Crossway Life

Series introduction: in light of our upcoming Vital Life class on Authority on Saturday, June 29, we thought it’d be helpful to give a little taste of what to expect. Authority is a rich, but neglected, topic. God has filled this world with authority, and in rediscovering how it is meant to function in our lives we can grab hold of his gracious intentions in providing authority for our good. This post is the 1st of 4.

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What comes to your mind when you hear the word authority? If you’re like me, they’re probably not happy thoughts.

The Bible contains what might strike us as very shocking endorsements of authority. While the verses below obviously speak primarily to civil authorities, they also have implications for all authorities on this earth:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 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, 4 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. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 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.

–Romans 13:1-7

Let’s unpack this verse, one proposition at a time. Each could be nuanced and expounded into a book, but we’ll risk it:

1. Every person must be subject to governing authorities (v. 1). No exclusions, no exceptions. There are limits to the extent of our submission, of course (we’ll get to those in the weeks ahead); but if we’re going to have a Biblical view of authority, we’re going to have to allow the weight of it to sit rightly on our hearts and lives. We mustn’t be quick to seek out the exceptions. If we are going to honor God and his Word, we must recognize authorities outside of ourselves and submit to them.

2. Every authority is from God (v. 1). This is the ground for #1–we submit to authority because authority is from God. And it’s also an application of the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. Because he rules over everything everywhere for all time, every lesser authority exists and rules according to his will. So our submission to authority is an application of our submission to God himself.

3. To resist authority is to resist God, and to incur his judgment (v. 2). This one ought to challenge us all. How many authorities do we resist and even despise every day? Whether it’s a referee at a sporting event, a speed limit on a highway, or a child against a parent, we all have our ways of sticking it to the man.

Most importantly, note the connection between earthly authorities and God himself. Because God institutes all authorities, resistance to authorities is resistance to God, and we will be judged for our resistance. There are proper times for resistance and disobedience, but they are few, rare, and must be biblically-defined (as we’ll address in the weeks ahead).

4. Rulers exist to promote good conduct (v. 3). Authority restrains evil and promotes good, and a world with authority is far better than one without it (if such a thing could even be imagined). We’re no doubt aware of real world exceptions to this divine intention, but it’s clear here that authority is a good gift from God which is designed for our benefit.

5. Authority is designed to confront our behavior, both good and bad, and so to promote justice (vv. 3-4). Evildoers ought to fear authority, and do-gooders can expect reward. If we engage with authority properly, we honor God and how he has structured the world, and things will generally go well for us. If not, we can expect to face unpleasant consequences as a demonstration of God’s wrath.

6. Authority includes the power to compel obedience, by divine design (v. 4). We are likely to be very uncomfortable here–the world assures us that all compulsion is bad and wrong. But authority without the ability to compel is no authority at all. If the policeman cannot arrest the criminal and place him in jail (against his will), then he won’t be much help to the law-abiding and the interests of justice. If the parent cannot discipline his child (again, sometimes against his will) he won’t be able to help to drive folly out of his life.

7. Our engagement with authority is both a matter of the conscience and of faith (v. 5). In light of all of the above, Paul tells us that we must submit to authority for two reasons: 1) to avoid God’s wrath (see point #5), and 2) for the sake of conscience. Reason #1 may seem obvious and clear, but #2 bears some unpacking.

Why is submission a matter of conscience? Because authority is at the essence of how God has structured this world. We recognize God’s hand in the structures of authority all around us. He has filled our world with authorities, and if we do not humbly recognize any authorities outside of ourselves and submit to them, we will be unholy terrors.

8. Submission to authority costs us something and is tangibly demonstrated (vv. 6-7). Paul uses interesting language in exhorting us to submit to authorities. He reminds us that they are God’s servants, and he twice tells us to pay. We pay taxes, but we also pay whatever else is owed: revenue, respect or honor. The language of payment reminds us that it costs to submit–we are not autonomous free agents engaging the world wherever and however we wish. And our submission will show visibly and tangibly in our payments, whether they are money or honor. The dynamics of authority are all around us and readily visible in God’s world.

One final note: a right understanding of and enjoyment of authority is only truly possible when we come under the authority of Jesus himself. As Proverbs 28:5 tells us:

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.

As we come to see and to submit to the authority of Jesus, we will also know the freedom and life that submission to authority brings. To state it another way: the gospel frees us to submit to authority in submission to Christ, and to enjoy its benefits.

There is much more to be said, and over the weeks ahead we will dive into some of the particulars of authority in the home, in the church, in government and in the workplace. Please plan on joining us on June 29 from 9 am to noon as we look carefully at this topic and sit together under God’s holy and authoritative word.