17    The Christian’s Response to Government—part 2  Paying Taxes (13:6-7)

For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 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. (13:6–7)

No one enjoys paying taxes. But taxes are a part of everyday life. While it is appropriate for citizens, including Christians, to take advantage of deductions and other benefits that the law provides, no citizen, especially a Christian, is justified in circumventing payment of taxes by any means that is illegal or unethical.

Yet tax fraud is probably the most widespread crime in the United States. Some years ago, the Internal Revenue Service estimated that the gap between what was paid and what should have been paid in income taxes was $93 billion for the most recent year.

It goes without saying that all taxes are not just. The only completely just tax system the world has known was in the divinely-revealed Mosaic law of ancient Israel. But although their taxes were absolutely fair, the people soon discovered ways to cheat on them.

Many taxes that are justly levied are not justly spent by the government body that collects them. Yet, just as with submission to human government in general (Rom. 13:1–5), Paul makes no exception in verses 6–7 for a Christian’s paying all taxes that he is assessed.

As noted in the previous chapter, the Roman government of New Testament times was pagan, despotic, and often merciless. Some of its emperors declared themselves to be gods and demanded worship from every person in the empire. Also as noted before, the empire had many more slaves than freemen. During its latter years, Rome degenerated into a giant welfare state, in which fewer and fewer people worked for a living and more and more became dependent on the government. As in many countries today, those who worked had to pay increasingly higher taxes in order to support the growing number who did not work. And of special concern to Jews and Christians was the fact that part of the Roman taxes were used to support pagan temples and other religious institutions throughout the empire.

In Israel, as in most other parts of the empire, nationals of the country were appointed (usually after paying a high fee) as tax collectors and were given specified amounts to collect for Rome each year. They were free to charge virtually any rate they wanted and to collect taxes almost as often as they wanted, under the protection of Roman soldiers. Whatever they collected over the prescribed amount for Rome, they could keep for themselves. As would be expected, abuse was rampant, and because most of them were fellow countrymen, tax collectors often were more hated than the Roman officials and soldiers. The gospels vividly reveal how much the tax collector was despised in Israel (see, e.g., Matt. 9:10–11).

Such was the backdrop for Paul’s teaching about the Christian’s obligation regarding taxes. In two short verses he presents the principle (v. 6a), the purpose (v. 6b), and the particulars (v. 7).

THE PRINCIPLE

For because of this you also pay taxes, (13:6a)

For because of this refers, of course, to the previous five verses, in which Paul has set forth the Christian’s obligation to submit to human authority. The also indicates that paying taxes is part of that general obligation.

Phoros (taxes) most commonly was used of taxes paid by individuals, especially those paid by citizens of a subjugated nation to their foreign rulers. This levy probably was a combination income and property tax. The context, however, indicates that Paul used the term to represent taxes of all kinds, all of which the Christian is to pay.

Israel had long been familiar with oppressive and unjust taxation. While rebuilding Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah, the people complained bitterly about their heavy taxation by Persia, by whose permission the temple and the city walls were being rebuilt: “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards” (Neh. 5:4). Even their own kings sometimes overtaxed them. After the death of Solomon, the northern tribes petitioned his son and successor, Rehoboam, pleading, “Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings 12:4). But their request was in vain, and their taxes were raised still more. Rehoboam “spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, ‘My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke’” (v. 14). It was largely because of that grossly unjust tax policy that the northern tribes revolted and became a separate Jewish kingdom (see vv. 16–20).

Sometimes Jews were taxed by their own king for the purpose of his paying tribute, a form of extortion, demanded by an overlord nation. Such was the case when King Jehoiakim of Judah “exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco” (2 Kings 23:35).

The first biblical reference to taxation is found in the account of the great famine in the Near East when Joseph was made prime minister of Egypt. Because of the pharaoh’s dreams that symbolically depicted seven years of abundant crops followed by seven years of famine, Joseph ordered that, during the seven years of abundance, a fifth of the grain produced would be stored and kept in reserve, “so that the land may not perish during the famine” (Gen. 41:36, 48–49). Some years later, when another famine gripped that region, Joseph enacted a permanent law requiring that a fifth of the produce of the land henceforth be paid to the pharaoh each year (47:26). Because Joseph was so uniquely directed by God, it seems reasonable to assume that this standard of paying twenty percent tax to human government was at least divinely sanctioned, if not divinely authored.

