“1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.”
Chapter 13 starts with an exhortation for Paul’s Roman readers to submit to the people in authority, especially since they have been set in place by God. It is not accidental that this section on submitting to authority comes immediately after Paul was just talking about loving your enemies, and withholding our vengeance at the end of the previous chapter. At the time of Paul’s writing, the Roman Empire had conquered a great deal of land and set up puppet governments, including in the nation of Israel. Jewish Christians, especially, would not have had a very high view of the Roman leadership. This instruction would become much harder to bear with the Emperor Nero coming to power in Rome around the time that Paul writes Romans. The beginning of Nero’s persecution of the Christians would start about 10 or so years later. Yet, even under these circumstances, Paul calls Christians to submit to authority. Paul speaks similarly in his letter to Titus:
“Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.” — Titus 3:1-3
Peter echoes the same message in his first letter.
“Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” — 1 Peter 2:13-17
Paul reminds us that any individual in a position of authority is placed there by God. What an encouragement to persecuted Christians to know that God the Father is never surprised by who comes to power or what actions rulers take with their authority. God will hold the rulers of this world accountable for how they exercise the responsibility He has given them. If they transgress God’s laws, or prove themselves to be unfaithful to God, He will seek to avenge His name, for His own glory’s sake.
One needs only to look to the Old Testament to see examples of how God exercises His dominion and authority over the rulers He has set in place. One clear example of this comes from Daniel 4, where God warns King Nebuchadnezzar that if he continues in his pride, that the kingdom will be removed from him. Here’s what God does:
“[Nebuchadnezzar] exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared that the kingdom has departed from you. You will be driven away from people to live with the wild animals, and you will feed on grass like cattle for seven periods of time, until you acknowledge that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms, and he gives them to anyone he wants.”” — Daniel 4:30-32
“He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over human kingdoms and sets anyone he wants over them.” — Daniel 5:21
In this story from the Old Testament, God both pours out His wrath, and is seen exercising His right to establish whomever He wants in positions of authority. This should bring Christians great comfort. We can rest assured that God is orchestrating all the happenings of the universe to accomplish His will for His own glory, and that is in our best interest! It is for this reason that God demands His people to submit to earthly authority, because He has placed them there. No one in authority can stray from God’s decreed will. Thus, when we refuse to submit to the authority of those God has placed over us, we refuse to submit to God and His will. Now, of course, there are circumstances where Christians are called to oppose ungodly authority, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. We will talk about this more in the coming devotionals.