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ROM. XIII. 1.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers."
Of this subject he makes much account in other epistles also, setting
subjects under their rulers as household servants are under their
masters. And this he does to show that it was not for the subversion
of the commonwealth that Christ introduced His laws, but for the
better ordering of it, and to teach men not to be taking up unnecessary
and unprofitable wars. For the plots that are formed against us for
the truth's sake are sufficient and we have no need to be adding
temptations superfluous and unprofitable. And observe too how
well-timed his entering upon this subject is. For when he had
demanded that great spirit of heroism, and made men fit to deal either
with friends or foes, and rendered them serviceable alike to the
prosperous and those in adversity and need, and in fact to all, and
had planted a conversation worthy of angels, and had discharged anger,
and taken down recklessness, and had in every way made their mind
even, he then introduces his exhortation upon these matters also. For
if it be right to requite those that injure us with the opposite, much
more is it our duty to obey those that are benefactors to us. But this
he states toward the end of his exhortation, and hitherto does not
enter on these reasonings which I mention, but those only that enjoin
one to do this as a matter of debt. And to show that these regulations
are for all, even for priests, and monks, and not for men of secular
occupations only, he hath made this plan at the outset, by saying as
follows: "let every soul be subject unto the higher powers," if thou
be an Apostle even, or an Evangelist, or a Prophet, or anything
whatsoever, inasmuch as this subjection is not subversive of religion.
And he does not say merely "obey," but "be subject." And the
first claim such an enactment has upon us, and the reasoning that
suiteth the faithful, is, that all this is of God's appointment.
"For there is no power," he says, "but of God." What say you?
it may be said; is every ruler then elected by God? This I do not
say, he answers. Nor am I now speaking about individual rulers, but
about the thing in itself. For that there should be rulers, and some
rule and others be ruled, and that all things should not just be
carried on in one confusion, the people swaying like waves in this
direction and that; this, I say, is the work of God's wisdom.
Hence he does not say, "for there is no ruler but of God;" but it
is the thing he speaks of, and says, "there is no power but of God.
And the powers that be, are ordained of God." Thus when a certain
wise man saith, "It is by the Lord that a man is matched with a
woman" (Prov. xix. 14, LXX.), he means this, God made
marriage, and not that it is He that joineth together every man that
cometh to be with a woman. For we see many that come to be with one
another for evil, even by the law of marriage, and this we should not
ascribe to God. But as He said Himself, "He which made them at
the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause
shah a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and
they twain shall be one flesh." (Matt. xix. 4, 5; Gen. ii.
24.) And this is what that wise man meant to explain. For since
equality of honor does many times lead to fightings, He hath made many
governments and forms of subjection; as that, for instance, of man
and wife, that of son and father, that of old men and young, that of
bond and free, that of ruler and ruled, that of master and disciple.
And why are you surprised in the case of mankind, when even in the
body He hath done the same thing? For even here He hath not made all
parts of equal honor, but He hath made one less and another greater,
and some of the limbs hath He made to rule and some to be ruled. And
among the unreasoning creatures one may notice this same principle, as
amongst bees, amongst cranes, amongst herds of wild cattle. And even
the sea itself is not without this goodly subordination; for there too
many of the clans are ranged under one among the fishes, and are led
thus as an army, and make long expeditions from home. For anarchy,
be where it may, is an evil, and a cause of confusion. After having
said then whence governments come, he proceeds, "Whosoever therefore
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." See what he
has led the subject on to, and how fearful he makes it, and how he
shows this to be a matter of debt. For lest the believers should say,
You are making us very cheap and despicable, when you put us, who are
to enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven, under subjection to rulers, he shows
that it is not to rulers, but to God again that he makes them subject
in doing this. For it is to Him, that he who subjects himself to
authorities is obedient. Yet he does not say this--for instance that
it is God to Whom a man who listens to authorities is obedient--but
he uses the opposite case to awe them, and gives it a more precise form
by saying, that he who listeneth not thereto is fighting with God,
Who framed these laws. And this he is in all cases at pains to show,
that it is not by way of favor that we obey them, but by way of debt.
