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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

Romans 13-14

Chapter 13

Obedience to Authority.^[a] ¹Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.^(A) ²Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. ³For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil.^(B) Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, ⁴for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.^(C) ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.^(D) ⁶This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.^(E)

Love Fulfills the Law.^[b] ⁸Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.^(F) ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, [namely] “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^(G) ¹⁰Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.^(H)

Awareness of the End of Time.^[c] ¹¹And do this because you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;^(I) ¹²the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light;^(J) ¹³let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,^[d] not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.^(K) ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.^(L)

Chapter 14

To Live and Die for Christ. ¹^[e]Welcome anyone who is weak in faith,^(M) but not for disputes over opinions.^(N) ²One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.^(O) ³The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.^(P) ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.^(Q) ⁵[For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike.^(R) Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind.^[f] ⁶Whoever observes the day, observes it for the Lord. Also whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while whoever abstains, abstains for the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. ⁸For if we live, we live for the Lord,^[g] and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.^(S) ⁹For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.^(T) ¹⁰Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;^(U) ¹¹for it is written:

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”^(V)

¹²So [then] each of us shall give an account of himself [to God].^(W)

Consideration for the Weak Conscience. ¹³Then let us no longer judge one another, but rather resolve never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.^(X) ¹⁴I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; still, it is unclean for someone who thinks it unclean.^(Y) ¹⁵If your brother is being hurt by what you eat, your conduct is no longer in accord with love. Do not because of your food destroy him for whom Christ died.^(Z) ¹⁶So do not let your good be reviled.^(AA) ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;^(AB) ¹⁸whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. ¹⁹Let us^[h] then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another.^(AC) ²⁰For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God.^(AD) Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to become a stumbling block by eating; ²¹it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. ²²Keep the faith [that] you have to yourself in the presence of God; blessed is the one who does not condemn himself for what he approves. ²³^(AE)But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because this is not from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.^[i]

Footnotes

13:1–7 Paul must come to grips with the problem raised by a message that declares people free from the law. How are they to relate to Roman authority? The problem was exacerbated by the fact that imperial protocol was interwoven with devotion to various deities. Paul builds on the traditional instruction exhibited in Wis 6:1–3, according to which kings and magistrates rule by consent of God. From this perspective, then, believers who render obedience to the governing authorities are obeying the one who is highest in command. At the same time, it is recognized that Caesar has the responsibility to make just ordinances and to commend uprightness; cf. Wis 6:4–21. That Caesar is not entitled to obedience when such obedience would nullify God’s prior claim to the believers’ moral decision becomes clear in the light of the following verses.
13:8–10 When love directs the Christian’s moral decisions, the interest of law in basic concerns, such as familial relationships, sanctity of life, and security of property, is safeguarded (Rom 13:9). Indeed, says Paul, the same applies to any other commandment (Rom 13:9), whether one in the Mosaic code or one drawn up by local magistrates under imperial authority. Love anticipates the purpose of public legislation, namely, to secure the best interests of the citizenry. Since Caesar’s obligation is to punish the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4), the Christian who acts in love is free from all legitimate indictment.
13:11–14 These verses provide the motivation for the love that is encouraged in Rom 13:8–10.
13:13 Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day: the behavior described in Rom 1:29–30 is now to be reversed. Secular moralists were fond of making references to people who could not wait for nightfall to do their carousing. Paul says that Christians claim to be people of the new day that will dawn with the return of Christ. Instead of planning for nighttime behavior they should be concentrating on conduct that is consonant with avowed interest in the Lord’s return.
14:1–15:6 Since Christ spells termination of the law, which included observance of specific days and festivals as well as dietary instruction, the jettisoning of long-practiced customs was traumatic for many Christians brought up under the Mosaic code. Although Paul acknowledges that in principle no food is a source of moral contamination (Rom 14:14), he recommends that the consciences of Christians who are scrupulous in this regard be respected by other Christians (Rom 14:21). On the other hand, those who have scruples are not to sit in judgment on those who know that the gospel has liberated them from such ordinances (Rom 14:10). See 1 Cor 8; 10.
14:5 Since the problem to be overcome was humanity’s perverted mind or judgment (Rom 1:28), Paul indicates that the mind of the Christian is now able to function with appropriate discrimination (cf. Rom 12:2).
14:8 The Lord: Jesus, our Master. The same Greek word, kyrios, was applied to both rulers and holders of slaves. Throughout the Letter to the Romans Paul emphasizes God’s total claim on the believer; see note on Rom 1:1.
14:19 Some manuscripts, versions, and church Fathers read, “We then pursue…”; cf. Rom 5:1.
14:23 Whatever is not from faith is sin: Paul does not mean that all the actions of unbelievers are sinful. He addresses himself to the question of intracommunity living. Sin in the singular is the dreadful power described in Rom 5:12–14.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.