Running a country costs a lot of money.  Civil administration, police and military forces are expensive; so are roads, health and legal services.  So as far back as records exist, governments have paid for it all by taxes.  In most countries, almost everything is taxed: from income tax to death duty, from tax on products and services to tax on business profits and investments.  So, Paul instructs the believers, who live at the heart of the Roman Empire, to pay their taxes with a good conscience.

Even though the Roman occupiers of Israel and surrounding countries did not consider faith in Jesus to be a legal religion, and potentially treasonous as Christians refused to honour Caesar as a god, nevertheless, Caesar’s rule was allowed by God.  Paul encouraged Timothy and the churches to pray for their secular governors so that, in different ways, the gospel might travel and bear fruit (1 Timothy 2:1-3).   Indeed, the gospel spread as fast as persecution scattered the believers along well made roads and established shipping routes (Acts 8:4).

Jesus was directly challenged with the same question - is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? His answer was, "So give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God's" (Matthew 22:17-22).  In other words, we must not try to escape our obligation to submit to the governing authorities because we claim to serve a higher authority (God).  The national and local rulers are God's servants even though they do not know it.  This is still true even if the government is corrupt or anti-Christian, because it is better to have a bad government than no government at all - when there is no restraint of evil.

Money continues to hold a greater power over many Christians than most would like to admit (1 Timothy 6:10).  We tend to be discontented when we do not get enough pay for our work; we may be nervous about giving money away; and we can grumble about paying taxes.  But none of these attitudes are right; especially about tax.  If we live in reasonable peace with some comfort, we should be prepared to pay the government for it.  More than that, we should honour God who is working for the blessing of many people.  Yes, it is true that in some places the government may abuse their privileges - but they are accountable to God.  Our accountability is also to God; so let us pay our taxes gladly and on time, without trying to cheat the system.