Let’s Throw Off the Deeds of Darkness and Put On the Armor of Light
1Let 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. 2Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. 3For 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 same, 4for 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. 5Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing. 7Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. 11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
You are to keep your zeal as you serve the Lord, to persist in prayer even in suffering, and to pray for the salvation of the very people who persecute you. The apostle Paul told us to live at peace with everyone, if it is possible, and when we are wronged, not to take revenge ourselves but to leave it to God. The reason is that, however unjust the wrong, when we go on answering it with good to the end, it is like heaping coals of fire on the other person’s head, and in the end that person is given the chance to turn back. Patience of this kind teaches us a great deal. No one finds it easy to forgive and bless a persecutor. Nor is it easy to feed an enemy who is hungry or give them a drink when they are thirsty. Yet God commanded us to love our enemies, because only a mature faith gives us the composure to submit to those in power.
Romans 13:1
1Let 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.
When Paul sent this letter, the Roman Empire was ruled by the emperor Nero. Nero was a hard and violent man, and he persecuted Christians fiercely. Even so, Paul tells his readers to be in subjection to the higher authorities. Judaism was a religion under the protection of Roman law. The Romans recognized it, but they held the power to change the law in an instant whenever something displeased them. The freedom they granted the Jews reached only as far as the laws they themselves chose to permit.
In AD 19 the emperor Tiberius expelled all the Jews from Rome, and in AD 49-50 they were driven out once again. Prisca and Aquila, whom Paul met in Corinth on his second missionary journey, had fled there when the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome, and that is how Paul came to know them. When someone utterly unworthy of respect seizes power, people’s lives fall apart, and suffering cannot be avoided. Even so, we must understand that every ruler is put in place by God. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, came to the throne by God’s providence. Because God needed Pharaoh’s wicked character to lead Israel into Canaan, he made him king. At the time no one could see why God did not judge so wicked a king, but looking back over history, we can see that he was needed. When Pharaoh ruled with a cruelty that stripped Israel of its freedom, the Israelites began to long for freedom. Had Pharaoh not been wicked, the people would not have listened to Moses. Such is our God, who uses even the wicked for his purposes. In those days some of the Jews were fighting against Rome, which had taken their nation from them. The Romans regarded Christianity as a sect of Judaism, so when the Jews were persecuted, Christians suffered with them. When political power is turned to persecution, the powerless have no defense. So, unless it hinders the gospel, we must keep the laws of the land. Once worldly power attacks the church spiritually, the gospel can no longer be preached.
Idol worship pervaded the thinking of the age, yet the apostle Paul gave himself wholly to preaching the gospel. Rather than labor to change rulers or heretical ideas, he concentrated on proclaiming Christ through the gospel, convinced that this was the task entrusted to him. During COVID, we too were forced to close the church’s doors and could not hold our regular worship, but there was a legitimate reason: an epidemic. Some churches raised their voices against the law; others worshiped online. Some people rebuked the churches that worshiped online as lacking faith, but since each acted according to its own convictions, no one can say which was right. I say this because, in our own church, online worship opened a fine opportunity: members living in different regions, and even in the United States, could worship together and hear the gospel. Now that the congregation has come safely through this hard stretch and can worship together at church again, we give God deep thanks. It grieved me to hear that many church members left their churches when in-person worship stopped during COVID. Through this epidemic the church must all the more preach the word and nothing else, and each of you must stand firm on the rock and never be shaken, whatever comes.
God established every ruler in the world to govern the nation with a good conscience, and to protect and serve its people. Yet rather than serve the people as a good conscience requires, they govern by their own convictions. Our country, sadly, has had many presidents, but we have not had one who governed well, in keeping with God’s will. Refusing to acknowledge God as the one who rules over all, they committed the sin of running the nation as they pleased. Such an attitude is sin before God. Even so, the apostle Paul said that since all authority is ordained by God, we are not to resist it but to be in subjection. We must consider why God set these rulers in place, and work to turn every situation into an opportunity to preach the gospel.
John 19:9-10
9He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?”
