Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
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Romans 13:5-7 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. Therefore he who resists the authority withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing.
Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
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Wherfore ye must nedes obeye not for feare of vengeaunce only: but also because of conscience.
And even for this cause paye ye tribute. For they are goddes ministers servynge for the same purpose.
Geve to every man therfore his duetie: Tribute to whom tribute belongeth: Custome to whom custome is due: feare to whom feare belongeth: Honoure to who honoure pertayneth.
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Wherefore ye must bee subiect, not because of wrath only, but also for conscience sake.
For, for this cause ye pay also tribute: for they are Gods ministers, applying themselues for the same thing.
Giue to all men therefore their duetie: tribute, to whome yee owe tribute: custome, to whom custome: feare, to whome feare: honour, to whom ye owe honour.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (42)
- Luke 20:25 (v7) He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
- Proverbs 24:21 (v7) My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious;
- Matthew 17:25 (v7) He said, “Yes.” When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth…
- 1 Peter 2:17-18 (v7) Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect: not only to the…
- Matthew 22:17-21 (v6) Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do…
Show all 41 cross-references
- Matthew 22:21 (v7) They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are…
- 1 Timothy 5:17 (v7) Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
- Luke 23:2 (vv6–7) They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself…
- Luke 20:21-26 (v6) They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it…
- Ephesians 6:5 (v7) Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to…
- Matthew 17:24-27 (v6) When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?”…
- Mark 12:14-17 (v6) When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but…
- 1 Peter 3:7 (v7) You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also…
- Leviticus 19:3 (v7) “ ‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 19:32 (v7) “ ‘You shall rise up before the gray head and honor the face of the elderly; and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
- 1 Samuel 12:18 (v7) So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
- 1 Chronicles 18:14 (v6) David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and righteousness for all his people.
- Ecclesiastes 8:2 (v5) I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.
- Mark 12:17 (v7) Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him.
- Acts 24:16 (v5) In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- Ephesians 5:33 (v7) Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
- Ephesians 6:2-3 (v7) “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the…
- 1 Timothy 6:1 (v7) Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine not be…
- 1 Peter 2:19 (v5) For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God.
- Exodus 18:13-27 (v6) On the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening. When Moses’…
- Exodus 20:12 (v7) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deuteronomy 1:9-17 (v6) I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today…
- 1 Samuel 24:5-6 (v5) Afterward, David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. He said to his men, “Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to…
- 2 Samuel 8:5 (v6) When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians.
- Ezra 4:13 (v6) Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end…
- Ezra 4:20 (v6) There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was…
- Ezra 6:8 (v6) Moreover I make a decree what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods,…
- Nehemiah 5:4 (v6) There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.
- Job 29:7-17 (v6) when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street. The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and…
- Romans 12:8 (v6) or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with…
- Titus 3:1-2 (v5) Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not…
- 1 Peter 2:13-15 (v5) Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as sent by…
- 1 Samuel 7:16-17 (v6) He went from year to year in a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. His return was to Ramah,…
- 1 Timothy 5:13 (v7) Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which…
- Hebrews 13:18 (v5) Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
- 1 Peter 3:16 (v5) having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in…
41 distinct cross-references across this passage (42 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. It is therefore necessary, etc. What he had…
5. It is therefore necessary, etc. What he had at first commanded as to the rendering of obedience to magistrates, he now briefly repeats, but with some addition, and that is, — that we ought to obey them, not only on the ground of necessity arising from man, but that we thereby obey God; for by wrath he means the punishment which the magistrates inflict for the contempt of their dignity; as though he had said, “We must not only obey, because we cannot with impunity resist the powerful and those armed with authority, as injuries are wont to be borne with which cannot be repelled; but we ought to obey willingly, as conscience through God’s word thus binds us.” Though then the magistrate were disarmed, so that we could with impunity provoke and despise him, yet such a thing ought to be no more attempted than if we were to see punishment suspended over us; for it belongs not to a private individual to take away authority from him whom the Lord has in power set over us. This whole discourse is concerning civil government; it is therefore to no purpose that they who would exercise dominion over consciences do hence attempt to establish their sacrilegious tyranny.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5–7 The conclusion: We must obey the magistrate, not only…
The conclusion: We must obey the magistrate, not only for fear of punishment, but much more because that (although the Magistrate have no power over the conscience of man, yet seeing he is God’s minister) he cannot be resisteth by any good conscience.
So far as lawfully we may: for if unlawful things be commanded us, we must answer as Peter teacheth us, It is better to obey God than men.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only…
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Ver. 5. But also for conscience sake] Good rulers we must obey as God; bad, for God. δια τον θεον. (Basil.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–7 q.d. Seeing things are so as I have said;…
q.d. Seeing things are so as I have said; that magistracy is of God, that it is his ordinance, that it is for the benefit of mankind, and that it is armed with the sword; therefore there is a necessity of subjection, and that for a double reason: first, from fear of wrath, or punishment from the magistrate. Secondly, and more especially, from the obligation of conscience, because God hath so commanded; and to err in this particular, is to offend God, and to wound our own consciences: see 1Sa 24:5; Ecc 8:2; 1Pe 2:13.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Here the apostle doth again assert the necessity of…
Here the apostle doth again assert the necessity of subjection to the civil magistrate. Seeing that magistracy is God’s ordinance, for the good of human society; seeing that the sword in the magistrate’s hand is backed and edged with God’s authority; therefore there is a necessity of subjection unto magistracy and magistrates, and that for a double reason--for fear of wrath and punishment from man, and from a principle of conscience in obedience to the command of God. We must be subject, not only for wrath, that is, not only for fear of man’s wrath, but for conscience’ sake; that is, with respect to the command of God, which has made subjection our indispensible duty.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v7 We are here taught a lesson of justice and…
We are here taught a lesson of justice and charity.
I. Of justice (Rom 13:7): Render therefore to all their dues, especially to magistrates, for this refers to what goes before; and likewise to all with whom we have to do. To be just is to give to all their due, to give every body his own. What we have we have as stewards; others have an interest in it, and must have their dues. "Render to God his due in the first place, to yourselves, to you families, your relations, to the commonwealth, to the church, to the poor, to those that you have dealings with in buying, selling, exchanging, etc. Render to all their dues; and that readily and cheerfully, not tarrying till you are by law compelled to it." He specifies, 1. Due taxes: Tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom. Most of the countries where the gospel was first preached were subject at this time to the Roman yoke, and were made provinces of the empire. He wrote this to the Romans, who, as they were rich, so they were drained by taxes and impositions, to the just and honest payment of which they are here pressed by the apostle. Some distinguish between tribute and custom, understanding by the former constant standing taxes, and by the latter those which were occasionally required, both which are to be faithfully and conscientiously paid as they become legally due. Our Lord was born when his mother went to be taxed; and he enjoined the payment of tribute to Caesar. Many, who in other things seem to be just, yet make no conscience of this, but pass it off with a false ill-favoured maxim, that it is no sin to cheat the king, directly contrary to Paul's rule, Tribute to whom tribute is due. 2. Due respect: Fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour. This sums up the duty which we owe not only to magistrates, but to all superiors, parents, masters, all that are over us in the Lord, according to the fifth commandment: Honour thy father and mother. Compare Lev 19:3, You shall fear every man his mother and his father; not with a fear of amazement, but a loving, reverent, respectful, obediential fear. Where there is not this respect in the heart to our superiors, no other duty will be paid aright. 3. Due payment of debts (Rom 13:8): "Owe no man any thing; that is, do not continue in any one's debt, while you are able to pay it, further than by, at least, the tacit consent of the person to whom you are indebted. Give every one his own. Do not spend that upon yourselves, which you owe to others." The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again, Psa 37:21. Many that are very sensible of the trouble think little of the sin of being in debt.