As alluded to above, when God established the nation of Israel, He instituted a specific and detailed system of taxation for His chosen people. The first tax was a tithe, or tenth. “Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord” (Lev. 27:30). This tithe was devoted entirely to the support of the priestly tribe of Levi (see Num. 18:21–24), which had no land allocated to it and had no means of self-support. It was therefore sometimes referred to as the Levite’s tithe.

In addition to being the spiritual leaders of Israel, the priests, in particular the chief priests and high priest, were also the nation’s civil rulers. This tithe, therefore, was essentially a tax to support Israel’s theocratic government.

Another divinely-instituted tax was the annual festival tithe, which was used for sacrifices, for supporting the tabernacle and then the temple, for cultivating social and cultural life, and for fostering national unity (see Deut. 12:10–19).

It was for failure to contribute their tithes that the Lord strongly rebuked His people through Malachi, declaring, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8). He then gave the well-known promise: ‘“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows’” (Mal. 3:10).

A third tax also was a tithe, but since it was levied only every third year, it amounted to 3.3 percent a year. The proceeds were used to help “the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, [who] shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deut. 14:29).

The first tithe paid for government expenses, the second tithe was used for cultivating national life, and the triennial third tithe supported welfare services.

A fourth tax was used to support the tabernacle and temple. This annual half-shekel tax was levied on every male Israelite “twenty years old and over,” and was “a contribution to the Lord” (Ex. 30:14).

The Mosaic law also provided for two other taxes that were somewhat indirect. At the end of every season, Jews were required to leave some of their crops unharvested, allowing the remainder to be gleaned by the poor. “Now when you reap the harvest of your land,” the Lord instructed His people, “you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:10).

The second indirect tax required that every seventh year cultivated land was to lie fallow. Whatever crops might come up on their own during that year were to be left for the poor, and what remained after that was left for livestock to eat.

The total of those six taxes, all of which were mandatory, amounted to perhaps 24 percent a year.

By New Testament times, the tax situation in Israel was, of course, vastly different, first of all because of the Exile and second because of their subsequent subjugation to Greece and then Rome. But the Romans did allow the nation to levy certain religious taxes. When the tax collectors in Capernaum demanded the two-drachma temple tax of Jesus, He willingly paid it. In that instance He provided the money miraculously, by having Peter cast a line into the Sea of Galilee and catch a fish in whose mouth was a stater—a coin worth four drachmas, the exact amount needed to pay Jesus’ and Peter’s taxes (Matt. 17:24–27).

The force of Jesus’ example in this instance was especially compelling for His followers. He explained to Peter, in effect, that, as the Son of God, He had no obligation to pay a tax to support God’s own house (v. 26), but that, as the Son of Man, He did so in order not to give offense to the civil authorities and to be an example to His disciples (v. 27). His action on that occasion is all the more poignant in that the contribution went to the coffers of the high priest and chief priests, who, a short while later, would put Him to death. The money, in fact, went into the treasury of the temple, which had become so corrupt that Jesus had already cleansed it once of its moneychangers and sacrifice sellers (John 2:14–16) and would do so again shortly before His arrest and crucifixion (Matt. 21:12–13). It was even out of the temple treasury that thirty pieces of silver would be taken to bribe Judas into betraying Christ. Knowing all of that, Jesus paid the tax without hesitation or reservation.

As just noted, because the temple was the house of God, and because He was the Son of God, Jesus had no obligation to pay the temple tax. In somewhat the same way, Christians are not under obligation to give a specified amount to the work of their heavenly Father. In none of their forms do the tithe or other Old Testament levies apply to Christians. As far as the amount we are to give to the Lord, Paul advises, “On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper” (1 Cor. 16:2). And as for our attitude in giving, he says, “Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

In the week following Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Pharisees were determined to convict Him of a capital offense, and they “counseled together how they might trap Him in what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians.” The group addressed Jesus with mock flattery, “saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’” (Matt. 22:15–17).

Because Pharisees were fiercely nationalistic and hated the Romans, they knew that their bringing a charge of treason against Jesus would not likely be taken seriously by the Roman authorities. It was doubtless for that reason that they became coconspirators against Jesus with the Herodians, whom they normally had nothing to do with, because the Herodians were very much pro-Roman. And, as their name implies, the Herodians supported the Herod kings, who not only were vassals of Rome but also were despised Idumeans. The Pharisees therefore believed that a charge of treason brought by the Herodians would almost certainly result in Jesus’ conviction and execution. “But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s’” (Matt. 22:18–21).

