Respect 2.0

I was asked to elaborate on why I thought Romans 13 teaches not just submission but also respect.

Firstly let me say that the main point of this passage is not respect per say but submission. My understanding is that Godly submission is respectful submission.

Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
I’d understand this in the context of the preceding verses to be teaching respect and honour even for governments/authorities that we think are bad. I’d also argue that 1 Peter 2 also supports this idea.
Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
It’s important to note that no qualification is given that I should respect only when the Government/authority is good, rather the context (slaves are to submit to their masters even bad ones) would suggest that submission and respect are owed even for bad governments.

 

1 comments:

Anonymous said... 10/23/2006 12:30 am  

I'll give you some thoughts and a post on some of this sometime, but thanks for giving it some thought.

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