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II. Of charity: Owe no man any thing; opheilete - you do owe no man any thing; so some read it: "Whatever you owe to any relation, or to any with whom you have to do, it is eminently summer up and included in this debt of love. But to love one another, this is a debt that must be always in the paying, and yet always owing." Love is a debt. The law of God and the interest of mankind make it so. It is not a thing which we are left at liberty about, but it is enjoined us, as the principle and summary of all duty owing one to another; for love is the fulfilling of the law; not perfectly, but it is a good step towards it. It is inclusive of all the duties of the second table, which he specifies, Rom 13:9, and these suppose the love of God. See Jo1 4:20. If the love be sincere, it is accepted as the fulfilling of the law. Surely we serve a good master, that has summed up all our duty in one word, and that a short word and a sweet word - love, the beauty and harmony of the universe. Loving and being loved is all the pleasure, joy, and happiness, of an intelligent being. God is love (Jo1 4:16), and love is his image upon the soul: where it is, the soul is well moulded, and the heart fitted for every good work. Now, to prove that love is the fulfilling of the law, he gives us, 1. An induction of particular precepts, Rom 13:9. He specifies the last five of the ten commandments, which he observes to be all summed up in this royal law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself - with an as of quality, not of equality - "with the same sincerity that thou lovest thyself, though not in the same measure and degree." He that loves his neighbour as himself will be desirous of the welfare of his neighbour's body, goods, and good name, as of his own. On this is built that golden rule of doing as we would be done by. Were there no restraints of human laws in these things, no punishments incurred (which the malignity of human nature hath made necessary), the law of love would of itself be effectual to prevent all such wrongs and injuries, and to keep peace and good order among us. In the enumeration of these commandments, the apostle puts the seventh before the sixth, and mentions this first, Thou shalt not commit adultery; for though this commonly goes under the name of love (pity it is that so good a word should be so abused) yet it is really as great a violation of it as killing and stealing is, which shows that true brotherly love is love to the souls of our brethren in the first place. He that tempts others to sin, and defiles their minds and consciences, though he may pretend the most passionate love (Pro 7:15, Pro 7:18), does really hate them, just as the devil does, who wars against the soul. 2. A general rule concerning the nature of brotherly love: Love worketh no ill (Rom 13:10) - he that walks in love, that is actuated and governed by a principle of love, worketh no ill; he neither practises nor contrives any ill to his neighbour, to any one that he has any thing to do with: ouk ergazetai. The projecting of evil is in effect the performing of it. Hence devising iniquity is called working evil upon the bed, Mic 2:1. Love intends and designs no ill to any body, is utterly against the doing of that which may turn to the prejudice, offence, or grief of any. It worketh no ill; that is, it prohibits the working of any ill: more is implied than is expressed; it not only worketh no ill, but it worketh all the good that may be, deviseth liberal things. For it is a sin not only to devise evil against thy neighbour, but to withhold good from those to whom it is due; both are forbidden together, Pro 3:27-29. This proves that love is the fulfilling of the law, answers all the end of it; for what else is that but to restrain us from evil-doing, and to constrain us to well-doing? Love is a living active principle of obedience to the whole law. The whole law is written in the heart, if the law of love be there.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Wherefore ye must needs be subject,.... To the higher…
Wherefore ye must needs be subject,.... To the higher powers, to the civil magistrates; there is a necessity of it, because magistracy is God's ordinance, it is for the good of men; and such that oppose it will severely smart for it: but subjection to it from Christians should be,
not only for wrath; through fear of punishment, and for the sake of escaping it; either the wrath of men or of God, in this or the other world:
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but also for conscience sake: to keep conscience clear, to exercise a good one void of offence towards God and men; for natural reason, conscience itself, dictates that there ought to be such order among men, that civil government should take place, and ought to be submitted to.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Not only for fear of wrath - That is,…
Not only for fear of wrath - That is, punishment from man. But for conscience' sake - Out of obedience to God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Verse 5. Ye must needs be subject] αναγκη, There…
Verse 5. Ye must needs be subject] αναγκη, There is a necessity that ye should be subject, not only for wrath, δια την οργην, on account of the punishment which will be inflicted on evil doers, but also for conscience' sake; not only to avoid punishment, but also to preserve a clear conscience. For, as civil government is established in the order of God for the support, defence, and happiness of society, they who transgress its laws, not only expose themselves to the penalties assigned by the statutes, but also to guilt in their own consciences, because they sin against God. Here are two powerful motives to prevent the infraction of the laws and to enforce obedience.
1. The dread of punishment; this weighs with the ungodly.
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2. The keeping of a good conscience, which weighs powerfully with every person who fears God. These two motives should be frequently urged both among professors and profane.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6–7 Rom 13:6. For this cause pay ye tribute also…
Rom 13:6. For this cause pay ye tribute also — Not only in token of the duty and subjection you owe them, but because they are the ministers (officers) of God — For the public good; attending continually on this very thing — Giving the whole of their time, care, and labour to it. “The phrase, λειτουργοι Θεου, rendered ministers of God, signifies ministers appointed by God in behalf of the people. The thing to which the magistrates attend, or ought to attend continually, is the good of the people; which they should promote by restraining evil-doers, distributing justice, and repelling the attacks of foreign enemies. Now these things they cannot do, unless taxes are paid to them.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Wherefore - διό dio. The “reasons” why we should…
Wherefore - διό dio. The “reasons” why we should be subject, which the apostle had given, were two,
That government was appointed by God.
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(2)That violation of the laws would necessarily expose to punishment.
Ye must needs be - It is “necessary” ἀναγκή anagkē to be. This is a word stronger than what implies mere “fitness” or propriety. It means that it is a matter of high obligation and of “necessity” to be subject to the civil ruler.
Not only for wrath - Not only on account of the “fear of punishment;” or the fact that wrath will be executed on evil doers.
For conscience’ sake - As a matter of conscience, or of “duty to God,” because “he” has appointed it, and made it necessary and proper. A good citizen yields obedience because it is the will of God; and a Christian makes it a part of his religion to maintain and obey the just laws of the land; see Mat 22:21; compare Ecc 8:2, “I counsel them to keep the king’s commandments, and “that in regard of the oath of God.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v7 Fourth Section.—Proper conduct toward the world in general. Legal…
Fourth Section.—Proper conduct toward the world in general. Legal fellowship with the world. Recognition of the rights of the world in the justice and also in the strength of love for our neighbor. Separation from the ungodliness of the ancient world (the darkness of heathenism). Universalism, and its sanctification through true separatism.
Rom_13:7-14
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7Render therefore [omit therefore]15 to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.8Owe no man any thing, out [except] to love one another: for he that [who]loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness [omit Thou shalt not bear false witness],16 Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,17 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.18 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling [love therefore is the fulfilment] of the11law. And that [this the rather because],19 knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake20 out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when webelieved. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast offthe works of darkness, and21 let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly [seemly],22 as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chamberingand wantonness, not in strife and envying: 14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not [do not make]23 provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Preliminary Remark.—This section is connected by Rom_13:7 with the preceding. While the previous section defines the relation of Christians to the State to which they belong as citizens, the present section, on the other hand, regulates their relation to the world in general, in its friendly and hostile side, in fellowship and repulsion; and Rom_13:7 treats of their relation to authorities in the world in general. We have not merely to do with our own civil authorities and our own State, but also with foreign States and dignitaries. The traveller does not have to pay tribute to a foreign State, but he has to pay duty; in all cases we should exhibit becoming honor and respect toward every one. According to Tholuck, Rom_13:7 contains “a summary of the various duties toward all kinds of authorities; first of all, toward the subordinate tax-officers, then to judges and magistrates.”
[The view of Tholuck, which is that of Meyer, Philippi, Alford, and most, implies that Rom_13:7 belongs to the preceding section. At first sight this division seems correct; but, really, Rom_13:7 is both a hortatory summing up of what precedes, and a transition to the more general admonitions which follow. If οὖν be read (see Textual Note1), the former becomes more prominent; if omitted, the latter.—R.]
Rom_13:7. Render to all their dues [ἀπόδοτε πᾶσιν τὰς ὀφειλάς]. Πᾶσιν. According to Estius, Klee, and others, this refers to all men; according to Meyer [Philippi, and many others], it refers merely to magistrates, as if our respect were due to them alone! The antithesis is: Owe no man any thing.
Tribute to whom tribute is due [τῷ τὸνφόρον τὸν φόρον]. Tholuck, Meyer, and others, would supplement ἀπόδοτε by a ἀπαιτοῦντι. But the addition is already indicated in the τὰς ὀφειλάς, and ὀφείλετε follows immediately afterward. Fear and honor are asked from nobody, not even by magistrates, in the form of paying tribute and duty; and even with tribute and duty we should not wait until compelled to pay them. Grotius has supplied ὀφείλεται; Köllner, ὀφείλετε; against which Meyer observes, that it is philologically incorrect, because τῷ does not stand for ᾧ. But were ᾧ the reading, the idea of an organic distribution would easily arise; this was avoided by the Apostle’s placing τῷ contractively for τούτω̣. According to Grotius, simply the Art. prœpositivus is placed for the subjunctives, which is reversed in Rom_14:2-5.24
Custom [τὸ τέλος]. Grotius: Vectigalia pro mercibus dantur, tributa pro solo aut capite. We must, at all events, understand here, by custom, the Roman internal tax on goods. [As tribute was due to home authorities, while custom, duties, &c., are due to foreign authorities as well, there seems to be an extension of thought beyond the obligations referred to in Rom_13:1-6. Bengel is quite incorrect in making φόρος the genus, and τέλος the species.—R.]
[Fear, τὸν φόβον; honor, τὴν τιμήν. Those who confine the reference to magistrates, apply the former word to the proper sentiment and conduct toward the higher magistrates, especially judges, the latter to magistrates in general (Meyer, Philippi). De Wette, however, refers the former to judges, the latter to magistrates in general, especially the higher ones; while Alford refers “φόβος to those set over us and having power; τιμή, to those, but likewise to all on whom the State has conferred distinction.” If the wider view of the verse be accepted, then (with Hodge, Webster and Wilkinson, and others) the one means the reverence paid to superiors, the other, the courtesy due to equals.—R.]
Rom_13:8. Owe no man any thing [μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε. Dr. Lange renders: Bleibt Niemand und Nichts schuldig, which he considers an improvement of the old version: Niemand nichts.—R.] The four preceding categories are here generalized to the idea of the universal duty to our neighbor. Tholuck is doubly inexact when he says: “The Apostle proceeds from the duties of subjects to universal Christian duties.” [De Wette: “The Apostle proceeds at once from the vestibule of morality into her very domain.”—R.]
Except to love one another [εἰ μὴ τὸἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾷν. Philippi: “A Pauline argute dictum or acumen.”—R.] In relation to the definite discharges of duty, the Christian should strive to perfectly discharge, and to keep discharged, his duty in every direction; in relation to love, as the source of duties, he should, on the other hand, be conscious, and constantly be more so, of an infinite and permanent indebtedness. The duties are externally a finitum, but the duty of loving our neighbor remains an infinitum. And the more clear the Christian becomes on one, the more clear he becomes on the other. [Bengel: “Amare, debitum immortale. Si amabatis, nil debetis, nam amor implet legem. Amare, libertas est.” So most commentators from the times of Chrysostom. Augustine: “Semper debeo charitatem quœ sola etiam reddita retinet debitorem” (Ep. 62).—R.]
