Romans 13:4 (ESV)
4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
A Purpose for Government
We are not Christians who live under the Constitution. We do no live under man’s laws. We are Christinas who live under God and under God’s laws, OF WHICH God has put us in a country to live within man’s laws. God’s law (see chapter 12) is to love mankind, no matter what they do to us. We are not to seek revenge on them. We are to live within the law of the world, while under the law of love. Romans 13 is only effective because of Romans 12. The above verse gives a reason for the law of the land. God put’s the government in place. Note what Paul just said at the beginning of chapter 13:
Romans 13:1 (ESV)
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
God gives authority to the government (any government) to rule the people. God is hierarchical in His very nature. The government, although instituted by God, however, must also obey the laws of God. They are to be the avenger on all that is bad within their people. But, who determines what is bad? The laws of this land determine what is bad. Note what one commentary stated on this section of Paul:
“Americans do not live under a democracy. The fathers of our nation went to great pains to ensure that the United States government would be a republic, not a democracy. In a democracy rule is vested in the majority. In a republic, ultimate authority rests in law. The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to guard against what Alexis de Tocqueville warned would destroy the American experiment—the tyranny of the majority. If everybody in the country except one agrees to stamp out free speech, the First Amendment should rule over that majority. The private rights of individuals are guaran-teed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”
“The founders of America were farsighted, but, in my opinion, not far-sighted enough. They failed to protect the individual’s rights against unjust taxation. Unjust taxation occurs through a progressive, unequal tax system. When God placed his tax upon the people of Israel, he imposed a tithe. Not everybody paid the same amount. Rich people paid more than poor people, but everybody paid the same percentage. America has politicized economics; we do not have a flat percentage system. Some are required to pay a higher percentage than others. We call that social justice, but it is, in fact, manifest injustice. It is evil and destructive because it gives people the right to vote for taxes on other people that they are not voting to impose on themselves. It creates a politics of envy in which one group is set against another.
Historically this practice has ended in the destruction of the nation, and it will destroy our nation if we do not do something about it. That being said, when we vote, we must do so according to principle. We ought not to use the power of the ballot to pick others’ pockets. We must pay our taxes as[…]”
Excerpt From
Romans
R. C. Sproul
By faith we have to believe that IF the government does bad to someone who is doing good, God knows this and God will, ultimately care for it and judge it. That is the truth and principle of chapter 12. In order to live out 13, we have to walk in obedient faith of 12.
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