Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Friday March 6 2026
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Acts 5:29-But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
Becky (not her real name) was greatly disturbed by the evils of abortion. She had seen a movie on YouTube showing an abortion in the womb and it left her with many sleepless nights. She wanted to become involved in speaking out against this practice, but she was conflicted. As we studied together, she explained her plight of conscience to me.
Becky: Brother Mark, the Bible is clear that abortion is murder! Yes, there might be exceptions. I don’t understand every situation. But let’s face it. For most people in our country today, abortion is just a form of birth control! People can sleep around with anyone they want, and if they get pregnant, they just get rid of the baby. It is wrong!
Mark: I’m not arguing with you. I believe that you are correct (while allowing for the possibility of exceptions). We have to stand against it and do what we can to overturn it.
Becky: But brother Mark, we can’t! As Christians, don’t we have to support the leaders in office? How can we speak against President Obama and be faithful to God?! Doesn’t the Bible teach that if we resist and speak against government, then we are resisting and speaking against God?!
She then showed me this passage of Scripture:
Romans 13:1-7-Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
So, how about it?
Was Becky correct that this passage prohibits Christians from speaking against government, even when government commits and perpetrates actions which are immoral and against the Word of God?
Through the years, Paul’s words here have often been interpreted in just such a way. Christians have often been conditioned to not speak against corruption and immorality in government. Abolitionists were often told that they had no right to oppose slavery since it was the law of the land. German Christians were often hesitant to help Jews during the Holocaust because many believed that this Scripture teaches that the church had no right to speak against government.
But is that what Paul is saying here?
Let’s study.
The first thing to observe about Paul’s words regarding government here is the context of the statement. He had just told God’s people not to violently retaliate against their enemies (Romans 12:17-21). Instead, they were to do good to them. There were two main reasons for this. First, by doing good to our enemies, there is the hope that we may convert them to Christ (Romans 12:20-21). Second, we don’t respond with violent retaliation because we trust in and wait for God to avenge us (Romans 12:19). One way that God does this, Paul argues, is through civil government (Romans 13:1-7). So, the Apostle exhorts Christians not to turn to violence in retaliation against their enemies.
Second, this sets the stage for what Paul is saying in the text before us. When the man of God here speaks of not “resisting” the government, he employs two different Greek words, both of which denote primarily violent activity. In other words, we are being told not to plan, plot, and participate in armed revolt against the governing authorities!
“And for those with a mind for revolution and sedition, this Greek word and grammar of command perfectly conveys what Paul was seeking to ward off among the Roman Christians in his day. Paul sought to prohibit private revolution that would disrupt the divinely sanctioned role of the magistrate. By extension, Paul sought to avoid both a stain upon the gospel preached by the church and a reproach upon the name of Jesus Christ. What Paul means when calling for the Roman Christians to submit to the governing authorities is an acknowledgment of the legitimacy and honorable status of the sphere of the civil magistrate. If this is an institution ordained by God, then that institution carries with it a deserved respect and honor. However, if we skip to verse 7, we can see that fear/ respect and honor is due to the government when they act honorably and respectably. We can see how the command “be subject” from the verb ὑποτάσσω (hupotassō) has for its opposite in verse 2 not “disobedience” but rather “resistance.” For the three instances of “resist” or “oppose” in our English translations of Romans 13: 2, Paul uses specific words that each connote armed resistance rather than simple disobedience. The first word comes from the verb ἀντιτάσσω (antitassō). Careful readers will notice that this word has the same root (-tassō) as the initial command “be subject” in verse 1. The prefix anti is similar to its use in English: against. So rather than “arrange under” (a literal rendering of the component parts of hupotassō as hupo and tassō) as in verse 1, Paul speaks in verse 2 of those characterized as ones who “arrange against.” In other words, the word chosen in verse 2 for resistance is the opposite of “subjection.” It is not, however, the opposite of obedience, that is, disobedience. This word antitassō is used elsewhere to refer to physical opposition or an implied armed resistance. James 5: 5–6 uses the same word in speaking of the poor not resisting against the unrighteous rich: “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you” (italics added). Here, the oppressed did not physically resist. Acts 18: 6 speaks of Paul in Macedonia being physically resisted and verbally assaulted by the Jews in their synagogue. There, he dusts off his garments and moves on to the Gentiles. The physical resistance or opposition is consistent with the way in which Josephus used the word, where each occasion involves unquestionably the idea of physical resistance. 