Romans VerseQuest Commentary Essay 88: Tribute, Custom, Fear, and Honour

Key Passage: Romans 13:5–7

Introduction

Romans 13:5–7 says, “Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 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; honour to whom honour.” Paul has already established the God-ordained purpose of civil authority. The higher powers exist under God, rulers are appointed to restrain outward evil, the sword is not borne in vain, and government in its proper temporal sphere serves as “the minister of God to thee for good.” Now Paul moves from the principle of authority to the believer’s practical obligations under it. Subjection reaches the conscience, the pocketbook, public conduct, respect, and honor. Christianity does not live only in a prayer closet with the door shut. It follows the believer into the courthouse, the marketplace, the tax bill, the public road, and every ordinary responsibility of life among men.

The Christian’s responsibility toward civil authority does not depend upon pretending the state is righteous in everything it does. Paul wrote these words in a world where rulers were hardly candidates for stained-glass windows. Yet the command stands because the believer’s first concern is not whether every authority deserves admiration; his concern is whether his own conduct honors God. That distinction saves Romans 13 from two opposite errors. One error makes government nearly divine and treats every decree as though it dropped from Sinai. The other decides that because governments can be corrupt, the Christian is free to ignore every obligation that irritates him. Paul gives neither side a comfortable chair. Government is not God, but the believer still has duties before God in relation to government. A crooked ruler does not give the Christian permission to become crooked in response.

The heart of the passage is conscience. Paul says subjection is required “not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.” That takes the matter beyond fear of punishment. The believer should not merely obey when the patrol car is behind him, the auditor is watching, the judge is seated, or the penalty is large enough to make rebellion expensive. He lives before God. His conscience is bound by the word of God. Therefore he pays what is legitimately due, renders proper custom, recognizes lawful authority, and gives honor where honor is due. At the same time, conscience is not surrendered to the state, because the state did not create conscience and does not own the believer. God does. Christian citizenship is neither government worship nor juvenile rebellion. It is a redeemed man walking honestly before God in a world of imperfect rulers and imperfect laws.

1. Subject for Conscience Sake

Paul begins, “Wherefore ye must needs be subject.” The “wherefore” reaches directly back into Romans 13:1–4. Civil authority has been ordained by God for temporal order; therefore subjection is not merely a social convenience. The believer recognizes the legitimate place of authority because God established the principle. That does not mean every ruler is godly or every use of authority is right. It means the office of civil authority has a place in God’s ordering of a fallen world. A Christian who despises all authority simply because he dislikes being restrained has not discovered liberty. He has discovered the old Adam with a flag in his hand.

“Ye must needs be subject” also puts responsibility on the believer himself. Paul does not say, “Be subject only when the ruler has earned your personal approval.” If that were the standard, nobody would obey anybody for long, because fallen men can find faults faster than mosquitoes find bare skin. The Christian may lawfully disagree, appeal, petition, object, and use whatever honest remedies are available, but ordinary disagreement does not erase ordinary responsibility. Subjection is a posture of recognizing lawful authority without confusing that authority with divine perfection. The believer can honor an office without canonizing the officeholder.

Yet biblical subjection always remains beneath obedience to God. The apostles said in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” That principle does not cancel Romans 13; it establishes the hierarchy that makes Romans 13 intelligible. Civil authority is real authority, but delegated authority. God is supreme. When man commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands, conscience must remain bound to the Lord. But when no such conflict exists, the believer should not manufacture one merely because submission rubs the flesh the wrong way. Conscience before God is not a permit for stubbornness.

2. Not Only for Wrath

Paul says subjection is necessary “not only for wrath.” The wrath in context is the civil consequence attached to wrongdoing. Verse 4 has just said the ruler “beareth not the sword in vain” and is “a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Government possesses coercive authority. Laws have penalties. Courts issue judgments. Wrongdoing brings consequences. Therefore one practical reason for orderly conduct is that civil authority can punish disobedience within its proper sphere. A man may despise the speed limit philosophically, but the ticket has a remarkable ability to restore his interest in arithmetic.

But Paul refuses to leave obedience at the level of fear. “Not only for wrath” means the Christian’s morality must run deeper than avoiding consequences. A thief who refrains from stealing only because a camera is pointed at him has not become honest; he has become cautious. A liar who tells the truth only because documents can expose him has not learned integrity; he has learned risk management. The believer is called to something higher. His conduct should remain honest when punishment seems unlikely because he knows there is a Judge above every earthly judge.

