Had the apostle merely enjoined subjection to civil authorities, as he does in the terms of verses first and second, adding no explanations, giving no clue to the character of the power to which his injunction is designed to apply, it would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, from the passage itself, to have shown any limitations—we might have been compelled to resort mainly to other Scriptures for light as to the duty really, after all, enjoined.
We might, indeed, have obtained some light from the term (ecousia,) and from the phrase (tetagmenoi upo tou Qeou:) we could have evaded the advocate of 'passive obedience and non-resistance,' but we would almost have despaired of convincing him.
But with the apostle's own explanations all is clear. He enjoins obedience, but he adds a reason drawn from the character of the power, and so limits, most clearly and conclusively, his own injunction: 'for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.'
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