1 Let every personpTitus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13 be subject to the governing authorities. Forq[John 19:11]; See Dan. 2:21 there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and your1 Pet. 2:14 will receive his approval, 4 fors2 Chr. 19:6 he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God,t1 Thess. 4:6 an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but alsou1 Pet. 2:19; [Eccles. 8:2] for the sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 vMatt. 17:25; 22:21; Mark 12:17 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
8 w[Lev. 19:13; Prov. 3:27, 28] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, forxver. 10; [Matt. 22:40; Col. 3:14]; See John 13:34 the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments,yMatt. 19:18; Cited from Ex. 20:13-17; Deut. 5:17-21 “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, ” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word:zCited from Lev. 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; thereforea[John 14:15]; See ver. 8 love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for youb1 Cor. 15:34; Eph. 5:14; 1 Thess. 5:6 to wake from sleep.c[Isa. 56:1; Luke 21:28] For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 d[John 9:4] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let useCol. 3:8 cast offfEph. 5:11; [John 3:20] the works of darkness andg2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 6:11, 13; 1 Thess. 5:8 put on the armor of light. 13 h1 Thess. 4:12 Let us walk properly as in the daytime,iLuke 21:34; Gal. 5:21; 1 Pet. 4:3 not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality,jJames 3:14, 16 not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 ButkGal. 3:27; [Job 29:14; Ps. 132:9; Luke 24:49; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10] put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh,lGal. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:11 to gratify its desires.