Romans 13:1
Bible verses · Also called: Rom. 13:1, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, There is no power but of God, Be subject to the governing authorities
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Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Scripture quotation from the King James Version (KJV). Read this chapter
Romans 13:1 exhorts every person to "be subject unto the higher powers" and declares that all authority comes from God. It is a key text on the relationship between church and state, and how it should be applied under unjust regimes has long been debated.
Context
The verse immediately follows the exhortations in Romans 12 to love and not to avenge oneself. Writing to the church in the capital of the Roman Empire, Paul describes the ruler as "the minister of God" who encourages good and punishes evil (v. 4), and he urges believers to pay taxes (vv. 6–7). Beginning in verse 8, he returns to the debt of love. At the time, Christians in Rome were a minority who, along with Jews, faced social suspicion.
Interpretations
- As a basis for the legitimacy of state authority: This reading takes the verse to mean that political order itself is an institution established by God. Lutheran and Reformed confessions cite this verse when setting out the duty of obedience to civil magistrates.
- As conditional obedience: Because the authority described in verses 3–4 rewards good and punishes evil, this reading holds that the verse does not require obedience to commands that contradict that purpose. Acts 5:29, "We ought to obey God rather than men," is cited alongside it. In the Reformed tradition, this line of thought also gave rise to discussions of a right to resist tyranny.
- As nonviolence and distance from the state: The Anabaptist tradition reads the verse together with the love of enemies in chapter 12, holding that believers should obey the state but should not take part in wielding the sword.
Debates and Issues
Whether the "sword" in verse 4 justifies the state's power to punish, and by extension capital punishment, is a matter of debate. There is also historical criticism that the verse has been used to justify dictatorship and mobilization for war.
In Korean Churches
In Korea, Protestant churches were divided over how to apply this verse, first during the Japanese colonial period in connection with the controversy over Shinto shrine worship, and again under the military regimes. One side cited the verse to emphasize obedience to the government and the separation of church and state, while those who took part in the democratization movement regarded resistance to unjust power as a duty of faith. More recently, the verse has been cited again in Korean debates over government disease-control guidelines and restrictions on worship services.
Related Passages
- Acts 5:29
- 1 Peter 2:13–17
- Titus 3:1
- Revelation 13:1–10
See also 5
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