Romans 13 and unlimited submission to government Exegesis and Application By: Dan Fisher “No government is to be submitted to, at the expense of that which is the sole end of all government – the common good and safety of society.” Pastor Jonathan Mayhew, 1749 “A slavish submission to tyranny is a proof of a very sordid and base mind.” Pastor Samuel West, May 29, 1776 “Is there no case in which a people may resist government? Yes, there is one such case; and that is, when rulers usurp a power oppressive to the people, …” Pastor Joseph Lathrop, Dec 14, 1787 “You are a Christian and it is your duty under God to submit to government; no matter what – and you are sinning of you don’t!” How often have you heard someone, especially in the church, make that declaration? Are they right? I do not believe so. Let me begin by stating the obvious: submission to authority is unquestionably a central tenet of Christianity and is clearly taught in Scripture. A couple of passages that teach this immediately come to mind: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,” (1 Tim. 2:2-3, NKJV) “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.” (Titus 3:1-2, NKJV) According to Scripture, all authority ultimately finds its source in God and in submitting to God, Christians must be known for their respect for and submission to proper authority. But, must Christians submit to every dictate of authority – especially that of their state/national government? Like you, I suspect, I have grappled with this question for most of my life. I have found that balancing my responsibility to submit to governmental authority while Page | 1 equally balancing my responsibility to defend the truth and the innocent who are often abused by those who wield power with no apparent concern for life and/or personal rights is no easy task. Because I am a Christian, must I submit to governmental authority when it mandates evils such as human slavery or the murder of the unborn by means of abortion? Would it be a sin to stand against such evils? Many in the church believe so and use the Bible (mainly Romans 13) to bolster their position. Sadly, the majority of preachers/pastors and politicians have been ignorantly or intentionally shackling the people for years with what I believe to be a flawed interpretation of Rom 13 – especially as it applies to the form of government we have in these United States. Consequently, people have generally come to believe that they would be sinning if they ever defied the government, no matter how evil it may have become. They mistakenly believe that they, especially if they are Christians, owe slavish, unlimited submission to all authorities. Is this actually what Paul was teaching in Rom 13? Oddly enough, the Bible actually provides numerous examples of committed believers not only defying governmental authority but also receiving the approval of God in the process. Consider these examples: The Hebrew midwives defying the command of Pharaoh by saving the Jewish baby boys – including Moses’s parents saving him (Ex 1:15-21, 2:1-10) Moses refusing Pharaoh and siding with the Jews (Heb 11:27) Queen Esther approaching the king uninvited in order to save the Jewish people from annihilation (Est 4:10-16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refusing to bow to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:1-23) Daniel defying the king by refusing to stop praying to the God of Israel (Daniel 6:1-13) Jesus refusing to abide by the Jewish Sabbath laws (Matt 12:1-14, Jn 18:31) The apostles and early Christians refusing to stop preaching the Gospel (Acts 5:27-29, 12:1-4, 16:19-24) Believers throughout the ages defying ungodly authorities (Heb 11:35-38) Even more perplexing, I have heard many of the same preachers and politicians who believe that Rom 13 requires unlimited submission, applaud the above- mentioned biblical heroes for their courage to defy the evil authorities of their day. But how do they justify this apparent contradiction in their thinking? Obviously, they cannot have it both ways – either the Bible requires unlimited submission to governmental authority, thus making the likes of Daniel and the apostles sinful rebels, or there must be something wrong with the generally accepted unlimited submission understanding of passages like Rom 13. So, were men like Daniel sinning when they defied the evil authorities of their day? Certainly the Bible does not condemn them. Was Jesus sinning when He defied Jewish laws, laws that were just as authoritative as those of the Romans? Of Page | 2 course not – at least not if He was the sinless Son of God. To even suggest that Jesus sinned is itself heresy. (Passages such as 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 9:14, and 1 Pet 1:19, among others, clearly teach that Jesus was sinless.) There must be some reasonable way to make sense out of what appears to be a glaring contradiction in God’s Word. The solution must begin with our admission that the ways of God are beyond our limited ability to completely understand. The book of Isaiah actually says this: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is 55:8-9, NKJV) God sometimes works in ways that baffle the wisest among us. Although He never contradicts Himself or acts against His own holy nature, He does, at times, use evil men and disasters to further His eternal plan – though He may not have elevated those men to their lofty positions or have caused those disasters to occur. The honest fact is God sometimes allows evil men and governments to rule and good people to sometimes suffer in the process. In the midst of this, God promises to care for those who love and serve Him – regardless of whether we understand it. The ways of God are often mystical to us at best. A simple exegesis of Romans 13:1-5 and how it applies to those living in a representative republic Since Rom 13:1-5 seems to be the passage of choice for those who teach unlimited submission to government and thus, creates the greatest amount of consternation and confusion for Christians, it is helpful to take a closer look at these verses and see how those living in a representative republic like ours should understand them. When we do this, everything begins to make sense. Thankfully, there is a systematic way to understand God’s often “mysterious ways and words.” By carefully following the science of biblical interpretation known as Hermeneutics we can solve dilemmas we often encounter in Scripture. In addition to observing things like textual/historical context and grammatical constructs, one of the critical rules of Hermeneutics that helps us immensely is the “Analogy of Faith” principle. Simply stated, this principle declares that since all Scriptures are harmoniously united with no essential contradictions, every interpretation of a passage must be compatible with what the other passages in the Bible teach. If our interpretation does not harmonize with the totality of Scripture, we have gotten something wrong. So, when attempting to properly understand what Rom 13 is teaching about submission to government, we must consider other passages that deal with that subject as well. Page | 3 Honestly, this is the area of greatest concerns for Christians in Oklahoma, and everywhere else for that matter. Since most have had little training in the “art” of proper Bible study, they find themselves resorting to taking a passage of Scripture and arbitrarily deciding what it says – often taking it out of context and reading into it an incorrect meaning. Unfortunately, Romans 13 is a classic example. Since we do not want to make this mistake, we must adhere to the rules of hermeneutics if we are to properly understand Rom 13. The best way to begin our examination of Rom 13 is by carefully considering the context of the entire book. Only by understanding the reason Paul wrote Romans and by recognizing to whom he was specifically addressing it, can we hope to develop a correct interpretation of the whole book and chapter thirteen specifically. When we follow this process, we discover that Rom 13 unequivocally does not teach that Christians owe slavish, unlimited submission to government. In considering the context of Romans, we will examine three components: time and place or authorship, the reason for its writing, and its theological implications. Time and Place: Paul writes the letter to the Church in Rome in 56-57 A.D. while he is in Corinth during his third missionary journey. At this time, Paul had not yet visited Rome and would not until he delivered the love offering he had collected to the impoverished believers in Jerusalem. Assuming the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus occurred in 33 A.D., then the church in Rome, if it had been started shortly thereafter, would have been only some 23 years old when Paul wrote them the letter we know today as the book of Romans.