Chapter 13
Two Jewish Tendencies
In chapters 13–15:13, Paul deals with two Jewish tendencies that Jewish converts often brought with them into the fellowship of Christians, which are detrimental to the Christian testimony.
Firstly, the Jews nationally were notorious for being insubordinate to the Gentile authorities that ruled over them. They often had uprisings against the state, which usually happened at their feast times when national sentiment peaked. This conviction came from certain Scriptures that promised that they would rule over the nations as “head.” God promised them that they would not be the “tail” (Deut. 28:13; Isa. 60, etc.). With this in mind, devout Jews naturally had difficulty bowing to Gentiles (Esther 3:2) and to the Gentile civil authorities. Paul deals with this problem being carried over into the Christian testimony in chapter 13.
Secondly, the Jews who had made a profession of faith in Christ had certain scruples in connection with food and holy days, which they carried over from their days in Judaism. Bringing these things with them into the fellowship of Christians tended to create problems among the saints. Paul deals with this issue in chapter 14.
The Christian’s Duty Toward the State
Chap. 13:1-7––In the Jewish religion, there was Scriptural justification for believing that the nation of Israel should rule over the nations of the earth. However, since becoming Christians, those earthly hopes for the Jew were superseded by heavenly hopes. Their citizenship was now in heaven (Phil. 3:20), and they were but strangers and pilgrims passing through this world (1 Peter 2:11). Hence, it was not their place to resist the governments over them.
Paul says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers [authorities above him]. For there is no power but of God: the powers [authorities] that be are ordained [set up] of God.” These believers needed to remember that the governments of this world were set up of God and the proper Christian attitude toward the state is to be subject to its ordinances. It’s true that if the civil powers were to challenge God’s authority, and command something of us that God has forbidden, it would be overstepping its bounds. The Apostle Peter’s answer in Acts 5:29 provides light for our conduct in such situations.
To oppose or resist a particular governor is to oppose the authority established by God. These authorities have been set up to restrain evil, though in many cases there is corruption with them. Generally, they are in place in the governments in various lands to protect the citizens of the state (vss. 3-4). We, therefore, need to be subject to the authorities over us for two reasons: not only to escape punishment for wrong doing—the “sentence of guilt” (vs. 2), but also “for conscience sake” (vs. 5). Those in the place of authority are really “God’s ministers” because the governments have been set up of God (vs. 6). We are to pay “tribute” (taxes), follow customs, and show respect and honour to those in authority (vs. 7).
In being subject to the “higher” civil authorities, we shouldn’t think that these verses support the idea that Christians should get involved in politics. For instance, it is not our place to dispute how and where the tribute (tax) money is spent by the governments. Paul carefully avoids any idea that the Church and the state are to be united, as were the national churches of the Reformation. He is also careful not to go to the other extreme by setting the Church in opposition to the state, which was the tendency of the Jews.
Summarizing the Christian’s responsibility toward the civil authorities, we are to: pay, pray, and obey:
• We pay tribute—taxes (Rom. 13:6-7).
• We pray for all in authority (1 Tim. 2:2).
• We obey those in authority (Titus 3:1).
The Christian’s Duty Towards The Citizens of the State
Chap. 13:8-10––Christians are not only to be subject to the civil authorities, but they also have an obligation of love toward the citizens of the state, in seeking their good and blessing. Paul says, “Owe no man anything, but to love....” Some have taken this statement to mean that we are not to have debts of any kind––e.g. mortgages, loans, etc., however, it probably means that we should not have any outstanding debts. Some debts are unavoidable in our society; we all have phone, gas, water, light bills, etc. Also, there are bills that are inevitable in business. Paul’s point here is: getting into arrears with these debts must be avoided because it renders a poor testimony before the world.
One debt that will always be outstanding is our obligation to “love.” The word for “love” here is agape in the Greek, which is love from a settled disposition toward someone because of genuine care and concern for them. This is the kind of love God has for the lost in this world (John 3:16). Agape love is a matter of the will rather than of the emotions. God sets His love upon man when there is nothing loveable in man (Deut. 7:7; Eph. 2:4). Expressing it toward the lost could lead to their receiving Christ.
