ROMANS Study Guide

Rom 13:7 Therefore give to all their dues; to the one due tax, the tax; tribute to whom tribute is due, fear to whom fear is due, and honor to whom honor is due.

1. All authority (the right to rule over others) comes from God:

Vss.1-7

Four Purposes of Authority

1. To provide peace (stability and order) 2. To punish 3. To Protect 4. To promote (commend those who do good)

a. All positions of authority are God “ordained” (appointed)

1) God will allow who comes to power but does not always

desire who comes to power. God will bring to power certain

leaders like Cyrus for our good (The Persian conqueror of the

Babylonian Empire and the one who released the Jewish People to

go back to their Land, Isa.45:13 ) . But some authorities He

allows to come to power as a result of the sin of the people

(i.e. King Saul when the people demanded a king, or Hitler in

Germany when the people looked the other way with the evil he

was doing to come to power). (Jer.13:9; Ezr.5:12).

2) The position is to be submitted to (i.e. Jesus tells the Jews to

submit to the scribes and pharisees because of their position)

(Matt.23:1-3). We are to submit to parents (Eph.6:1-2) and

to a police officer as a position of authority not because they

are personally worthy but to their position. (Rom.13:4)

b. To resist legitimate God ordained powers is to bring upon our-

selves natural and spiritual judgment because they are God’s

servants. Vs.2

c. Rulers are not a terror (source of fear) to those who do good but