Chapter # 13 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
October 25, 2020
Humble, Texas
(074)
1769 Translation:
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [
execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore [
ye] must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [
is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
1901 ASV Translation:
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for [
rulers] are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax [
is due;] custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
- I. The Rationale For The Soul's "Subjection" To "Higher Authorities".
- A. The "issue" of "authority".
- 1. In a former study we made the claim that " On the face of it, 'authority', as Paul addresses it in this paragraph, is the ability to make both the "agenda" decisions, the "methodology" decisions, and the "enforcement" decisions for others. The large problem in this situation is that those "in authority" are defining "Life" in terms of "being in control of others" -- an egregious idolatry that will ultimately result in a disastrous judgment and its following condemnation.
- 2. Then, in a very recent study, we went back to Paul's use of "authority" in Romans as a highly instructive, deliberate, concept. There are only four such uses, and three of them are in our current text. The one which is not in Romans 13:1-3 is a kind of foundation for our understanding. We saw that Paul's declaration of "authority" in Romans 9:21 is rooted in Isaiah's use of the potter/clay metaphor where he made it abundantly clear that God is The Authority as Potter over all of humanity at the most critical point: Who gets "mercy" and "compassion" from God?
- B. The actual nature of the "soul's" resistance to "authority.
1. As "The" Authority over all other "authorities" (to which we are to be "in submission"), Paul says that God is the Ultimate Foundation for "authority" at all levels. Thus, God, Paul says, is the highest ranking "Authority" of all and everyone, without exception, who exercises any real "authority", is established in a "pecking order" of "authority".
- 2. Thus, the next claim by Paul: anyone who is rejecting the call to "submission under" is, ultimately, rejecting God as "Authority".
- C. The particular consequence, in this text, I have called "self-inflicted judgment" which will be enforced.
- 1. At issue, since Paul's experience, and Jesus' warnings, have already established that the experience of those faithful will involve being dragged before rulers of various kinds and subjected to significantly painful treatment, is this: how could "judgment" for lack of submission be any worse? If the activities of the faithful involve being subjected to harsh "judgments" by those in authority, what is the point of "submission"?
- 2. What is it to which Paul points with his warning that the lack of "submission" will lead to "judgment"?
- a. Paul's references to this "judgment" in Romans.
- 1) 2:2 introduces "judgment" in Paul's letter in the terms of "krima". His claim is that those who do (prasso; as a matter of habitual repetition) "such things" (the content of this phrase exists in the last few verses of chapter one) will be subjected to "the krima of The God".
- a) In 1:32 Paul identifies the essence of this "judgment": death.
- b) In 13:4 he reiterates this "judgment" as being "death" by the reference to "bearing the sword" as an action of "wrath" (legal retribution with severity aligned with the nature of the action that is bringing retribution).
- c) Thus, "the krima of The God", is "legal retribution" involving some level of "death".
- 2) 2:3, however, pushes the issue of the "death" that is involved into the eschaton in which the cumulative "actions judged worthy of death" are "stacked up" (as in a warehouse) until "the day of wrath" in which every deed will be attached to a measure of "death" so that the cumulative effect will be a severe experience of "death unto death".
- 3) 3:8 declares that slanderers of Paul's doctrine of grace by turning it into a promotion of "doing evil" are going to receive a "just" recompense (for not only rejecting the true grace of God, but then going further and slandering it).
- 4) 5:16 then explains "judgment" as the initial decision of God to visit all of Adam's progeny with the "death" against which he was warned. Then, in this same verse, he goes further and says that this "initial decision" (krima) led to "condemnation" (katakrima) as the imposition of the "death" involved. Thus, "judgment" is the initial decision of the Judge and "condemnation" is the actual imposition of the Judge's decision in terms of what will be the basis of the experience of the "condemned". "Judgment" is the decision that one is "guilty"; "condemnation" is the imposition of the actual consequences of that guilt.
- 5) 11:33 reinforces the meaning of "judgment" as "decisions made": God's "decisions" are beyond man's understanding, or, even, his capacity to understand.
- 6) And that, then, brings us to 13:2's warning that those who oppose divine authority will pay a price for their rebellion.
- b. Conclusions we may draw.
- 1) First, "krima" is not primarily a matter of physical, painful, experience, nor primarily a matter of spiritual, painful, experience (these factors are "in the hands of lesser 'authorities' so that they may subject one under their 'authority' to physical pain and the humiliation of spiritual denigration). Jesus, in effect, scoffed at both of these factors: Hebrews 12:2 says He both "endured the cross" (with all of its excruciating, physical, pain) and "despised the shame" (with its magnified humiliation). Both of these elements of "krima" rest in the hands of lesser authorities.
- 2) Second, "krima" is primarily a matter of the soul's loss when it involves any level of "breakdown" between a person and God, Himself. When it was this scenario that was at the forefront of Jesus' experience, He said, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death...". He was not, primarily, addressing His soul's response to the disciples' outlandish lack of loyalty to His request that they "keep watch with Me"; He was, rather, brought to the "point of death" by the prospect of His loss of "unity" with His Father by reason of His acceptance of the necessity that He be made "sin" for us. The searing loss of this "unity of relationship" was far beyond any physical pain or spiritual humiliation. This is totally in the hands of the Final Authority so that lesser authorities have no way to impose it.