Romans 13:3, government function, "taxation" and the limitation clause we all forget.
"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 you will receive his approval,"
Rulers are supposed to be a terror to BAD conduct, not to good. When governing authorities become tyrannical, it is our duty to defy them and obey God.
Romans 13 tells us to pay taxes to the authorities who are ministers of God who are "attending to this very thing." What thing? Being a terror to bad conduct.
He tells us to pay taxes to whom taxes are OWED. Owed, being the key word. The word taxes is the Greek "Phoros" and has the sense, "Tribute - payment from one nation to another for protection and as an acknowledgement of submission."
This tax is to be paid to the authorities for their legitimate service of punishing bad conduct and rewarding good. It is not an arbitrary payment extracted from the populace to make government fatter. It is owed for services rendered. And a specific service, ADMINISTERING JUSTICE.
Thats it. Government has no biblical precedent to steal your wealth for any reason. Not to build infrastructure, not for health care, not for welfare, not for anything.
They are to be paid tribute because they are owed for administering God's justice with the sword God gave them. This is their legitimately ordained function, and paying them to do this function is not theft because you are paying for services rendered, services GOD ordained them to perform.
This is not to say we should withhold taxes from our governments who have clearly stepped outside their ordained role. We should, but as we do, we need to expose that it is theft and wrong and that they need to get back in their ordained lane. It is the churches job to disciple the nations and teach government where their legitimate authority ends.
Not rebuking them for stealing wealth from the people to fund things that are outside their sphere of influence is unloving.
No where in the bible does the government get authority to, tax your land, tax your income, tax your energy, tax your death or tax your food. Their only legitimate area where you owe them payment is for administering righteous justice and punishment of evil in service to God.
Remember the limitation clause. Paul here is not praising the wicked pagan Roman Empire, he is laying out the TRUE function of government how God intended it. He is also exhorting Christians to live as good citizens even in a wicked system while the Gospel goes forth and transforms hearts.
