for it is God's minister to thee for good. But if thou practisest evil, fear; for it bears not the sword in vain; for it is God's minister, an avenger for wrath to him that does evil.
Paul has just told believers not to take revenge, but to leave wrath to God. Here he shows that God has an appointed hand for that wrath on earth. The verse gives the ruler two titles: God's servant for good, and an avenger who carries out wrath. So how far does that authority reach? And what does a Christian owe to a ruler who abuses it?
The ruler's title
The word here for "servant" is an everyday word for someone who serves; older translations render it "minister." The New Testament uses it of very different people.
The word is used in a wide sense, and is employed to describe magistrates and rulers, for we read, "He is the minister [deacon] of God to you for good" (Rom. 13:4). Again, Paul and Timothy were made "able ministers [deacons] of the new covenant" (2 Cor. 3:6).
Men may pick a ruler in any number of ways. That is not where his real title comes from.
It is a wholly inadequate view to regard the magistrate on the side of man only. Not that he may not be chosen in all sorts of ways by man, but that he is God's servant, as this passage says again and again. He is His servant for good, not for evil… To see God in the magistrate brings in conscience.
Servant "for your good"
The verse names the ruler's purpose: your good. That purpose holds even under bad governments.
God has given men authority to restrain evil and protect good. So those in authority are not a terror to good works but to evil… Whether he is aware of it or not, the one in authority is a minister of God to judge the evildoer. Men often twist government to their own ends. Even so, in the mercy of God, the very worst governments mostly seek to restrain evil.
The sword is not decoration
The phrase about bearing the sword means the power to punish is genuine, not symbolic.
But suppose, instead of doing good and having praise from the ruler, a man does evil — what then? "Be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain." If the ruler is not to use the sword, then he does bear it in vain… The Christian is bound to respect that sword, whoever holds it. Even if the magistrate were an unbeliever, and treated the will of the people, not God, as the source of his authority, the Christian is still bound to own God's authority in him.
That sword reaches back to a command God gave after the flood:
Scripture speaks of the sword again and again as the instrument of death. In the New Testament the magistrate carries it, Rom. 13:4. This shows that the gospel does not set aside God's governmental principle of capital punishment, which He commanded after the flood. Gen. 9:5-6.
Even under a cruel ruler
Paul wrote these words while a brutal ruler held power in Rome.
When the apostle wrote to the saints at Rome, God's providence had one of the cruellest despots on the throne. Even so: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities." The worst ruler is better than anarchy. Still, the word of God does not speak for this reason of usefulness. Whoever he may be, he is the minister of God for good.
Where the authority ends
The ruler serves God, so God sets the limits of his sphere. What happens when a ruler goes past them?
Suppose the civil power disputes God's authority over the conscience and commands what He has forbidden. How often it has done this! Then anyone who resists it will not have its praise; and if they did obey it in such a case, they would not be doing what is good. So the command here is subjection to it within its own lawful sphere. If it oversteps the bounds, Peter's answer to the rulers at Jerusalem will guide the Christian: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge" (Acts 4:19).
No licence for private revenge
God hands wrath to the magistrate. He never hands it to the individual believer.
God has dealt with the Christian in grace, so he must also act in grace towards others. The word to him is "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'"… A Christian's duty not to avenge himself in no way clashes with God's government carried out by magistrates. They get their authority from Him to hold down and punish evil.
Summary
- Servant, appointed. God gives the ruler his title — the same word used of Paul and Timothy in their service. His office is not just a human arrangement.
- Servant for good. The office exists to restrain evil and shield those who do right. Even the worst governments mostly still do this.
- Servant with a sword. The power to punish is real. It goes back to Genesis 9, and grace does not repeal it.
- Servant, however flawed. Rome's emperor at the time was a tyrant, and the instruction stood — "the worst ruler is better than anarchy."
- Servant, not master. When a ruler commands what God forbids, the believer obeys God. God trusts wrath to the magistrate, never to the private Christian.