For in this way he was more likely to draw the governors who were
unbelievers to religion, and the believers to obedience. For there
was quite a common report in those days (Tert. Ap. 1, 31,
32), which maligned the Apostles, as guilty of a sedition and
revolutionary scheme, and as aiming in all they did and said at the
subversion of the received institutions. When then you show our common
Master giving this in charge to all His, you will at once stop the
mouths of those that malign us as revolutionists, and with great
boldness will speak for the doctrines of truth. Be not then ashamed,
he says, at such subjection. For God hath laid down this law, and
is a strong Avenger of them if they be despised. For it is no common
punishment that He will exact of thee, if thou disobey, but the very
greatest; and nothing will exempt thee, that thou canst say to the
contrary, but both of men thou shalt undergo the most severe
vengeance, and there shall be no one to defend thee, and thou wilt
also provoke God the more. And all this he intimates when he says,
"And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." Then
to show the gain of the thing after the fear, he uses reasons too to
persuade them as follows:
Ver. 3. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the
evil."
For when he has given a deep wound, and stricken them down, he again
uses gentler treatment, like a wise physician, who applies soothing
medicines, and he comforts them, and says, why be afraid? why
shudder? For does he punish a person that is doing well? Or is he
terrible to a person who lives in the practice of virtue? Wherefore
also he proceeds, "Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do
that which is good, and thou shall have praise of the same."
You see how he has made him friends (wkeiwsen) with the ruler, by
showing that he even praises him from his throne. You see how he has
made wrath unmeaning.
Ver. 4. "For he is the minister of God to thee for good."
So far is he from terrifying thee, he says, that he even praises
thee: so far from being a hindrance to thee, that he even works with
thee. When then thou hast his praise and his succor, how is it that
thou art not in subjection to him? For he maketh virtue easier for
thee in other ways also, by chastising the wicked, by benefiting and
honoring the good, and by working together with the will of God.
Whence too he has even given him the name of "Minister." And
consider: I give you counsel to be sober-minded, and he, by the
laws, speaks the same language. I exhort you not to be rapacious and
grasping. And he sits in judgment in such cases, and so is a worker
together with us, and an assistant to us, and has been commissioned by
God for this end. Hence there are both reasons for reverencing him,
both because he was commissioned by God, and because it was for such
an object. "But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid." It is
not then the ruler that maketh the fear, but our own wickedness.
"For he beareth not the sword in vain." You see how he hath
furnished him with arms, and set him on guard like a soldier, for a
terror to those that commit sin. "For he is the minister of God to
execute wrath, a re venger upon him that doeth evil." Now lest you
should start off at hearing again of punishment, and vengeance, and a
sword, he says again that it is God's law he is carrying out. For
what if he does not know it himself? yet it is God that hath so shaped
things (outws etupwsen). If then, whether in punishing, or in
honoring, he be a Minister, in avenging virtue's cause, in driving
vice away, as God willeth, why be captious against him, when he is
the cause of so many good doings, and paves the way for thine too?
since there are many who first practised virtue through the fear of
God. For there are a duller sort, whom things to come have not such
a hold upon as things present. He then who by fear and rewards gives
the soul of the majority a preparatory turn towards its becoming more
suited for the word of doctrine, is with good reason called "the
Minister of God."
Ver. 5. "Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath
but also for conscience sake."
What is the meaning of, "not only for wrath?" It means not only
because thou dost resist God by not being subject, nor only because
thou art procuring great evils for thyself, both from God and the
rulers, but also because he is a benefactor to thee in things of the
greatest importance, as he procures peace to thee, and the blessings
of civil institutions. For there are countless blessings to states
through these authorities; and if you were to remove them, all things
would go to ruin, and neither city nor country, nor private nor public
buildings, nor anything else would stand, but all the world will be
turned upside down, while the more powerful devour the weaker. And so
even if some wrath were not to follow man's disobedience, even on this
ground thou oughtest to be subject, that thou mayest not seem devoid of
conscience and feeling towards the benefactor.
Ver. 6. "For, for this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are
God's ministers, attending continually on this very thing."
Without going one by one into the benefits done to states by the
rulers, as that of good order and peace, the other services, as
regarding the soldiery, and those over the public business, he shows
the whole of this by a single case. For that thou art benefited by
him, he means, thou bearest witness thyself, by paying him a salary.
Observe the wisdom and judgment of the blessed Paul. For that which
seemed to be burdensome and annoying --the system of imposts--this
he turns into a proof of their care for men. What is the reason, he
means, that we pay tribute to a king? It is not as providing for us?
And yet we should not have paid it unless we had known in the first
instance that we were gainers from this superintendence. Yet it was
for this that from of old all men came to an agreement that governors
should be maintained by us, because to the neglect of their own
affairs, they take charge of the public, and on this they spend their
whole leisure, whereby our goods also are kept safe. After saying
then what the external goods are, he again averts to the former line of
argument (for in this way he was more likely to attract the believer to
him), and he shows again that this is God's decree, and on it he
makes his advice rest finally, in these words, "they are God's
ministers." Then to show the pains they take, and their hard life,
he proceeds, "Waiting continually upon this very thing."
