로마서 Chapter 13

Translation: ESV

1

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.

Key Message

Governing authority is imperfect but permitted within God's providence, and Christians should acknowledge this and live as orderly members of society.

▸The basis for submission to governing authorities is that those authorities are 'from God.

The basis for submission to governing authorities is that those authorities are 'from God.' This is not a divinization of the state itself, but an acknowledgment of God's providential permission for the maintenance of social order. This teaching is a practical guide for how Christians should live under the governance of the Roman Empire.

Related Verses

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,Jesus answered him, 'You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.'
4

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.

Key Message

Governing authority functions as God's instrument to promote good and restrain evil, and this is part of God's providential order.

▸The ruler is described as 'God's servant (διάκονος θεοῦ).

7

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.

Key Message

Christians are to be good citizens who fulfill their social responsibilities, and this contributes to the credibility of the gospel.

▸A concrete list of social obligations is presented.

8

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Key Message

Love is an eternal debt that can never be fully repaid, and within this love all the requirements of the law are fulfilled.

▸The discussion shifts from financial debts to the debt of love.

11

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

Key Message

Recognizing the nearness of the end gives urgency and seriousness to present ethical living.

▸Eschatological urgency is presented as the motivation for ethical living.

14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Key Message

The Christian life is putting on the character of Jesus Christ, and it includes the decisive resolve not even to make plans for gratifying the desires of the flesh.

▸'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ' — this connects with the union with Christ through baptism (Gal 3:27) and means to live clothed in Christ's character.