Did Jesus, who created this world, really fear Pilate? Did he go meekly to the cross because he could not win Pilate over? Jesus was fully able to assert his rights and refuse the trial. He bore it in silence to accomplish God’s plan, knowing that Pilate’s authority to judge had been given by God for a purpose. When Pilate asked whether he did not know that he had power to release him and power to crucify him, Jesus answered that Pilate would have no power against him at all unless it had been given him from above. People think that power, wealth, and ability all belong to them. But if God does not keep these things for us, they can be taken away in a moment, so we must never be proud. Knowing that nothing in this world lasts forever, let us walk humbly. Pilate thought the decision to put Jesus to death was his. But Jesus, who came to atone for the sins of all humanity, knew that only his death would fulfill God’s plan; for that reason he died at human hands. He did not die at the mercy of Pilate’s power; he took up the cross of his own accord to fulfill the plan of the God who had given Pilate that power. This is what the apostle Paul means when he tells the church to submit to those in authority. Those who know how holy a work salvation is do not cling to the world. Keeping the laws of the land, so that the gospel proclaimed under a greater authority is not hindered, merely looks like submission to rulers. But if, even while you submit to them, the authorities try to stop your worship of God and your witness, you must stand against them boldly. When we are forced, under persecution, to disobey God, who is above every earthly government, it is right to resist for the sake of faith. Daniel, too, served faithfully as a chief minister in Babylon, but when they tried by force to stop him from worshiping God, he refused their demand, even though it meant being thrown into the lions’ den. When they forbade his worship of God, he disobeyed and resisted even at the cost of his life. Such resistance is not disobedience to authority but obedience to God, who is greater than that authority. There is no choice in it.
Romans 13:4
4for 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.
Those in power have received from God the charge of governing people for good. They have not been handed absolute power; they are servants. But they forget that God gave them the right to enforce the law, and because they will not acknowledge this, they lord it over others. Just as God used Pharaoh for his purpose, a wicked ruler serves only as a rod to set good people on the right path. If those in power obstruct justice and persecute those who do good, God will surely call them to account for that sin and judge them. When someone spiritually violent rules, the church suffers greatly. So when you choose your leaders, your standard must differ from the world’s: ask whether you will have the opportunity to preach the gospel. Looking back over history, we find, ironically, that the faith of Christians grows firmer when wicked rulers are in power. Suffering is a pain hard to bear, but when our faith is set right through such times, it becomes clear that God allowed it.
The apostle Paul taught the church that only by living according to the word would they gain spiritual discernment, because only those who have the wisdom to discern can judge the world rightly. Wise Christians with such discernment do not keep the law and pay their taxes out of fear of worldly rulers. Keeping the laws of the nation is a citizen’s duty, and the nation can run properly only when taxes are paid, so they are simply doing what they owe. And only by keeping the law can they preach the gospel freely. Paul told them to pay their taxes because, at the time, Rome was taxing so heavily that there was friction with those who tried to pay less. When the taxes did not come in, the authorities turned their eyes on the Jews, the weakest group, and the Jews were put in danger. So, when they found themselves where the gospel could not be preached, Paul counseled them not to break the laws of the nation but to fulfill their duty to pay taxes.
For the sake of worship and evangelism, we must not clash with the world needlessly. We must pay taxes to whom taxes are due and customs to whom customs are due, show respect to those who are owed respect, and honor those who are owed honor. Rather than be bound to this world, you are to fulfill your duties and responsibilities as citizens in order to proclaim a kingdom greater than the world. Paul told them not to let the matter of taxes shut the door to the gospel.
Romans 13:8-9
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
To avoid persecution from those in power, we must not break the law but fulfill our duties as citizens and live moral lives. These are the basics of human life, and they must be kept. And you must owe no one anything except the debt of love you have received from God. We can never repay what we owe Jesus Christ, who came into this world and rescued sinners from death. The only way to repay that debt is to love our neighbors as ourselves. If you share with others the love God has given you, they will open their hearts to you, hear the gospel, and receive Christ. Anyone who preaches the gospel in love like this has kept all the commandments. If, to keep the command “You shall not commit adultery,” you harbor no impure lust, you will not fall into sexual immorality. That is how you keep your body holy. Because those who are holy commit neither physical nor spiritual adultery, they can preach the gospel with boldness.
