Rights Retained Under Romans 13

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1-2 ESV)

Fear God. Honour the king. (1 Peter 2:17b KJV)

A bare reading of Romans 13 and related texts might lead someone to conclude that all commands from any governmental official must be obeyed without question. However, the general submission/nonresistance/honor we are to show to governmental authorities does not mean we lose all rights or that we must neglect competing responsibilities. In light of other biblical texts, we see that, while submitting to government Christian citizens retain the following rights (at least).

1. We have the right (and responsibility) to proclaim the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done for sinners, regardless of government restrictions on evangelism.

The classic text on this is from Acts 4. The "rulers and elders and scribes" in Jerusalem charged the apostles Peter and John "not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18). But Jesus had instructed and commanded the apostles,

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV)

Therefore Peter and John responded to the authorities,

"Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20 ESV)

Likewise, Christians today are under the ultimate authority of the Great Commission text of Matthew 28:18-20, regardless of any governmental commands against evangelism.

2. We have the right (and responsibility) to obey God's moral law.

What is chiefly true of the Great Commission is true of other scriptural commandments more generally as well. When a governmental authority issues a command in direct violation of God's commandments, we have the right (and responsibility) to disobey that governmental authority. One key text for demonstrating this is in Exodus 1. The Hebrew midwives were blessed by God when they disobeyed Pharaoh's command to kill the Hebrew baby boys. Though the ten commandments had not yet been published, the midwives knew that such murder was against God's moral law and that they should obey God rather than Pharaoh. A more recent example would be communist China when the "one child policy" was in effect. If a couple disobeyed a Chinese governmental command to abort a child, that couple would NOT be in violation of Romans 13.

3. We have the right to insist that governmental officials obey the stated laws of the land. 

In the Apostle Paul's time, Roman citizenship came with certain rights under the law. When government officials violated those rights, Paul was not afraid to call them to account.

• In Acts 16:35-40, city magistrates had Paul beaten publicly, then they attempted to release Paul from jail secretly. Paul insisted on a public release and what amounted to a public apology.
• In Acts 22:22-29, a Roman tribune was about to have Paul flogged, and Paul cited his Roman citizenship to stop the flogging from taking place.

In neither of these situations did Paul feel that his commitment to honoring government required him to passively accept the decisions of governmental officials standing before him when those decisions ran contrary to the stated laws of the land. He felt he had the right to at least appeal those decisions.

4. When injustice is being done at one level of government, appealing to another level of government is not a violation of Romans 13.

In Daniel 1, when Nebuchadnezzar was going to have Daniel and his friends eat meat and wine from his table–food that had apparently either been sacrificed to false gods or was otherwise offensive to Jewish religious sensibilities–Daniel appealed to the chief of the eunuchs (the person standing before him as a government representative) in order for him and his friends to get an exception to the dietary requirement.

In Acts 25:9-12, when the Apostle Paul did not believe that his rights as a Roman citizen would be upheld by regional officials, he appealed to Caesar.

In these examples, we see that appealing to one level of government–whether a higher or lower level–may be appropriate when an objectionable action is taken by another level of government.

Conclusion

Romans 13 and related passages should inform the Christian conscience. Christians should "if possible, so far as it depends on [us], live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18), and we should honor governmental authorities. However, we must always acknowledge that God is our ultimate authority, and our conscience belongs to Him.