Romans 13King James Version
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. Render therefore to all their dues. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. The line that converted Augustine.
Submit to governing authorities; God has established them for order and to restrain evil. Pay taxes, give honor where it is due. Owe no one anything except the debt of love, which fulfills the whole law. The night is almost over; the day is near. Put on the armor of light, lay aside works of darkness. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
Civic responsibility and neighbor love are not separate from gospel living; they flow from it, and the urgency of the hour calls for a life that anticipates the coming day.
8: "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Love reframes obligation: instead of a list of rules, a single ongoing debt that never fully discharges.
Rome's tax collection was notoriously corrupt and deeply resented. Jewish revolts had been partly fueled by tax resistance. Paul's instruction to pay taxes was not politically neutral; it was a call to disengage from the cycle of resentment and resistance that had made the Jewish community in Rome politically vulnerable. He writes this knowing the stakes.
Governing authorities, described as God's servants for public order. The neighbor, to whom love is owed. The believer, awake to the hour and dressed for light.
This chapter has been used and abused across centuries of political theology. Paul's instruction to submit to governing authorities was written under Nero and cited to justify obedience to unjust regimes. The context matters: Paul sees the state as a temporary structure maintaining basic order, not as a sacred entity deserving ultimate allegiance.
For when the world's noise makes it hard to remember what you are living for. Paul's metaphor of night giving way to dawn is not wishful thinking; it is a reorientation of time that changes what feels urgent and what does not.
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7Render therefore 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, but to love one another: for he that 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, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.