Governmental Authority

Romans 13: 1-8

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. 

This refers to whatever government you live under. Remember, Paul was living in a day of very corrupt and evil kings who headed up the governments he knew. 

For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 
 
All authority belongs to God, and He portions it out to those on the Earth to maintain order, even if their order is not exactly in line with God's. 

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; 

So we must live according to the laws that govern us, to maintain the order God has placed into His creation.

and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 

Those people who disobey their laws are condemning themselves, calling upon themselves retribution for transgressing. 

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. 
Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 
for it is a minister of God to you for good. 

People who are law-abiding need not to be afraid of the civil authorities over them. 

But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 

Bearing the sword refers to the death penalty for capital crimes. This is the most drastic retribution. So it also metes out all the lesser retributions, too.

Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. 

So even if a law doesn't make much sense to you, as long as it doesn't conflict with God's laws, we are to obey it, not only to not get into trouble with the law, but also because it's what God would have us do.  

For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 

The only money a government has comes from taxing the populace, so if no one paid their taxes, then the government workers would get no paychecks. Since they go to work full-time in the government, they expect a paycheck for their work, so we need to pay the taxes we owe.

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 

Have the respect for your government to render each worker whatever their station calls for. 

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. ... 

Always pay all your bills, not defrauding anyone, whether it be your government, or your credit card, or whoever you owe. Try to be debt-free as much as possible, so that you will have the freedom that God calls us to. And it's much more stress-free to not have bill-collectors breathing down your neck. 

Only to love one another, that's what we owe each other. 

O my Father, You have Loved us so much! You have established the Natural Laws to govern Your creation, and You have established human government to give order to our societies, even knowing how evil we are. Even the unrighteous governments we have or have had in the past, still maintain order in their cultures. 

Father, show us how You have determined we are to submit to the authority You have given to our government over us, to follow the laws they have passed, and to honor the positions and offices even when we don't approve of the people who occupy them. 

Father, I know that You use even evil people in powerful governmental positions for our good. They are also threads in Your grand Tapestry of Time. And we can develop and grow our good characters under them to be like that of Christ, which is Your good work that You are working into each of Your children. 

And the glory that we will receive will so far surpass any of the pressure or mistreatment or persecution we will ever have to face here, there is no comparison. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, our Lord God Almighty, the King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!