Verses one through five of Romans thirteen present a bitter pill that many people find hard to swallow. It is the belief of the author that the higher powers are ordained by God and that we, as the body of believers acting in concert with each other, should in no wise resist the higher powers. There is no power but God. Does this speak only of the church? No. It also speaks of civil governments.
Those people who are over the little man at times seem to be monsters. They send our young people out to die in their wars. They tax us into poverty. They pretty much have their way in all matters and benefit at our expense. Was the author speaking of such powers as Rome? Yes. But, the Romans were cruel in their subjugation. How could Paul recommend obedience to such a government?
Paul's purpose was to unite the churches into a single body. There had to be a single standard that covered them all – a spiritual approach to worldly issues. One may not simply say that the powers should only be comprised of sympathetic souls who treat well those who are of like mind. The world is full of unlike minds. God puts them all on the playing board. God has ordained the enemies of his people as well as the friends of his people.
Let me ask a question of you. How are you to overcome the evil with good if there is no evil to overcome? The extended question, then, is how will you overcome evil with good if you set yourself at odds with it? Isn't that the old mind? Isn't that the way of the world? Didn't the author just instruct us in chapter twelve, rather than be conformed to, that is, to act in accordance with the standards, ways, or rules of the world, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?
Don't get me wrong. It would be great to know that the higher powers were seeded with souls who thought and acted in concert with all other believers. At least we would be assured of love and compassion, of righteous discernment. However, we can't just go out and beat our adversaries into a mindless subservience to the new mind. The new tactic is to win them from the inside out.
Christian democracy has been a hard-won achievement and a boon to mankind but the battle is far from over. There are still powers in the world that are outdated and cruel, that seek to beat us into submission. We will win them from within. We will incorporate them into our brotherhood of the new mind.
There are two reasons why the body of Christ should submit to the higher powers. One is because of 'wrath' and two is 'conscience.' Working back toward verse one from verse five, the author tells us that there is only one cause to fear the higher powers. That one cause is if you do things that are unlawful. The higher powers are described as having a dual purpose. They are ministers of God to the doers of good for good and to the doers of evil for revenge. To those individuals who act unlawfully, the higher powers will execute the punishment of God's wrath. However, these same will praise and reward all who are in concert with the law.
The book of Romans was written by a Christian who was also a Roman citizen. He was in a position that provided a clear view of both sides of the occupation. Rome had many gods. When they conquered another culture, they incorporated that culture's god along with the people. Rome was not necessarily Christian but it did include Christianity within its parameters. Their laws were neither necessarily pro-Jew nor pro-Christian but governed them nonetheless. The author's instructions to those under the law called for subjection to that law in the spirit and practice of the Christian faith. The instructions were without regard to the type or source of the government.
We look around these days and see many meek and humble people in this world. They are faithful and kind, they are willing to put themselves out for the benefit of their fellow man. We see them in subjection to many different kinds of governments. Some of these governments are brutal in their treatment of God's people. They ban their faith and destroy their places of communal worship. They arrest, torture, and kill them. They are beheaded, stoned, or burned alive. These actions are perpetrated against them, not because their faith is wrong, but merely because their faith runs counter to the higher powers they live under. If one would flee to a more tolerant culture, there would be no wrong in doing so. It seems that just being a good person is not enough under some governments. What good does it do for a person to be in subjection only to be rewarded with such mistreatment?
All governments, even the bad ones, are composed of people and can be represented as a solid core around which is a misty penumbra that is gradually becoming less solid. That was certainly the case under the Roman occupation for Jews and Christians. There were cases where a Christian's subjection to the higher power brought him in contact with Roman officials who were persuaded to the Christian faith. They, in turn, persuaded others. I think this is an overlooked point when most of us consider the persecution of Christians under the higher powers of the Muslims or the communist Russians and Chinese. Conversion to the Christian faith is the will of God. For their conscience's sake, it is the responsibility and duty of the oppressed. 'Whosoever will' is an option that is extended to the non-Christians through the Christians. It is what Christ died to provide.
Continuing from verse six, the payment of tribute is also mentioned. The higher powers have their place and function and should have their provision. Of course, while the higher powers of the author of the book of Romans included the governing bodies of both Rome and the religious assemblies of the Jews and Christians, governments of the gentiles must be inferred from the indications of verse seven.
It is advised to be in arrears to no higher power. As governing bodies, they are assemblies of men and women, basically. Don't be found owing to any individual anything, with the exception of love. Despite the local and regional variations of law, the author asserts a law that is both above the higher powers and of intrinsic core value in regard to human nature across the board. He states that love fulfills the law.
The very nature of love implies obedience to the law. Because of love, a person will not commit such wrongs to others as adultery, murder, theft, coveting, and false witness. Every civil law in every government, from the Ten Commandments and up can be summed conclusively in the saying, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The premise for the author's argument is concluded in verse ten where he states plainly, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Verse eleven continues the argument with two important points that each of us should think through carefully. In regard to love and with the certain realization of the times we live in, every faithful believer owes it to him or herself to awake out of sleep. Therefore, sleep is the first important point we need to think through carefully. The second important point is the assertion that our salvation is now nearer than we had previously thought. If we carefully think through each of these important points, what vital understanding might we benefit from as followers of Christ and seekers of truth?
What might it mean for the believer to awake out of sleep? Many people walk through life as if asleep. This includes the faithful. There are 'downtimes' placed deliberately along the highway of our progress. They serve a function just as sleep serves the body. Yet, when we are asleep, we are unaware of what goes on all around us. When we are asleep, we are inactive. The matters that we would carry forward are at a standstill. The works that we would attend are withheld from us by the chains of darkness.
The author continues the thought in verse twelve. As for our downtime, the night is far spent, and at hand is the dawning of a new day. We have slept, now, let us awake. We have worked the works of darkness, within our chains of darkness, we have failed to attend to the waking matters that assure our future good. We are the workers. We work for our pay. When the day is done, we are at ease and we seek leisure activities. The night is not all sleep.
In the dark, there is deceit, hiding, riotous behavior, wantonness, and the desires of the flesh. Even without all the evil inherent in our nature, we still turn to ourselves for normal desires. We eat our meal and lay down to heal both body and mind in preparation for the new day. While we may be groggy, we know that we must arise. We must shake off the feelings and stand up to face the work ahead. As workers, we dress for work and put on the uniforms that identify the ones we serve.
Our salvation is nearer than when we believed. How should we understand the second point? The Jews sought salvation. They had a set view on salvation and their savior. It did not work for them. They crucified their savior, working against the salvation they needed. From that sleep arose those who still worked the works of the day, who put on the armor of light. The progress of the faithful continued forward. The armor of light is the uniform that identifies the worker. The author states the same in verse fourteen but he shows us just what he means by the armor of light. He puts it to us in these words, “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
You are the faithful. You have cast off the works of darkness. You have awakened out of your sleep and now stand dressed in the armor of light, ready for the works of the day. Let each of us put this in context for ourselves personally. Jesus said it, himself, in Mark thirteen verses thirty-five through thirty-seven, “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”
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