Paul says that, by love, we fulfil the moral requirements of the Law. This could not mean that the Christian is under the Law, because it would contradict what Paul taught earlier in the epistle. In these verses, he mentions various commandments from the second table of the Law, having to do with man’s responsibility toward his fellow man. His point is that love will fulfil these things without being formally under the Law. We aim to be like Christ in all our actions, and in doing so, we do those things. The Lord summarized the second table of the Law as: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:36-40).
The Christian’s Occupation in View Of the Lord’s Coming
Chap. 13:11-14––As the governments of this world become more and more corrupt––a thing which will mark the last days––the Christian is not to get involved with trying to prevent or improve the decline of the world’s moral standards. Instead, the coming of the Lord is brought before us as a motive for holy living. Hence, the Christian is not called to set the world right, but he is responsible to set himself right before God and his fellow man, as far as his personal behaviour is concerned. Paul emphasizes this in the latter verses of chapter 13.
Earlier in the epistle, Paul borrowed figures from a Roman legal court, but here he borrows figures from the actions of the Roman army. The soldiers are viewed as sleeping; as dawn approaches, they are called to awake out of sleep, to put off their sleeping clothes, and to put on their shining armour, and thus meet the responsibilities of the day.
He begins by saying, “Knowing the time.” We see from this that it is important for the Christian to have an “understanding of the times” (compare 1 Chronicles 12:32). Regardless of what time we have been called to live in the history of the Church, the imminence of the Lord’s coming should always be before our souls, for “now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” The aspect of salvation that Paul is referring to here is the final aspect of our salvation, when the Lord comes and we are glorified and taken to heaven (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thess. 4:15-18). He has explained this in chapters 5:9 and 8:18-30.
The imminence of the Lord’s coming ought to have a practical effect on the believer. It should make us wakeful and watchful, and keep us from settling down in the world. The lateness of the hour demands that all lethargy and inactivity be abandoned. It is no time for us to be slumbering along with the world. Paul says that if that has been our spiritual state, it is “high time to awake out of sleep” and to be busy in the service of the Lord.
Christ was “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5). As long as He was in the world, it was “day” (John 9:4; 11:9). He announced to His disciples that “the night” was coming when He would be rejected and cast out of this world (John 9:4; 11:9-10). This is the time in which we have been called to live. But the good news is that the “night” of the Lord’s absence is almost over (“far spent”); He is about to return. Then we will receive the final aspect of “our salvation” (at the Rapture). But not only that, Paul says, “The day is at hand” when Christ will reign in glory over the world. This will occur at His Appearing.
Three Short Exhortations
In view of the dangers of the night through which we are passing, and the imminence of the Rapture and the Appearing of Christ, Paul gives three short exhortations which, if put into practise, will preserve us until the hour of the Lord’s coming. These exhortations are marked by the phrase, “Let us.”
Firstly, he insists on separation from the world. He says, “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness” (vs. 12b). Thus, we are to divest ourselves of every worldly and questionable practise, like a man casting off a dirty garment (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).
Secondly, Paul says, “Let us put on the armour of light” (vs. 12c). Thus, we are to put on the protective covering of a holy life, which will make us a shining light in the darkness.
Thirdly, Paul says, “Let us walk honestly [becomingly] as in the day.” (vss. 13-14). He tells us how this is done: by putting off the practises of the flesh (naming six things as examples), and putting on “the Lord Jesus Christ” (vss. 13-14). Galatians 3:27 speaks of the formal putting on of Christ by baptism, which has to do with our identification with the Christian testimony; here it is the practical manifestation of Christ’s life. Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is to have the attitude that He had toward God, the saints, and the civil governments—the topics that Paul has addressed in chapters 12-13. Toward God, the Lord Jesus said, “I delight to do Thy will O My God” (Psa. 40:8). Toward the saints, He said, “My goodness extendeth not to Thee; but the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all My delight” (Psa. 16:2-3). Toward governments, He said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25).
However, we make “provision for the flesh” when we emphasize the physical and material side of life, rather than the spiritual. Such caters to the flesh rising up and asserting itself in our lives.