Submission to Authorities
1 Let everyone be in submission to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which comes from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority stands against the ordinance of God, and those who withstand will receive judgment for themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good work, but to evil. Do you want to be without fear of authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority. 4 For he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. 5 Therefore you need to be in submission, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s public servants, attending continually to these things.
7 Therefore give everyone what you owe. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Love Fulfills the Law
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does not harm a neighbor. Love is the fulfillment of the law.
Clothe Yourselves with Christ
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken from sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let us therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh and its lusts.