Appendix of Thy Kingdom Comes

Appendix 7. Romans 13

Romans 13, in the King James version of the Bible, begins:

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

A common interpretation of this verse appears in The Living Bible, "Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow..." (Romans 13:1-3).

Dunamis, dunamai, didomi, arche, ischus, ischuros, kratos and energes are all translated 'power' in the New Testament, but the word here is exousia. It is from ex meaning 'of' or 'from', while ousia is "what one has, i.e. property, possessions, estate". The word is defined: “power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases."¹

Man was endowed by God with a right to free will, which is the power to choose unless he rejects God and goes under the authority of Cain, Nimrod, Pharaoh, Saul² or Caesar³.

God desires that every man should be a free soul under Him directly, having that divinely endowed right of choice unimpaired. He, like Paul, does not desire that we go under the power of any.⁴

The word exousia is also translated "right" in Hebrews 13:10 and Revelations 22:14, and it is translated as "liberty" in 1 Corinthians 8:9:

“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” (1Corinthians 8:9 )

If we translated exousia in Romans 13 into the English word “liberty” a new meaning emerges

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher liberty. For there is no liberty but of God: the liberties that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth (opposes) the liberty, resisteth (opposes) the ordinance of God: and they that resist (sets one's self against) shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the liberty? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.” Romans 13: 1,3

To claim that Paul is actually saying that we should be at liberty rather than subject to the will of other men is a bold accusation against the doctrines of modern Christendom. We need to examine how the word exousia was used in the days of Christ.

The Greek Glossary of Aristotelian Terms states that exousia means "right".⁵ Aristotle actually exemplifies exousia's use in the statement, "The right (exousia) to do anything one wishes..."⁶

In Plato's notes the "Greek words for freedom (are) eleutheros (liberal/Free), exousia (Freedom/Power to do something), ..."⁷

In Bryn Mawr's Classical Review we see, “Brancacci notices that the term used by Enomaos to refer to human freedom is not the typical Cynic one (eleutheria), but exousia, which expresses 'the new concept of freedom in opposition to the already defunct and unhelpful eleutheria'."⁸

It seems clear that Paul is telling us that we should be subject to liberty and the perfect law of liberty, and that to oppose liberty is to oppose the will of God for men.

The Bible has always been a book about government, and man's relationship to it---and to God. Jesus came to take the kingdom from the those who had been leading the people into bondage, and redeem them again---not unlike what Moses did in Egypt. He even told the people who were ruling the people what His plan was:

“...The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Mt 21:43)

In verse 3 of Romans 13 we see the Greek word archon which is translated ruler 22 times, prince 11 times, and chief twice. We also see it translated magistrate and chief ruler. The term is used by Christ when he appointed a kingdom to the apostles, the Greek word for ambassadors, and instructed them not to be like “the princes of the Gentiles” who exercise authority and dominion over people but claimed to be benefactors.⁹

The apostles were actually appointed princes of the kingdom of God at hand by Jesus. As ambassador they were a government, but they were not like “the benefactors” that exercised authority one over the other, but they were a form of government that operated on the perfect law of liberty unlike that "of the world."

“We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” Hebrews 13:10

The “altars” of the world force the sacrifice of the people whereof we should have no right to eat? If the temple was to be made of living stones, were the ancient altars also to be made of living stones? Did God really want men to pile up dead rocks and kill sheep and set them on fire, or have we been misled about the precepts of God? The sacrifices upon the altars of God had a purpose and were to include freewill choice.

To understand how Christ, His apostles, and His Church were turning the world upside down, requires us to turn some modern religious beliefs upside down---or throw them out all together.

“...certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4

What is Proverbs 23 telling us when it says, “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [be] a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful meat”?

What did Jesus mean when he told us to pray (apply) to our Father in Heaven and “call no man father upon the earth”?

Why did Paul (Romans 11:9) repeat David's warning from Psalms 69:22, “...Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:”? David knew “that which should have been for their welfare, [would] become a trap”?

The kingdom of God binds men together by faith, hope, and charity. The apostles, like Gideon,¹⁰ would not rule over the people. Moses led the people out of bondage, to a place where there were no kings who exercised authority one over the other. Ministers of God are titular leaders of a peculiar people. They are not like Nimrod or Caesar.

Edward Gibbon praised “the union and discipline of the Christian republic” in his book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and explained that the Church "gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire."¹¹

Christians were told to “Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power.” then why were Christians persecuted by governments? Why were they accused of saying that there is another king, one Jesus?¹² God instituted the government of the apostles, man instituted the government of Caesar.

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:7,8

Why do you owe Caesar at all? How is it that you are under tribute, when we are told that, “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute”? (Pr 12:24)

Governments of men are created by men. The righteous power of government to tax the people comes from the people by consent. When the voice of the people called for a leader who could rule over them in the days of Samuel, the election of the people was a rejection of God.¹³

The people had lived without such authoritarian benefactors for centuries,¹⁴ but they were now doing evil and rejecting God, because they were tired of taking on the responsibility of protecting one another, of loving their neighbor as themselves.

When the people called to the prophet Samuel to swear in a ruler to appoint judges, make laws, and to lead them in battle, that was an evil thing because God said they were rejecting Him. Before that the welfare of the people was attended to by the people and for the people through the charity and hope of the people.¹⁵ Churches were a part of this system of daily ministration to the needy of society. This was the pure religion¹⁶ of loving your neighbor as yourself.

