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Rom. 13:1–7 Christians are to be subject to (which generally means to obey, see 1 Pet. 3:5–6) the government because it has been put in place by God. Several other passages show that God approves of Christians disobeying government, but only when obedience to government would mean disobeying God (see Ex. 1:17, 21; Est. 4:16; Dan. 3:12–18; Acts 5:29; Heb. 11:23).
Rom. 13:1 Sometimes God gives good authorities as a blessing, and sometimes he allows evil rulers as a means of trial or judgment (2 Chron. 25:20; 32:24–25). On God’s rule over earthly authorities, see Ps. 75:7 and Dan. 2:21.
Rom. 13:3 rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Civil government in general is a great blessing from God.
Rom. 13:4 Governing authorities are God’s servants, for they carry out his wrath on evildoers, and they do so for your good. Even though Christians must not take personal revenge (12:17–20), it is right for them to turn punishment over to the civil authorities, who have the responsibility to punish evil. Sword most likely refers to capital punishment (see Gen. 9:6).
Rom. 13:5 Christians should obey civil authorities to avoid God’s wrath (coming through those authorities, v. 4) and because their conscience tells them to submit to the government (see note on vv. 1–7).
Rom. 13:8 Verses 8–10 focus on the Christian’s relationship to the Mosaic law. Owe no one anything does not prohibit all borrowing. It means that one should always “pay what is owed” (see v. 7), fulfilling whatever agreements have been made.
Rom. 13:9 Paul cites several OT commandments regarding responsibility to others. All of these are summarized in the call to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18).
Rom. 13:11–12 The final verses of this section (12:3–13:14) call Christians to action, given the shortness of the time before Jesus returns.
Rom. 13:14 The metaphor of putting on clothing implies imitating Christ’s character and living in close fellowship with him. This requires denying the flesh and refusing to gratify its desires.
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