Quite often, we see Christians separating their loyalty to God from their obligation to their government, society or workplace.  It is as though they move backwards and forwards between two different realms, their obligations to worldly authorities and their duty to God.  It was particularly tempting for the believers in Rome, where state-sponsored idolatry denied Jesus Christ His rightful place as the Supreme Ruler.  But Paul said that all authority ultimately comes from God; so, no government can be in power without God's permission.

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.

Naturally, we all settle into a routine of life, assuming that the work we have to do, and the people to whom we relate, will remain constant.  We easily develop a false sense of security in which we plan to develop our own comfort and welfare.  However, Paul instructed the believers in Rome to wake up and face reality.  However good their life might have been it was certainly not heaven!

Ancient Rome was full of idol shrines and pagan worship.  When people became Christians, they knew it was foolish and wrong to worship false gods.  However, their temples were also the restaurants and business network centres of Rome.  So the new believers had to decide if they could eat meat which had been previously offered to the idol, or eat vegetables.  It was more of a dilemma for some than others.