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Enemy-love is a practical command
Jesus calls his followers to love enemies and resist the impulse to repay injury. Paul tells believers to overcome evil with good and leave vengeance to God. We understand these commands as limiting what a disciple may do, including when acting on behalf of a state.
Government and discipleship
Romans 13 recognises government’s role in maintaining order. That does not require a believer to undertake every function government exercises. Read alongside Romans 12, the passage calls us to respect lawful authority while preserving the distinct obligations of Christ’s servants.
Allegiance has consequences
An employment agreement or oath cannot authorise disobedience to Christ. We apply the commands of peace to military and police service where obligations include violence or coercion incompatible with discipleship. The actual duties of an office must be examined honestly.
Enemy-love is active
Matthew 5:38–48 calls disciples beyond retaliation towards generosity, prayer and love for enemies. Romans 12:17–21 joins refusal of vengeance with feeding an enemy and overcoming evil with good. This is a demanding pattern of action. It can require protecting another person, offering shelter, interrupting abuse or accepting personal risk. The refusal to inflict revenge should make a disciple more attentive to suffering, not less concerned about it.
Civil authority and a disciple’s calling
Romans 13 describes the public role of governing authority, while the preceding chapter directs believers away from personal vengeance. We distinguish recognition of the state’s role from permission for a disciple to undertake every act the state may authorise. An office must be examined by what it actually requires. Where its obligations conflict with Christ’s commands, obedience to him takes priority. The application needs that moral reasoning rather than an assumption that all public service is identical.
The soldier passages
Luke 3:14 addresses soldiers about extortion, false accusation and wages. Acts 10 records the conversion of Cornelius without describing his subsequent employment. Those facts must remain in the discussion. We do not claim that the passages record resignations which they do not mention. Our position is that every role must be brought under the fuller teaching of Christ, and a disciple must leave a role where carrying out its duties would require disobedience.
The coming kingdom shapes present conduct
John 18:36 connects the character of Christ’s kingdom with the refusal of his servants to fight for his deliverance. Isaiah 2:2–4 looks towards nations learning peace under divine rule. The disciple is called to practise that allegiance now: speak truthfully, avoid hatred, seek reconciliation and help people beyond the boundaries of their own community. Hope for Christ’s victory does not authorise us to manufacture it through coercion.
Questions & responses
What about the soldiers addressed by John, or Cornelius?
Luke 3:14 and Acts 10 must be included in the discussion. Neither narrates a resignation, and we should not invent one. Our conclusion is drawn from the wider commands to disciples; the alternative argument that official restraint differs from private vengeance must be answered on that basis.
Adapted from An Apostolic Faith, reference edition revised 20 September 2026, pp. 53.
Further reading: Robert Roberts, Christendom Astray, lecture 18. This article is a modern summary, not a quotation from Roberts.
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