Making a single universal theory out of
Romans 13 is a bad idea, in my opinion, because governments change or are different from one location to the next. What the hidden Christian in North Korea has to do versus what an American Christian gets to do, are two different things, for example.
Here in the USA, and really the "West", but elsewhere, too, we the people have the power of election and the ability to literally see laws change, or be interpreted differently by or through the judicial system.
This shows that in such a governmental structure, our laws are very mutable. But God's laws are not mutable. So what do I mean as it relates to
Romans 13?
Here in WI I can write to and/or call my state legislature and even get a sit-down with the governor, perhaps, and attempt to sway public policy through personal lobbying of what I believe to be right, moral, ideas that best serves the interests of my home state.
But a universal theory of
Romans 13 that has to be applied in one direction only would suggest me doing the above is tantamount to resisting the powers that be that were ordained by God, because by actively pursuing political and legislative changes, I am making a de facto claim that I believe that those currently in existence are wrong, and that the people in power who implemented them are likewise in the wrong, and so, will use whatever ability I have, up to and including my voting rights, to see the entire system brought down.
I may or may not succeed. But that is the whole thrust of what our government is supposed to be.
But that's also a built in resistance to the powers that be, since it is God and not man, that institutes governments and those who hold office in them.
So unless we are going to advocate total abstinence from political and governmental involvement (and maybe we should???) any involvement whatsoever could be construed as resisting the powers that be, because our very own system of government actively encourages it, thus demonstrating a revolt against what
Romans 13 teaches, if there's only one universal theory being presented.