Romans 13:6

For [epexigetic, introducing a detail or illustrative fact proving the principle] for this cause ye pay tribute also [i. e., among other acts of submission]; for they [the recipients of the taxes] are ministers of God's service, attending continually upon this very thing. [I. e., acting continually as servants of God in his civil administrations. The apostle cites the conduct of subjects in the payment of taxes, for no matter what theories the Jews or the Judaistic Christians might have as to the rights of government to his allegiance, he never failed to pay his taxes, being moved thereby by the very influences here named by the apostle; viz., fear and conscience. He feared the penal consequences of refusing to pay, and he conscientiously felt that the government deserved some compensation for maintaining peace and order, especially since, as Paul notes, they made this their business, gave their whole time to it, and made no other provision for their livelihood than their salaries as public functionaries, all of which is implied in "attending continuously," etc. Christians in our age have well-nigh universally forgotten that the tax assessor and the tax collector are ministers of God, and many evade making true returns with as little compunction as they would were the tax officials the servants of the devil. This sin has become so universal that it is well-nigh regarded as a virtue.]