Romans 13, human government, the Christian, and the Fourth of July

The reasons God has appointed and given authority to human government are quite clear in the passage. If you resist a government that is carrying out the God ordained purposes you do resist the ordinance of God. That government is not to be feared if we are of good behavior. Why? Because they are a minister of God. If you do evil you should fear because this government does not bear the sword (or punish) in vain. They do not do so for an improper or empty reason. We are to be in subjection to avoid this governments wrath and because our Christian conscience should tell us to. We are then told to give taxes and honor to whom they are due. To whom are they due? The government just described in the passage. There is no duty of absolute submission to any government or to every government act. Governments that act contrary to the ordinance of God are obviously not operating within God given authority. Is a woman to submit to government police authority when a policeman acts with evil and attempts to rape her? Are we to submit to government authority when they knock on the door and ask if we are harboring Jews in our homes as they did in Nazi held territory in WW2? Did Rahab have a duty to submit to the authorities request regarding the spies? Hebrews 11 calls her very act of government disobedience an act of faith. The same acknowledgment is given for the Hebrew midwives.

There is always the question within the realm of human authority of to whom do we submit and when. Our Christian conscience is to be active in our minds with reference to the morals and values of scripture. We sometimes have a greater duty to love others than to submit to evil and put some of those others in danger.

The message of absolute submission points us first to God who is entitled to our full obedience. This is seen in the incident with Abraham and Isaac. All other duties to submit are based upon that demand being in conformity to all the morals and duties that God demands of us in His revealed word.

It should also be said that the assumed silence of scripture is not to be taken as either permission or prevention. The scripture does not speak directly to our being involved with government in every aspect. Our Lord did acknowledge that there were some things that were in the realm of Caesar such as taxes. He did treat Roman Centurions favorably and raised no objection to their service. However, there are many elements of the Christian's existence as a citizen not directly spoken to. Can we vote? Can we work for the government? Can we serve in law enforcement? Can we serve in the military? Can we obey one government entity and resist another? To these and other numerous questions the various values of scripture must be brought together by our knowledge and our conscience.

When the full panorama of scripture is considered it is very difficult to see the NT passages that speak to the Christian and human authority as demanding some absolute unquestioning obedience. It is possible to see that in light of historical context Roman 13 is very deftly classifying Emperor Nero as not exercising the ordinances of God and as operating outside of the God ordained purposes for allowing for the establishment of human government.
The interpretation that Romans 13 that requires submission of the Christian to all government exercised authority at all times is not taking into consideration the direct statements of all the sentences. It also is not in accordance with the other duties placed upon the believers.

So far as the American war for independence is concerned. We do know that many Christians then living and involved saw it as a just war. It became a revolution politically in that it established the world’s first national democracy. That democracy would operate within the framework of a Republic. Those who fought did not see themselves as violating Romans 13 and many of the Pastors did not see it as contrary to scripture at all.