> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dashhouse.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Living Under Imperfect Rulers (Romans 13:1-7) - URL: https://www.dashhouse.com/living-under-imperfect-rulers-romans-131-7/ - Published: 2026-10-25T17:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-25T17:00:00.000Z - Description: Submit to imperfect governments by paying taxes and showing honor, because God appointed them, they serve our good, and our conscience requires it. - Author: Darryl Dash - Tags: Romans, Sermons, 2026 **Big Idea:** Submit to imperfect governments by paying taxes and showing honor, because God appointed them, they serve our good, and our conscience requires it. --- There are plenty of reasons to struggle with the government. Taxes, for one. The average Canadian family works from January until early June just to pay its taxes for the year. There are numerous issues: disagreements over policies, distrust from broken promises, government overreach, and a belief that our votes don’t matter. Sometimes it’s hard to find anyone you like on the ballot, and if you do, they usually don’t get elected. It’s hard not to feel disillusioned with the government. This is why Romans 13:1 hits so hard: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” One commentator (J. C. O’Neill ) writes, “These seven verses have caused more unhappiness and misery in the Christian East and West than any other seven verses in the New Testament.” That’s probably not true, but they have caused confusion and controversy. Many of us have lived through it. This passage would have been no less shocking when Paul wrote it. Paul probably wrote this letter in the good years of Nero’s reign. But even in these good years, Rome was filled with unrest because of taxation and governance. Just years earlier, many of the Jewish believers who read this letter had been expelled from Rome. They would have experienced insult, abuse, and loss of property. Violence against lower classes and enslaved persons remained common. So it’s not like this command was easy then and is difficult now. What Paul wrote was hard then, and it continues to be hard for us today. ## What God Commands (13:1, 5) Let’s take a closer look at the command itself. Again, here it is: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” Notice a few things. Paul says, “every person.” This is a command to all the believers in Rome. This applies to everyone: with no exceptions, not even for heavenly citizens. Here’s the command that every person should take: they are to be subject. This is more than outward obedience. It has the idea of ordering yourself under an authority; to take a posture of alignment with governing powers rather than resistance to them. It means cooperation and respect even when we feel tension with those in authority over us, even when we disagree with the actions they are taking. It’s important to note that this does not mean *absolute* submission and *unquestioned* obedience. There are legitimate reasons not to obey or submit to the government. There are times when civil disobedience is not only appropriate but required in order to be faithful to Jesus. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” However, those times are few and far between. They are not the norm for the believer. When government exceeds the limits of its jurisdiction, we may disobey, but then we must do so respectfully and be prepared to face the consequences. And it can never be simply because we have a problem with the idea of government authority. Unless God’s commands conflict with civil authority’s demands, be subject to the governing authorities. If we didn’t get the point, Paul repeats the instruction in verse 5: “Therefore one must be in subjection…” ## Why We Submit (13:1b-5) Many of us are going to struggle with this, so it’s important to see *why* Paul says what he does. Note that Paul does not argue that we must submit to government authority because all government authorities are good. They’re not. Paul had already lived under two notoriously bad emperors. Paul had already lived under rulers who gave him little reason to trust Rome. Caligula ruled from AD 37 to 41\. He was cruel and unpredictable. He dressed like a goddess and wanted people to worship him. He also ordered his statue to be put in the Jerusalem temple. Claudius, his successor, presided over a court of executions and expelled the Jews from Rome, uprooting believers like Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2). As Paul wrote this letter, Nero was in the good phase of his government, but there were already problems. And it would get worse. The dark Nero came just a bit later. Within a few years of Paul writing these instructions, Nero had his mother murdered and launched the first imperial persecution against Christians, including Paul. This command is not conditional upon the worthiness of the government authorities. Paul was not living under a democracy but under an authoritarian, totalitarian regime. His society knew nothing of inalienable rights or religious freedom. Paul lived in an age when many emperors dared to claim deity. These were not the best leaders. And yet Paul says to submit to governing authorities, even when they are far from perfect. Their godliness or ungodliness is not the determining factor. Why be subject to governing authorities? Three reasons, according to Paul. ### Because their authority comes from God (13:1b-2) If the source of Nero’s authority came from Nero, we could say, “We don’t like your authority, Nero. We’re going to opt out.” But government authority doesn’t come from the government itself. A government’s authority comes from God. Read verses 1b-2: > For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. The reason for submission is that governing authorities have been instituted by God. This is part of what theologians call God's common grace for the world. God has not left the world completely to itself. Government, like marriage, is designed and given by God for the good of humanity, even though no institution is perfect. The authority of governments comes from God. Every government serves at God’s pleasure. This has two implications. **First, governments will have to answer to God.** Their authority comes from God, and they will one day have to answer to God. God removes kings and sets up kings (Daniel 2:21). Jesus himself told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” This doesn’t mean that all government authorities use that authority well, but it does mean the source of their authority is ultimately God. No ruler’s tenure is permanent or beyond divine judgment. Governmental authority is delegated, not absolute. Rulers answer to God for how they exercise power, and divine accountability transcends earthly tenure. **But there’s another implication that Paul mentions: if we resist government authority, we’re not just resisting them; we’re resisting God.