132 Now it is certainly granted that not all opposition with this word is of a physical sort. When the Greek Old Testament translation of Proverbs 3: 34 and the New Testament quotations of it in James 4: 6 and 1 Peter 5: 5 (ESV) say, “God opposes the proud,” we know that this opposition is not physical. But that is what gives the term such force in its metaphorical use. And yet even a metaphorical use demonstrates the underlying meaning: an active resistance or physical opposition to something. The second verb of resistance in Romans 13: 2 is more frequently used in the New Testament. Twice in verse 2, the verb ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi) is used. It quite literally (according to its parts) means “to stand or set against.” Like antitassō, this verb has a physical use as well as a metaphorical one. For its physical sense of armed resistance, see, for example, Ephesians 6: 13. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand [from anthistēmi] in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Now as this is spiritual battle, we must understand its use properly—one of armed resistance, albeit with spiritual arms. As a clear example of physical arms and opposition, the Greek Old Testament version of Esther 9: 2 reads, “In that day, those who set against the Jews came to destruction, for none physically opposed [from anthistēmi], fearing them” (author’s translation). Likewise, this verb and warfare are combined on a number of occasions in the Greek rendering of the Pentateuch (see Lev. 26: 37; Num. 10: 9; Deut. 7: 24; 9: 2; 25: 18; 28: 7). In the early work of the church fathers the Epistle of Barnabas, the Christians who are said to be in a lawless time with offenses on the horizon are exhorted to resist (anthistēmi) but with a qualification “as it is fitting for the sons of God” (Barn. 4: 9, author’s translation). Now consider what led us to jump to a couple of word studies in Romans 13: 2—the matter of how the command “be subject to governing authorities” is used, that is, whether it means “obedience” or “to give honor and loyalty.” The latter sense would be a positive command prohibiting private revolution. This sense is preferable when read in context with the two antithetical terms in verse 2 that speak openly against armed resistance and opposition. Again, Sam Waldron writes of these two words, “One must conclude that when such a word is used of opposition to civil authorities who themselves are said to bear the sword, it must designate strictly and primarily armed rebellion and violent revolution.” 133.” (Timothy Decker, A Revolutionary Reading of Romans 13: A Biblical Case for Lawful Subjection to the Civil Magistrate and Dutiful Resistance to Tyrants, 117-119 (Kindle Edition): Founders Press)
Paul is not forbidding “resisting” evil in government. He is forbidding “resisting” evil in government with violent means.
Finally, Paul’s emphasis on the taxes here makes this definition of “resistance” certain. When he wrote Romans, the Apostle knew full well that there was a party of Jewish people known as the zealots who had often encouraged other Jews to take up arms with them against Roman taxes. Those taxes went to pay for (among other things) the upkeep of the pagan temples, the stipends for the priests and priestesses of the Roman gods, abortions, etc. The zealots’ endorsement of violent revolt over Roman taxes was common knowledge.
As such, Paul is telling Christians not to be involved with attempts to lead people into violent insurrection against the government. Indeed, we pay taxes, recognizing that they go to reimburse the good services that government provides (Romans 13:6-7). He is not advocating that Christians never raise their voices against wicked government and policies that are evil! After all, he had previously introduced the Pharaoh of Egypt whom God had raised up to show His power in the world and to punish (and ironically to save) the nation of Egypt (Romans 9:17). Despite God providentially raising up the government of Pharaoh, that did not mean that Moses was not to speak against and contend with the evil in that regime. Indeed, God was pleased with Moses for speaking against the evil, and being true to Him even when it was so difficult to do (cf. Hebrews 11:23-27).
When we speak truth to power, we aim to do so in love (Ephesians 4:15) and in respectful ways (Jude 8-9). We are right, therefore, to oppose evil wherever it is found, even as we point all evildoers to the grace of God in Christ (Romans 8:1). We must not, however, resort to taking up arms to overthrowing government and promoting the Gospel. When we begin down that slippery slope, it is no longer really the Gospel or the kingdom of Christ that we are promoting, but a twisted form of nationalism that moves well beyond spiritually healthy boundaries.
Lord Jesus, please give us a heart of wisdom, understanding, courage, and love. Help us to walk in Your footsteps. In Your Name we pray, Amen.