According to scholars who have studied history, when any civilization enters its decline, sexual license makes people’s lives dissolute. The family is the first to collapse; divorce becomes commonplace; children are abandoned, yet no one feels any responsibility, and no one is ashamed of immoral conduct. Sexual corruption leads in the end to the fall of a civilization, and our society is showing those very signs today. A time like this, when people readily cast off what is right and decent, is the most dangerous of times. The commandment “You shall not murder” is a word we need in days like these, when life is held cheap. People do not treasure life because they do not fear God. When people destroy the image of God without the least fear, it tells us that the wrath of God and the return of Christ are near.
Matthew 5:21-22
21“You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
Anger makes us rage at a brother, and in the end, as with Cain, it ends only in murder. We must be on guard against it. To say “Raca!” to a brother is an insult that looks down on him with contempt. It is Satan’s strategy: an assault on a person’s dignity that makes them give up on life. To call someone a fool is to scorn them as an idiot; if we say such words, a soul will stumble, and the one who says them will therefore come under God’s wrath. In light of the command to count others better than ourselves, saying such things to a brother is sin, for it comes from the influence of an evil spirit. If we have love, we will never speak or act like this toward a brother. Those who claim to believe in the humble Jesus Christ, yet look down on their brothers and despise them instead of bearing with their weaknesses, are not people who have received the grace of God.
Jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind; that this is the first and great commandment; that the second is like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves; and that the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments. Loving our neighbor is how we repay our debt to God, and it is also the wisdom of those who take up the work of saving souls. To proclaim the word of truth, we must love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and those who love him so are the ones who can also keep the laws of the land. Whoever keeps these two commandments has kept the law completely and lived out the word the prophets proclaimed; the word such people preach carries authority. When you sincerely love Jesus Christ, you can live with a good conscience. For people of good character, with the wisdom to know God’s will, keeping the laws of the world and living morally is not hard. Those who have fulfilled the law through love have cast off the darkness and put on the armor of light, so whenever Christ comes, they will be ready to welcome the Lord.
Romans 13:12-14
12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
If this decaying world is the deep of night, heaven is the bright day. Paul’s lament that the world lies in deep night shows that the world has not changed in the slightest. As Peter said, with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; however much time passes, this world cannot come out of the darkness on its own. Christ will return, if only to judge the world. That is why you must throw off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Those who wait for the last day have a duty to do good. The deeds of darkness are adultery, drunkenness, murder, theft, and covetousness, and to overcome this darkness we must take up the good weapons of light.
The good weapons of light are the nine fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control [Galatians 5:22-23]. Those in darkness never think of these as weapons, but for those filled with the Holy Spirit, there is no stronger weapon. Those who bear the nine fruit of the Spirit have built up the virtues of the Spirit, so they will live holy lives and welcome the Lord when he returns. If, in humility, we have the composure to count others better than ourselves and the faith to love our neighbors as ourselves, darkness is no match for us. Holy people like this believe that Christ will return, so they do not compromise with darkness, nor are they ashamed to yield to those in authority.
Friends, walk properly, as in the day. Reveling, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, lustful acts, strife, and jealousy can give the rulers of this world a pretext to persecute you. Cast off the sins that hinder the gospel, and live as befits the holy people of God. If you make provision for the flesh, for its lusts, like this, you will not meet Jesus Christ. May you put on the armor of light and wait for the Lord. We submit to those in authority, but since it is submission for the sake of God’s Kingdom, it is nothing to be ashamed of. Our submission is meant to gain opportunities to extend God’s Kingdom, which is how we can keep the laws of the land while living by the law of God. If you who are full of the word owe no one anything, and live with good character and wisdom as stewards of God’s mysteries, you will be commended as God’s faithful servants.