Submission to Governing Authorities
Study note
Paul instructs believers to submit to governing authorities because they are established by God. Rulers serve as God's agents to maintain order, rewarding good conduct and punishing wrongdoing. Resistance to authority is resistance to what God has instituted and brings judgment on oneself. Believers should submit not only to avoid punishment but also for the sake of conscience, paying taxes, revenue, respect, and honor to whom each is owed.
1 Everyone should respect and obey the leaders in charge. No one has power unless God allows it. Every government that exists was put there by God. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 So when you fight against the authorities, you are fighting against something God set up. People who do that will face consequences. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 Rulers are not scary to people who do good -- only to people who do wrong. Want to live without being afraid of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will praise you for it. 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 The ruler serves God for your benefit. But if you do something wrong, watch out, because the ruler does not carry the power of punishment for nothing. The ruler is God's servant, appointed to bring consequences on people who do wrong. 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 So you need to follow the rules. Do it not because you fear getting in trouble. Do it because you know in your heart it is the right thing. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 That is also why you pay taxes. Government workers are doing a job that serves God, and they give their time to it. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Pay what you owe to everyone. Pay taxes to who you owe taxes. Pay fees to who you owe fees. Give respect to whoever deserves respect. Give honor to whoever deserves honor. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Love Fulfills the Law
Study note
The only debt believers should carry is the ongoing obligation to love one another. Paul shows that love fulfills every commandment: the prohibitions against adultery, murder, stealing, coveting, and all others are summed up in the command to love your neighbor as yourself. Since love does no harm to a neighbor, it is the complete fulfillment of the law.
8 The only debt you should always carry is the debt of loving one another. When you love other people, you have done everything the law asks. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 "Do not cheat on your spouse. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not lie about others. Do not want what belongs to someone else." All these commands fit in one rule. "Love others the way you love yourself." For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 When you love people, you never harm them. So love is everything the law is about, all rolled into one. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Put on the Armor of Light
Study note
Paul adds urgency to his ethical teaching by pointing to the nearness of salvation. The night of the present age is nearly over and the day of Christ's return is approaching. Believers must wake from spiritual sleep, cast off the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light. They are to live as people of the daytime, rejecting sinful excess, and instead clothing themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
11 On top of all this, understand what time it is. It is time to wake up! Our final rescue is closer now than it was when we first believed. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is almost over, and the day is about to break. So let us throw off everything that belongs to darkness and put on the armor that belongs to the light. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us live the right way, like people walking in daylight. We should not be partying and getting drunk. We should not be sleeping around and being shameless. We should not be fighting and being jealous. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 Instead, wrap yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ like clothing. Stop making plans to give in to your old selfish desires. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.