GOD AND GOVERNMENT
Romans 13:1‑6
Do we dare include the name of God and the word government in the same sentence, especially when we are speaking of earthly government? What if we make it the government, the Roman government, or better, the American government? After the abuses of Watergate, many Americans are wondering about the wisdom of having any government.

The relationship between our God and earthly government was a very live question among the early Christians. Because so many of the early Christians were Jewish, they brought with them resentment against the government of Rome. Some of them actually advocated the kind of attitude expressed by the Zealots of Israel, a total rejection of and commitment to the overthrow of the government of Rome. But what position should a Christian take? If becoming a Christian makes him a citizen of heaven, should he have any concern about a citizenship in an earthly kingdom? The text we have come to today gives us the best statement found in the Bible on this subject. Before we begin however, to discuss the duties of the Christian as a citizen, I want us to look carefully at the thing which underlies the duties outlined‑‑the relationship between God and government. You will never accept the words of instruction
about your duty to your government until you see clearly this relationship that exists between God and government. Two primary things are placed before us in this passage. We are told that government is of divine origin, and as such has a divinely bestowed purpose. If you will see these two things clearly, you will never think lightly about your citizenship duties again.

THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT
This is where the whole thing begins. As a Christian, we are to see over and above every government in the world God Himself. He is the author of the principle of government.

"For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." Involved in this statement are two great truths. The first is that God is the possessor of all authority. As the Creator and Sovereign of the universe, all authority and power is invested in Him. If you accept the Biblical revelation of God as Creator, as the One Lord of the universe, you must accept this as being true. It is basic to the whole concept.

The second truth is that God has delegated some of this authority to government. The authority enjoyed by government is divinely delegated. This is true concerning government whether in it simplest form, that of the family, or that of a vast nation like Rome or the United States. God in His wisdom has been pleased to delegate some of his divine authority to earthly and human government.

This both raises some questions and answers some questions. It explains why that wherever you find man, he is always organized into some kind of governmental system. It may be a simple tribal system with its all‑important chieftain, or it may be a complex democracy in which each man has a voice, but man will always have some kind of political system. Every political revolution has as its object the replacing of one form of government with another, not the removal of government all together. Man just seems to innately know that he has to have some kind of government.

But this raises a question. Are we to understand that God has delegated to all forms of government this authority? While this is not an essay in support of any form of government, this is not the purpose of the Apostle, it does affirm that the principle of government is from God. It would also imply that each government in the world exercises its authority only by the providential permission of God. Whatever authority it holds over the lives of men, it does so by divine right.
While the roots of our democratic system of government go back to some basic Biblical truths, we must not make democracy the only form of government God would delegate his authority to. It must be remembered that God led in the establishment of a sovereign king over his people of Israel. While the form of government used in the Roman empire varied, it did not express the convictions we would hold concerning democracy.

But what about a Communistic government? Should a Christian acknowledge that even this form of government has been delegated authority by God? If the form of our government should become communistic, we might be faced with this issue. My personal conviction is that the answer would be a "yes", though certain limitations must be placed upon the answer. While the authority that they use in government comes from God, it does not mean that God approves of the manner in which they use it. We must not confuse God delegating the authority to government with giving approval for how the authority is used. This is at the heart of the ministry of the Old Testament prophets. While acknowledging that the different governments existed by divine permission, they did not assume divine approval for everything they did‑‑‑ in fact, just the opposite was true, they announced divine disapproval for the manner in which this delegated authority was being used.

THE DIVINE PURPOSE FOR GOVERNMENT
Why has God delegated some of His divine authority to human authorities to allow them to govern their fellowman? Here we deal with the basic question of the purpose of government. Why do governments exist? I wish all of those involved in government today could be reminded of this very basic Biblical word concerning the divine purpose for allowing government to exist.

According to the Apostle, two basic things are involved in this purpose. The first is positive. And the second is negative. They are really just two sides of one basic purpose. First, "for he is the minister of God to thee for good." Here the apostle personifies this principle of government. The principle as it embodies itself in the life of a ruler is actually "a minister of God to thee for good". "Minister" is the word trans7ated in other places in the New Testament "deacon". The word means one rendering service to another. This statement tells us that the man involved in government is actually a servant of God given the assignment of assuring and seeking your good. Government is not meant to be the oppressor or controller of the affairs of man, but the friend of man, the servant of man. it is meant to be his servant for good. It is to promote and secure his best interests.

This purpose of God must not be confused with what some feel to be the purpose of government today. There is a breed of governmental workers today who seem to assume that man is not capable of determining what is good for him individually so they must tell him what is good and make sure that he does it. In light of the expanded discussion of the Apostle, his statement must rather be understood as involving the assurance of each man the kind of orderly climate in which he can do good as he determines the good. As our own government's constitution affirms, it must leave to him a certain freedom to pursue this good.

However, it must be admitted that many of the things about which we fuss, which the government does, are actually for our good. The fifty‑five miles per hour speed limit is a good example. Many people are fussing about the governmental oppressiveness of a fifty-five per hour speed limit, but all of the studies indicate that this is for our good. We are safer, richer, and better in every way when we are obeying such a law. As far as government fulfills this responsibility, we should render thanksgiving to God that he has delegated some of his authority to earthly rulers for our good.

The second divine purpose for government is to restrain evil‑‑again for our good. "But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." The Apostle affirms that God has delegated the sword to the government to restrain evil in the world. Should this be seen as a Biblical support for capital punishment? While it might imply this, we must admit though that this is not the purpose of the Apostle. He is rather affirming that the divinely ordained role of government in the world is to discourage, restrain, and punish wrong doing. While it does not say how far government should go in punishing wrong , it surely does affirm the right of government, yea, and the responsibility of government to restrain evil. It is responsible for administering the wrath of God against evil.

It might be worth our exploration to attempt a study of the relationship of the attitude of the general public toward governmental punishment, and their attitude toward God. I think it could be demonstrated that as the idea of a God of love who is incapable of punishing sin has become popular, the lack of popularity for punishment of wrong doers has also been evident. In our society today the public sentiment seems to often be on the side of the criminal instead of the side of the government that tries to restrain or punish him.

If you do wrong, and the government places its heavy hand on you, you should acknowledge it as being the hand of God. God ordained this. He granted to that governmental system the right to punish you for wrong doing‑‑‑yea, he gave to them this responsibility.

The duties set forth by the Apostle grow out of this view of government. The attempts today to remove our government entirely from the influence of God must be resisted. While none of us would want the government of our country to be under the control of any religious order, we surely want those involved in it to recognize that the very authority they exercise is granted to them by the living God for the good of all His creatures. We want to be delivered from that breed of politician that sees the people as existing for the good of the government.

In applying this, there are two things I want to affirm. First, we should stop seeing government in terms of something dirty. While there may be some corrupt men in government, the very principle of government is not only legitimate, it is essential for the good of man. We should also begin to see governmental service as a legitimate place for a man to serve God. God might want to call some of our young people to give their lives to a place of governmental service. It is a legitimate place for one to render a life of service unto God.