Subjection or Conformity?

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:2)

I have been struggling to understand this from different perspectives. Another aspect came to my mind this morning. In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, Israel had become so wicked that God “arranged” for various foreign nations to come and act as ministers of wrath against Israel. The messages of Jeremiah to the rulers and people were to not resist or fight against these invasions but to allow themselves to be captured and taken away to Babylon.

Of course this did not sit too well with the king and his counselors and instead they not only resisted their enemies (who were ordained by God) but they carried out various acts of shame and brutality against Jeremiah including destroying the hand-written scroll of his prophecies in a fire, stripping him naked and even dropping him into a pit full of slimy, stinky mud. The leaders were clinging to promises from the past of God's protection while refusing to align their hearts with the God of those promises. As a result, their resistance produced massive destruction, devastation, torture and death at levels far beyond what God had planned to allow for them. Instead of escaping punishments for their sins they only amplified them.

In a number of passages in the Old Testament God talks about the surrounding nations that attacked Israel as His agents to teach Israel a lesson. He also notes that many times these nations carried out His “wrath” with far more enthusiasm and vengeance than what He intended and as a consequence His “wrath” was now to be turned against them and they would suffer even more tragic consequences because of their unfaithfulness in the job of being God's avengers. But just because they were far more abusive than what God had planned did not nullify the fact that God had “chosen” them to carry out the role of authorities to act in His behalf against His chosen people who had filled up their capacity for sin against Him.

So the wickedness of an “arranged authority” does not disqualify them from being an authority that needs to be acknowledged and be subject to. This must be balanced out against the fact that there are also illegitimate false authorities that are not necessarily ordained by God who make false claims of jurisdiction over our lives. But how are we to discern the difference? Is it even possible to always be able to discern the difference?

Again, it seems that throughout this passage that the main point is not so much discerning who is a God-ordained authority and who is not, but the reaction of resistance or the choice to relate with a respectful attitude to even those who may be overzealous in their role as avengers of wrath.

It also makes sense that humans, with their false views of the real meaning of wrath, will almost always become overzealous in the prosecution of enforcement duties arranged for them by God. Because the human flesh is so addicted to power and control and violence, whenever they are entrusted with responsibilities for exercising authority over others they will often become contaminated with the heady illusions of superiority and will become over-abusive and act very un-godlike. But just because others have overstepped their roles as God's delegated authority does not excuse anyone of allowing a desire for revenge to fill their own spirit with bitterness and thereby have their heart and spirit poisoned and poison many around them. (Heb. 12:15)

It is the condition of our spirit that is of utmost importance in the sight of God. Religion has given us the illusion that facts and doctrines are the most important things in heaven's eyes, but this is absolutely untrue. The message that rings all throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is that the attitude and spirit that we cherish and how we relate in our spirit to God and those around us determines our condition in the eyes of heaven and ultimately our eternal destiny. Our beliefs and doctrines may have a great influence on the choices we make that affect the direction of our spirit, but it is the condition of our spirit that is of primary focus in the messages of God. He is primarily concerned with our heart because it is our heart that was created to unite with Him. He has also set eternity in their heart... (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Our heart is the connecting link between God and humanity, not our intellect as important and useful as that may be.

Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' (Matthew 7:22-23) There are many who are deceived into thinking that if they can just get the right formula figured out or do all the right things religiously that they will be assured a place in the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus stated emphatically that it is being known by Him – at the heart level – that determines one's qualification for living in the presence of the God who is passionately heart-oriented.

That is why it is so important to understand the message of Romans 13. Because a person could even subject themselves to every authority in the world but still be lost. They may find themselves standing before God and making very similar claims to those just listed in Matthew 7 and get the same answer from Jesus. Yes, there is a need to get along as much as possible with all men (Rom. 12:18), but if it is done without a transformation of the heart and without genuine, supernatural love as described later in this chapter, it will be completely useless except to make life a little less troublesome with the authorities.

The kind of subjection talked about in this chapter must be understood as being defined by the passage itself. I don't believe it is necessarily the kind of subjection that many Christians sometimes advocate, like that promoted in Germany during the early years of Hitler. It might be easy from our vantage point to see a problem with that thinking back there, yet it is the very same reasoning used today to promote blind subjection to governmental forces and agencies that have the very same spirit and intentions that was displayed in the 1930's and 40's in Germany.

It was not then obvious what the true character of Hitler's regime was or the results that would eventually come about because of his beliefs and goals. And neither is it often clear the diabolical nature of many of the goals and methods of present day governments that are going to end up in very similar tragedies. The terrible results of giving higher priority to “security” than to real freedom will only end up in national ruin and complete loss of the freedoms that this country was founded to protect. I believe we have already gone far past the point of no return and the end is coming very soon.

So the real question becomes, how should people respond to delegated authorities like the Nazi Regime or similar entities today in light of this chapter? Romans 13 has always been thrown down as the rationale for obedience to demands of despotic regimes. But I do not believe that was the real purpose for which this chapter was written. It has been used very effectively for intimidating Christians for centuries and making them feel guilty for opposing satanically inspired authorities, but what is the real message here without the spin of those with a strong agenda for blind allegiance to worldly agendas?