This distinction separates Christian conscience from mere external compliance. Society can restrain conduct, but it cannot regenerate the heart. Government can fine a man, imprison a man, tax a man, license a man, and regulate certain actions, but it cannot produce the new birth. The gospel does what the sword cannot do. The Christian therefore should not need a policeman standing beside every command to make him honest. He has the Holy Ghost within him and the word of God before him. The state may restrain the hand, but God addresses the heart.

3. For Conscience Sake

Paul adds, “but also for conscience sake.” Here the Christian’s public life becomes an issue between himself and God. Conscience is that inward witness concerning right and wrong, but it must be instructed by Scripture. Conscience by itself is not infallible. It can be weak, defiled, seared, misinformed, or wrongly trained. A man can sincerely feel justified while being sincerely wrong. Therefore “conscience sake” does not mean, “Whatever I feel strongly must be God’s will.” The conscience needs the lamp of Scripture or it can stumble around in the dark while congratulating itself for conviction.

A properly instructed conscience recognizes that ordinary civil obligations matter to God. The Christian does not cheat because he thinks the government already has enough money. He does not lie because a form seems inconvenient. He does not evade an honest obligation because nobody is likely to discover it. He does not become one man in church and another man when money, contracts, taxes, debts, or public responsibilities are involved. That kind of split personality is not spirituality. It is hypocrisy with paperwork. The conscience says, “God sees this even if nobody else does.”

Conscience also provides the boundary when authority exceeds its proper place. The state may command outward conduct within lawful civil matters, but it cannot rightfully become lord of the believer’s faith. Daniel’s conscience remained toward God when the decree targeted prayer. The apostles’ conscience remained toward God when authorities forbade preaching Christ. Biblical conscience therefore works in both directions: it prevents needless rebellion, and it prevents sinful submission. A conscience chained to personal preference becomes an anarchist; a conscience surrendered to Caesar becomes an idolater. The biblical conscience belongs to God.

4. Pay Ye Tribute Also

Paul says, “For for this cause pay ye tribute also.” There is the verse that makes some people suddenly wish Romans ended at chapter 12. Tribute means taxes levied by governing authority. Paul does not treat taxation as an exciting spiritual experience, and he certainly does not say every tax is wise, efficient, fair, or pleasantly spent. He says pay tribute. The command concerns the believer’s responsibility, not a declaration that every use of public money has heaven’s personal endorsement. Caesar’s accounting does not become inspired because Paul tells Christians not to cheat Caesar.

The Lord Jesus had already established the principle when He said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” That statement both recognizes and limits Caesar. Caesar receives what is properly Caesar’s. God receives what is God’s. The coin may bear Caesar’s image, but man bears God’s image. Government may have a legitimate financial claim in the civil sphere, but it does not own worship, conscience, doctrine, or the soul. Caesar gets tribute. God gets the man. Confusing those two has built more than one religious empire and ruined more than one conscience.

Paying tribute is therefore not government worship. It is part of orderly Christian conduct. A believer may think a tax foolish. He may lawfully seek its repeal, criticize its wisdom, or use legitimate provisions that reduce what is owed. Nothing in Romans 13 requires a man to volunteer extra money because he enjoys watching bureaucracy eat. But dishonesty is another matter. Lawful disagreement does not authorize fraud. The Christian should be able to oppose what he believes is bad policy without becoming dishonest in his own obligations. Grace does not need crooked books to defend truth.

5. God’s Ministers Attending Continually

Paul explains, “for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.” Civil rulers are again called God’s ministers, not because every official is personally saved or spiritually faithful, but because the civil office serves a God-ordained temporal function. Government requires continual administration. Courts operate, laws are enforced, roads are maintained, disputes are adjudicated, crimes are investigated, records are kept, and public order requires labor. The existence of that ongoing civil structure is part of why tribute is rendered. Somebody eventually has to pay for the fellow holding the stop sign, even if nobody has ever written a hymn about him.

“Attending continually” emphasizes that government is an ongoing temporal institution rather than an occasional emergency arrangement. Fallen societies require continuing order because sin does not take weekends off. Theft, violence, fraud, disorder, and disputes do not disappear because men make optimistic speeches about human goodness. Romans 13 assumes the reality of a fallen world and establishes civil authority as one restraint upon outward evil. The state cannot cure Adam’s nature, but it can make certain expressions of Adam’s nature expensive enough to discourage them.

