It was authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD,[1] with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Paul wrote to the Roman Christians because he was "eager to preach the gospel" to them,[4] so as to remind them on "certain subjects".

[5] Although he had been hindered from coming to them many times,[6] he longed to encourage the Roman church by reminding them of the gospel, because of his calling to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.

Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.

14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.Non-conformist theologian Matthew Henry calls verses 11–14 "a Christian's directory for his day's work".

[12] According to the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, "Paul enforces all the preceding precepts (of chapters 12 and 13) by the solemn assertion of the approach of the eternal Day of Resurrection and Glory",[13] "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (King James Version).

John Calvin, in Institutes of the Christian Religion[17] took the latter position: "that we might not yield a slavish obedience to the depraved wishes of men".

It is possible that the passage was intended as a piece of pragmatic advice addressed to a specific crisis, calling for patient cooperation with the Roman officials for the time being while waiting for the imminent manifestation of God's kingdom.

[21] Romans 13 was used during the period of the American Revolution both by loyalists who preached obedience to the Crown and by revolutionaries who argued for freedom from the unjust authority of the King.

[26]Commenting on the fight to define Romans 13, historian Lincoln Mullen argues that "what the attorney general actually has on his side is the thread of American history that justifies oppression and domination in the name of law and order.