For this is their life, this their business, that thou mayest enjoy
peace.
Wherefore in another Epistle, he bids them not only be subject, but
also "pray" in their behalf. And as showing there too that the
advantage was common to all, he adds, "that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all things." (1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.) For it is
in no small degree that they contribute to the settled state of the
present life, by keeping guard, beating off enemies, hindering those
who are for sedition in the cities, putting an end to differences among
any. For do not tell me of some one who makes an ill use of the
thing, but look to the good order that is in the institution itself,
and you will see the great wisdom of Him who enacted this law from the
first.
Ver. 7, 8. "Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom
tribute, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom
honor. Owe (or ye owe) no man anything, but to love one another."
He still keeps upon the same line, bidding them pay them not money
only, but honor and fear. And how is it when he said above, "Wilt
thou not be afraid of the power? do that which is good;" that he here
says "render fear?" He does it meaning exceeding honor, and not the
fear which comes from a bad conscience, which he alluded to before And
it is not "give," that he says, but "ren der" (or "give back,"
apodote), and then adds to it, the "dues." For it is not a favor
that you confer by so doing, since the thing is matter of due. And if
you do it not, you will be punished as Obstinate. Do not suppose
that you are lowering yourself, and detracting from the dignity of your
own philosophy, if you rise up at the presence of a ruler, or if you
uncover your head. For if he laid these laws down at that time, when
the rulers were Gentiles, much more ought this to be done with them
now they are believers. But if you mean to say, that you are
entrusted with greater privileges, be informed that this is not thy
time. For thou art a stranger and a sojourner. A time will be when
thou shalt appear brighter than all. Now thy "life is hid with
Christ in God. When Christ shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory" (Col. iii. 3, 4.) Seek not then in this
life of accidents thy change, but even if thou hast to be with fear in
a ruler's presence, do not think that this is unworthy thy noble
birth. For so God willeth, that the ruler who has his place marked
by Him, should have his own power; And when he who is conscious of
no evil in himself, stands with fear in the judge's presence, much
more will he who doth evil things be affrighted, and thou in this way
wilt be the more respected. For it is not from honoring that the
lowering of self comes but from dis-honoring him. And the ruler will
treat thee with greater respect, and he will glorify thy Master owing
to this, even if he be an unbeliever. "Owe no man anything, but to
love one another. Again he has recourse to the mother of good deeds,
and the instructress of the things spoken of, who is also productive of
every virtue, and says that this is a debt also, not however such as
the tribute or the custom, but a continuous one. For he does not wish
it ever to be paid off, or rather he would have it always rendered,
yet never fully so, but to be always owing. For this is the character
of the debt, that one keeps giving and owing always. Having said then
how he ought to love, he also shows the gain of it, saying, "For he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law."
And do not, pray, consider even this a favor; for this too is a
debt. For thou owest love to thy brother, through thy spiritual
relationship. And not for this only, but also because "we are
members one of another." And if love leave us, the whole body is
rent in pieces. Love therefore thy brother. For if from his
friendship thou gainest so much as to fulfil the whole Law, thou owest
him love as being benefited by him.
Ver. 9. "For this, Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall
not kill, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall not bear false witness,
and any other commandment, is briefly comprehended in this saying,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
He does not say merely it is fulfilled, but "it is briefly
comprehended, that is, the whole work of the commandments is concisely
and in a few words completed. For the beginning and the end of virtue
is love. This it has for its root, this for its groundwork, this for
its summit. If then it be both beginning and fulfilment, what is
there equal to it? But he does not seek love merely, but intense
love. For he does not say merely "love thy neighbor" but, "as
thyself." Hence also Christ said that "the Law and the Prophets
hang upon" it. And in making two kinds of love, see how He has
raised this! For after saying that the first commandment is, "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God," He added a second; and He did not
stay, but added, "like unto it; Thou shall love thy neighbor as
thyself." What can be equal to this love to man, or this
gentleness? That when we were at infinite distance from Him, He
brings the love to us into comparison with that toward Himself, and
says that "is like unto this." Hence then, to put the measures of
either as nearly the same, of the one He says, "with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul," but of this towards one's neighbor, He
says, "as thyself." But Paul said, that when this did not exist
even the other was of no great profit to us. As their we, when we are
fond of any one, say, if you love him, then you love me; so He also
to show this saith, "is like unto it;" and to Peter, "If thou
lovest Me, feed My sheep." (John xxi. 16.)
