Romans 13:4 reads, “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” In order to understand who this “minister of God” is, we need to also read verses 1-3. Those verses state “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.”

We see from these verses that the “minister of God” is a ruler that God has appointed for our good. God has given him authority to govern, whether it is the president of a country, a governor of a state, a mayor of a city, or even a judge in the judicial system. He may not even be a saved man, but he is still in a position of authority from God where he is expected to serve the people “for good.” Sometimes God may even allow a proud man like Nebuchadnezzar to govern a nation, for we read in Daniel 4:17 that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” We may question this, for Nebuchadnezzar was indeed a “base man,” but God used him to chasten His people Israel for their sins and thus he was serving God, though he would never have admitted this. Years ago I remember reading, “Any government is better than no government at all.” If we are inclined to be critical of “the governing authorities” we should remember, first and foremost, that “the authorities that exist are appointed of God,” and then we should think about what it would be like to have no governing authorities at all. Perhaps none of us have ever experienced anarchy, which is “the absence of political authority,” but if we did we would soon thank God for the government we do have. Without it there would be total disorder and chaos.

Our verse goes on to say “if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” One of the main reasons God established government was to enforce laws and to punish evildoers. When it states, “he beareth not the sword in vain,” it is referring to the authority God has given to rulers to “execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” I believe “the sword” speaks of the punishment that may be inflicted on someone, and it would include the ultimate form of punishment which we call “capital punishment.” You may recall that after Noah stepped off the Ark, God put the reins of government in his hands and He told Noah in Genesis 9:5-6, “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whosoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed” (NASB). God clearly instituted the “death penalty” and Noah was responsible, as a “minister of God,” to take a man’s life if he was guilty of murdering another man. God has not revoked capital punishment so the truth of Romans 13:4 holds true today. May the grace of God cause us to thank God for those in authority and to be law-abiding citizens, for if we do, we will experience the blessing of those precious words in verse 3, “Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.”  (177.4)  (DO)