Ὀφείλετε is not indicative (Reiche, and others), but imperative,[25] by which the sentence, “except to love one another,” must be understood thus: except that which you cannot pay as a debt. Meyer emphasizes the subjective rendering: Consider yourselves as debtors of love. Even in the “Owe no man any thing” there is undoubtedly an appeal made to the consciousness and its method of action.
Hath fulfilled the law. Πεπλήρωκε. [Perfect of completed action (Meyer).—R.] It is by love that the fulfilment of the law is fundamentally decided; Rom_14:13. Reiche, and others: Id quod in lege summum est. Instead of this, we must place: Quod legis principium est. That no justification is here implied, is plain, first, from the fact that the Apostle regards this loving as possible only on the ground of justification; and second, from the fact that he lays down this loving, emphatically construed, as an ideal which has not been reached so long as we are still universal debtors in individual matters.
[Although Rom_13:9 shows that the Mosaic law is meant, yet it is to be doubted whether there is any “apologetic reference to the upholders of the law” (Alford). When De Wette says: “He who practises love, the higher duty, has, even before he does this, fulfilled the law, the lower,” he seems to ignore the true position of the law in the Christian dispensation. “The law, as a rule of gratitude, is completely fulfilled by love,” seems a better view. For the former part of the verse implies that we never attain to this, but still “owe” this love increasingly. Hence the reference here is to the completed ideal. “The expression implies more than a simple performance of the precepts of the law; true love does more than this: it adds a completeness to the performance. It reaches those lesser courtesies and sympathies which cannot be digested into a code and reduced to rule. To the bare framework of law, which is as the bones and sinews, it adds the flesh which fills it, and the life which actuates it” (Webster and Wilkinson).—R.]
Rom_13:9. For this, Thou shalt not, &c. [τὸγὰρ οὐ, κ.τ.λ.] It is self-evident that the Apostle does not take the negative commandments of the Decalogue in a merely literal sense. This is clear also from the prominence which he gives to the last: Thou shalt not covet (Luther: Covet nothing; an emphasizing of the object; Rom_7:7 is against this). It also follows, from the fact that this perfect negative conduct is not conceivable without a corresponding positive conduct. Tholuck: “In the enumeration of the commandments in Rom_13:9, that respecting adultery precedes the one respecting! murder. There is the same order in Codd. Alex. LXX., Exodus 6.; the same in Philo, and in the New Testament, Jam_2:11; Mar_10:19; Luk_18:20. Philo establishes it, by saying: adultery is the most heinous crime.” For further particulars, see Tholuck, p. 694.
Briefly comprehended. Ἀνακεφαλαιοῦν; see Eph_1:10. In the expression there is comprised the idea, that all which is explained from the principle (for example, the Ten Commandments from the law of love) is again summed up in the fulfilment of the principle. Therefore not merely συντόμως ἀπαρτίζεται (Chrysostom). [So Meyer, Tholuck, Philippi: recapitulated; De Wette, Alford: brought under one head. Dr. Lange includes both ideas. Briefly might be omitted from the E. V. with propriety.—R.]
Rom_13:10. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. [Philippi remarks that the Greeks usually write ἐργάζεσθαὶ τινά τι, while Paul here has: τῷπλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται.—R.] The Apostle’s maxim, in the form of an oxymoron, substantiates what has already been said, since love appears as the great positive fulfilment of the law, because it worketh no ill to the neighbor. The perfection (defined, in the main, negatively) of the Decalogue becomes the measure of the perfection (defined, in the main, positively) of the gospel.
[Love therefore is the fulfilment of the law, πλήρωμα οὖν νόμου ἡ ἀγάπη. Fulfilment, rather than “fulfilling,” which would be the proper rendering of πλήρωσις. Meyer: “In the love to one’s neighbor, that takes place by means of which the law is fulfilled.” He further adds, that, in 1Co_13:4-7, Paul gives a commentary on love’s working no ill, &c. Comp. Gal_5:14, Lange’s Comm., pp. 135 ff.—R.]
Rom_13:11. And this, knowing the time [καὶτοῦτο εἰδότες τὸν καιρόν. Dr. Lange: “And knowing this, we know also the time,” &c. See below.—R.] According to Bengel, καὶ τοῦτο must be supplemented by ποιεῖτε; according to Estius, by agere debemus (Tholuck, ποιῶμεν). Meyer goes back to the precept in Rom_13:8 : μηδενὶ. Yet not only is that precept quite remote, but there is also here a change from the second person to the first. If we look at the actual connection, the Apostle cannot simply say: Let us do that—love our neighbor as ourselves. The more direct thought is: Let us discharge all our obligations, for we know that the end is nigh. But the Apostle does not say: “the end is nigh,” but, “the day of salvation is nigh.” Therefore it is advisable to accept an ellipsis: καὶ τοῦτο εἰδότες τὸν καιρὸν οἲδαμεν, or, εἰδότες ἐσμέν. Because we know that love, which fulfils the law, is present, we know the importance of the time, namely, that the time of perfect salvation is nigh. To what extent? Because, by love, the works of night must vanish—adultery, murder, theft, covetousness; therefore the day of the complete righteousness of life must dawn. If this combination be deemed doubtful, Meyer’s construction should then be preferred.
[Dr. Lange’s view is indeed doubtful. On the whole, it seems unnecessary to supply any thing, but rather (with Hodge, Meyer, Philippi, and many others) to take και as = et quidem, and indeed, the rather, and to refer τοῦτο to what precedes—i.e., to the injunction of Rom_13:8, as afterwards expanded. This is classical usage, though ταῦτα is more common in such cases than τοῦτο. The demonstrative pronoun is thus used “to mark the importance of the connection between two circumstances for the case in hand” (Hodge). Luther and Glöckler confuse the construction, by joining τοῦτο with εἰδότες. The participle is not = considering (Grotius, Hodge, and others), but is causal, since ye know.—The time. This is explained by the next clause, that it is high time.—R.]
To awake out of sleep [ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθῆναι. Dr. Lange paraphrases thus in his text: “to fully arise, or, that we should immediately have arisen.”—R.] How very metaphorical a meaning the Apostle gives to the word, as a designation of the sleep of sin, and of the darkness and bondage of the judgment of conscience by the blindness of sin, is plain from his subsequently describing just this excited, external watching, as works of darkness. According to Reiche, ὕπνος is an image of the Christian’s condition on earth; this is opposed by Meyer, p. 481. [This condition of sleep is that of Christians also, as the verse obviously implies, but only relatively so (Philippi, De Wette, and others).—R.]
For now is our salvation nearer [νῦνγὰρ ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία]. With Luther, and most commentators, we refer the ἡμῶν to ἡ σωτηρία, and not, with Meyer, to ἐγγύτερον; because it would not be like Paul to say that salvation, absolutely considered, is already brought nearer to us believers. Σωτηρία is here the completion of the redemptive salvation of the messianic kingdom. Therefore Meyer says: “This kingdom begins by means of the second coming of Christ, which Paul regarded near (Usteri, Lehrbegriff, p. 355). It was by not recognizing this—although Paul brings so impressively into the calculation the short time from his conversion to the period of his writing—that men have been induced to accept very preposterous interpretations; for example, that salvation by death is meant (Photius, and others), or the destruction of Jerusalem, which was of good results for Christianity (according to the earlier commentators, and also Michaelis), or the inward σωτηρία, the spiritual salvation of Christianity (Moras, and others).”
According to Tholuck, we can only grant that Paul indulged the hope of the speedy coming of Christ—perhaps even to live to see it—but yet that he had no fixed period of time for it. According to Meyer’s rude view, we would have to imagine, with the Ebionites, a twofold σωτηρία; one of which, the spiritual salvation, has already happened; the other, the second coming of Christ, is near at hand, while between the two there is to be a gloomy period. But this is not the view of the Apostle. Rather, the first or principial σωτηρία, which is already the saving possession of Christians, is in the course of permanent and full development toward the final, peripherical salvation. There is a daily progress from σωτηρία to σωτηρία. And, particularly with Paul, a new era of the development of σωτηρία will come, after Christianity shall have spread from Rome throughout the whole West, which, according to the purpose of the Epistle, is near at hand; and, with this Christianization of the Roman world, the completed σωτηρία will be brought nearer. These great, vital, and dynamic views of the Apostle are very different from the modern assumptions of the Parousia imputed to him. Tholuck: “The period from the appearance of the regnum gloriœ, when compared with its glory, is described as a nocturnal period. Spiritual sleep will be shaken off when the regnum gratiœ comes to men (Col_1:12-13); and how much more will this be the fact when the regnum gloriœ approaches!”
[Stuart, Hodge, Webster and Wilkinson, and a large class of commentators, understand by σωτηρία, the consummation of salvation in eternity—deliverance from the present evil world. Dr. Hodge objects at some length to the reference to the second coming of Christ. On the other hand, most modern German commentators defend this reference. Olshausen, De Wette, Philippi, Meyer, and others, think no other view in the least degree tenable; and Dr. Lange, while careful to guard against extreme theories on this point, denies the reference to eternal blessedness, and admits that the Parousia is intended. This opinion gains ground among Anglo-Saxon exegetes. The main objection to it is thus met by Dean Alford: “Without denying the legitimacy of an individual application of this truth, and the importance of its consideration for all Christians of all ages, a fair exegesis of this passage can hardly fail to recognize the fact that the Apostle, here as well as elsewhere (1Th_4:17; 1Co_15:51), speaks of the coming of the Lord as rapidly approaching.” As to this being inconsistent with inspiration, he refers to Mar_13:32 : “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” &c. “The fact that the nearness or distance of that day was unknown to the Apostles, in no way affects the prophetic announcements of God’s Spirit by them, concerning its preceding and accompanying circumstances. The ‘day and hour’ formed no part of their inspiration; the details of the event did. And this distinction has singularly and providentially turned out to the edification of all subsequent ages. While the prophetic declarations of the events of that time remain to instruct us, the eager expectation of the time, which they expressed in their day, has also remained, a token of the true frame of mind in which each succeeding age (and each succeeding age à fortiori) should contemplate the ever-approaching coming of the Lord. On the certainty of the event, our faith is grounded; by the uncertainty of the time, our hope is stimulated and our watchfulness aroused.” This ignorance of the time of the coming of Christ Dr. Hodge himself brings forward, yet not to account for the expectation so much as to deny it. It is difficult for an unlettered believer to read the New Testament and not find this expectation, while even the most learned commentators now find it.—R.]
