Romans 13:1

Romans 13:1, in plain English

Every person needs to respect and submit to the government authorities over them, because God is the one who put those authorities in place in the first place.

Why it's here

Paul is writing to Christians in Rome—the capital of the empire that's actually persecuting them. These aren't friendly rulers; Rome will eventually execute Christians. Yet Paul tells them to submit anyway. He's not saying the government is perfect; he's saying God works through structures of authority, even flawed ones, to maintain order so society doesn't collapse into chaos.

Who's speaking

Paul, writing to the church at Rome around 55-57 AD

Where it sits in the story

This echoes what Jesus taught about rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's, and it flows from the bigger biblical theme that God ordains human institutions like government—not because they're always righteous, but because they serve a purpose in a broken world.

The scholarly reading

Christians must accept the authority of government because all legitimate power ultimately derives from God's providential ordering of society.

Language and setting

Paul writes to a mixed Roman congregation—Jews and Gentile believers—living under Nero's increasingly hostile regime in the mid-50s CE. Many early Christians, influenced by apocalyptic theology and the expectation of Christ's imminent return, may have viewed Roman authority as inherently illegitimate or demonic. Paul counters this by grounding submission in theological principle rather than pragmatism, drawing on both Jewish wisdom tradition (cf. Proverbs 8:15-16, where divine wisdom establishes kings) and the Stoic concept of cosmic order (logos), reframed through Christian monotheism.

Voice

Paul the apostle, writing to the church at Rome

Significance

This extends the arc of Romans 12's appeal to present one's body as a living sacrifice—submission to authority becomes an aspect of reasonable worship (logikē latreia). Paul's argument assumes God's sovereignty over history and institutions, a theme running throughout Scripture from Joseph's elevation in Egypt to Daniel's counsel to exile-community Jews to live peaceably under foreign rule.

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.

Read all of Romans 13 — Obey governing authorities, pay your debts, and put on the armor of light. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.