Romans 13:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For 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,

NIV: For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.

NASB: 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;

CSB: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.

NLT: For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you.

KJV: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

NKJV: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

Paul has described the Christian doctrine of submission to human authorities. Since every human leader is established by God, Christians must not resist God's work by resisting those authorities. These verses give important context for understanding his recent comments.

Paul begins to describe why God establishes human authorities in the first place. The God-given role of governmental authorities is to keep order. This is true whether those authorities are good people or not. Broadly speaking, human government is one of the ways God restrains the influence of evil in the world (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Christians cannot embrace anarchy—rejection of all forms of government—or disobey authority simply because they disagree.

Paul describes the way to live without fear of someone in authority: Do good. Authorities are no threat to those who do what is right. In fact, they will approve of you. This teaching is certainly sound to the extent that those in authority are fair-minded and operate out of sense of integrity. Of course, our instinct is to recall moments in history where those in authority were most definitely a terror to people who were doing good, or at least not doing anything wrong, including Paul himself! The fact that Paul, personally, experienced ungodly government should give us pause before we dismiss his command as unrealistic.

Paul's point here is simply the general case. He's not interested—in this passage—in addressing exceptions. Paul's first concern is that Christians be known in their communities as people in submission to authority; those who do what is good. Believers ought not have a reputation as law-breakers living in needless conflict and rebellion against authority.

Of course, Jesus and nearly all the apostles, including Paul, were killed by those in authority over them, often for a refusal to obey laws that were in conflict with God's commands to them (Acts 5:27–29). This is a key subtlety in Paul's teaching: to "submit" does not necessarily mean to "obey." None of the apostles were killed for breaking laws merely for the sake of defying authority; they were "submissive" to the government when they refused to follow ungodly laws.

Romans 13:1–7 describes the responsibility for Christians to live in submission to the human authorities in government. The reason given is that every government leader has ultimately been established by God for His own purposes. Generally speaking, human government serves to rein in and punish those who do evil. Governments do this on God's behalf. Christians must pay their taxes to support this work God is doing. In addition, those in Christ owe respect and honor to the authorities that God has put in place. Other Scriptures, such as Acts 5:27–29, distinguish between ''submission'' and ''obedience.''

Romans 13 tackles three big areas that living-sacrifice Christians must address. First, since God puts every human authority in place to serve His purposes, Christians must submit to them; this idea comes with a particular context. Second, we must love our neighbors as ourselves. Third, we are called to live as people of the light and throw off works of darkness like drunkenness, sexual immorality, and jealousy. We are to take on the armor of light against the darkness and, in fact, take on Christ Himself instead of serving our own desires.

The prior chapter described the ideas of becoming a living sacrifice for Christ and being transformed by that relationship. In chapter 12, Paul gives certain applications of what this looks like for Christians who have received God's great mercy. Paul instructs believers to live in submission to human authorities in government because God has put them there for His purposes. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves is the ongoing obligation of every Christian. Finally, we must throw off any works of darkness we have been taking part in and take defensive positions against the darkness in spiritual armor of light. The time has come to take on Christ and stop arranging our lives to serve our own desires.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.