Paul Derengowski, PhD
If you have not heard by now, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is being lambasted on all sides by self-appointed Bible scholars coming out of every nook and cranny over a half-baked allusion – 14 seconds in length – to something the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans.
The Book of Romans is found in the New Testament, after the Book of Acts and just before 1 Corinthians, in case you happen to be one of those Bible scholars who has never actually read the Bible, but feel inclined to provide us your scholarly insight.
During a speech given to a group of law enforcement officers in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Thursday (June 13), Sessions partially quoted Romans 13:1.
Sessions’ quote was, “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government, because God has ordained the government for His purposes.”
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That was it! His quote was in the context of U.S. responsibility to enforce its immigration laws.
One would have thought, though, based on the reaction to his 14-second commentary, that he had ordered the execution of not only all illegal aliens, but anyone who dared to disagree with his selection from the Bible, instead of the loose allusion.
Not only did Sessions allegedly misquote Paul, the passage has been cited by equally dubious characters like “Nazi sympathizers and apartheid-enforcers, slave owners and loyalists opposed to the American Revolution,” as least according to one highly touted Bible authority (cough, cough).
You have to love it every time when something rubs a particular group or person the wrong way these days, that Adolf Hitler or Nazism is brought into the discussion, not as an accurate analogy, but merely as smear tactic.
Anyway, was Sessions incorrect in his assessment? Did he quote Paul out of context or simply pervert or misrepresent what he wrote?
Well, first, let us take a look at the actual passage itself and then broaden our observation to see. Paul wrote,
(1) Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (2) Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (3) For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; (4) for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. (5) Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’s sake. (6) For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. (7) Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor (Rom. 13:1-7).
As can be seen, Sessions did not misquote the apostle Paul, per sé. He merely left out the additional six verses of the immediate context.
Moreover, Sessions did not misrepresent the apostle Paul, either.
All Christians are to be in submission to ‘governing authorities,” as they are to be equally in submission to God. God ordained the government officials.
The apostle Peter would assert as much when he wrote, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right” (1 Pet. 2:13-14).
Now, the broader context of Romans 13 is found back in Chapter 12:1-2, which is the start of Paul’s last section dealing with Christian behavior.
Paul’s admonition to the Roman audience is “to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice” coupled with the “renewing of the mind.”
Striving for both is not only acceptable to God, but is the Christian’s spiritual service for worship.
The end of the context is Romans 14:23, which deals with a prohibition of Christians judging each other’s faith and how the more mature Christian is to abstain from being a “stumbling block” to the immature Christian.
Couched in between is the Christian’s responsibility toward the civil authorities or the passage that too many want to grill Jeff Sessions on, even though his brief comment was correct, although not exhaustively exegetical.
More specifically, Christians should uphold the civil law on immigration, because it is good and right, and thwarts further lawlessness.
If one simply takes the time to listen to all of what Attorney General Sessions had to say, aside from the 14-second interlude, and then contrasts it with all the criticism hurled at him, one can easily come to the conclusion that his take on Romans 13 is not the real issue.
The real issue or underlying motivation for all the hostility is simply that the lawless and the ungodly will stop at nothing to push their evil agendas, even if that means pretending to be scholars of the Bible for a moment, while the rest of the time impugning the Bible as something less than toilet paper.
So, are all the Bible experts out there justified in their criticisms of Jeff Sessions? Again, absolutely not.
Christians are to be submissive to government authorities and especially civil law, if they expect to receive God’s blessing, as well as prevent being at odds with God.
It is a general mandate that all Christians should follow, not only to avoid God’s wrath, but also maintain a clear conscience before God.
God said so.
