Romans 13 was the most preached-on passage of the American Revolution. Not because it was inspiring, but because it was a problem.
Paul tells his readers to submit to governing authorities, because those authorities are ordained by God. For loyalists, this was the ballgame. The king is God’s appointed ruler. Rebellion is sin. End of discussion.
American Revolutionaries couldn’t leave it there. So they got creative, arguing that unjust rulers forfeited their claim to obedience, that Paul himself had refused to submit when arrested unjustly, that Romans 13 was never meant to sanction tyranny.
And then the Revolution ended. Virtually overnight, those same voices went back to preaching Romans 13 straight: Submit to governing authorities. God has ordained them. Now that the governing authorities were theirs.
It’s a good reminder to ask ourselves honestly: are we reading scripture to be shaped by it or to find permission for what we already want to do?
