Yesterday we saw the broader context of the passage we are looking at this week. So if you haven't done yesterday's devotional I'd encourage you to check that one out first.
Here in Romans 13 Paul launches into a rather lengthy discussion on the relationship of the churches to the governing authorities. This at least indicates that the church was having issues with this. With the recent events in Rome, it's not surprising in the least that there were tensions. In 49 AD emperor Claudius kicked the Jews out of Rome because of controversy revolving around "Chrestus" as one Roman historian wrote. This is most certainly referring to the question of Jesus being the Messiah. Nero, then allowed the Jews to return to Rome, but you can imagine the animosity the Jews, and Jewish Christians, felt toward the Roman authorities. Imagine being uprooted from your home, your job, your friendships and forced by the government to leave. Then, upon your return, you are expected to pay heavy taxes! The Roman historian, Tacitus tells us that in AD 57 or 58 Nero was considering repealing indirect taxes on goods because the people were complaining about the exorbitant amount. He ultimately decided against it which I'm sure made the people even more angry.
So it is in this context that Paul writes:
Romans 13:1-7
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 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, 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. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
For today let's just look at verse 7. Paul includes both the direct taxes (translated "taxes") and indirect taxes (translated "revenue"). The direct taxes were poll taxes and property taxes. Roman citizens were exempt from these. Many of the Jews in the house churches were likely not Roman citizens. The indirect taxes were taxes on goods and everyone had to pay those. We kinda turn up our nose at this because we obviously pay both. Back then this was apparently a big deal.
Paul's response is clear and undeniable—Christians should pay both. This is likely built on Jesus' teaching where he tells the Pharisees and Herodians to give to Caesar what is Caesar's (taxes) and to God what is God's (themselves as God's image bearers) (Mark 12:13-17).
The discussion often comes up in Christian circles about whether we should pay taxes or not, participating in a form of civil disobedience because the government uses our tax dollars for unjust things (tax dollars towards the funding of abortion is the primary context this conversation comes up in). In light of this text I think it is safe to say Paul would tell the church to still pay their taxes. The Roman government was certainly not committed to living out Christian ethics at this point and their tax dollars were certainly used for terrible atrocities. That said, I don't see a strong argument to withhold our taxes in protest of government spending practices.
Some commentators find in the last two sets (respect and honor) Paul doing the same thing Jesus did. Like Jesus said to give to God what is God's, here Paul tells them to give respect and honor to God. The word for "respect" here is the Greek word often translated "fear", as in "fear of the Lord". And honor is something we are regularly told to give to God. This all hinges on what Paul means by "to whom respect / honor is due". It is certainly possible that this is what Paul is doing and the referent is God. But it is also possible, and more likely in my estimation, that he is simply reiterating what he has said in vv. 3-4 and the referent is the governing authorities. We shouldn't press this distinction too far however because Paul's basis for submitting to governing authorities in this section is in the fact that their authority has been given them by God. This we will explore tomorrow.
Additional Content
Reflection
Today, reflect on your overall posture towards the governing authorities. If there is an intrinsic vitriol or rebelliousness in your heart towards any of our governing authorities, that is a problem. Repent of that and submit yourself again to the governing authorities God has placed over you.