Category Archives: Romans 13

Romans 13: Textual context

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It helps to remember that those big numbers in the Bible weren’t put there by the original authors. We see Romans 13 as a separate unit, but it really forms part of a larger unit in the book of Romans. Chapters 9-11 discuss the situation of the Jews within God’s plan.

Romans 12 starts a new section, beginning with the famous teaching: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) I should probably include verse 2 as part of the theme of this whole section: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

Living sacrifice. Not conformed to this world. The verses that follow flesh out what that means.

The verses immediately before Romans 13 discuss taking revenge: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)

We then have the section of Romans 13 that we will be studying, verses 1-7. Those are followed by a discussion of love, connected by the concept of debt, what is owed. Then chapter 13 ends with a discussion of the significance of the end times.

So help me study this… how does this context inform our understanding of the first seven verses of Romans 13? What connections do you see?

Romans 13: The Political Climate

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Most scholars think that Paul wrote the Roman letter from Corinth. An educated guess is that it was written in the year 57 a.d., although there is always some discussion about such dates. The emperor was probably Nero.

Previously while in Corinth, Paul had made friends with a couple named Aquila and Priscilla. They were Jews who had been living in Rome, but had been forced to leave when Emperor Claudius expelled all of the Jews from Rome. According to the historian Suetonius, the Jews were kicked out because of “their continual tumults instigated by Chrestus.” Chrestus could be a misspelling of Christ; some scholars think there were Jewish-Christian riots in Rome which led the Roman government to act against the Jews.

Not that the Romans lacked for reasons to act against the Jews. The Jewish people never fully accepted the Roman occupation of their land, especially given the worship of other gods that the Romans often brought with them. Within two decades of the writing of this letter, the Romans will have decided that “enough is enough” and will have destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish resistance.

Nero, of course, within a decade would launch the first large-scale persecution of Christians, action taken merely to deflect blame from himself for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 a.d. Tradition tells us that Paul himself lost his life during Nero’s anti-Christian campaign.

Such was the political background of Romans 13. The call to avoid conflict with the government was a prudent one.

Romans 13: The powers in the Jewish worldview

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Psalm 82
 God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the “gods”:
“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?    Selah
Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
“They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’
But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

The Old Testament presents a view of God that includes other celestial beings, some good, some bad. We can think back to the beginning chapters of Job, with Satan presenting himself at the gathering of the “sons of God.” Certain passages, as we saw in yesterday’s post, associate those beings with nations of this earth. Each nation has its “angel,” with Israel belonging to God himself.

For the biblical writers, there was no concept of separation of church and state. In fact, there was no separation of earthly and heavenly. The earthly state was an expression of heavenly realities.

In New Testament writings, we still see “the powers” as beings outside of this earthly realm. We can see that in some of the passages I referred to yesterday:
Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Ephesians 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

1 Corinthians 15 tells us that there will be a time when these powers will be destroyed:

“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

These powers are enemies of Christ, just as death is an enemy of Christ. Their claims to authority stand in rivalry to Jesus’ lordship. Their hold over men will one day be broken. But that day has not yet come.

Romans 13: Jewish worldview

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Many in the ancient world believed in a plethora of gods. Ancients envisioned these deity warring among themselves. Humans aligned themselves with one divine being or another, bringing the heavenly conflict to earth.

In the Western world, such a belief is scoffed at. Most see no connection between affairs on earth and those of any supernatural world.

What was the Jewish worldview in biblical times? While not polytheistic (at least the orthodox view), the Jewish view was closer to that of the ancient world than the modern view. God was seen as supreme, with other celestial beings below Him. These beings have direct influence on human affairs. At times they are called sons of God. At times they are called angels. At times they are called “the powers.” Jews saw a direct link between these powers and human governments.

When I was in graduate school, the best paper I wrote was one on Genesis 6, the incident between the sons of God and the daughters of men. In that paper, I demonstrated that this reference to sons of God was a reference to human kings, not angelic beings. Now I wonder if that separation wasn’t something of a false one. The Jews saw human kings as earthly representatives of divine beings. The actions of one were, to some extent, the actions of the other.

In the Septuagint and in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Deuteronomy 32:8 talks about the nations being divided up according to the number of the sons of God (note the ESV translation). I’ll leave it up to the scholars to decide which reading is the original. What is clear is that an ancient reading reflects the view that each nation had a heavenly power behind it.

We read the following in Psalm 138: “I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise” (Psalms 138:1) Parallelism with verse 4 shows that these “gods” are kings of the earth. The word “gods” is the Hebrew word elohim, which the NIV translates “angels” in Psalm 8: “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psalms 8:5, ESV)

God rules above all. Below him are the heavenly powers, which manifest themselves on earth through human governments. [Remember this incident from Daniel: “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,” (Daniel 10:13)]

I’m wanting to delve into Romans 13, especially since that passage comes up an unusual amount of times in discussions these days. As I work on this study, this concept of the powers and the authorities is crucial to our understanding that passage. I want to get your input on these concepts as we move along.

Here are some other New Testament passages which refer to “the powers” or “the authorities”:
Romans 8:38
Ephesians 3:10; 6:12
Colossians 1:16; 2:15
1 Peter 3:22

What other passages am I missing? Any other aspects of the Jewish worldview that need to be taken into account? I’m finding this study to be a bit overwhelming, so I’d appreciate all the thoughtful responses that you’d have to offer.

The Powers That Be

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Is it too late to apologize to King George III? And, of course, return to British rule here in the States. No, wait… Texas should return to Mexico. No, wait… to Spain. No, wait… let’s take it all the way back. Let’s all be Romans!

There are a lot of people who want to read Romans 13 as a commandment for all times. While I think the teachings and principles contained in Romans 13 speak to us, I believe that Paul was speaking to a specific situation. I don’t believe in the “divine right of kings.” I don’t believe that it was God’s will that Hitler come to power, nor that we can hold Him directly responsible for every king that ever walked the face of the earth.

Paul writes to the Roman Christians that should submit “to the powers that exist.” I believe that they were not to rebel against the Roman empire, that they were to follow the laws of the empire. This would facilitate the preaching of the gospel and postpone the inevitable persecution. I believe that he was giving a teaching for that specific situation.

He goes on to say: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
(Romans 13:3-4) Are we willing to say that Paul, Peter and all of the Christian martyrs were wrongdoers? If they had done good, they would have received the approval of the emperor… if this passage was meant to apply to all situations at all times. We can’t apply this passage universally without being forced to make some ridiculous statements about who did good and who was a wrongdoer.

And that doesn’t include all the questions that arise during civil wars, revolutions, coup d’etats, etc. Even wars are problematic… If one authority orders us to attack one of the other “existing powers,” should we obey? Or are we going against God’s appointed?

Let’s read this passage in its context. The principles of respect continue. The principle of following laws that don’t go against God’s law continues. But let’s not get too carried away with applying this passage.