Than when we believed. (Calvin, and others), Luther says incorrectly: Than when we believed it. [The aorist refers to the definite time, when we first believed. So 1Co_3:5; 1Co_15:2, &c.—R.]
Rom_13:12. The night is far spent, &c. [ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, κ.τ.λ.] According to Meyer, the night would be the time before the second coming of Christ; and the near day, on the other hand, the second coming itself. Certainly we do not read: “The night is gone, but the day is come.” But it does not follow from this that Paul supposed that the day would not break until the second coming. The day will break a hundred times, in ever greater potencies, between the first and the second coming of Christ. Consequently, a chronological antithesis is not here in question. The night is the spiritual condition of heathen Rome; the breaking day is the future of Christian Rome. Ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν. [The sense of the passage in itself considered is perfectly plain; but the precise reference is determined by the view taken of Rom_13:11. Admitting such recurring daybreaks as Dr. Lange suggests, they are still only preludes to “that day” when there shall be “no night.”—R.]
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness [ὰποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἒργα τοῦ σκότους. The verb should be rendered: put off, if the figure of clothing be admitted; put away, if Dr. Lange’s view be accepted.—R.] Meyer: “As one lays off his clothing. This view (against Fritzsche) corresponds to the correlative ἐνδυσώμεθα; comp. on Eph_4:22.” [So De Wette, Philippi, Harless, Hodge, Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, Jowett, and most.—R.] But the works of darkness are not the same as the clothing of night. There is a difference between nocturnal revels and nocturnal clothing. The moral side of the heathen, and especially the Roman, night-life, moves before the Apostle, and he makes it designate evil works in moral darkness in general. The Roman of that time, giving himself up to dissolute nocturnal feasts and works of debauchery, but, on the return of day, assuming the favorite Roman costume of arms—a very perceptible contrast to these Roman Christians—is presented to them by the Apostle as a picture of a moral and religious contrast.
And let us put on the armour of light [ἐνδυσώμεθα δὲ τἂ ὂπλα τοῦ φωτός. See Textual Note7]. Not instruments (Morus), clothes (Beza, and others), shining arms (Grotius), but the armor which the Roman wears by day, as a figure of the spiritual means of conflict, and of the conflicts which belong to the light; they are presented by it, and wielded in its element (see Eph_6:13). The light is the master from whom, for whom, and with whom, this armor Isaiah 26—Ἐνδύεσθαι. Tholuck: “The figure of most intimate union with Christ, as the garment with the body; Gal_3:27; Eph_4:24; Col_3:10. Also in the classics, see Wetstein.”
Rom_13:13. Let us walk seemly, as in the day [ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν]. As if that day had already come, when it will be a characteristic of public respectability to live a moral Christian life, and therefore to live decorously. Εὐσχημόνως [referring to the moral decorum of the conduct (Meyer).—R.], 1Th_4:12; 1Co_7:35; 1Co_14:40, because that day is already breaking.
Not in rioting, &c. [Webster and Wilkinson: “Three classes of sins are specified, to each of which two words are appropriated, viz., intemperance, impurity, discord: the first, public or social vice; the second, private and secret vice; the third, ecclesiastico-political vice, the vice infecting communities even Christian.” To this must be added Meyer’s remark, that the three members stand in the internal relation of cause and effect. Comp. Gal_5:19-21 (Lange’s Comm., p. 138), where five of the six words are found.—R.]—Κώμοις, carousals.27 Meyer translates, “with nocturnal riotings,” by regarding the following dative as the dative of manner. This will not apply well to περιπατεῖν. [Philippi takes the datives as local, which seems the simplest view. Fritzsche, dat. commodi.—R.]—Chambering, κοὶταις [congressibus venereis], feasts of debauchery, rendezvous, chambers and houses of debauchery, works of debauchery itself.—[Wantonness, ἀσελγεἰαις. On this word, see Tittmann, Syn., p. 151. The plural shows that the various manifestations of wantonness are referred to.—R.]—Envying, ζήλω̣, jealousy. The reverse side of nocturnal lusts and pleasures is nocturnal quarrels, especially matters of jealousy, and the forms still prevailing among the works of darkness in our day, especially in Italy and Spain.
Rom_13:14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Ἐνδύεσθαι, Gal_3:27; Eph_4:24; Col_3:10. [Hodge: “To be intimately united to Him, so that He, and not we, may appear.” So De Wette, Philippi, &c.—R.] Tholuck: “Christ was already put on at baptism, Gal_3:27; but this ἐνδύεσθαι, just as the being light, must also be continually renewed. Besides, we must take into consideration the aorist form: The putting on as a garment denotes the entrance of the most intimate communion.” Meyer: “Even in the classics, ἐνδύεσθαὶ τινα denotes assuming somebody’s manner of thought and action.”
And make not provision for the flesh, &c. [καἰ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυμίας. Dr. Lange: Und die Pflege des Fleisches macht euch nicht zur pflege der Lüste; and of the care of the flesh do not make for yourselves a care of its lusts. The order of the Greek seems to favor this, but this implies a proper care of the flesh; so that this can only be a tenable view provided σάρξ does not have an ethical sense here. On this point, see below.—R.] Luther’s translation is doubly incorrect: Take care of the body, yet so that, &c. First, the sentence is not divided into a positive and negative precept; second, the question is concerning the σάρξ, and not concerning the σῶμα. The sentence contains the expression of the moral limitation of the external perception of a self-evident duty. The duty is πρόνοια τῆς σαρκός; the enjoined limitation is the μὴ εἰς ἐπιθ. According to Fritzsche, σάρξ can only be understood as care libidinosa, and therefore the whole sentence is a prohibition. Tholuck and Meyer, on the other hand, observe that the σάρξ, understood in this sense as sensual lust, should even be crucified; Gal_5:24. Meyer describes the σάρξ, as it is here understood, as the lower animal part of man, the fountain and seat of sensual and sinful desires, in antithesis to the πνεῦμα. His calling σάρξ the material of the σῶμα, is better. [Philippi: “σάρξ has here a purely physiological sense.”—R.] Tholuck cites Galen’s medical usus loquendi to prove that the πρόνοια must be understood as care sensu bono; but Eph_5:29 and 1Co_12:23 are of special application here. The distinction between what is vicious in the true care of the flesh, as is shown particularly in respectable clothing—to which the antithesis, “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,” specially refers—is not merely expressed by the μὴ εἰς ἐπιθυμὶας: not so that the ἐπιθυμίαι arise from it; but also by the middle: ποιεῖσθε, make for yourselves, in which reference is made to the subjective self-deception, the πράξεις τοῦ σώματος in the gratification of sensuous necessities.
[The view given above is, in the main, that of De Wette, Philippi, and many others. It opposes Luther’s limitation of the negative to εἰς ἐπιθυμίας, but does not take the whole passage as prohibitory. Hodge, Stuart, Alford, and others, render (as in E. V.): Make no provision (whatever) for the flesh (the carnal nature, in the ethical sense) to fulfil its lusts (so as to fulfil them, and also, because such provision would fulfil them; the result and object blended in the thought). The objections to this view are, that πρόνοια is used generally in a good sense; that the prohibition is too mild, if flesh were used in the ethical sense, &c. But the ethical sense has been the prevalent one in the Epistle. The grammatical difficulty is very slight, since μή has suffered a slight trajection. Besides, the order seems to have been chosen to give prominence and emphasis to σαρκός; such emphasis is altogether unnecessary, unless it has its ethical force. Its prominent position brings it into obvious contrast with Ἰησοῦν χριστόν; this contrast of itself seems to determine the meaning. These latter considerations seem to have escaped the German commentators. Comp. Alford also, who claims that the order would have been different had Paul designed to convey the meaning defended by Meyer, &c.—R.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The debt of love denotes the duty of love for our neighbor, as, according to the law, it is a requirement of infinite force; and, according to the believer’s new principle of life, it is an infinitely impulsive power. The unity of this debt divides itself into the differently formed obligations of various duties to our neighbor.
2. Love is the fulfilment of the law: (1) So far as the whole law is only an outline of love to be filled up. (2) So far as it precludes every transgression of the law. (3) On the other hand, every commandment is realized as a vital principle in the new life. It is as love that God has given the law, as our call to our destination. It is as love that Christ has fulfilled the law for our reconciliation. It is as love that the law of the Spirit lives in our faith, and, by the fellowship of Christ, supplies the defects of our deeds, so that, in the imitation of Christ, that fellowship may ever be elevated higher and higher.
