Tap any verse number for what that verse means.
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.
2Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.
4For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.
5Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
6This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
7Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
Understand This
Romans 13, explained
What Romans 13 is saying
Paul addresses the believer's relationship to governing authorities, arguing that earthly government is instituted by God and functions as God's servant (diakonos) for maintaining order. He transitions to the primacy of love as the fulfillment of the law—all commandments are summed up in 'love your neighbor as yourself.' The chapter concludes with eschatological urgency: the night is far gone, the day is at hand, so believers should 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ' and make no provision for the flesh.
The background behind it
Paul writes during the relatively peaceful early years of Nero's reign (54–68 AD), when the principate still operated with general competence. The instruction to 'pay taxes' (13:7) may address specific tensions after Nero's controversial tax policies. Later Christian reflection on this passage—from medieval divine-right theory to Reformation resistance theory—demonstrates its enduring and contested political significance.
Themes running underneath
The relationship between 13:1–7 (submission to authorities) and 13:8–14 (love as fulfillment of law) is often overlooked: love contextualizes submission, and eschatological expectation relativizes all earthly allegiance. Paul's government theology is functional, not ontological—authorities serve God's purpose of restraining evil, and this role, not their inherent goodness, grounds Christian cooperation. 'Put on the Lord Jesus Christ' (endysasthe ton kyrion Iēsoun Christon) was the verse that triggered Augustine's conversion.
Why it still matters
The passage neither baptizes nor demonizes government but calls for engaged, discerning participation. The critical question is not whether to submit but what to do when governing authorities cease to function as God's servants for good—a question Paul's context did not yet force but later generations would face urgently.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.