Relating to Authority

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; (Romans 13:1-3)

Is the condemnation referred to in verse two something that comes from God or from the authorities?

Is it morally wrong to be on the receiving end of this condemnation or might it be inevitable when resisting false powers?

Didn't Jesus receive condemnation upon Himself from the established authorities?

Can one respect that fact that the authorities they choose to resist for moral reasons may be in place because of God's arrangements but still be need to be resisted?

What kind of resistance is Paul talking about here?

Do established authorities have complete right to determine our relationship to them?

What is really meant by resisting?

Are we to blindly accept and allow “authorities” to manage our lives and our conscience and our finances and our families because these verses supposedly say that is what we must do?

Or is this passage possibly warning us that though legitimate authorities are in place because of God's arrangements we may have to sometimes live with their condemnation while we have to follow our conscience in resistance to them? If that is true then it implies that we are resisting an ordinance of God but not resisting God Himself. Now that sounds rather strange, but is it out of bounds or is it realistic?

Verse three also introduces an interesting point about rulers. It says that rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. (Romans 13:3) Does this mean that anyone who becomes a cause of fear for good behavior is not a legitimate ruler? That is a valid question. Then the argument moves into the definition of what is good which will be viewed very differently from the ruler's point of view than from a conscientious objector. Is this an exception providing the right to resist established authority?

To further complicate things, verse four asserts that these authorities are ministers of God avenging wrath in direct violation of 12:19 where we are explicitly instructed to not avenge ourselves. So is this a loophole for that previous instruction? If we can get ourselves into a government position are we then authorized to avenge ourselves in the name of being a delegated authority and a minister of God/wrath?

I think that one thing that is clear from verse three is that our response to authorities, whatever their legitimacy, is to do what is good. This lines up with the many instructions of Jesus along the same theme where He instructs us to treat our enemies with kindness. And after all, it only makes sense to reflect the kindness of God toward those who need to repent, for earlier in Romans Paul made it very clear that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

This is certainly not what our natural feelings and reactions will lead us to do. Our flesh will be desperately looking for loopholes to excuse indulging in some degree of revenge rationalized by some pious-sounding justification. But we are to be witnesses of the transformational work of God going on at the deep levels of our souls and as such must allow the Spirit of Jesus to emanate from our lives instead of the natural tendencies of our flesh. It takes death to self to be able to properly respond to abusive authorities. And abuse is what power-thirsty governments always tend to foster.

My response to authorities must not be based on those authorities earning my respect for them. I am to be respectful irregardless of how others treat me. That is a very hard command and one that I, in particular, have struggled with for most of my life. There are very strong reasons for that in my past, but it is also a weakness that God wants to completely heal in me and restore me to wholeness and peace. This process of working through Romans and especially this chapter is challenging me to face these issues head-on and listen to whatever the Spirit wants to impart to me personally.

I notice that the solution for getting rid of fear of authority explained in this verse has nothing to do with the attitude or actions of the authorities changing in any way. It has everything to do with my choice of attitude and actions which is all I am responsible for anyway. Sometimes, hopefully, if I do what is right those authorities will praise me for doing what is right. But irregardless, my kindness of spirit needs to be constant so that it might have an influence on the persons who are filling the roles of authority. Unfortunately that is not always the case. But still, irregardless of the actions or reactions of those who are delegated to be in authority I am still to focus my attention on my spirit and attitude. If I get that priority straight the resultant words and actions coming from me will reveal my relationship with God as the factor determining my relationship with authorities.

I am beginning to see that, again the real issue emerging in this study is who I look to as my source of life and peace. If I subconsciously somehow believe that the government is responsible for making me happy, safe, prosperous or even keeping me “good”, then I will have some very intense emotions ready to erupt when that authority does not do what I need done in my life. This is allowing the government to take the place in my life that belongs legitimately only to God alone. And as a result of allowing human authorities to take the place of God in my soul I am then worshiping false gods and the results will ultimately be not for my best good. It may keep me in sync with millions of people around me who choose to do the same thing, but it will always leave me feeling somewhat empty, frustrated and focused on how the government is failing to be the perfect god that I need.

I wonder if it is a correct correlation to view the role of government in a similar light to the role of the law in Galatians three.

Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, (Galatians 3:24-25 NRSV)

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Galatians 3:24-25 NIV)

This text refers to the practice in Paul's day of people putting their trusted slave in charge of watching and disciplining their children if necessary to get them to school and back and to make sure they did not play hooky. Paul says that the law acts in just such a way to keep us out of trouble until we are mature enough to have the principles of the kingdom of heaven internalized and no longer need the oversight of artificial rules. Has God arranged that human governments, though usually corrupt, often inept and abusive and certainly not very reflective of the principles of God's kingdom – has God arranged that these very imperfect systems of control remain in place while we are growing and maturing in the internal instructions from our true Teacher in our process of transformation?

Even more disturbing, I suspect that God allows these very systems of control to irritate and rile up my triggers in order to expose my weak points of character as opportunities to come to Him to receive healing and growth and mature in grace. I certainly cannot look to these abusers as examples to emulate, though that, in fact, is often my greatest temptation. But God is calling me to turn to Him and seek His face so that I will learn to emulate how Jesus related to abusive and corrupt authorities while He lived here on earth. These authorities were not given to be my instructors but only to prevent the earth from being too quickly overrun by evildoers. God takes responsibility for setting up and taking down kingdoms and authorities and He seldom does it with the timing that we would prefer. But under it all I am to remember that it is God who is my legitimate teacher and the artificial and often unjust rules are only the sometimes abusive methods of a slave who is venting on me the frustrations suffered internally by all slaves who long for freedom themselves.

If this is true, then it appears like God is giving me the very heavy responsibility to demonstrate to these slaves who often mistreat me without legitimate cause, the characteristics of the kingdom and the possibilities that could be theirs if they choose to embrace the same kind Master under which I serve. Instead of reacting with anger, revenge and bitterness against unjust authorities, I am to reveal the qualities cultivated in the body of Christ as described in the previous chapter. This would allow more opportunity for God's Spirit to soften the hearts of those observing God's goodness in me under duress, abuse or injustice and draw them toward a decision to join this radical body of believers – believers in a God very different than the kind of control and abusive-type authority embraced by this world.

"I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. "It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses," declares the LORD, and I am God. (Isaiah 43:11-12)

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