Civil Obedience for the Glory of God
6/27/25 Bible Thought (Romans 13)
After outlining countless ways that Christians ought to live in chapter 12, the apostle Paul continues on in similar lines in chapter 13. Now, the “Marks of the True Christian” or Christianity 101, takes on the form of being subject to governing authorities.
In essence, the Christian ought to be a model citizen, in so far as they can do so without being disobedient to their true Sovereign (see Acts 5:29).
Why? Because the authorities are set up by God.
God is the true sovereign over this world. He raises up whom He will and puts down whom He will. Truly, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is called God’s servant (Jer. 25:9) and Cyrus, king of Persia, was called God’s shepherd (Is. 44:28)! Pagan kings of pagan nations were set up at the sovereign appointment of the true Lord of heaven and earth.
Paul shares a similar idea about governing authorities in today’s chapter.
Here, in three instances, Paul refers to those in authority as God’s servants or ministers. Twice, he calls them servants (GK: diakonos; Rom. 13:4) which is where we get our English “deacon.” Likewise, they are his ministers (Gk: litourgos; Rom. 13:6), special servants, from this root we get our English “liturgy.”
With these ideas in mind, disobedience to governing authorities and the law of the land actually manifests as disobedience to God—again, as long as the laws and stipulations don’t contradict the laws of God.
Surprisingly, the vast majority of laws don’t directly contradict God’s and as such, they should be followed.
Taxes, traffic laws, even jury duty are part of the fabric of our society that don’t go against our faith—although, I wish I could make a case against jury duty!
My dad is a retired police officer, and I remember him telling me of the number of times that a believer was pulled over for speeding and used the excuse, “I’m a born-again Christian” in hopes that this would let them off the hook, it never worked.
Now, I’m all for being gracious if someone made an honest mistake, if the speed limit suddenly changed or things of this sort. Yet, if someone is willingly breaking the law—even if it seems like a trivial thing—they certainly shouldn’t use their faith as an attempt to get out of trouble! As Paul says, “he does not bear the sword in vain” (Rom. 13:4) and the punishment should be borne for willful rebellion.
Again, it might seem like a trivial thing, but I would liken it to Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount. If you’re only as righteous as a tax collector who loves those who love you, then what’s that really say about you? (see Matt. 5:46). Not much.
Applied here: If you only obey the big laws of not murdering or committing theft, congratulations! Even the tax collectors do that. The vast majority of the population obeys the big laws, what will set us apart as believers is our taking seriously all of it.
Perhaps then, the Christian ought to consider their civil obedience an act of worship to God and trust that He has put the right authorities in the right place at the right time for His sovereign purpose and our ultimate good.
All in all, citizens of heaven ought to be good citizens of their earthly homes.