“The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations, and benefits.” Plutarch, 2000 years ago.

Mankind has repeatedly been snared by his own wantonness and appetite, his own greed and lust for power over his neighbor. When John Wycliffe introduced his translation of the Bible in 1382 he wrote, “This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.” He was promptly arrested, died and his body was burned.

“He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the hunter before the LORD.” (Genesis 10:9)

The word hunter is from tsayid which is more often translated ‘provision, food, food-supply, or victuals’. This verse would be better translated to the effect that Nimrod was a mighty provider instead of the LORD. This concept of benefactors who exercise authority would be in line with testimonies of David and Paul, John and Jesus about praying and eating at the tables of rulers and being snared by those tables that should have been for our welfare.

“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Eph 5:5 )

Today, we are taught that it is a good thing to apply to the authoritarian benefactors who force the contributions and sacrifices of the people, even though when Saul did that he was called “foolish” by Samuel and a violator of the commandments of the LORD thy God.¹⁷

David numbered the people in order to draft them into his military, but he later confessed he had sinned against God. Today, it is a common practice among those claiming to love God.¹⁸

The people were not to return to the bondage of Egypt, nor were the kings to do anything that would return the people to that state.¹⁹ When the people were in the bondage of Egypt, all the gold was in the government's treasury, they did not enjoy the beneficial interest of their land, and the people had to pay twenty percent of their earnings to the government annually.

“And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” (1 Sa 8:18)

That condition---where men had power over the choice of others--- always leads to corruption and abuse. When the government became corrupt and the people's burdens became great, they cried out for their freedom. Why would God send Moses to set the people free from that government and then send Jesus to set up a church to deliver them back into the same bondage? In fact, God has never desired that people go into bondage---and neither did Paul, John the Baptist, or Jesus.

From Abraham to Jesus, God has tried to lead people out of systems of government where the people lose their right to choose, their liberty. God desires that men be subject to a higher liberty, because all liberty is of God, and there is no liberty but of God. The right to choose was instituted by God so that man may grow in virtue and the name of God. But the desire for benefits offered by governments who compel the sacrifices and contributions from neighbors has always made the word of God to none effect.²⁰

According to Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus, before the people can be free they must learn to love their neighbor as themselves, by diligently tending to society's needs by charitable offerings. The punishment for the sin of sloth and lack of diligence in this sacred matter is that the people shall be under tribute.²¹

Herod had been sending missionaries to baptize people into his version of the “kingdom of Heaven.” “Herod’s scheme of initiation into a new form of Judaism was immensely successful. Jews everywhere were willing to join the worldwide society ... Entry was for members only; they had to show at the door an admission token in the form of a white stone from the river Jordan which the missionaries gave them at baptism. On the stone was written their new Jewish name.”²² They were citizens entitled to the benefits of Corban that made the “word of God to none effect.”

John the Baptist was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness to make straight the way of the Lord.” He said if your neighbor had no coat and you had two, you should share. He, like Moses, gathered the people in voluntary congregations and orders of ten, hundreds, and thousands.

Christ would do the same. Exodus and Pentecost marked the redemption of the people.²³

“Redemption is deliverance from the power of an alien dominion and the enjoyment of the resulting freedom. It involves the idea of restoration to one who possesses a more fundamental right or interest. The best example of redemption in the Old Testament was the deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage, from the dominion of the alien power in Egypt.”²⁴

Those who professed Christ's Kingship were cast out of the system and were no longer eligible for those benefits. They were freed by their faith in Christ and his kingdom of righteousness.

“What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose; the right to create for yourself the alternative of choice. Without the responsibility and exercise of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing.”²⁵

Peter tells us that we will be made merchandise or human resources again because we covet our neighbor's goods.²⁶ Paul asks:

“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? ...” (2Co 6:16). Even in the Old Testament we are told that “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods,” (Exodus 23:32) because “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

Mammon does not mean money but is entrusted wealth.²⁷ Systems like Egypt, the golden calf, other common purse systems, subject the people by taking away their right to make choices about their wealth and property. Such systems always fail under corruption, avarice, and over-indulgence so Jesus told us to seek the kingdom and his righteousness.²⁸

“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luke 16:9)In the process of being freed from bondage, we may continue to pay the Pharaohs, Herods, and Caesars of the world but we should not eat of the things sacrificed to these gods of force and fear. But, if you reject God and “... do that which is evil, be afraid...Wherefore ye must needs be subject...For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” (Ro 13:4,7)

The gospel of the kingdom is for those living now. That kingdom is at hand. We should seek it and it's righteousness, and not be like the governments of the gentiles. The kingdom and His righteousness is a way that may save His people in this life and the next.

Real freedom under God requires that loving practice of charitable responsibility which sustains our God given right and nurtures the spirit and virtue of Christ in us. We are saved by the “Eucharist” of Christ, which is the Greek word for thanksgiving. That thanksgiving is the antithesis of covetousness, envy, and greed. It is the love of giving. It is the daily practice of charity and faith, hope and love.

God wants His people to be free. He wants them to “let every soul be subject unto the higher right to choose.” For there is no right to choose but of God: our rights to choose that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore opposes the right to choose, opposes the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.