Romans 13:1-7

SCRIPTURE

Romans 13:1-7
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

COMMENT

This Scripture poses a dilemma for me. On the one hand, it puts God in control as the one who institutes governments and authorities. On the other hand, there are times when those same governments or authorities command that I do things that are in opposition to what I believe a Christian should do. The only way that I seem to be able to understand this is to consider that we should be subject as long as those authorities do not violate what I believe to be God's standards. Am I wrong in this?

I look at Paul's life, and what he endured. Sometimes he suffered for his actions. Were not some of those actions in opposition to the authorities? Yet when he did oppose authority, it seems that he was willing to pay the consequence for that opposition. Even when in prison, he sang and praised his God.

I also think about those who would not bow down to idols or worship of someone other than God. They too, were in opposition to the authorities, but in a way that accepted the consequences in a way befitting a follower of God. Even David in opposition of Saul did not violate by killing Saul when he had opportunity.

This is a tough one, and may get tougher as our country is in such turmoil at the current time.