3. The new era of love, a dayspring of the new era of light, with which the completion of salvation approaches.
4. If we would define more specifically the relation of Paul, as well as of all the apostles, to the second coming of Christ, we must distinguish: (1) Between the religious measure [Zeitmass, measure of time] of God’s kingdom, and the chronological measure of the world; (2) Between the apostolical prospect of a future of glory which will be unfolded every day in new morning periods, and the meagreness of the Ebionitic idea, which has only a marvellous meteor of the Parousia, on the one hand, far behind it, and, on the other, far before it, while it finds itself placed in a troublous period and an ordinary course of the world. The present age in principle ceased at the death and resurrection of Christ, and the future age is already present in the heart of the Church and in the world’s great crisis of development, though everywhere still externally surrounded by the nocturnal shades of the old age. And because it has been long present in principle, and in power breaks forth every day more gloriously, our full salvation is brought continually nearer, particularly in all the great epochs of the extensive and intensive enlargement of God’s kingdom—all of which are presages of the Parousia, which is infinitely near to religious anticipation, and yet, chronologically, is indeterminably remote. All that must still precede that external Parousia, Paul indicates in Romans 11. and 2 Thessalonians 2, and John elaborately describes in figures in the Book of Revelation.
5. The very fact that wickedness seeks the veil of night, is a witness for God’s word; and as night is an image of spiritual darkness, and day is an image of spiritual and heavenly light, so are the works of night—sleep, on the one hand, and sinful nocturnal deeds on the other—images of different forms of spiritual corruption, the gross sins, which, indeed, are not only figures, but also phenomena, of spiritual corruptions. On the other hand, the putting on of the day, the armor of the day, have their spiritual meaning. The armor was a very striking figure to the Romans in particular.
6. The two great antitheses of nocturnal life: Lust and strife, pleasure and murder.
7. With the salvation of Christianity to the believer there has also broken for humanity the morning of morality, of good manners, and of true decorum.
8. The 13th verse is an imperishable reminder of Augustine’s conversion (see Conf. Rom_8:12; Rom_8:28).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Rom_13:7. To every one his due! The Christian’s royal motto: 1. In reference to his relation to the civil authority; 2. In his intercourse with every man.
Heubner: The respect which we, as Christians, owe to the civil authorities, is more than the external fulfilment of duty.
Rom_13:8-10. Perseverance in love. It is: 1. In respect to our neighbor a debt, which never can be paid; 2. In respect to the law, it is its fulfilment (Rom_13:8-10).—The debt of love toward our neighbor. 1. It is a very great debt; a. because there are so many creditors; b. because their demands constitute a very important total; c. because it can never be completely cancelled. 2. But it is nevertheless a sweet debt; a. because it is not thoughtlessly paid; b. because it harmonizes with God’s commandment; c. because even the attempt to discharge it makes the heart very happy (Rom_13:8-10).—The debt of love is the only debt of the Christian toward his neighbor which is not only permissible, but even commanded (Rom_13:8).—The commandment of love toward our neighbor as the substance of all the commandments of the second table (Rom_13:9).—Why does love work no ill to the neighbor? 1. Because it proceeds from the root of God’s eternal love for men; 2. Because it will serve God in the neighbor (Rom_13:10).—Love the fulfilment of the law: 1. The truth of this apostolic sentiment; 2. The importance of it (Rom_13:10).
Starke: The heart is known by its behavior, just as the sun is by its beams (Rom_13:9).—Christ’s garden not only produces no injurious trees, but even no useless ones (Rom_13:10).—Hedinger: The eternal debt of love! Be not weary, brethren! He who loves, will be loved in return; though it be not by the thankless world, it will be by God (Rom_13:8).—Let no one excuse himself on the ground of ignorance; let no one say, “Who would know the many commandments and prohibitions?” The whole law is contained in the one word love; Mic_6:8 (Rom_13:9).
Spener: There is one debt which we all owe—to love one another; that is such a debt, that, if we should daily count it up, it would always remain just as great as it had been (Rom_13:8).—Though a thing may sometimes appear to be forbidden, if love requires it, it is not forbidden, but rather commanded; on the other hand, sometimes something may appear to be commanded, but if it is in conflict with love, it is not commanded (Rom_13:10).
Gerlach: The debt of love is never wholly payable; its fulfilment increases the demands made upon it, for it makes love warmer (Rom_13:8).
Lisco: The believer’s holy love fulfils its obligations even toward every body without exception (Rom_13:8-10).—The one requirement of love is divided into two chief commandments, in Mat_22:37-40.—Heubner: The magnitude of the commandment of love (Rom_13:8-10).—The harmonizing of the Divine should and the human would can only take place by love; by it, compulsion is transformed into freedom (Rom_13:9).—Every wicked thing is invariably an unkindness (Rom_13:10).
Besser: He who shows love to another in order to get clear of him, has not love (Rom_13:8).
Schweizer: Love, the fulfilment of the law, or, love performs what the law cannot obtain. The law does not deliver us: 1. Because it is a multiplicity of commandments and prohibitions, which perplex us; 2. Because it pronounces a curse on every one who transgresses a single point; 3. Because it is presented to us as an external power issuing its commands to us; 4. Because it takes refuge in threats and promises. Christian love is the contrary of all this.
Rom_13:8-10. The Pericope for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.—Thym: The royal law of love toward our neighbor: 1. Its great necessity; 2. Its inward nature; 3. Its indescribable blessing.—Harless: Love is the fulfilment of the law. 1. The law, a. which makes love for us an indebtedness; b. and therefore proves it to be our debt. 2. Love, a. which knows no indebtedness except to love; b. and therefore does not come from the law, but from faith.—Heubner: The simplicity of Christian virtue: 1. It proceeds from one spirit of humility and love; 2. All its effects harmonize in one—the manifestation of love.
Rom_13:11-14. The decided breach of believing Christians with darkness: 1. Wherefore should we break off from it? a. because it is time to do it; b. because it is high time. 2. In what should this breach consist? a. in laying off the works of darkness; α. gross, sensual sins; β. subtle, inward sins; b. in putting on the armor of light; a. in walking honestly as in the day; β. in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (or, α. civil righteousness; β. righteousness of faith).
Luther: Do not torture the body excessively by the intolerable holiness of watching, fasting, and freezing, as the hypocrites do (Rom_13:14).
Starke: I must show outwardly what I am inwardly. Those who are inwardly good, must also have a good form and color (Rom_13:13).—Quesnel: Time passes by, and eternity presses on (Rom_13:11).—Müller: There is many a thing and idea comprised in putting on Christ; our Christianity is not a stagnant existence, but a growth; it is no leap, but a walk (Rom_13:12).—The armor of light well becomes a Christian. We must either clothe ourselves with darkness or with light (Rom_13:12).
Spener: Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ. But we put Him on once by the belief that we receive, as our possession, His righteousness and merit, which He has imparted to us, and that we shall appear in them alone before God’s throne. We afterward put Him on also by godly imitation, in walking as Christ has walked (Rom_13:14).
Lisco: The one care for the body, in bestowing upon it what is necessary, is natural; the other is sinful, when the lusts and desires of the body are provided for (Rom_13:14).
Heubner: Christian watchfulness (Rom_13:11-14). Christian knowledge of the time. The time of Christianity is a time of salvation (Rom_13:11).—There are many awakening voices: Public services—preachers—every stroke of the bell—the Bible (Rom_13:11).—The Christian is not a night-walker, a nocturnal rioter, but a walker by day (Rom_13:13).—Temperance, chastity, love—three great prime virtues (Rom_13:13).—Schweizer: Blissful joy at the Reformation as a rising light (Sermon on the Anniversary Day of the Reformation).
Rom_13:11-14. The Pericope for the First Sunday of Advent.—Heubner: The call of Christianity is a call to awake from spiritual sleep.—The appeal of Christian watchmen: 1. It is day; the sun is risen! 2. Awake, arise! 3. Be purified to new life! 4. Put on Christ!—Nagel: The awakening voice with which the Church appeals to us on its holydays, tells us: 1. What time it Isaiah 2. What it is high time to do.—Kapff: The advent message: 1. As a message of salvation and joy; 2. As a message for penitence and renewal.—Florey: The advent season is a holy morning-time of the heart and life.—Harless: The festal ornament well-pleasing to Christ: 1. A watchful eye, to see the night that covers the earth; 2. An enlightened eye, to behold the day which has come; 3. A willing heart, to do what the day requires.—Petri: What time is it for us? 1. To arise from sleep; 2. To put on the armor of light.—Rautenberg: What belongs to rising from sleep? 1. To open the eyes aright; 2. To put on the right garment; 3. To take up the right armor.—Thym: Paul’s vigorous advent preaching: 1. On the advent time; 2. On the advent duties; 3. On the advent blessing.
[Farindon, on Rom_13:14 : Look into Christ’s wardrobe, and you will find no torn or ragged apparel. Christ had the robe of righteousness, the garment of innocency, the spotless coat of temperance and chastity, and with these He went about doing good. Out of this wardrobe we must make up our wedding garment. We must be conformable to Christ. In the rule of our obedience, we must not wear a garment of our own fancying, an irregular, an unprescribed devotion; in the ends of it, we must glorify God on the earth; and in the parts of it, we must not have a parcel-garment. This garment must fit every part, and be universal.
[Leighton: He that truly loves his neighbor as himself, will be as loth to wrong him as to wrong himself, either in that honor and respect that is due to him, or in his life, or chastity, or goods, or good name, or to lodge so much as an unjust desire or thought, because that is the beginning and conception of real injury. In a word, the great disorder and crookedness of the corrupt heart of man consists in self-love; it is the very root of all sin both against God and man; for no man commits any offence, but it is in some way to profit or please himself. It was a high enormity of self-love that brought forth the very first sin of mankind. That was the bait which took, more than either the color or the taste of the apple—that it was desirable for knowledge.
[John Howe, on Rom_13:10 : Would it not make a happy world, if we all so loved our neighbor: 1. That we would no more hurt him than we would ourselves; 2. Would no more cheat him than we would ourselves; 3. No more oppress and crush him than we would ourselves.—What a spring of mischief and misery in the world would be shut up, dried up, if that proneness to hard, harsh, and frequently unjust thoughts, were, by the workings of such a spirit of love, erased out of the minds and hearts of men!
