Be Subject



Romans 13:1-7
1Let 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.
2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
3For 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,
4for 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.
5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
7Pay 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.

Here in the United States you probably won’t find an adult without opinions about the government; negative or positive. Government is a fact of life and has been since the beginning. One might envy Adam and Eve, for they were the only one’s without an established government. As soon as people started living in tribes there has been a hierarchy of leadership – government. Sometimes those governing bodies are good and lead with the needs of the people in mind. Sometimes they are not as good and lead with their own needs in mind; probably most of the time it is a combination of both.

What Paul takes the time to point out is that all government is established by God and He doesn’t provide these leaders in order to vex us. He does so out of love for us and our need for order. God places into the hands of these leaders great responsibility and power. But it is God who does this. He is the One who establishes world governments. Of course this raises issues because not all world leaders are godly or really even capable and we then look at God and wonder what’s going on. Ultimately we have to recognize that God is sovereign over everything. Even the evil leaders are chosen with purpose. I have to admit – that’s a tough one for me. This is one of those times when I have to look at God and acknowledge that He is God and I am not. He knows everything and I don’t. Trusting in Him is all I’ve got.

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