Chapter 13 of Romans begins with a statement that may be hard for us to swallow.  Most of us recognize the need for law and order and don’t have a problem with the idea that we should submit to proper authority, but what about the next part?  The end of verse 1 reads, “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”  How can that be?  How can a government that does evil things be established by God?  As governments go ours is pretty good, but we have some real problems.  Consider that Paul is writing as a citizen of Rome, hardly a model for a Godly nation.  We will read from Romans 13:1-7 and apply it to our world today.