1. Romans 13:1 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Are all governing authorities ordained by God?

Romans 13:1 (ESV)

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Yes, Romans 13:1 states that there is no authority except from God, and it is highly improbable that Paul is here consciously distinguishing legitimate authority from actual power here, as if Romans 13:1 is supposed to only refer to authorities that are legitimate. Paul is not here speaking about judicial or political legitimacy, but rather about divine ordination. It is the Lord who raises people up and humbles them. He appoints kings and causes them to fall. The Old Testament teaches this in many places, and it applies also to those outside of Israel and in Rome. Social relationships exist because God sovereignly causes them to exist at a particular time. It would be wrong to regard this as conferring a licence on authorities. All authorities will have to account to the Creator for how they exercised their authority, but it is not up to us human beings to judge. We must conform to the society that God allows and in it Christians must be a force of respect and love. Christians love their fellow human beings as God’s creatures and conform themselves to the authorities as God’s creation in society.1