Ver. 10. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is
the fulfilling of the Law."
Observe how it has both virtues, abstinence from evils (for it
"worketh no ill," he says), and the working of good deeds. "For
it is," he says, "the fulfilling (or filling up) of the Law;"
not bringing before us instruction only on moral duties in a concise
form, but making the accomplishment of them easy also. For that we
should become acquainted with things profitable to us was not alI that
he was careful for (which is the Law's care), but also with a view
to the doing of them it brought us great assistance; accomplishing not
some part of the commandments, but the whole sum of virtue in us. Let
us then love one another, since in this way we shall also love God,
Who loveth us. For in the case of men, if you love a man's
beloved, he that loveth him is contentious at it. But here He
deemeth thee worthy to share His love, and hateth thee when thou
sharest not. For man's love is laden with envy and grudging; but
God's is free from all passion, whence also He seeketh for those to
share His love. For He says, love thou with Me, and then thyself
also will I love the more. You see the words of a vehement lover!
If thou love My beloved, then will I also reckon Myself to be
greatly beloved of thee. For He vehemently desireth our salvation,
and this He showed from of old. Now hear what He saith when He was
forming the man, "Let Us make man in Our Image:" and again,
"Let Us make an help meet for him. It is not good for him to be
alone." (Gen. i. 26.) And when he had transgressed, He
rebuked him, observe how gently; and He does not say, Wretch! thou
very wretch! after receiving so great benefits, hast thou after all
trusted to the devil? and left thy Benefactor, to take up with the
evil spirit? But what saith He? "Who told thee that thou art
naked, unless thou hast eaten of the Tree, from which alone I
commanded thee not to eat?" (ib. iii. 11.) As if a father were
to say to a child, who was ordered not to touch a sword, and then
disobeyed and got wounded, "How camest thou wounded? Thou camest so
by not listening to me." You see they are the words of a friend
rather than a master, of a friend despised, and not even then
forsaking. Let us then imitate Him, and when we rebuke, let us
preserve this moderation. For even the woman He also rebuketh again
with the same gentleness. Or rather what He said was not so much
rebuke as admonition and correction, and security against the future.
This is why He saith nothing to the serpent. For he was the designer
of the mischiefs, and had it not in his power to put off the accusation
on any one else, wherefore He punished him severely: and even here
He did not come to a pause, but made the earth also to share in the
curse. But if He cast them out of paradise, and condemned them to
labor, even for this we ought to adore and reverence Him the most.
For since self-indulgence issues in listlessness, He trenches upon
the pleasure by building a fort of pain against listlessness, that we
may return to the love of Him. And what of Cain's case? Doth he
not meet with the same gentleness? For being by him also insulted,
He doth not reproach (same word as insult) in return, but entreats,
(or comforts) him, and says, "Why is thy countenance fallen?"
(Gen. iv. 6.) And yet what he had done allowed of no excuse
whatever. And this the younger brother shows. But still even then
He doth not rebuke him: but what saith He? "Hast thou sinned:
keep peace;" "do so no more." "To thee shall his turning be, and
thou shalt rule over him" (ib. 7, LXX.), meaning his
brother. "For if thou art afraid, lest for this sacrifice," He
means, "I should deprive thee of the pre minence of the first-born,
be of good cheer, for the entire command over him do I put into thy
hands. Only be thou better, and love him that hath done thee no
wrong; for I have an interest in you both. And what maketh Me most
glad is, that ye be not at variance one with another." For as a
devoted mother, so doth God do and plan everything to keep one from
being torn from another; but that you may get a clearer view, by an
example, of my meaning, call to your mind, pray, Rebecca in her
trouble, and running about everywhere, when the elder son was at
enmity with the younger. For if she loved Jacob, still she did not
feel averse to Esau. And therefore she said, Lest by any means "I
be deprived of both of you, my children, in one day." (ib. xxvii.
45.) Therefore also God upon that occasion said, "Thou hast
sinned: be at peace: unto thee shall his turning be" (ib. iv.
7), so repressing the murder beforehand, and aiming at the peace of
them both. But when he had murdered him, He did not even then bring
His care for him to a close, but again answers the fratricide in
gentle terms, saying, "Where is thy brother Abel?" that even
now, if he would, he might make a full confession. But he struggled
in defence of his former misdeeds, with a greater and sadder
shamelessness. But even then God doth not leave him, but again
speaks the language of an iujured and despised lover, and says, "The
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me." (Gen. iv. 10.)
