There are two parts in this chapter of Paul’s letter. He tells us where we stand with regard to our governments (vv. 1-7). And then he encourages us to live an unencumbered life of love as we await Christ’s coming (vv. 8-14). It’s helpful to consider these two matters together.
So, first, let’s thank God for our governments! Perhaps that’s an idea that hasn’t occurred to us. But Paul says every authority is from God—including civil governments. Our life is ordered in such a way that we need people to look after affairs that affect our communities. This means that leaders, laws, courts and taxes are a necessary part of receiving all that God has for us in this world. And their proper functioning requires our willing compliance.
Paul is filling out what Jesus has already said—to give to God what is God’s, and to Caesar what is Caesar’s.[i]
He’s also updating what Jeremiah taught Jewish captives in Babylon. They were to seek the welfare of the state that had ruthlessly deported them, and pray for them. In this way they would also ensure their own welfare.[ii]
But notice that we are being asked to submit ourselves to authorities and responsibilities. This is different from being dominated. It has the same voluntary aspect to it as our submitting to one another as Christians.[iii] We are coming to our present life as those living under the kindness and care of Christ.[iv] If our hearts are settled by his grace and by our being in the Father’s family, we are better able to see our way clear to be socially cooperative without rancor. We know that someone else is ultimately in charge.
But notice too, that this involves being cooperative but not conformed to the narrative of an alien authority.[v] Sometimes, the most helpful thing we can do for our community or country may be to stand with Christ and not submit to an earthly authority.[vi] But this won’t be because we are out of control. To the contrary, it will be because we are under the only authority that can settle our hearts. We will know that our civil noncompliance is the best thing for our country and for our neighbours.
And again, notice that this comes to us, not as an option but as an obligation. God is commanding us. On the last day, he will hold us responsible for how we have lived among our neighbours. And our conscience is reminding us of this right now!
For those of us who live in democratic countries, new questions are arising. Our manner of governance has been shaped by a Christian heritage and it is questionable that it can survive without that background. The respect for authority and the restraint on our passions taught by a gracious God have made governance ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ a workable system.
But with the denial of that heritage, many are already questioning whether democracy is the best form of government for today. We are going to need Paul’s counsel to help us navigate these times. And we need to know that we are not the victims of fate but under the reign of God’s mercy[vii]—the mercy spoken about in chapters 9—11.
But, now, in a second section, we are called to live in the freedom of loving one another (vv. 8-14).
We’ve already been told to pay what is due to those in authority over us, but the same applies to everyone else as well. Withholding what we should pay may be common practice, but not for someone who lives under Christ’s rule.
But Paul raises this to tell us about a greater debt we all have, more than any money we may owe—the debt to love everyone around us!
How has this debt been created?
It’s because Christ has poured out his whole self to bring us sinners into the Father’s presence. He’s paid our debt—the one we could never repay![viii] And now, he’s been raised and ascended, he’s spending his time as our Advocate in the Father’s presence. He spends his whole life giving!
The sheer size of this generosity creates a space to be filled with gratefulness—and by our love for one another.[ix] It’s something we ought to do, like paying a debt.[x] It’s not that Jesus needs to be paid for what he’s done. Rather, he wants the love to go on and on. What he’s started, he calls us to continue.
This love has a specific shape and structure. It’s what God revealed in his ten commandments. We shouldn’t commit adultery, murder, steal or covet or do anything else wrong. We defraud our neighbours if we don’t keep clear of these things. And we steal from God what he wants us to provide for others.
The direction of our perversity is reversed when we love one another. [xi] We’re being called to a life time of preferring other people to ourselves.
Jesus needs to clarify this for the Pharisees. They get caught up on definitions, all with a view to limiting their liability! But Jesus quotes their Old Testament to show that love for God and our neighbour sums up all that the law requires.[xii] In other words, to please God, this is what we need to do. It’s simple. But we need all the ongoing grace of God to do it!
But now, there’s more. We’re already on the brink of sharing in the new age that Jesus has promised. Ever since Jesus rose from the dead, every generation has been, and is, living with the prospect that our world and our works will be transformed into something glorious and eternal.
We’re expecting Christ’s return. And we’re expecting to share in a creation where everyone is awed by God’s goodness and greatness, where everyone loves their neighbour as themselves and is confident and happy beyond measure. Compared to this, everything we are now experiencing is like living in the darkness of night-time.
But here’s the point of all this. We have the privilege of living now as things will be then! And to do this, we need to ‘Put on the armour of light!’. We need to be dressed in something that comes from another world! We need to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ!’
We have already ‘put on Christ’—when we became Christians.[xiii] Now, we need to go on in the same way and live by him, for him and like him. (Paul told us how this works back in his chapter 6.) We need all the resources he’s provided for us and to be strong in the Lord.[xiv]
None of us can take this lightly. There’s enough of the old world in all of us to get us into trouble very quickly. All of us are naturally selfish, and the world feeds our cravings, and the devil plays his tricks. We need to be saying ‘No’ often. But then, we need to be doing this as we are saying ‘Yes’ to the blessings and the equipping that are coming from Christ.
What an amazing life Christ has provided for us! We’re sharing with him in his great project of a creation filled with people who love their God and love their neighbours.
[i] Luke 20:21-26
[ii] Jer. 29:7
[iii] Eph. 5:21
[iv] John 14:27
[v] Rom. 12:1
[vi] Eg. Acts 4:19-20. Other notable examples are Daniel, Esther, Luther or Bonhoeffer.
[vii] This practical section of Paul’s letter begins and ends with mercy (Rom. 12:1; 15:8).
[viii] Matt. 6:12; cf. 18:28-35
[ix] Jesus says whatever we do for one another, we do for him (Matt. 25:40).
[x] Jesus speaks of things we ought to do as paying a debt (Luke 17:10; John 13:14). And Paul uses the same debt language when he tells us what we are obliged to do in his next section (Rom. 15:1, 27) and elsewhere (1 Cor. 7:3; 9:10; 2 Cor. 12:11, 14; 2 Thes. 1:3, 13). Cf. 1 Chron. 29:14.
[xi] Lev. 19:18
[xii] Matt. 22:36-40; quoting Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:8
[xiii] Gal 3:27
[xiv] Eph. 6:10-18
Simply True 