[Burkitt, on Rom_13:14 : This implies: 1. That the soul of man, since the fall, is in a naked state, destitute of those divine graces of the Holy Spirit which were its original clothing in the day of undefiled innocency; 2. That Jesus Christ is our spiritual clothing; a. in His righteousness, to pardon and justify us, He is our clothing, to cover the guilt of sin out of God’s sight; b. In His grace, to sanctify us, by which He cleanses us from our sins, pollution, and filthiness; c. that Jesus Christ, in order to our spiritual clothing, must be put on by faith: an unapplied Christ justifies none, saves none. It was not sufficient, under the law, that the blood of the sacrifice was shed, but it was also to be sprinkled, in order to the expiation of guilt.
[Doddridge, on Rom_13:14 : By putting on the Lord Jesus: 1. We make the gospel day yet brighter in the eyes of all around us; 2. We anticipate, while here in this world of comparative darkness, the lustre with which we hope, through Christ’s influence and grace, to shine forth in the celestial kingdom of our Father.
[John Wesley: The whole law under which we now are, is fulfilled by love. Faith, working or animated by love, is all that God now requires of man. He has substituted, not sincerity, but love, for angelic perfection.
Very excellent things are spoken of love—it is the essence, the spirit, the life of all virtue. It is not only the first and great command, but all the commands in one.
[Richard Watson, Sermon on the Armor of Light (Rom_13:12): I. What the armor of light is, with which the Apostle exhorts us to invest ourselves. II. Why it has the appellation of “armor of light:” (1) Because of its heavenly origin; (2) Because it is only found where Christianity exists and exerts its proper influence; (3) Because it corresponds to the character of our dispensation, which is a dispensation of light. III. The motives which should induce us, in compliance with the exhortation, to array ourselves with it: (1) From a consideration of the degraded state of man, who is not invested with this armor; (2) The moral elevation which this armor gives to every one who is invested with it; (3) We must either conquer or be conquered.
[Hodge, on Rom_13:14 : All Christian duty is included in putting on the Lord Jesus; in being like Him, having that similarity of temper and conduct which results from being intimately united to Him by the Holy Spirit.—J. F. H.]
Footnotes:
[15]Rom_13:7.—[Rec., א3. D3. F. L., insert οὖν (Philippi, De Wette); omitted in א1. A. B. D1., by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Tregelles, and many others. Dr. Lange thinks the omission favors his view, that a new section should begin here; while Philippi and De Wette think this view of the connection led to the early omission.
[16]Rom_13:9.—[The Rec. inserts οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις on insufficient authority (א., versions and fathers). It is omitted in A. B. D. F. L., many cursives, &c.; by Lachmann, and modern editors and commentators without exception. Even Dr. Hodge, who rarely deviates from the Rec., except under overwhelming authority, rejects it. The insertion is at once explained by the Decalogue itself.
[17]Rom_13:9.—[B. F. omit ἐν τῷ. It is found in א. A. D. L.; adopted by many editors, bracketted by Lachmann, Alford, Tregelles. It might easily have been omitted as unnecessary, hence to be retained.—Rec., with A. L.: ἐν τούτω̣τῷ λόγω; א. B. D. F., Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, and most: ἐν τῷ λόγω̣ τούτω̣.
[18]Rom_13:9.—[א. A. B. D. (Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Tregelles): σεαυτόν, instead of έαυτόν (F., fathers, Rec., Meyer, Philippi, &c.). The latter is for the second person, however; and may have been changed, either as a grammatical correction, or from the repetition of the Σ, which precedes. On ἑαυτόν for the second person, see Winer, p. 142.
[19]Rom_13:11.—[Dr. Lange’s text reads: Und Solches wissend, wissen wir auch. See the Exeg. Notes on this interpretation, and that given above in brackets.
[20]Rom_13:11.—[The subject of the infinitive is omitted in the E. V. The Rec., א3. D. F. L., have ἡμᾶς; א1. A. B. C.: ὑμᾶς. The former is adopted by most editors; Alford, however, having discovered that B. gives the latter, has adopted it. Lachmann, Tischendorf, and most, place ῆδη before ἡμᾶς (so א. A. B. C. D.). Hence: it is already time that we should awake, is the correct rendering.
[21]Rom_13:12.—[The Rec. (with א3. C3. D2 3. F. L., and fathers) reads καί before ἐνδυσώμεθα. A. B. C1. D1., versions and fathers: ἐνδ. δέ. א1. omits the conjunction altogether. Lachmann, Tischendorf, De Wette, Alford, Wordsworth, Tregelles, accept δέ, since καί might be substituted on account of the failure to recognize the contrast. Philippi and Meyer accept καί, because δέ might have been inserted from the previous part of the verse, or to correspond with it. No change is required in the E. V., to express the slightly contrastive force of δέ.
[22]Rom_13:13.—[Amer. Bible Union, Noyes: becomingly; Five Ang. Clergymen: seemly. The latter is more in keeping with the style of the E. V. 1Co_14:40 : decently (and in order). Seemly is found in Chaucer in precisely the sense here intended by εὐσχημόνως.
[23]Rom_13:14.—[Dr. Lange’s view would be thus expressed: Do not make such provision for the flesh as to satisfy its lusts. Noyes: Think not about satisfying the lusts of the flesh. Alford: Take not (any) forethought for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts. See the Exeg. Notes.—R.]
[24][The mass of commentators supply ἀπαιτοῦντι (so Winer, p. 548), probably because they limit the reference in this verse to magistrates. But Dr. Lange’s view is preferable. “The sentence is elliptical for ὦ τὸν θ. ὀθείλετετούτω τὸν θ.” (Webster and Wilkinson). So E. V., substantially.—R.]
[25][This is required by the context with its frequent imperatives, and also by the subjective negatives. The indicative would require οὐδεζὶ οὐδέν. Of course, the meaning is very wide, including all possible obligations, and not to be limited to a caution against pecuniary indebtedness. Fritzsche, and others, take ὀθείλετε in a different sense in the second clause (a kind of paronomasia): “Owe no man any thing, but ye ought to love one another.” This is quite unnecessary, however.—R.]
[26][Dr. Hodge: “Those virtues and good deeds which men are not ashamed of, because they will bear to be seen.” Too one-sided a conception of the figure. Alford: “The arms belonging to a soldier of light.” The Christian’s clothing as a child of the day is: armor!—R.]
[27][Such as the feasts of Bacchus, and also “the common boisterous carousing of intemperate young men” (Hodge).—R.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for…
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath--for fear of the magistrate's vengeance.
but also for conscience' sake--from reverence for God's authority. It is of Magistracy in general, considered as a divine ordinance, that this is spoken: and the statement applies equally to all forms of government, from an unchecked despotism--such as flourished when this was written, under the Emperor Nero--to a pure democracy. The inalienable right of all subjects to endeavor to alter or improve the form of government under which they live is left untouched here. But since Christians were constantly charged with turning the world upside down, and since there certainly were elements enough in Christianity of moral and social revolution to give plausibility to the charge, and tempt noble spirits, crushed under misgovernment, to take redress into their own hands, it was of special importance that the pacific, submissive, loyal spirit of those Christians who resided at the great seat of political power, should furnish a visible refutation of this charge.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. For wrath… for conscience’ sake—The apostle by his…
5. For wrath… for conscience’ sake—The apostle by his wherefore draws the inference from the two previous verses that it is a matter of conscience that we entertain a salutary fear of the punitive power of the government.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. As regards the special question of despotism, it…
5. As regards the special question of despotism, it is treated here not by explicit condemnation, but by the statement of principles which will peacefully undermine its own distinctive principles. It is dealt with precisely as elsewhere the ownership of slaves is dealt with. Just as the Gospel bids the slave submit to his master, yet meanwhile (above all by bringing out the value and dignity of every human soul) withers the root of slavery, so it bids the subject obey the despot, yet withers the root of despotism.
5. Wherefore] Because of the ruler’s Divine credentials. The Christian is accordingly a good subject not only on account of the wrath, (so lit.; i.e. the ruler’s wrath in case of crime,) but also on account of the conscience, (so lit.; i.e. the Christian’s knowledge and sense of the ruler’s right to be angry).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 (5) It follows, from this divine authority and title…
(5) It follows, from this divine authority and title enjoyed by the magistrate, that he ought to be obeyed, not only from fear of the punishment that he is empowered to inflict, but also from the respect due to legitimate power. Of this respect conscience is the natural guardian.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–7 For for this cause ye pay (so, rather than,…
For for this cause ye pay (so, rather than, as in the Authorized Version, pay ye. The gar suggests this interpretation. So in the Vulgate, ideo enim et tributa praestatis. The Christians, we may suppose, did pay all legal dues and taxes; it was a recognized principle that they were bound to do so; perhaps because of Christ himself having settled the question in his dictum about the tribute-money. (Mat_22:21) And what the apostle means may be that the same principle on which they paid their taxes extended to all legal requirements) tribute also: for they (i.e. the officers who exact tribute) are God"s ministers (not, as in ver. 4, diakonoi , but leitourgoi . This word, with its correlatives, is used in the New Testament especially with reference to the ceremonial services of the temple, and to their counterpart in Christian devotion; but not exclusively so. (see Rom_15:27 Php_2:25) In classical Greek it denotes peculiarly persons performing public duties, or works of public use. This well-known use of the word may have suggested it here, the apostle meaning to say that such as in any such way served the state were in fact serving God, attending continually upon this very thing; i.e. on leitourgia for God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. Wherefore … not only for wrath, but also…
5. Wherefore … not only for wrath, but also for conscience's sake. There are two reasons for obedience to the civil ruler: (1) If one fails to obey him, he will be a subject of his wrath (judgment) and be punished. (2) It is God's will that we should obey our civil rulers. Hence, conscience should be a motive.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v7 Rom_13:8.—Augustine says that “love is a debt which is…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_13:8.—Augustine says that “love is a debt which is multiplied by paying.” Milton says, “By owing owes not, but still pays, at once indebted and discharged.” The debt of love can never be fully discharged.