Calling rulers “God’s ministers” should also sober the rulers themselves. A minister is a servant, not the master. Delegated authority carries delegated accountability. The official who imagines public office makes him sovereign has forgotten who ordained the principle of authority in the first place. Government serves a purpose under God; God does not serve government. The phrase therefore dignifies civil office while simultaneously cutting it down to size. A minister has work to do, but a minister does not own the house.

6. Render to All Their Dues

Paul says, “Render therefore to all their dues.” The word “render” means give what is owed. The word “dues” means obligations legitimately belonging to another. Christianity is not a religion of evasion. The believer should be known as a man who pays what he owes, keeps his word, fulfills honest obligations, and does not need to be chased around the block by every person to whom he made a promise. Romans 13 moves Christian testimony into the practical world where holiness has receipts attached to it.

This principle extends beyond money because Paul immediately names tribute, custom, fear, and honor. Different obligations belong to different relationships. Money may be due in one circumstance. Respect may be due in another. Proper deference may be due to an office even when personal admiration is not. The believer must learn to distinguish what is owed and render it accordingly. The flesh prefers two extremes: give authority nothing because it is imperfect, or give authority everything because it is powerful. Scripture says render what is due. That is a much more disciplined road.

Rendering dues also protects the believer’s testimony. A Christian who loudly defends Scripture but habitually cheats, lies, evades obligations, and treats honest debts like optional suggestions has turned his testimony into a comedy routine for unbelievers. The world may reject our doctrine, but it should not have legitimate grounds to reject our integrity. Titus 2:10 speaks of “shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” Sound doctrine looks better when the man holding it pays his bills and tells the truth.

7. Tribute, Custom, Fear, and Honour

Paul becomes specific: “tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom.” Tribute refers to direct taxation, while custom includes other lawful duties, tolls, assessments, or charges connected with civil order and commerce. The point is straightforward: financial obligations do not disappear because the believer is spiritually minded. A man cannot pay his electric bill with a testimony, settle a lawful tax with a hymn, or answer every invoice with “the Lord will provide” when the Lord already provided him a paycheck. Spirituality that never reaches the wallet is often imagination wearing church clothes.

Then Paul says, “fear to whom fear.” Fear here is proper respect, reverence, and recognition of authority, not worshipful terror. Romans 13:3 has already spoken of rulers as a terror to evil works. The believer should recognize that lawful authority carries real consequences and deserves proper regard. Yet Scripture reserves ultimate fear for God. First Peter 2:17 draws the distinctions beautifully: “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” The king gets honor. God gets fear in the supreme sense. The Bible does not have trouble keeping the chairs labeled.

Finally Paul says, “honour to whom honour.” Honor is not the same as agreement, flattery, endorsement, or pretending wickedness is righteousness. A Christian can disagree with a ruler and still speak without filthy contempt. He can oppose an action without surrendering self-control. He can recognize an office without worshipping the person occupying it. Honor keeps the believer from becoming vulgar, spiteful, and fleshly merely because politics has heated the room. A man does not defend God’s order by losing Christian character every time government annoys him. Honor is part of the testimony of a conscience governed by God.

Conclusion

Romans 13:5–7 brings civil authority down into the believer’s everyday conduct. Subjection is not merely motivated by fear of punishment but by conscience toward God. That conscience is not owned by government and is not defined by personal emotion; it is instructed by Scripture. Therefore the believer can recognize legitimate authority without worshipping it, fulfill ordinary obligations without pretending every ruler is righteous, and refuse sinful commands without turning every inconvenience into a revolution. The Christian’s first question is not, “How little can I get away with?” but, “What conduct honors God here?”

Paul also deals plainly with money. “Pay ye tribute also.” “Render therefore to all their dues.” Tribute and custom are part of life under civil order. The believer may lawfully disagree with policies, question wisdom, seek changes, and use legitimate provisions available to him, but he is not given a Bible verse authorizing dishonesty. Government’s imperfections do not sanctify the Christian’s fraud. Caesar may be wrong about many things, but Caesar’s wrong does not make lying right. Grace does not need sin to defend liberty.

Finally, Paul names fear and honor because Christian testimony includes attitude as well as payment. Proper respect for authority does not mean surrendering truth. Honor does not mean agreement. Subjection does not mean worship. Conscience does not mean rebellion. The believer answers first to God, and because he answers first to God, he should be more honest, more responsible, more restrained, and more careful before men—not less. Tribute to whom tribute. Custom to whom custom. Fear to whom fear. Honour to whom honour. Caesar gets what is properly due him; God gets the conscience, the worship, and the final obedience. That is the line the Christian must never lose.