Romans 13
13
Submission to the Authorities
1Let every person #Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13 be subject to the governing authorities. For #[John 19:11]; See Dan. 2:21there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you #1 Pet. 2:14will receive his approval, 4for #2 Chr. 19:6 he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, #1 Thess. 4:6an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also #1 Pet. 2:19; [Eccles. 8:2]for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7#Matt. 17:25; 22:21; Mark 12:17Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
8 # [Lev. 19:13; Prov. 3:27, 28] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for #ver. 10; [Matt. 22:40; Col. 3:14]; See John 13:34the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, #Matt. 19:18; Cited from Ex. 20:13-17; Deut. 5:17-21 “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: #Cited from Lev. 19:18“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore #[John 14:15]; See ver. 8love is the fulfilling of the law.
11Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you #1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6 to wake from sleep. #[Isa. 56:1; Luke 21:28]For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12#[John 9:4] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us #Col. 3:8 cast off #Eph. 5:11; [John 3:20] the works of darkness and #2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:11, 13; 1 Thess. 5:8put on the armor of light. 13#1 Thess. 4:12 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, #Luke 21:34; Gal. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:3 not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, #James 3:14, 16not in quarreling and jealousy. 14But #Gal. 3:27; [Job 29:14; Ps. 132:9; Luke 24:49; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10] put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, #Gal. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:11to gratify its desires.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Romans 13
13
Obey Your Government Rulers
1All of you must obey the government rulers. Everyone who rules was given the power to rule by God. And all those who rule now were given that power by God. 2So anyone who is against the government is really against something God has commanded. Those who are against the government bring punishment on themselves. 3People who do right don’t have to fear the rulers. But those who do wrong must fear them. Do you want to be free from fearing them? Then do only what is right, and they will praise you.
4Rulers are God’s servants to help you. But if you do wrong, you have reason to be afraid. They have the power to punish, and they will use it. They are God’s servants to punish those who do wrong. 5So you must obey the government, not just because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.
6And this is why you pay taxes too. Those rulers are working for God, and they give all their time to the work of ruling. 7Give everyone what you owe them. If you owe them any kind of tax, then pay it. Show respect to those you should respect. And show honor to those you should honor.
Loving Others Is the Only Law
8You should owe nothing to anyone, except that you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has done all that the law commands. 9The law says, “You must not commit adultery, you must not murder anyone, you must not steal, you must not want what belongs to someone else.”#Quote from Ex. 20:13-15, 17. All these commands and all other commands are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor#13:9 your neighbor Or “others.” Jesus’ teaching in Lk. 10:25-37 makes clear that this includes anyone in need. the same as you love yourself.”#Quote from Lev. 19:18. 10Love doesn’t hurt others. So loving is the same as obeying all the law.
11I say this because you know that we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is almost finished. The day is almost here. So we should stop doing whatever belongs to darkness. We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with the weapons that belong to the light. 13We should live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or be drunk. We should not be involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral behavior. We should not cause arguments and trouble or be jealous. 14But be like the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when people see what you do, they will see Christ. Don’t think about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self.
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