Unpacking Romans 13: Rethinking Government Authority in Light of Biblical Context
Part 2: A Biblical Discourse On The Church's Response To Extra-Biblical Commands
In my previous introductory article, I spoke of the problem of “soundbite Christianity” and its tendency to isolate verses (or even just portions of verses) while ignoring the broader context. I said that Romans 13:1a (“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities”) was an example of this isolationism.
The typical understanding that arises from such an isolated soundbite is that we are to do whatever the government tells us to unless to do so would be to directly sin.
The underlying assumption here is undeniably biblical – that God has all authority and so when He tells us to submit to human authority we are ultimately submitting (or not) to Him. We should take this principle even further – if all authority is God’s, then any human authority is really just God’s authority that has been delegated to them. It is no more their authority than a hire car becomes our car while we are renting it – the authority is God’s, and we are merely exercising it on His behalf.
If we agree on this, isolationists/statists would say, how can we disagree with their interpretation? “God delegated the government His authority then refusing to obey them is refusing to obey God”. Well, to a degree that is true – we are to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Matt 22:21). But what is Caesar’s that we should submit to him? Or to put it another way, what authority has God delegated to government? This is the key question that is so often missed. Statism blindly presumes that the government can take whatever authority it wants – but would we allow the same latitude for other delegated authorities?
All delegated authority is limited in some way – we are not God after all. It is limited in person, sphere (or realm), and extent. For example, a church member does not have authority over other church members, but a pastor does; the pastor doesn’t have authority over members of other churches, only his own; the pastor doesn’t have authority over every area of church members lives. Thus, the command to “obey your leaders and submit to them” (Heb 13:17) can only be understood and applied in the context of this question: “what is the realm and extent of their authority?”
The same is true of government. Because God has all authority, the only authority that government has is that which He has delegated to them. So just as we would not accept a pastor that tells us to only wear red on Tuesdays, or only watch/listen to an approved list of media, or only marry a spouse chosen by him, nor should we accept any authority that the government claims to have, rather we need to look at what the Scriptures teach regarding what authority God has delegated to it.
And where would we find such a passage? Romans 13 ! The very passage where one finds the half a verse that, in isolation, is used to say “do whatever they tell you” is actually a passage that is teaching the purpose and limitations of government.
In the next few articles, we will unpack that passage carefully in context. But for now, let me tell you a few key principles that we will see when we do:
1) Governments are God’s servants – they don’t get to decide what they do; they are required to be obedient to the God who has delegated authority to them. Thus, if they are outside that delegated authority they have no legitimate authority at all.
2) Government’s purpose and authority is limited to its sphere of authority. It is predominately their job to govern within that sphere and punish evil and evil doers. Today we see many examples of governments doing what is outside their realm of 'delegated authority.'
3) Government has no authority to determine what is good and what is evil – that is God’s realm and they, as His servants, are obligated to punish evil as He defines it.
These are shocking conclusions to the modern evangelical. They are thinking that they are submitting to God when they do whatever a government tells them to, when in fact they are often closet statists erring dangerously close to idolatry by taking on another “god” who has falsely claimed authority that God never granted to it and makes demands on them that God never makes.
In the next article we will start to unpack Romans 13 in detail starting with a single, crucial word: “good”.
Pastor Anthony Forsyth