I see part of the answer as something of a subversive subjection; compliance within reason but with very careful attention paid to the spirit within. It is outward subjection when allowed by conscience but having a spirit that may not be in harmony with the spirit of abusive authorities. Of course there are some authorities that try to carry out their duties in a right spirit and these should be honored and affirmed for doing so. But this area is an issue that is often at the center of tension between conscience and conformity. In fact, the abusive way many Christians have promoted this chapter is in direct conflict with Romans 12:2 where we are instructed to not be conformed to this world.

So the question now seems to be, how do you live in subjection without caving into conformity?

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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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Legitimate Authorities

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)

I start the study of this chapter by examining the meanings for the original Greek words.

Person = sentient spirit – soul.

Subjection = subordinate; reflexively, to obey:--be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto.

Also compare to verses in chapter 12 such as be devoted to one another (10), give preference to one another (10), be of the same mind toward one another (16), be at peace with all men (18).

Governing authorities = huperecho and exousia

huperecho = to hold oneself above, i.e. (figuratively) to excel; participle (as adjective, or neuter as noun) superior, superiority:--better, excellency, higher, pass, supreme.

Exousia = (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence:--authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

The reasoning behind this is that apart from God there really is no real power or authority, so the authentic authorities that exist are in fact (ordained) to arrange in an orderly manner, i.e. assign or dispose (to a certain position or lot):--addict, appoint, determine, ordain, set – of God.

So Pilate said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?" Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." (John 19:10-11)

A question that seems to be left unanswered is, did Pilate actually have the authority that he claimed he had or not? I realize most religious people teach that Pilate was the ordained authority within Rome and that this verse confirms it. But an open-minded reading of this does not necessarily prove that assumption. While Jesus did not defy the claim of Pilate to having authority or resist him, neither do I see this as a ringing endorsement of Pilate's claims. Jesus says, unless it had been given you..., but does not confirm that it indeed had been given to him.

Another point to ponder here. How much is this passage referring to authorities within the body and how much outside? Of course, since all authority comes from God I suppose that is a superfluous question. But the movement in this chapter seems to be an outward progression of relational attitudes from one on one relationships within the body to how we are to relate to the world at large.

How is it that earthly authorities are established by God? The word comes from tasso which means, To arrange in an orderly manner, i.e. assign or dispose (to a certain position or lot):--addict, appoint, determine, ordain, set.

As with many issues involving evil, particularly in the Old Testament, God accepts responsibility for events and authorities because He is the one who created everything and put all forces into being to counterbalance each other. That does not mean He intended them to act the way they do or for them to abuse their power. They will be held accountable to Him for any abuse of power just as everyone is. It is not our responsibility to pass judgment on the faults and sins of those in power or else we will become infected with the poison of bitterness and become vulnerable to craving power ourselves. With that attitude we are also very vulnerable to abusing such power ourselves if we were to be entrusted with it. Our greatest responsibility is for how we choose to respond and relate to those in power or placed in authority over us.

But I still believe it is a valid question to ask, what constitutes legitimate authority and what is illegitimate, usurped authority? Just because any ol' person comes along and asserts a claim over our life in order to exploit or abuse us does not mean they are an authority established by God, does it? Is a robber threatening your life an established authority? Is the Mafia an established authority? They have rules and organizations and territory just like more legitimate governments. What determines that an authority or person in power is established or not?

This is the crux of some very important issues that most people want to avoid or skip over because it creates too many hard questions of conscience that are difficult to grapple with. It tends to make the one's asking them very different from everyone who are just willing to submit to anyone who intimidates them enough. But just because an organization claims to have authority and uses brute force and intimidation or massive, complex deceptions to assert their legitimacy does not necessarily give them the role of established authority. This issue is going to become more and more sharp and difficult as we near the end of history, because there is going to be a concerted effort to enforce the will of evil men on the body of Christ that will violate their allegiance to God. And it is going to be much deeper than simply what day you keep for Sabbath or what denomination you subscribe under.

I do not yet have a clear answer for this question of what attributes an established authority needs to have to be recognized as such. I know that I have made choices about this issue that has put me at odds with the majority opinions and that will continue to do so. I am also aware somewhat of the history of the abuse of this passage in the past, such as enlisting support for the authority of Hitler from the religious people and churches in Germany. There was great pressure on church members of nearly every denomination to patriotically support the wonderful programs and the advancements that Hitler was doing for his country while overlooking the slight discomforts of some of his quirky ideas on the margins. No one knew at that time how tragic his plans would end up after their full exposure, so those people could not make their decisions based on the perspective that the world has now looking back. They had to take a seemingly indefensible position based on a high percentage of admittedly good things Hitler was doing that have been largely overlooked since that time in our emphasis on his later atrocities.

