Moo: "... a hierarchy established by God."

To submit is to recognize one’s subordinate place in a hierarchy established by God. It is to acknowledge that certain institutions or people have been placed over us and have the right to our respect and deference. In addition to rulers (see also Titus 3:1), Paul also calls on believers to submit to their spiritual leaders (1 Cor. 16:16) and even to one another (Eph. 5:21; i.e., in the ways Paul outlines in 5:22–6:9). Christian slaves are to submit to their masters (Titus 2:9), Christian prophets to other prophets (1 Cor. 14:32), and Christian wives to their husbands (1 Cor. 14:35 [?]; Eph. 5:24; Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5). In each case, one person is to recognize the rightful leadership role that another human being has in his or her life.

But implicit always in the idea of submission is the need to recognize that God is at the pinnacle of any hierarchy. While not always explicit, Paul assumes that one’s ultimate submission must be to God and that no human being can ever stand as the ultimate authority for a believer.

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Christians seeking to do God’s will, therefore, recognize the right of the governing authorities to command them to do things, and they should, as much as possible, do what the government says.

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The burden of this text. Our final word on this issue, however, must respect the intention of this passage. Clearly, it does not intend to encourage disobedience to the government or even to lay the theological basis for such disobedience. It warns us against the danger of ignoring the rightful place government has in God’s ordering of the world according to his purposes. Government—and each individual state and ruler—is appointed by God. Christians seeking to do God’s will, therefore, recognize the right of the governing authorities to command them to do things, and they should, as much as possible, do what the government says.

This message is particularly appropriate in our current cultural climate, in which many are increasingly disrespectful of any authority. The various right-wing organizations rebelling against the United States government (sometimes in the name of Christ) are an obvious manifestation of this antiauthority tendency. But we see it just as clearly in the growing number of people who simply ignore the government’s rules about speed limits on highways or paying taxes.

Douglas J. Moo, Romans, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 429-430.

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