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What we have in Romans 13:6-7 is the watershed, the benchmark passage on the believer's relation to government. It is also an unqualified statement to say that every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, whoever and whatever they may be. Part of that comes down to the practical matter of paying taxes. I know it is sort of a basic human right to complain about paying taxes. Whether you pay a little or a lot, we think it is a privilege to complain about paying taxes. This matter of taxes is before us all the time. Every time you put gas in your car, every time you purchase something, every time you eat out, you become very much aware of taxes. So it is easy to understand why taxes seem burdensome and distasteful.
We are also aware that our National government uses our tax money to do things that we would not want them to do if we had a choice. Today, more crimes are committed in the category of income tax than any other category. Statistics show that maybe a third of all people cheat on their income taxes and over half of us think 50% of people do. Just a few years ago our government had to hire 5,100 IRS agents to find the cheaters and attempt to recover the billions of dollars defrauded from the government.
Yet the word of God commands us to pay taxes and also understands it can be burdensome. Yet, it wasn't any different in New Testament times. The Roman government of Paul's day deified Caesar; they ran a welfare system, supported slavery and used government money to sponsor pagan rituals and worship. In fact, there was no such thing as separation of church and state. Tax collectors in Jesus' day were essentially criminals who used extortion to charge people more than what was required by the government. So don't assume if you lived when this passage was written, you would have been in a better situation concerning taxes. So, though our taxes are burdensome, they are not nearly as bad as other cultures and other societies and other nations throughout history.
So, what does the word of God say about taxes? First is the principle. V.1 says we are to be subject to governing authorities that were ordained by God for this place at this time and this people in history. We are to pay taxes. It is unqualified and a simple command. Pay tax to whom tax is due. Taxation is not new; in fact it is very old. In Nehemiah 5:4 it says, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax and that on our lands and vineyards." I mean they did not even have enough money to pay their taxes so they had to borrow in order to pay. That is what I call burdensome and oppressive. When the Jews were trying to rebuild the city of Jerusalem after leaving captivity, there was a group of people who did not think the Jews should have been released and their primary argument is found In Ezra 4:13 where we read, "Let it be known unto the king that if this city is built and the walls set up, they will not pay their tax." In I Kings 12:3 the people cried out to king Rehoboam to lighten the load of taxes. In II Kings 23:35, Pharaoh placed his own king in the land of Israel and then taxed the land. So taxes were always burdensome and could be oppressive. That has been true throughout human history and yet the command stands, pay your taxes. When did this idea of taxes begin? In Gen. 41, Pharaoh had a dream about seven thin cows devouring seven fat cows and the thin ears of grain eating the fat ears. Joseph interpreted the dream to mean that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine so Joseph developed an income tax designed by God. The tax was 25%. By the time you get to Gen. 47, it became law and was the first institution of an income tax established by the national government and became the basic standard for the American Income tax.
Since government is the institution of God and has the duty to protect those who do good and punish those who do evil, it has to be supported by the people through taxation. In the time of Moses, during the theocratic kingdom which God established in Israel, there was the first tithe required in Lev. 27:30-33. The word tithe means a tenth. It was also called the Levites tithe because it supported the tribe of Levi who had no land and served the people in religious, judicial and civil matters. In Deut. 12, another tithe was required, called the Festival tithe, to provide necessary resources for national festivals. Then in Deut. 14:28, there was instituted a welfare tithe to be collected every three years. So you now had 23 1/3 tax. These three taxes provided for government salaries, provisions for national life and took care of those in need. But there was more. In Lev. 19:9-10, you could not harvest the corners of your fields so they could be collected by the poor and according to Ex. 23 you had to let the land rest. In a sense, that was a tax because it deprived you of earning and income. Then in Neh. 10 and Ex. 30, there was a coin tax to be paid at the temple which was a third of a shekel, which was reduced for a ½ shekel.
So now you have 23 1/3, plus the corners of your field, plus let the land rest every seven years, plus the temple tax. This had nothing to do with freewill giving. That was all separate. Freewill giving, which is what you do every Sunday, is to give what is in your heart, whatever you desire to bring out of your wealth, and whatever you want to give. So in Malachi 3:8 when God says you are robbing me by not paying your tithes, he is talking about paying your taxes, not a freewill offering.