Those who chose to not support him based on what was considered at the time to be insignificant issues of conscience came under intense criticism and were often ostracized by the church leaders of the day. They were sometimes evicted from their churches and were viewed as fanatical and unpatriotic for their concerns about the direction they felt things were going. And remember, Hitler was not some fly-by-night terrorist trying to set up some power grab to get attention or just enrich himself. He was a legitimate ruler set up by a legitimate government and acknowledged by the world as the established head of authority in Germany. So in a very real sense, those who chose to oppose his agenda were refusing to submit to the governing authority.

And that was the very argument used most often against them by others. So what are we to say about them in retrospect? Was it wrong for these dissenters to stand for their concerns in the face of intense opposition and apparently against the explicit Word of the Bible here in Romans 13 that was being thrown into their faces? Does their situation apply to anything we are facing today or was that just a fluke in history?

Many now view these resistors as heroes, but they were certainly not viewed that way in their time. They were vilified as dissenters as have many of God's people throughout history. This chapter creates a tension that may be one of the most difficult for Christians to struggle with because of the internal conflict it creates between cooperation with earthly authorities and allegiance to moral convictions.

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Overcoming with Submission

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 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. (Romans 12:21 - 13:1)

Does this imply that governing authorities might be evil? Or does it mean that since there is no authority except from God that governing authorities are good? Just because it says they are established by God it does not naturally follow that they are going to be in harmony with His principles. Does it make any difference what they are – good or bad? Or is this addressing a different issue altogether?

But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. (Matthew 5:39)

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:2)

I looked up many references in the Bible that use the Greek word here, krima translated condemnation and I don't believe condemnation is the best English word to convey its meaning. There is another Greek word, katakrima that includes this word but has a prefix with it that conveys the idea of condemnation. This word literally means a negative decision. The more simple word krima is closer to the concept of just a decision but may also include the natural results that occur whenever force and resistance conflict with each other. What seems to describe it in my mind is the idea of intense relational friction.

Condemnation denotes a negative decision whereas the word in this verse does not necessarily mean it is negative. It does seem to mean there is going to be something happen involving a result or decision that may be very undesirable.

I have been intrigued by the statement of Jesus referenced above and have wondered what it really means for many years. I think Jesus may seem to be saying something similar to what I see here in Romans 13 and I think it may help open this up more. Is Jesus implying that if we do resist an evil person that we may suffer even worse than if we don't? Or will we have some other undesirable result that is different in some way than what we are looking at in the immediate situation? Offering to receive even more abuse on the face is not something we would normally think of doing, but is the alternative something far worse?

It seems to me that these two passages are both trying to convey something about the difference between the two versions of reality. God is describing our need to shift our context, our frame of reference, from the artificial reality that we find ourselves in during the circumstances described here, and to view these situations from the perspective of heaven's reality which will cause us to relate to them quite differently than would normally be expected.

I also sense that part of this shift of focus is to get our attention more onto the condition of our spirit instead of the physical abuse and the external unfairness of our immediate circumstances. As I am becoming more and more aware, God is far more concerned with the present condition of my spirit in any given moment than He is with the facts I may or may not believe or the actions that I may or may not perform. All of these external or intellectual things will both contribute to and flow from the choices that I make about my spirit and attitude. But my ability to make correct choices in my spirit will revolve very much around my perceptions about God and how He responds to situations and what His attitudes are toward those who use force and injustice against Him.

I also think it is very important to view this whole passage as under the “heading” of verse 21 from the last chapter. (Remember, there are no artificial chapter breaks in the original.) We will often find ourselves facing evil that is trying to overcome us, particularly attacking our spirit, through abuse, injustice and violence among other things. So Paul is going on here to describe a very different way of overcoming evil through maintaining a spirit of humility and submission quite like that described in the words of Jesus above.

We do not overcome evil through resistance and force as we naturally tend to want to do. That is to give in to temptation, for the very nature of temptation is to reflect back a similar spirit that is directed toward us. We have to adopt very different methods for overcoming evil that focuses much more on the control of our spirit and attitudes far more than the manipulation or management of our externals. And the only way we can ever accomplish this is in a supernatural transformation as described previously in 12:2. Only as we are having our spirit transformed into a reflection of the Spirit of Jesus that is ever-present in our heart can we ever fulfill the things described in these passages.

God, you know this is one of my weakest and most vulnerable areas and I need much grace, instruction and transformation for my life to come into line with these descriptions. It is clearly not something I can do to myself. I cannot transform myself any more than a leopard change his spots, as You put it. But I do give you unlimited permission to do whatever it takes to mentor, train, mold and transform my mind, heart and spirit into a successful witness for You. Give me insights and understanding and a new spirit as I immerse myself in Your Word here. Remove my misunderstandings and prejudices and fears. Clear away the preconceptions and contaminated notions circulating about these passages and reveal Your ways and the true principles that will bring me true freedom and peace. Fill me with Your truth and Your love and Your perspective for Your reputation's sake.

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