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, for 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, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. – Romans 13:3-5
“The current situation facing us is not a case of the state overstepping its bounds, but rather seeking to carry out its legitimate God-given authority.” – Russell Moore, referencing Romans 13, March, 2020
“Romans 13 calls us as followers of Christ to be subject to our governing authorities, for God Himself has placed each one of them in their positions of authority.” – Wade Burnett, lead pastor of Mclean Bible Church, referencing the church’s reopening plan in 2020
“In this current situation, I believe wearing a mask is not a conscience issue…Failing to (by disobeying governing authorities) is a sin against God.” – Erik Raymond, referencing Romans 13, The Gospel Coalition, December, 2020
“…as a general rule, believers should be subject to the civil magistrate.” – Paul Carter, referencing Romans 13, The Gospel Coalition Canada, November, 2020
“…we think Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:11-25 are quite applicable to today.” – Paul Martin, referencing COVID-19 mandates, The Gospel Coalition Canada, November 2020
“I encourage us to read Romans 13, which deals with governing authorities and obeying our governing authorities…” – Dr. Walter Kim, Christianity Today, April, 2020
Romans 13: A COVID Convience
During the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns, evangelicals across the world were treated to a constant barrage of chiding from pastors, church leaders, and theological betters concerning their duty to adhere to government guidelines to “stop the spread.” These particular admonishments were suddenly forgotten in late May of 2020, as influential evangelicals took to the streets, despite COVID-19 guidance, to protest George Floyd’s fatal drug overdose in Minneapolis.
When the COVID-19 vaccines became available, suddenly Romans 13 was back in vogue:
“Obey our leaders (Romans 13:1): Our government has a legitimate, God-given responsibility to protect the safety of its citizens and safeguard the interests of the most vulnerable.” – Megan Best, arguing for restrictions on unvaccinated church attendance, The Gospel Coalition Australia, September, 2021
Other evangelical heavyweights, like John Piper, didn’t invoke Romans 13, but encouraged compliance with vaccine mandates based on “freedom.”
“Your conscience is increasingly clear. It says, ‘Get vaccinated.’ But there is this niggling fear of looking left-wing, or progressive, or Democratic, or compromised, or woke! So, my message to such folks is this: ‘The children are free!’” – Desiring God, October, 2021
The Great Romans 13 Amnesia
As COVID-19 was quickly swept away following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Romans 13 discourse quietly faded. Most evangelical talking heads seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Biden administration ushered in a return to normalcy. This return was marked by the imprisonment of pro-life activists, the prosecution and near assassination of a former president, and the mass incursion of millions of belligerent aliens into the interior of the US.
But then 2025 came.
The Trump Administration, after campaigning primarily on the mass deportation of illegal aliens from the country, began to take action. Many evangelical leaders made their distaste for deportations known. Open borders advocates capitalized on “temporary protected status” (TPS), but it is well-known that TPS was used to essentially throw the doors of the US wide open. The Evangelical Immigration Table produced a statement in April of 2025 that best articulates the response:
“…we do not want to see law-abiding individuals who are currently in the country lawfully become unlawfully present or be deported.” – Letter from the Evangelical Immigration Table to President Trump and Secretary Noem
This incredibly interconnected organization spoke for a laundry list of denominations, seminaries, Christian media outlets, and prominent pastors. The message was clear: blatantly violating American sovereignty to the point of plundering US entitlement programs was of paramount importance to scores of evangelical leaders, many of them supposedly conservative.
What also became blatantly obvious was that many who had only recently been Romans 13 champions had completely forgotten the passage existed when it came to the violation of their own nation’s sovereignty.
If there ever was a time to promote the biblical mandate to “avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience,” would it not be when the government is enforcing its most basic function?
Blood on the Streets of Minneapolis
As 2025 turned into 2026, resistance against deportations only ramped up in the “land of 1,000 lakes.” At the time of this writing, two anti-ICE protestors have been killed in spats with CPB officers, one after nearly running over an agent with her car. The other, Alex Pretti, who was armed moments before his death, seems to have been part of a fairly sophisticated operation to prevent ICE officers from doing their job.
Christianity Today was quick to comment:
“What the federal government is doing in Minnesota is intolerable. It is chaotic, reckless, and overbearing. It is a misuse of authority, an incompetent and authoritarian means even insofar as it pursues a democratically invited end.” – Bonnie Kristian, Christianity Today
In some ways, Alex Pretti’s death could be a moral victory for open-border insurgents throughout the country. In the days since, some seem to have lost their stomach for what conducting mass deportations actually entails when it’s being violently opposed. But even if the shooting was completely unjustified (which does not seem to be the case), it would change nothing in terms of fulfilling the mandate and responsibility of securing the nation and removing those who have taken advantage of its previous lack of security.
Romans 13: “I do not think it means what you think it means.”
The view from the likes of Christianity Today, the Evangelical Immigration Table, and their patrons seems unambiguous: Romans 13 does not apply to those who enter the country illegally, commit fraud against US citizens, and steal resources. It also doesn’t apply to those who physically oppose the removal of illegal immigrants. Lockdown breakers, anti-vaxxers, and election/abortion protestors do not get a pass. Open border advocates and illegal immigrants do.
The theological justification for this blatant lack of scriptural consistency is also clear: open border advocates merely switch their theological rhetoric. COVID-19 scolding concerns “Romans 13 obedience” but changes to vague platitudes about “the stranger,” “the sojourner,” and “the refugee” when discussing immigration, primarily utilizing Old Testament terminology, usually out of context.
To be fair, not everyone has forgotten Romans 13. Russell Moore recently wrote on the subject, arguing that,
“Romans 13 is about refusing to become what oppresses you, not about baptizing whatever the oppressor does.”
Not once in his short piece does he mention COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccine mandates, or forced masking. This is because, in his worldview, those are reasonable uses of government force, while securing a nation’s borders is the act of an “oppressor.”
Biblical Consistency
When the civil authority is acting in alignment with the charges laid out in Romans 13, Christians are obligated to obey its dictates. The function of its authority is clearly laid out in the passage: to punish evil and reward good. The COVID-19 period and its aftermath saw a flipping of the mandate, as municipalities, states, and even the federal government rewarded evil (BLM/Antifa rioting) and punished good (vaccine mandates, jailing abortion protestors, etc.).
Concerning the deportation of illegal immigrants from the country, the federal government is performing the most rudimentary, base-level responsibility in the context of Romans 13: the mere acknowledgement that the US is, indeed, a country with a particular people that they are responsible for.
Those who oppose the enforcement of the most elemental law of our land, whether rhetorically or physically, are demonstrating a profound contempt for a Scriptural passage that they only recently quoted ad nauseam.
Christians who refused to “take a knee” and then “take a jab” in 2020–2021 based on biblical conviction, but now heartily support the enforcement of their nation’s border and immigration law, not only have the moral high ground – they are also the theologically consistent ones.