And again He rebukes the earth with the murderer, turning His wrath
off to it, and saying, "Cursed be the earth, which opened her mouth
to receive thy brother's blood" (ib. ii.); and doing like those
who lament (anakalountas), as David also did when Saul was fallen.
For he made an address to the mountains which received him as he died,
in the words, "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there fall on you
neither rain nor dew, because there were the shields of the mighty cast
away." (2 Sam i. 21.) And thus God also, as though singing
some solitary dirge (monwdian), saith, "The voice of thy
brother's blood crieth unto Me and now art thou cursed from the earth
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy
hand." And this He said to humble his fiery passion, and to
persuade him to love him at least now he was gone. Hast thou
extinguished his life? He would say; why dost thou not now extinguish
the hatred also? But what doth He do? He loveth both the one and
the other, since He made them both. What then? doth (4 Mss.
will) He let the murderer go unpunished? Nay, he would but have
grown worse. Will He punish him then? Nay, He hath more
tenderness than a father. See then how He at once punisheth and also
displays, even in this, His love. Or rather, He doth not so much
as punish, but only corrects. For He doth not kill him, but only
fetters him with trembling, that he may divest himself of the crime,
that so at least he may come back to a natural tenderness for the
other, and that so at last he may make a truce with him now he hath
gone; for He were fain he should not go away to the other world in
enmity with him that was deceased. This is the way wherein they that
love, when in doing acts of kindness they meet with no love in return,
are led on to be vehement and to threaten, not with their will indeed,
but led by their love to do this: that at least in this way they may
win over those that scorn them. Yet affection of this sort is one of
compulsion, and still this even solaces them, through the vehemency of
their love. And so punishment itself comes from affection, since
unless pained at being hated, they would not choose to punish either.
Now observe, how this is what Paul says to the Corinthians. For
"who is he" (says he) "that maketh me glad, but the same which is
made sorry by me?" (2 Cor. ii. 2.) And so when he is going to
the full extent of punishment, then he shows his love. Thus the
Egyptian woman too, from her vehement love, as vehemently punished
Joseph: and she indeed did so for mischief, the love being unchaste;
but God for good, since the love was worthy of Him who loved. This
is why He does not refuse even to condescend to grosser words, and to
speak the names of human passions, and to call Himself jealous. For
"I am a jealous God" (Ex. xx. 5), He saith, that you may
learn the intenseness of the love. Let us then love Him as He would
have us: for He sets great store thereby. And if we turn away, He
keepeth inviting us, and if we will not be converted, He chasteneth
us through His affection, not through a wish to exact punishment of
us. And see what He saith in Ezekiel to the city that was beloved,
yet had despised Him. "I will bring thy lovers against thee, and
will deliver thee into their hands, and they shall stone thee, and
shall slay thee, and My jealousy shall be taken away from thee, and
I will rest, and I will not trouble Myself any more."
(From Ezek. xvi. 37-42.) What more than this could a
vehement lover have said, when despised by his beloved, and after all
again ardently loving her? For God doeth everything that He may be
loved by us, and owing to this He spared not even His Son. But we
are unbending, and savage. Yet let us become gentle at last, and
love God as we ought to love Him, that we may with pleasure enjoy
virtue. For if any that hath a beloved wife does not perceive any of
the vexations that come day by day, He that loveth with this divine
and pure love, only consider what great pleasure he will have to
enjoy! For this is, indeed it is, the kingdom of Heaven; this is
fruition of good things, and pleasure, and cheerfulness, and joy,
and blessedness. Or rather, say as many things as I may, I shall
still be unable to give you any such representation of it as should be,
but the trial of it alone can give a knowledge of this goodly thing.
Wherefore also the Prophet saith, "Delight thyself in the Lord"
(Ps. xxxvii. 4), and, "Taste and see that the Lord is
gracious." (Ib. xxxiv. 8.)
Let us then be persuaded, and indulge ourselves in His love. For in
this way we shall both see His Kingdom even from out of this life,
and shall be living the life of Angels, and while we abide on earth,
we shall be in as goodly a condition as they that dwell in heaven; and
after our departing hence, shall stand the brightest of beings by the
judgment-seat of Christ, and shall enjoy that glory unutterable,
which may we all attain unto, by the grace and love toward man of our
Lord Jesus Christ. For to Him is the glory forever, Amen.
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