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Rom_13:9.—Love to God and love to man said by the Jews to be the great sum or heads of the law.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_13:7-10
Christian citizenship and Christian brotherhood.—Compare the text with the life and precepts of Jesus. They are entire harmony. He was subject unto His parents. His precept as to Christian citizenship was, “Render unto Cæsar,” etc.
I. The need for this injunction to early Christians.—False charges levelled against them: one was disloyalty. Paul set forth the duties of Christian citizenship. There was the added injunction, Be good to neighbours, loving all men. It was necessary to publish the fact that Christians aimed, not at the overthrow of governments, but to show sincerest loyalty and brotherly kindness. In one sense appearances were against Christians. Their mysterious meetings lent colour to the charges of conspiracy—false and wicked charges; for the whole tenor of Christ’s doctrine, and Christian practice too, was: tolerate no violence; live at peace; do not retaliate; be magnanimous. Of course Christianity was opposed to the way of the world, and libellous charges gave excuse for persecution.
II. The text deals with Christian citizenship.—It asserts the principle of submission to civil authority. Four thoughts suggested:
1. It is impossible to secure successful action apart from organisation. Union is strength, and orderly unity is strength at its best. Confusion in council leads to internal anarchy and contempt from other powers.
2. The avowed object of all government to put down the wrong and enforce the right. Crime, the citizen’s enemy; and the government deals it deadly blows. This an unanswerable argument for Christian obedience to the state.
3. It is admitted that “by means of society not only is the race preserved, but civilisation is developed.” Therefore maintain government.
4. The only basis of commercial enterprise is a thoroughly substantial government. Political crises influence the trade of a country. When Philip II. of Spain pursued his suicidal policy in the Netherlands, merchants transferred their workshops to England.
III. Here also we have the principle of Christian brotherhood.—
1. We are to render to the individual his or her due. What men’s dues are is measured by the fact that Christianity has taught men to consider each man a brother.
2. The worldly usage is that the great are honoured at the expense of the more humble. This is anti-Christian.
3. The spirit of forbearance is exhibited in the text. A disgrace to professors of religion is the habit of fault-finding, the lack of a charitable spirit. If we want to be Christlike, we shall not repay people’s faults and forget their excellences. “When a leaf drops and dies, it goes down to mingle with the ground. When moss falls off, it disappears. Everything in nature, as it decays, hides itself.” And so it should be in human life.
4. God’s attitude that of forgetfulness of our faults. Love has sat on heaven’s throne rather than judgment. And so it comes to pass that “the base of this low altar-stair of suffering slopes through darkness up to the everlasting heavens, and far, far within their piercing deeps love is enthroned for ever.” Cannot man learn of his God? Even the dying Christ thought first of the pardon of His murderers: “Father, forgive them.” Let every man strive in his human degree to traverse the divine range of sympathy. It is not so much doctrine or creed that we want, as that Christlike spirit of love that will enable us to love God and also man—the spirit that will enable us to overcome every obstacle, and, like the Master, “bear one another’s burdens.”—Albert Lee.
Rom_13:7. Legal and moral dues.—It has been sometimes objected that preachers put too much of the gospel into their sermons, and do not speak sufficiently of the every-day duties of life. St. Paul binds himself to the gospel, and so must his followers. But we shall not understand the gospel aright if we do not bear in mind the fact that it is to teach men to be good citizens of earth as well as of heaven. Christianity leaves no part of the nature, and no portion of society untouched; it speaks to rulers and ruled, to kings and subjects, to parents and their children. The New Testament lays down general laws by which men are to be guided in the affairs of life. The best all-round man is the one who makes a sensible application of those laws in the management of his earthly affairs. We are to bring heaven down to earth, and thus make it more blessed.
I. Christianity teaches classification.—There is method observable in the material universe: lower and higher forms of life—vegetable life, animal life, and intellectual life. Creation culminates in man, and in the human animal there are differences—some excel in strength and others in wisdom. God has set men in societies where there are differences; He instituted the family, which is the germ and type of all true human societies. As there are differences in the family, so will there be differences in the clan, the tribe, the nation: the rich and the poor dwell together. Where the right spirit reigns all will work together so as to make the commonwealth strong, healthy, and happy: the king will be the true father of his subjects, and they will be his faithful children.
II. Christianity inculcates discrimination.—It differentiates between the powers. There are higher powers and lower powers, and those who have little or no power. It seems to point out that all have their dues. Tribute is the due of one power, custom of another, fear of a third, and honour of a fourth. Shall we go far wrong if we say that honour is due to all who have not rendered themselves vile, ignoble, and utterly dishonourable? Thus there is not only the material due, the money payment, but there are intellectual or moral dues, the payment of fear and honour. Enough has not been done when the taxes are paid. There is the emotional tribute. We are not only to uphold the throne and constitution, not only to obey our country’s laws, not only to respect the magistrates and judges of the land, but to give to all men their dues. Each man has his rights, which must be respected. Shall we render to all their dues if we rob God? The man who robs God would rob his fellow, providing a safe opportunity were presented. What is due from the creature to the Creator? Thankfulness at least is due. Cicero said that thankfulness is the mother of all virtues. Even the very heathen said that all evil is spoken in this one word—viz., “unthankfulness.” Gratitude is God’s due for His wisdom and power in creation, for His mercy in preservation, for His love and grace in redemption. Life is due to Him who gave His life. Love is due to Him who poured out an infinite wealth of love upon the world. Let us live our thanks. Let our lives be made fragrant and beautiful by the influence of grateful hearts.
III. Christianity proclaims responsibility.—Some one said, “It is a solemn thing to die,” which was met by the reply, “It is a solemn thing to live.” Surely a solemn thing to live, for none of us can live to ourselves. We are debtors, whether we like it or not, to our fellows. A self-contained, self-included life is impossible. The hermit in his cave, the naturalist in his hut, the monk in his cell, cannot completely shut themselves out from their fellows. And in the present complex state of society we may well be startled as we think of the responsibilities of life. How vast the debt we owe to our fellow-creatures! How much larger the debt we owe to God and to Jesus Christ! How much is due to Jesus Christ, who has done more to shape human destinies into divine forms, to bless the world, to beautify existence, than all the monarchs, statesmen, warriors, philosophers, and moralists of time! Our debt to Jesus Christ is so great that had we a thousand lives to give they would not be adequate to discharge the claim. And yet He asks no more than each is able to give. He asks thy love, thy life, thy all. Give thy life to Jesus, and He will so ennoble the offering that it will be no longer poor. Give thy love to Jesus, and He will increase it so that it will become like a live coal within thee from God’s altar, and thy nature will be all aglow with the celestial flame. If thus we love Jesus, we shall learn to love our fellows more, and we shall learn from Jesus to render to all their dues. How kind, gentle, and considerate He was to all men and women! He paid to the higher powers the tax which was required. He paid to the lower orders help and sympathy. He paid the tax of tears where tears were due; He paid the tax of sorrowful lamentations where woe was impending; He paid the tax of a sacrificed life upon the altar erected by human need and divine requirement. In the light of His large life we shall learn to take a complete view of the words, “Render to all their dues.” A holy life is due to infinite goodness, to human wretchedness, to God, to angels, and to men, to others and to ourselves. We should all strive so to live that others may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus, as some did of the early believers. Helpful is the thought that Jesus is no hard taskmaster. He notices the right intention; He approves the pure motive and the earnest purpose. Let us go forward seeking to render to all their dues.
