on one claim: authority itself comes from God. That raises three questions: which governments, how far, and what if the ruler is wicked?
The subject changes as chapter 13 opens, and it speaks into two very different situations.
As chapter 13 opens, it tells us how to act toward the governments and authorities of this world. This was a very important point for the early Christians, who were often persecuted by the authorities. It matters for us too, since we live in an age when people show little respect for authority.
The move is not abrupt. First believers hear that they must never avenge themselves. Then comes the office God has appointed to avenge evil.
Step by step we are led from not avenging ourselves, and overcoming evil with good, as suits the children of God, to our relation to the authorities in the world. Their office is to avenge evil: to punish those who do evil, and to praise those who do well.
The verse opens with "every person" — "every soul" in older translations — and that reach goes past believers.
"Let every soul" reaches wider than every believer, and I have no doubt the Spirit meant it that way. No position exempts anyone. The household should feel it too: children or other dependent relatives and servants, as well as believers.
This arrangement is not new. It goes back to the world after the flood, when God spoke to Noah.
The Christian is to recognise that God has set up government in the world, and that the authority to govern comes from Him. God started this government after the flood, when He told Noah plainly, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed" (Gen. 9:6).
The verse draws a careful line. God stands behind the power to govern. That is not the same as approving every ruler or every act.
It states plainly that God has given the authority to govern. It does not say that the particular people who hold that authority are of God, or that the way they use it is of God. Those who hold authority may be, and often are, wicked men who abuse the power for their own ends. Still, the fact remains: God set up the authority they hold.
The command names no system, and a change of regime does not cancel the duty.
"Authorities in power" is an expression that covers every form of governing power, whether a monarchy, an aristocracy, or a republic. That rules out every objection here. The Spirit does not insist merely on the divine right of kings. He says that "there is no authority except from God." And this gives no one an excuse to press for change. Yet if a revolution should overthrow one form and set up another, the Christian's duty is plain: "those that exist have been instituted by God."
How a ruler came by his position is not the believer's file to open.
He has nothing to do with the ways and means by which kings or other rulers have reached their place of authority... Scripture does not demand obedience to the authorities that ought to exist, but to those that do exist.
Because God is behind the office, obedience becomes more than fear of penalty.
It is a completely inadequate view to see the magistrate only on the human side... To see God in the magistrate brings in conscience. So we must be subject not only because of wrath — that would be only a question of consequences from man — but also because of conscience.
The duty has one limit, and there is a set way to meet it.
It is our binding duty to obey them and submit to them in everything, as long as they do not call on us to disobey God or to violate conscience. If they do that, what must we do? Resist? No, but suffer.
The Christian's role here is a modest one.
God has not set us in the world to make governments or to change governments. We are here to seek the interests of our Lord, while giving all proper honour and subjection to governments, whatever they may be... We are to pay all that is due — local taxes and customs duties, as well as income tax. What the authorities may do with our money, when they get it, is their matter, not ours.
- Source — the right to govern is God's institution, going back to His word to Noah after the flood.
- Scope — the command covers every person. No rank, household position or standing exempts anyone.
- Distinction — God stands behind the office, not behind every officer or every use of the power.
- Reason — seeing God in the ruler turns obedience from fear of punishment into conscience.
- Limit — when a government commands disobedience to God, the answer is to suffer, not to resist.
So that he that sets himself in opposition to the authority resists the ordinance of God; and they who [thus] resist shall bring sentence of guilt on themselves.
This verse gives the reason behind the call to be subject to the governing authorities. It makes one claim: opposition to a ruler does not stop at the ruler, and the one who resists faces a real consequence.
The verse traces a line from the ruler to the One who put him there:
To oppose any particular ruler is to oppose the authority established by God. To resist what is of God is to bring oneself under condemnation.
One writer sums up the Christian's whole attitude in a single word, and gives the reason behind it:
The Christian's attitude is to be, in one word — subjection. We are to avoid "resisting the power," that is, setting ourselves against it. Note the reason given with care. The powers that exist are a divine institution. To set yourself against them is to oppose God, whom they are meant to represent, and it earns judgment. These verses (1-7) show authorities in their proper character, as God intended them, not as they often are in actual practice.
Does a bad government, or one that seized power, still count? One writer answers from the wording itself:
Scripture presses hard the respect and obedience we owe to authority. But settling the questions of this world is not a Christian's work. He has nothing to do with the ways and means by which kings or other rulers reached their place of authority. There may have been wars, revolutions, and all sorts of questionable means that raised them so high. His task is simply to obey those who are in authority… Scripture does not demand obedience to the powers that ought to be, but to "the powers that be."
The same writer widens it to every form of government, and says where the Christian's real interests lie:
"Authorities in power" is a phrase that covers every form of governing power — rule by a king, by a few, or by a republic… The Spirit does not insist merely on the divine right of kings, but that "there is no authority except from God." That plea is no excuse for demanding a change either. Yet if a revolution overthrows one form and sets up another, the Christian's duty is plain: "those that exist have been instituted by God." His interests are elsewhere — heavenly, in Christ. His responsibility is to accept whatever is in power as a fact, trusting God for the consequences and never behaving as a partisan.
Older English Bibles translate the last word as "damnation." Readers have taken that to mean eternal loss. One writer calls that a mistake and gives the sense of the word:
To resist authority is to oppose God's ordinance, and those who do will receive judgment. The word is not "damnation" — that is a wild mistake here, as it is in Romans 14:23. It means a chastening; compare 1 Corinthians 11:29-32. So conscience acts, and not just dread of punishment.
The ESV wording, "will incur judgment," fits that sense.
Subjection is not unlimited. One writer points to a single exception. He also notes who was on the throne when these words were written:
But we must remember when these words were written. Nero had just come to the imperial throne in Rome, and the man who wrote them would soon suffer terrible things at the hands of the religious authorities in Jerusalem… Only one thing frees us from the subjection required here: when being subject to the authorities would draw us into disobedience to God. Then we must obey the highest Authority. As Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).
Even then, the refusal takes a particular shape:
It is our duty to obey them and submit to them in all things — as long as they never call on us to disobey God or do violence to conscience. If they do that, what must we do? Resist? No, but suffer.
The verse rules out protest and rebellion. What takes their place?
God's providence has placed the Christian under his rulers. To make trouble for them in any way, to join a campaign against them, or to rebel against their authority are unchristian acts — resisting the ordinance of God (Romans 13:2). It is the Christian's duty and privilege to pray for them. Not for the rulers of one land only, but for all who are in authority (1 Timothy 2). Then God's people in every land can walk as Christians undisturbed, and live quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty.
- Ordained — Authority is God's institution. The ruler is there to represent Him, as God intended, not as rulers often behave.
- Existing — The command covers the powers that be, not the powers that ought to be. How a government came to power is not the Christian's question.
- Resisted — Opposition to one ruler goes past him and strikes at what God has appointed.
- Judged — Those who resist receive judgment. It is a chastening, not eternal damnation. Conscience moves the believer, not the fear of punishment.
- Suffering — When rulers command what God forbids, we obey God rather than men. Then the answer is to suffer, not to resist.