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13:1~ Are there times when we should not submit to government? We should never allow a government to force us to disobey God. Jesus and his apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed, it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God. Their disobedience was not cheap: they were threatened, beaten, thrown into jail, tortured, and executed for their convictions. Like them, if we are compelled to disobey, we must ready to accept the consequences.

~Christians understand Romans 13 in different ways. All Christians agree that we are to live at peace with the state as long as the state allows us to live our religious convictions. For hundreds of years, however, there have been at least three interpretations of how we are to do this.

1) Some Christians believe that the state is so corrupt that they should be good citizens as long as they can do so without compromising their beliefs, they should not work for the government, vote in elections, or serve in the military.

2) Others believe that God has given the state authority in certain areas and the church authority in others. Christians can be loyal to both and can work for either. They should not, however, confuse the two. In this view, church and state are concerned with two totally different spheres - the spiritual and the physical - and thus complement each other but do not work together.

3) Still others believe that Christians have a responsibility to make the state better. They can do this politically, by electing Christian or other high-principled leaders. They can also do this morally, by serving as an influence for good in society. In this view, church and state ideally work together for the good of all.

~None of these views advocate rebelling against or refusing to obey the government's laws or regulations unless those laws clearly require you to violate the moral standards revealed by God. Wherever we find ourselves, we must be responsible citizens, as well as responsible Christians.

13:3, 4 ~When civil rulers are unjust, upright people are afraid. In these verses, Paul is talking about officials who are doing their duty. When these officials are just, people who are doing right have nothing to fear.

That verse is saying that if you do good things, you do not have to worry about being punished.. because if you are punished for doing what is right, then it is God on their heads and you are in the right. It is also saying that if you do wrong...then those in authority have every right to punish you, that you should be punished, and you have no right to complain at all when you are punished. And if you rebel against those in authority, then in turn you are rebelling against God. Because even corrupt leaders, they are where they are because God allowed them to be. That is not saying God corruption and evil, it is saying that He has a higher purpose for things.. and that corrupt leader just might be the thing which spurs people to do right again and turn back to Him. But that does NOT mean we should do EVERYTHING those in authority tell us to do. It means we SHOULD pay or taxes or show respect, ect ect.. UNLESS it goes against what God has told us. Such as if the the authority told you that you must watch porn or have sex with them unmarried, then you defy them in that because it goes against what God tells us we should and shouldn't do. Did that help your understanding of it any?