** Do you want to resist a particular government? I get it. Just remember that you’re not only resisting them; you’re also resisting God, because God is the source of their authority. Be subject to governing authorities because their authority comes from God. There’s a second reason to be subject to governing authorities: ### Because their role serves our good (13:3-4) > 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, 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. Why did God establish government? Because government serves a particular purpose. Here is what government is supposed to do: to punish bad behavior and to encourage good behavior. The primary goal of government is to preserve and protect human life. Leaders are supposed to punish evil and reward good to promote a just society. They are called "servants of God" or "ministers of God" who serve humanity. Friends, law and order is far better than anarchy and chaos. I am grateful for building codes, traffic laws, protection services, infrastructure, the justice system, and soldiers. We need good laws, civil and social order, and defense from enemies outside our country and evildoers within. We need them to establish, exercise, and maintain justice. John Calvin got it right: “Magistrates may learn from this the nature of their calling. They are not to rule on their own account, but for the *public good*. Nor do they have unbridled power, but power that is restricted to the *welfare of their subjects*.” That is God’s intent for government. Governments do not always do this well. One day the sword of the government fell on someone who had done nothing wrong. Pilate, a governing authority, examined Jesus, found no fault in him, and sent him to the cross anyway. And yet God used even this for our salvation, so Christ could die the death we deserve so that we could become sons and daughters of God. Paul knows that governments don’t always get it right. Sometimes they get it very wrong. But they are there for a reason: because God has placed them in a position of authority for the good of society and for our good. Why be subject to governing authorities? Because their authority comes from God, and because their role serves our good. There’s one more reason to be subject to governing authorities: ### Because our conscience requires it (13:5) > Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. We will answer to God one day for how we obey this command. But even now, we should be subject for the sake of our consciences. Subjecting ourselves is right. Conscience is an internal awareness of whether one’s actions align with moral rightness. Paul wants believers to see that obeying the government is what God wants. We understand what is right, and we know that God set up the government to carry out his rules. What should we do? Be subject to governing authorities. Why? Because their authority comes from God, because their role serves our good, and because our conscience requires it. There’s only one more question, and it’s an important one. ## What This Looks Like (13:6-7) Paul tells us exactly what this looks like. > For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 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. Paul gives us two examples of what this looks like: ### Pay taxes and customs Pay them because you owe them. This mirrors Jesus’ teaching to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mark 12:17). The authorities are ministers of God attending to the good of society. They need to be paid for their job. Remember that Paul wrote this at a volatile time because of taxation. Special taxes became a hot topic in Rome when Paul wrote this letter. Noncitizen Jews who came back to Rome in or after AD 54 might have had to pay these taxes, while Roman citizens did not. There were so many taxes: a poll tax, land taxes, royalties on farm produce, and duties on imports and exports. Just like today. He reframes tax payment as participation in God’s ordained governance instead of validating grievances about unfair taxation, arguing that taxes help the government fulfill its function. Taxes paid for roads and government work, but they also helped Roman armies and temples for worshiping the emperor, which would have bothered Christians. Yet Paul insists that believers pay anyway. Pay your parking. Don’t cheat on your taxes. Declare what you import. Pay what you owe to the government. Second: ### Show respect and honor This may be harder than paying taxes. “Pay… respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” During COVID, a lot of us were upset with the government. It was a time when it was really easy to mock government leaders and make fun of them. One day I heard a sermon from a friend on this verse, and it really challenged me. God does not call us to mock our leaders. He doesn’t call us to obey them grudgingly. He calls us to a posture of genuine regard for the office and the person holding it. We may disagree, but we may not treat them with contempt. We could play a role here. Pray for your elected officials. Write a letter or email to a local official that leads with respect before disagreement. Don’t mock government leaders on social media, even when you’re really tempted. Show honor to those who serve God and society in this important role. Let’s see if we can put this all together. **Submit to imperfect governments by paying taxes and showing honor, because God appointed them, they serve our good, and our conscience requires it.** I told you this was a hard message. I don’t want to take away from anything Paul has said. But let me close with some good news. Every Christian who has read and obeyed this passage has found it hard. But there will be a day when it won’t be hard, not just because our hearts will have changed, but also because the government will have changed. There is a day when we will not be part of the Dominion of Canada but the eternal dominion of the One who gave his life for us, and will rule us justly. On that day, we will not find it hard to submit to his Kingly authority. Our hope is not a change of earthly government; it’s the coming of that King. Until then, we must follow the leaders God has put in charge, but our true loyalty is to Jesus. We show our respect for Him by respecting them.