Because Jesus knew His death was imminent, even the harshest critic could not accuse Him of making that reply in order to protect His well-being. He would have given the same answer at the beginning or during any part of His ministry. He was stating unequivocally that paying taxes to human government is a God-ordained obligation. The facts that Rome was despotic, pagan, often unjust, and even the fact that the caesar depicted on that particular coin was Augustus—who called himself the son of god—did not abrogate the obligation. Taxes are to be paid.

THE PURPOSE

for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. (13:6b)

Government authorities, here referred to collectively as rulers, have a much greater responsibility than they and the rest of the unbelieving world realize. Regardless of their political rank, personal qualification, or even their morality, spirituality, or personal awareness, officials who collect taxes are servants of God. Like every other civil officer, the tax collector “is a minister of God … for good” (13:4), and it is for that reason that we are to pay our taxes.

Servants does not translate doulos, the most common New Testament term for servant, but leitourgos, which originally was used of a person who served in a public office at his own expense, and it was later used of all officials, much in the same sense that the term public servant is used today. Elsewhere in the New Testament, however, this word is sometimes rendered minister, and is used of angels (Christ’s “ministers,” Heb. 1:7, 14), of Paul himself (“a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles,” Rom. 15:16), and even of Christ (“a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man,” Heb. 8:2). It is doubtless because leitourgos was used in the New Testament and in the early church to represent a religious servant, a minister of God, that it eventually came into the English language as liturgy, which refers to a prescribed religious service.

Having been the most zealous of Pharisees (Phil. 3:5–6), Paul (then known as Saul) doubtless had chafed fiercely under the despised Roman rule and resented every denarius he was forced to pay for its support. But now that he was submissive to Christ as His Lord, he knew that he must also be submissive to the institution of government, which his Lord had ordained. His point in the present text, therefore, is that, because their authority is from God, all civil servants—from the least to the greatest, from the best to the worst—also are servants of God. Despite the fact that the great majority of civil leaders would reject the idea that they are devoting themselves to God’s service, Paul makes clear that they nevertheless represent a divine institution as well as a human mission.

Near the end of the first century, no doubt thinking of the severe persecution by the emperor Nero, and more recently by Domitian, Clement of Rome (possibly the fellow worker Paul mentions in Philippians 4:3) prayed the following prayer:

Justin Martyr, the second-century theologian and church Father, wrote to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, “Everywhere we [Christians], more readily than all men, endeavour to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by [Jesus]. … Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment” (“The First Apology of Justin,” chapter 27 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, ed. [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, rep. 1973, p. 168).

During a time when Rome was especially hostile toward Christians, a later church Father, Tertullian, wrote, “Without ceasing, for all our emperors we offer prayer. We pray for life prolonged; for security to the empire; for protection to the imperial house; for brave armies, a faithful senate, a virtuous people, the world at rest, whatever, as man or Caesar, an emperor would wish” (“Apology,” chapter 30 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 42).

Such respect for human government was the norm in the early church long before the Roman Empire was “Christianized.”

As noted in the previous chapter, Christians have every right to use whatever legal recourse may be available to contest a civil law or policy, including what they consider to be wrongful tax assessments. But when those appeals have been exhausted, we are obligated to pay whatever final amount the government demands, even if it is unjust or excessive.

It is important for Christians to remind their leaders that civil responsibilities are a divine trust, granted and superintended by God. We should remind them of, and remember ourselves, the many declarations in the Psalms of God’s sovereign rule over the affairs of men. In Psalm 92:8, He is addressed with the words, “Thou, 0 Lord, art on high forever.” In 93:1–2 the psalmist speaks of God as the supreme and eternal Ruler: “The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Thy throne is established from of old; Thou art from everlasting.”

When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon boasted, “Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” the Lord brought immediate judgment on his arrogant self-esteem. “While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes’” (Dan. 4:30–32). The once proud monarch was sincerely humbled and confessed, “I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Dan. 4:34).

Christians need to affirm before the world that God is the ultimate and only Sovereign. We should respectfully remind our human leaders that the Lord “chastens the nations” (Ps. 94:10), and that “He is coming to judge the earth; [that] He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (Ps. 98:9). As His people, we should “tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens” (Ps. 96:3–5).

Robert Culver is correct in saying,

Standards based on majority opinion are, by definition, subject to the changes and whims of the individuals who comprise the majority. What is considered a crime one day may be seen as satisfactory behavior the next, and vice versa.

