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?
Where the command falls
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.
Who must obey
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.
Where government began
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 office, not the officer
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.
Which governments?
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.
Why obedience, not just caution
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 one limit
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.
Subjects, not rulers
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.
Summary
- 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.