Romans 13 — The Apostles Not Caesar
Romans 13 has been the primary text used for two thousand years to command Christians to obey civil government. Every commentary, every denomination, every layer of tradition points in that direction. It has been especially prominent since Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. Under Rule 1, when the text is examined directly without the tradition ‘s interpretive overlay, it does not support that reading.
Obey Versus Submit — Two Different Words
The tradition treats obey and submit as interchangeable in this context. They are not the same word and they do not mean the same thing. Obey means consent to the command — to comply with what is instructed. Submit means accept the authority to judge and punish — to place yourself within the jurisdiction of an authority ‘s consequences. A believer submits to civil authority by accepting punishment for doing what is right in God ‘s eyes — suffering the consequences of the civil system when those consequences are imposed for following God. They never obey a command that contradicts God ‘s law. Acts 5:29: we must obey God rather than men.
Paul ‘s Own Experience Contradicts the Standard Reading
Paul was beaten by the Jewish authorities five times — forty stripes minus one on each occasion. He was beaten by Roman magistrates at Philippi. He was imprisoned multiple times by Roman authority. If the governing authorities of Romans 13 are Caesar and the Jewish authorities, and if Paul was commanded to obey them, then those authorities were established by God and Paul ‘s resistance was disobedience to God. Furthermore, God ‘s established authorities were overcoming Paul ‘s good with evil — which directly contradicts Romans 12:21, the verse immediately before the passage: be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good. The same Paul who wrote do not be overcome by evil was being repeatedly overcome by civil authority if the standard reading is correct. The contradiction is internal to the text.
The Sword Is Not Caesar ‘s
> Romans 13:4 — For he is God ‘s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.
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> Ephesians 6:17 — Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The governing authority of Romans 13:4 bears the sword as God ‘s servant. The sword in Ephesians 6:17 is the sword of the Spirit — the Word of God. Caesar does not bear the sword of the Spirit. Caesar bears a military sword. The governing authority bearing the sword of the Spirit as God ‘s servant is Peter. Acts 5 demonstrates it directly — Peter as judge with the sword of the Spirit resulting in the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to the Holy Ghost. Peter exercised judicial authority using the sword of the Spirit and brought a consequence that Caesar could not have brought. He is the governing authority of Romans 13.
Romans 13:6 — God ‘s Ministers Are the Apostles
Romans 13:6: for they are God ‘s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Caesar was never called God ‘s minister in Scripture. The apostles were — explicitly, repeatedly, in Paul ‘s own language in 1 Corinthians 4:1 and 2 Corinthians 6:4. The tribute of Romans 13:7 is not Caesar ‘s tax. It is the tribute owed to apostles and elders for their ministry — the same tribute Paul discusses at length in 1 Corinthians 9 and requests in 1 Corinthians 16. The governing authorities of Romans 13 are the apostles and elders of the church. The believers had their own governance system, their own King in Jesus, their own judges in the apostles. Paul and Barnabas travelled three hundred miles to Jerusalem to have a dispute settled before their authorities — the apostles and elders of Acts 15 — not before the local Roman magistrate.