Rom_13:10. The last analysis.—The first golden stair is this: we ask, What is the origin of love? Christianity answers, Love is of God. Hatred, then, is not of God; it is of the devil. Selfishness, jealousy, envy, all that spoils the gentle and the perfect life in us—heedlessness of others, forgetfulness of the wishes and the hopes of. others, the egoism which ignores others, to say nothing of the sarcastic tongue which delights to inflict pain, or the vanity which will sacrifice a reputation for a stroke of wit, or the ambition which bustles all weaker folk aside that it may reach its own coveted goal—all this is not of God. The original impress of God upon this world was an impress of love There was a time when gentleness, tenderness, considerateness, stamped the whole creation. Wherever you find these qualities still, they are of God; something saved out of the wreck of man, fair stretches of green landscape not submerged beneath the flood of evil, or else recovered from it. God is love, and love is of God. “Every one that loveth is born of God.” It follows, then, that there is a second golden stair which we may climb. “Love is of God”—that is the first stair. The second is Love in morality. “Love,” says the apostle Paul, “is the fulfilling of the law.” Let us pause again, and ask, “What then is law?” Law is a series of instructions and restraints to make us like God. It begins at the very lowest level of things, and tells us not to steal, not to covet, not to lie, and not to murder. But these crimes and vices are not so much causes as effects. And you may take the commandments one by one, and apply this test to them, and you will see at once that they would not have been needed if only men had loved one another. Get love then, and you cannot help keeping the law. Get love, and you cannot help being moral. It may seem but a scanty equipment to produce perfection, and so the seven notes of music may seem to be a scanty equipment to produce the heaven-born melodies of a Handel or Beethoven. But see how they use them—of what infinite and glorious combinations are they capable! So it is with this supreme quality of love. It is capable of all but infinite combinations and interpretations; it utters the grand music of heroism and the soft lute music of courtesy; it is patriotism, altruism, martyrdom; it stoops to the smallest things of life and governs the greatest; it controls the temper and regulates the reason; it extirpates the worst qualities and refines the best. Go one step further. Love is of God; love is morality; now you find that love is religion also. “Every one that loveth is born of God.” How often do we find in the communion of other Churches men who surprise us by the spirituality and the saintliness of their lives! We hold such Churches, perhaps, to be in error; but where love reigns there is morality. And then take one more golden stair. Love is of God; love is morality; love is religion; lastly, love is life, love is immortality. “Every one that loveth is born of God”—born into a larger life. We sometimes permit ourselves to debate whether life is not more than love. There are times when we are impressed with the spaciousness of this life of ours, when we suddenly realise the joys of living, and are athirst to drink a full draught of life. We want to know everything, we want to understand everything; we would fain mix in the most crowded places of life, and feel the pulsations of the tide of humanity, and move amid its swiftest currents; and in such an hour we ask ourselves, What is love? Surely it is nothing more than a mere episode in the great drama, one of the many fruits of life—perhaps the choicest, but that is all. For when that passion of mere living possesses us it eclipses all other passions, and then we turn away from love because we see that it is a yoke, because we believe it to be a renunciation of the fulness of personal life, because it is the subjugation of our nature to the exigencies and the needs of another nature. The man and woman who do this usually live to learn that love, after all, is the one thing worth living for, and they often know what it is to sit amidst the ruins of life in a friendless old age, amidst gains and gauds that have lost their charm, and to long with inexpressible yearning for one drop of that cup which they once so contemptuously rejected. For the truth is that love is life; it is the only true and eternal life; it is the birth of a man’s soul into a higher state of being. There, then, as I have said, is the last analysis of Christianity, and I pray you to accept it. Like all profound things, it is really simple; it is in fact so simple that men doubt whether it can be true. Men cannot make themselves believe and understand that Christianity is merely love, that a great church is simply the temple of love, that what all this elaborate organisation of worship and preaching aims at is this—to teach men to love God, to love each other. And so I rejoice. I see a world that is not outcast, not wholly evil, and not forsaken, for love works in it still, and God is love, and love is everywhere. Like a great bell of hope, mellow, ceaseless, glorious in its music, the words of John ring across the world, “Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”—W. G. Dawson.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_13:7-10
Custom.—There is some difficulty about the distinctive signification of φόρος (tribute) and τέλος (custom). By some the former is regarded as a tax upon land; by others, as upon property generally, whether movable or immovable. Those critics who give to φόρος the wider signification limit τέλος to a capitation tax; and those who confine φόρος to a tax upon land give τέλος a larger meaning, as signifying a tax upon merchandise as well as upon persons. Judging from the apostle’s use of the word, φόρος was the general term for all contributions, and was used in the same sense that the word “taxes” is largely used; and in its limited sense it applies to all burdens upon landed or personal property; while τέλος was the capitation tax which our Lord told Peter to pay for himself and his Lord.—Knight.
“Honour to whom honour.”—Christians are not to neglect the laws of social life, or overlook the fact that distinction of rank is highly necessary for the economy and safety of the world. This precept especially claims our thoughtful attention in an age when an increase of knowledge, prosperity, and political freedom has removed many of the material props upon which the influence of parents and masters and those placed over us formerly rested. We might, with advantage, take a useful hint from the Lacedæmonians, who laid such stress on the training of their youth to give honour to whom honour was due.—Neil.
Christian brotherhood.—Love will not permit us to injure, oppress, or offend our brother; it will not give us leave to neglect our betters or despise our inferiors. It will restrain every inordinate passion, and not suffer us to gratify our envy at the expense of our neighbour’s credit and reputation; but it will preserve us harmless and innocent.—Sherlock.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 13
Rom_13:9-10. Love to God fulfils the law.—An orphan boy of peculiar vivacity and uncommon talents, and who had been a favourite comic performer in the heathen sports, was sent by his relations to New Herrnhut, a settlement of the Moravian missionaries. His agreeable and engaging manners gained him the affection of one of the wealthiest Greenlanders, in whose family he was placed, who had no son, and whose presumptive heir he was. At the first catechetical meeting at which he was present, being asked whether he would wish to be acquainted with our Saviour and be converted, “Oh yes!” replied he gaily; “I shall soon be converted”; on which another, who had been lately baptised, gravely told him he knew little what conversion meant—that it was to yield the heart wholly to our Saviour, and to make a surrender of every evil inclination. This he found a hard saying, and would rather have thrown up his prospects among the brethren, and returned to his amusements among the heathen; till, after considerable mental conflict, he at last ceased contending with his Maker, and yielded a willing and cheerful obedience.
Rom_13:10. Doddridge’s child.—Doddridge buried a most interesting child at nine years of age. The dear little creature was a general favourite; and he tells us in his funeral sermon that when he one day asked her how it was that everybody loved her, “I know not,” she said, “unless it be that I love everybody.” Tell your children this. Also read to them, “The child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord and also with men.”
Rom_13:10. Five people supported on a needle’s point.—There was a student once who asked Robertson of Irvine the old scholastic quibble, whether he could tell how many souls could be supported on the point of a needle. “Oh! dear me, yes,” said he; “that is easy enough. I can tell that.” “How so?” said the student. “Well,” said Robertson, “as I was walking home the other night along the seashore, I passed a house where a poor widow lives; her husband was drowned at sea last winter. She has five little children, and as I looked through the window I saw in the firelight two little golden heads in the bed yonder, and another little golden head in the cradle, and two other children sitting at the mother’s knee. She was working away with her needle, and it was flashing in the firelight, and was going as hard as it could go. So,” continued Robertson, “I know how many souls can be supported on the point of a needle—five: don’t you see?” And as I look through that window I seem to look upon the whole vision of domestic life, on mothers toiling and never calling it toil, on the vision of innumerable women all the world over who give themselves away, and are not so much as thanked for it, on the silent heroisms which redeem life, and which are its unuttered poetry, its saving salt, its divine attestation. And these heroisms, which are the birth of love, are everywhere.—Dawson.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Wherefore [because of all that has been said-- Rom_13:1-4…
Wherefore [because of all that has been said-- Rom_13:1-4 ] ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience' sake . [ 1Pe_2:13 . The Christian has a double incentive for keeping the civil law; for if he resists the government he will not only be punished, but he will sin against God; thus both fear and conscience move him to obedience.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v5 Subject for conscience’ sake:
Subject for conscience’ sake:
v. 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
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v. 6. For this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
v. 7. Render, therefore, to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor.
For necessity’s sake the Christians are subject to the government; they feel that they are under obligation; they know that this behavior is part of their obedience to God. And herein they are influenced not by wrath, not because they fear the inevitable punishment, which would make their obedience much like that of a slave. But they submit themselves for the sake of conscience, from conscientious motives. The Christians know that the Lord whom they are serving has established the government and made it His agency to perform His will as to the preservation of law and order in the world. So they yield cheerful obedience to the civil authorities for the Lord’s sake. And the situation thus having been made plain, the admonition of St. Paul is well founded: For on this account pay taxes. Since the government is established for the benefit of society and for the protection and defense also of the believers, therefore they should cheerfully pay the money necessary for its support. For they, the magistrates, the members of the government, are servants of God, knowingly or unknowingly, and are busily engaged with this very thing, with protection against wickedness and with their efforts for the peace of the city; they are active in the service and for the benefit of all good citizens. "He that by virtue of his office serves the community has the right and duty to demand of the community the support necessary for the performance of his office. " This fact the apostle emphasizes in a specializing admonition: Pay, then, to all that which you owe, discharge what is due: to him that demands taxes, the taxes; to him that demands custom pay the custom; to him that ought to be feared render fear; to him that ought to be honored give honor. The government has a right to levy personal and property taxes, and it is the Christian’s duty to pay the taxes; evasion of this duty is sinful. The government has the right to collect duty on merchandise exported or imported, and the Christian coming under such ruling will render the payment exacted. The government occupies a position of reverence and fear, and fear and reverence shall be given all its representatives. And in the last admonition St. Paul goes even beyond the magistrates, urging upon all believers to give honor to all men to whom honor is due, whether on account of their position or on account of meritorious work for the public weal. In this way every Christian performs the duties of his citizenship and serves the Lord according to the Fourth Commandment.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 Because of this
Because of this
"Because the government punishes evildoers"
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you ... Pay to everyone
Paul is addressing the believers here. (See: Forms of You)
For authorities
"This is why you should pay taxes: authorities"
attend to
"administer" or "work on"
Tax to whom tax is due, toll to whom toll is due; fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.
The word "Pay" is understood from the previous sentence. AT: "Pay tax to whom tax is due and toll to whom toll is due. Pay fear to whom fear is due and honor to him to whom honor is due" (See: Ellipsis)
fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due
Here paying fear and honor is a metaphor for fearing and honoring those who deserve to be feared and honored. AT: "Fear those who deserve to be feared, and honor those who deserved to be honored" or "Respect those whom you ought to respect, and honor those whom you ought to honor" (See: Metaphor)
toll
This is a kind of tax.
translationWords
tax
authority
servant
fear
honor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5–6 13:5 The two reasons for submission sum up the…
13:5 The two reasons for submission sum up the argument of 13:1-4 in reverse order: to avoid punishment relates to 13:3-4, while to keep a clear conscience refers to 13:1-2. • The word conscience (Greek suneidēsis) refers to the painful knowledge of wrongdoing. Christians know about their duty to submit to governing authorities, and their failure to do so would bring the pain of a guilty conscience.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.