Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the
Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Ro
13:1-14. SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED--POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS--MOTIVES.
1, 2. Let every soul--every man
of you be subject unto the higher
powers--or, "submit himself to the authorities that are
above him." For there is no
power--"no authority" but of
God: the powers that be are ordained of God--"have been
ordained of God."
2. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power--"So that he that setteth himself against the
authority." resisteth the
ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation--or, "condemnation," according to the
old sense of that word; that is, not from the magistrate, but
from God, whose authority in the magistrate's is
resisted.
3, 4. For rulers are not a terror
to good works--"to the good work," as the true reading
appears to be but to the
evil.
4. he beareth not the sword in
vain--that is, the symbol of the magistrate's authority to
punish.
5. Wherefore ye must needs be
subject, not only for wrath--for fear of the magistrate's
vengeance. but also for
conscience' sake--from reverence for God's authority. It
is of Magistracy in general, considered as a divine
ordinance, that this is spoken: and the statement applies
equally to all forms of government, from an unchecked
despotism--such as flourished when this was written, under the
Emperor Nero--to a pure democracy. The inalienable right of
all subjects to endeavor to alter or improve the form of
government under which they live is left untouched here. But
since Christians were constantly charged with turning the
world upside down, and since there certainly were elements
enough in Christianity of moral and social revolution to give
plausibility to the charge, and tempt noble spirits, crushed
under misgovernment, to take redress into their own hands, it
was of special importance that the pacific, submissive, loyal
spirit of those Christians who resided at the great seat of
political power, should furnish a visible refutation of this
charge.
6, 7. For, for this cause pay
ye--rather, "ye pay" tribute
also--that is, "This is the reason why ye pay the
contributions requisite for maintaining the civil government."
for they are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing--"to this very
thing."
7. Render therefore to all their
dues--From magistrates the apostle now comes to other
officials, and from them to men related to us by whatever tie.
tribute--land tax.
custom--mercantile tax.
fear--reverence for superiors.
honour--the respect due to persons of
distinction.
8. Owe no man anything, but to love
one another--"Acquit yourselves of all obligations except
love, which is a debt that must remain ever due" [HODGE]. for he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law--for the law itself
is but love in manifold action, regarded as matter of
duty.
9. For this, &c.--better
thus: "For the [commandments], Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt
not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not
covet, and whatever other commandment [there may be], it is
summed up," &c. (The clause, "Thou shalt not bear false
witness," is wanting in all the most ancient manuscripts). The
apostle refers here only to the second table of the law, as
love to our neighbor is what he is treating of.
10. Love worketh no ill to
his--or, "one's" neighbour;
therefore, &c.--As love, from its very nature, studies
and delights to please its objects, its very existence is an
effectual security against our wilfully injuring him. Next
follow some general motives to the faithful discharge of all
these duties.
11. And that--rather, "And this
[do]" knowing the time, that now
it is high time--literally, "the hour has already come."
to awake out of sleep--of
stupid, fatal indifference to eternal things.
for now is our salvation--rather, "the
salvation," or simply "salvation."
nearer than when we--first
believed--This is in the line of all our Lord's
teaching, which represents the decisive day of Christ's second
appearing as at hand, to keep believers ever in the attitude
of wakeful expectancy, but without reference to the
chronological nearness or distance of that event.
12. The night--of evil
is far spent, the day--of
consummated triumph over it is at
hand: let us therefore cast off--as a dress
the works of darkness--all works holding
of the kingdom and period of darkness, with which, as
followers of the risen Saviour, our connection has been
dissolved. and let us put on the
armour of light--described at length in Eph
6:11-18.
13. Let us walk
honestly--"becomingly," "seemingly"
as in the day--"Men choose the night for their
revels, but our night is past, for we are all the children of
the light and of the day (1Th
5:5): let us therefore only do what is fit to be exposed
to the light of such a day." not
in rioting and drunkenness--varied forms of intemperance;
denoting revels in general, usually ending in intoxication.
not in chambering and
wantonness--varied forms of impurity; the one pointing to
definite acts, the other more general.
not in strife and envying--varied forms of that
venomous feeling between man and man which reverses the law of
love.
14. But--to sum up all in one
word. put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ--in such wise that Christ only may be seen in you
(see 2Co
3:3; Ga 3:27; Eph 4:24). and
make no provision--"take no forethought."
for the flesh, to fulfil the lust
thereof--"Direct none of your attention to the
cravings of your corrupt nature, how you may provide for their
gratification."
Note, (1) How gloriously
adapted is Christianity for human society in all conditions!
As it makes war directly against no specific forms of
government, so it directly recommends none. While its holy and
benign principles secure the ultimate abolition of all
iniquitous government, the reverence which it teaches for
magistracy, under whatever form, as a divine institution,
secures the loyalty and peaceableness of its disciples, amid
all the turbulence and distractions of civil society, and
makes it the highest interest of all states to welcome it
within their pale, as in this as well as every other
sense--"the salt of the earth, the light of the world" (Ro
13:1-5). (2) Christianity is the grand specific for the
purification and elevation of all the social relations;
inspiring a readiness to discharge all obligations, and most
of all, implanting in its disciples that love which secures
all men against injury from them, inasmuch as it is the
fulfilling of the law (Ro
13:6-10). (3) The rapid march of the kingdom of God, the
advanced stage of it at which we have arrived, and the
ever-nearing approach of the perfect day--nearer to every
believer the longer he lives--should quicken all the children
of light to redeem the time, and, seeing that they look for
such things, to be diligent, that they may be found of Him in
peace, without spot and blameless (2Pe
3:14). (4) In virtue of "the expulsive power of a new and
more powerful affection," the great secret of persevering
holiness in all manner of conversation will be found to be
"Christ IN US, the hope of glory" (Col
1:27), and Christ ON US, as the
character in which alone we shall be able to shine before men
(2Co
3:8) (Ro
13:14). |