Did Jesus pay taxes? Yes he did even though he should have been exempt, right. That is what he says in Matt. 17:24. But then he adds, go throw a hook into the sea Simon and take the first fish you hook and open its mouth and you will find a shekel and take it and give it to them for you and me. Why did he do that? He says so we do not offend them. And he knew that the temple taxes he paid were going to be distributed to fund a corrupt religious system and in fact, fund the very people that were plotting to kill him. He supported the government because the government was an institution of God. The Herodians and the Pharisees even tried to trap him once when they asked him. "Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar, or not?"
The Romans had a land tax, a grain tax, an oil tax, a wine tax, a tax on transporting goods, a 1% wage tax but the poll tax was a tax for just being there. How did Jesus respond? He asked for a denarius and said whose inscription is on this coin. It was Caesar's. Thus, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. Essentially, pay your taxes. We owe the government taxes. Paying taxes is an act of submission to governing authorities. It doesn't matter what the nature of the government is, it was established to protect good people and punish evil people. Think about it, without a government, all hell would break loose, anarchy and death would reign. So that is the principle of taxation.
What is the purpose or reasoning for government? v.4 says it is a minister of God to you for good, and if you do what is evil, you should be afraid because it doesn't bear the sword for nothing. Government can be an avenger for God. And might I add that there are elements within the tax purpose to help those who cannot help themselves, not those that will not. Government agents are not ministers of the gospel but they are ministers of God. They are not spiritual leaders but they do provide a divine service. Government is by divine design and divine decree and resistance to government is resistance to God.
So police and those who serve in the military are government agents and ministers of God. Police deal with internal evil and military deal with external evil. When Christians were being severely persecuted, Justin Martyr wrote, "Everywhere we more readily than all men endeavor to pay to those appointed to you both the taxes ordinary and extraordinary as we have been taught by Jesus. We worship only God but in other things we will gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men and praying that with your kingly power you may be bound to use good judgment." Even when they were persecuted they prayed for their leaders. Tertullian, an early church father, wrote, "Without ceasing for all our emperors we offer prayer, for the security of the Empire, for protection for the family of the emperor, for brave armies, a faithful senate and a virtuous people."
Doesn't God set any standards for government and its rulers? Yes, he does. (1) to know they serve a divine purpose. Doesn't mean they are godly, they maybe evil as one can be but they are there because God placed them there, and they will give an account to God for their own personal immorality and sin. (2) They are to be humble, serious, diligent, and truthful according to Isaiah 13-14. It would be an interesting phenomenon if all the authorities in our nation would just tell the truth. (3) they should maintain order by just and firm law enforcement. Failure to enforce the law is a crime among rulers. (4) They are warned not to seek their own welfare Jer. 22. (5) They must be compassionate Amos 2. (6) They must treat others with kindness Amos 1 and 2. (7) They are to speak the truth Amos 2:4. And lastly, (8) They must enforce public morality.
So on the one hand we pay taxes. We submit to the government. Now we should stand up for the truth but as Robert Lawrence Oyly said in 1898 when speaking of Christians, "There is indeed significance in the fact that in spite of their ardent zeal for social reform, they did not as a rule take part in political life or demand political reforms. They desired not better institutions but better men." We should seek better men who are a product of the gospel. So pay your taxes and call rulers to be what they ought to be. So render to all what is due them, an unqualified blanket statement. To give back something owed. It is a debt; you owe it, whether it is an assessment tax on land or on a person as poll tax were. It is a moral obligation. Owe nothing to anyone. Pay your debts, even the kind of debt called taxes. Tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom is due. Fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due. Custom tax is associated with distribution of goods. Income tax, personal taxes, sales tax, business tax, import or export tax. Have a healthy fear of rulers. I would call that respect. Honor can even refer to money. Honor them by paying what you owe. So let me sum it up. We are called to respect and remunerate our government, our leaders, but not to ignore their faults as the prophets testify. We submit, we pay taxes, but we speak the truth about their sins, their injustices, their iniquities, their immorality and their lies. And they will be held accountable to God as are all people. Why do we do this? Because we want, as Peter said, to silence the criticism. We want to live, as Paul said, quiet and peaceable lives because God will have all men to come to the knowledge of the truth. It is a gospel witness. So as you pay your taxes, pray for better men through the gospel rather than better institutions.
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The Rev. Dr. James Barnes is currently the pastor of White Memorial Church in Milroy.