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Romans 13: Rulers, Neighbors, and the Coming Day
Romans · Doctrinal study

Romans 13: Rulers, Neighbors, and the Coming Day

What a believer owes the state, what he owes everyone, and why the hour calls him to wake up

Theologica Editorial16 min read
Introduction

Debts and the Dawn

Romans 12 ended with a hard command: avenge not yourselves (Romans 12:19). Leave wrath to God. Romans 13 opens by showing one of the ways God carries out that wrath in this present life. He has appointed rulers. The believer may lay down the sword of revenge because God has not left the world without a sword of justice.

Then a single word carries the chapter forward. Paul says to render therefore to all their dues (Romans 13:7), and in the next breath, Owe no man any thing, but to love one another (Romans 13:8). Dues and owe come from the same Greek root. Pay the state what you owe it, pay everyone what you owe them, and keep paying the one debt that never runs out. Then Paul gives the reason to take all of it seriously: knowing the time (Romans 13:11). The night is almost over.

Picture the first readers. Nero now sat on the throne. Believers were a small, suspected minority in the capital, and some of the Jewish believers among them had once been driven out of the city under Claudius (Acts 18:2; see Romans 14). Seven years after this letter, Nero would turn on them (see the persecution under Nero). Paul wrote Romans 13 anyway.

  • Rulers (Romans 13:1–7). Be subject, because God ordained the powers, and pay what you owe them.
  • Neighbors (Romans 13:8–10). Love is the one debt that stays due, and it fulfills the law.
  • The coming day (Romans 13:11–14). Wake up, cast off the works of darkness, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Key Question

If Jesus came for His church tonight, would He find you awake, paid up in love, and dressed in Him?

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Further reading

For Deeper Study

  • Romans: The Gospel of God's GraceAmazon Alva J. McClainA clear dispensational exposition of Romans, including chapter 13. McClain, a Grace Brethren teacher, founded Grace Theological Seminary.
  • RomansAmazon Thomas R. SchreinerA thorough evangelical commentary in the Baker Exegetical series by a Reformed Baptist scholar. We differ with his Calvinism.
  • Be RightAmazon Warren W. WiersbeA Bible teacher and Baptist pastor walks through Romans warmly and practically, including the questions of government and debt in chapter 13.
  • The Rapture QuestionAmazon John F. WalvoordA classic defense of the pretribulational Rapture by the longtime president of Dallas Theological Seminary, a dispensationalist.
  • Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.

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Romans

Romans is Paul's fullest explanation of the Gospel: every person is guilty, God declares believing sinners righteous through Christ's blood, the Spirit gives power for a new life, God keeps His promises to Israel, and the saved live as worshiping, serving people.

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