Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
All Commentaries on Romans 13:1 Go To Romans 13
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Paul has a good deal to say on this matter in his other epistles also, placing subjects under their rulers in the same way that household servants are under their masters. He does this to show that Christ did not introduce his laws for the purpose of undermining the state but rather so that it should be better governed. He does not speak about individual rulers but about the principle of authority itself. For that there should be rulers and ruled and that things should not just lapse into anarchy, with the people swaying like waves from one extreme to the other, is the work of God’s wisdom.
