Payment of Judges (3)

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor (Rom 13:7 NKJV).

The word “render” literally means “give back”, and includes a strong sense of repayment or paying back for something received. Paul does not give judges the right to impose taxes, but he does give Christians responsibility to support their judges. He is commanding them to pay the judge for the benefits they receive through having a good system of justice.

Judges cannot decide what they are worth to the people of the community. Only the people can decide what value they place on justice. They are the only ones who can decide on the value of what they have received.

Some may decide they do not care and pay nothing. Most will decide that good justice is worth having and make a contribution; just as most people freely pay for fire insurance. They will hope that they will not need a judge, but they be willing to pay a small amount to ensure that a good judge is there when they need one.

At the end of verse 7, we are are told to honour those to whom honour is due. God does not expect us to worship any human. The Greek word translated as honour is “timé”. The root meaning of this word is “price”. The basic meaning of the verb is to “set a price” or “determine the value” of an object. The idea of hounour is derived from this concept of valuation.

Paul is not commanding us to honour judges in the modern sense of the word, but to evaluate a judge and decide what he is worth. We should be making a payment to a judge based on what we perceive that he is worth. This links back to the idea in of submit to the excellent judges at the beginning of the chapter.

A judge or authority does not decide what he is worth. Christians decide themselves what the judge is worth. Judges cannot impose taxes, but they should be paid what they are worth to their community. All taxation is voluntary so it ceases to be a tax. It is a burden we owe to those who have provided justice to us. Paul concludes his teaching on civil government by saying.

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8).

We pay what we owe, but payment is voluntary, a fulfilment of love. As in any expression of love the amount to be paid is decided by the one making the payment.

Taxation is Voluntary!!!