The founding fathers of the United States were well aware of that danger, and the furthest thing from their minds was establishing a system of government that did not recognize God’s Word as the basis of good civil law, not to mention a government that would exclude Him altogether. Whenever the principles of government are detached from God and are not seen as a reflection of His divine mind, justice suffers to the extent that He is disregarded.

Christians should choose government officials who are faithful to their civic responsibilities. It is certainly desirable to have genuine Christians in public office, but the mere fact of being a Christian does not qualify a person for any public position. In some cases, a non-Christian may be more qualified for public service than his Christian opponent.

As servants of God, civil authorities not only should realize that they serve by God’s sovereign permission but that they are therefore held accountable by Him for serving responsibly on behalf of society.

The Lord requires humility in government leaders, perhaps the most uncommon characteristic found among them, especially among those who wield considerable power. God promises to “put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless” (Isa. 13:11).

The Lord also requires justice, mercy, and compassion. Speaking of an unidentified king of Babylon, He declared, “How the oppressor has ceased, and how fury has ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. … Your pomp and the music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol” (Isa. 14:4–6, 11).

Daniel rebuked Nebuchadnezzar for his pride (Dan. 4:25) and for his not “showing mercy to the poor” (v. 27). He rebuked Belshazzar for his indolence, laziness, stupidity, blasphemy, sacrilege, drunkenness, pride, and for failing to glorify God (Dan. 5).

The Lord requires that rulers maintain order by just and firm enforcement of the law. The Old Testament repeatedly indicted kings, governors, and other officials for not doing so. When the people of Judah reneged on their covenant with the Lord to release all Jewish slaves after six years of service, they were not punished by King Zedekiah and the other civil authorities. God therefore declared a terrible judgment on those officials for their dereliction of duty, as well as on the disobedient slave owners they failed to chastise (Dan. 34:12–22). Refusal to release such slaves was one of the sins for which God delivered Judah into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who at that very time was preparing to lay siege to Jerusalem (Dan. 34:1–3).

In addition to those standards, the Lord charges rulers not to seek their own welfare at the expense of their subjects. Through Isaiah, He warned the leaders of Judah, “Woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who constantly record unjust decisions, so as to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of My people of their rights, in order that widows may be their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans” (Isa. 10:1–2).

God warned the oppressive and unjust King Jehoiakim of Judah:

Contrary to the practice of Jehoiakim, rulers are to sympathize with the needs of their people and to show them kindness by relieving their suffering and want. They are to be like King Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, who “did justice and righteousness” and “pled the cause of the afflicted and needy” (vv. 15–16).

The Lord demands truthfulness from human rulers, and they are subject to His divine wrath when their lies lead the people astray (Amos 2:4).

Finally, civil authorities are accountable for enforcing public morality and decency. The Lord sent Jonah to Nineveh to “cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me” (Jonah 1:2).

Although Christians are to be submissive to civil leaders, they also are compelled, like those prophets, to speak out against authority that is unrighteous.

THE PARTICULARS

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. (13:7)

In his final comment on the Christian’s submission to human government, Paul mentions several particulars about paying taxes.

First, we are to render to all what is due them. Apodidōmi (render) carries the idea of paying back something that is owed, and that meaning is reinforced by the phrase what is due them. Taxes are not voluntary or optional offerings given for the support of government, and paying them is the unqualified obligation of every citizen. Christians not only have a moral but a spiritual responsibility to pay taxes, because they know, or should know, that God requires it of them. Cheating on taxes is a crime against government and a sin against God.

This tax (phoros) is the same term mentioned in verse 6, probably referring to a combination income and property tax paid by individuals to their foreign rulers, which made its payment particularly onerous. Yet the command is clear: Christians are to pay tax to everyone to whom tax is due.

The custom (telos) was a form of toll or goods tax, paid directly to Roman governors or procurators or to their vassals, such as King Herod. Assessments such as those are also to be paid unbegrudgingly to whom they are legally due.

The next two obligations mentioned in this verse do not relate to paying taxes but to a Christian’s attitude toward public officials.

First, Paul says, we are to render fear to whom fear is due. Phobos (fear) was used to refer to everything from awe to abject terror. In this context, it probably means having sincere respect for civil authorities who collect taxes.

Second, we are to render honor to whom honor is due. Timē (honor) refers to high esteem that is genuine, not feigned or merely pretended. The honor we render to those in authority, including those who collect taxes from us, should itself be honorable.

In his Epistle to Diognetus, an anonymous second-century Christian wrote the following beautiful description of believers who genuinely obey the divine commands of Romans 13:1–7: