Connect360: On God and Government

NOTE TO READERS: With the publication of Lesson Thirteen of the current Connect360 Bible Study series “And Then We Came to Romans,” Baptist Standard will conclude publication of its long-running Bible study column. We encourage you to continue visiting GC2 Press for Bible studies and other discipleship materials.

Lesson Eleven in the Connect360 unit “And Then We Came to Romans: A Study of Paul’s ‘Weighty and Strong’ Letter” focuses on Romans 13:1-7.

Verse one opens with an unavoidable general principle given to everyone, not just to some.

Since “everyone” is expected to live in subjection to the governing authorities, this applies to those within and outside of the church.

Paul gave a general principle we cannot avoid or write off.

Each person must live within the context of authority, and the calling to be “subject” conveys a reality of life.

Everyone lives as part of a greater hierarchical power. We see this in families, in local communities, in our churches, in our nations, and ultimately in all of existence.

No person can step outside of the hierarchy that exists in society and in the created order of God.

It is interesting Paul did not highlight the idea of obedience here. Instead, he focused on this idea of subjection, which involves a recognition of hierarchical reality but leaves room for ultimate obedience to the Lord, if that obedience runs counter to the state.

Though there has been some debate in church history concerning the identity of these “governing authorities,” the immediate context of the passage, especially Paul’s concern with taxes and the state’s power of punishment, tells us he was writing about governmental authorities.

Even before we get to the “what ifs,” which flood our minds when we read this passage, we need to recognize a couple of things.

First, we need to be careful not to force our contemporary political situations and sentiments back onto the text here in Romans 13.

When we discuss the “government,” we have an entirely different thing in mind than Paul and the early Christians in Rome did.

Things we take for granted, like protected free speech or the free exercise of our faith, would not have been on Paul’s radar.

Neither would the tendency we have to equate our political affiliation with the gospel of Jesus. Second, there is an element of common-sense wisdom Paul gave here.

Our objections to the government can rise so quickly when we read Romans 13, we miss the heart of what Paul wrote here.

We see the political reality of our day and immediately think, “How can we change this?”

It seems the early church saw the political reality of their day and thought, “How can we be faithful in the midst of this?”

That faithfulness, even in the midst of an empire as evil as Rome, has something to teach us still today.

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