Romans 13.4b-Governmental Authority Serves God By Discouraging Evil Conduct
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 5, 2010
Romans: Romans 13:4b-Governmental Authority Serves God By Discouraging Evil Conduct
Lesson # 438
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 13:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter thirteen.
Before the Christmas break, we left off with Romans 13:4a, which teaches that for the Christian, the positive function of governmental authority is that it encourages good conduct meaning conduct that is in obedience to the Father’s will.
This evening we will note Romans 13:4b, which teaches that for the Christian, the negative function of governmental authority is that it discourages evil conduct or conduct that is in disobedience to the will of the Father.
Romans 13:1, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
Romans 13:2, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”
Romans 13:3, “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same.”
Romans 13:4, “For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“But if you do what is evil, be afraid” stands in contrast with the previous positive assertion about governmental authority and elaborates on the negative function of governmental authority, which Paul mentions in the causal clause at the beginning of verse 3.
“If you do what is evil, be afraid” is a fifth class conditional statement that presents a hypothetical situation that teaches the spiritual principle that if Paul’s readers practice evil, then they are to live in fear of the governmental authorities.
“You do what is evil” is composed of the second person singular present active subjunctive form of the verb poieo (poievw) (poy-eh-o), “you do” and the articular accusative neuter singular form of the adjective kakos (kakov$) (kak-os), “what is evil.”
The verb poieo means “to practice” and is used with Paul’s Christian readers in Rome as its subject and kakos as its object.
The adjective kakos denotes disobedience to the Father’s will, which is manifested by disobedience to the laws of human government or in other words being a criminal.
Therefore, Paul is saying to his readers that if they practice that which is evil, then they must live in fear of the governmental authorities.
“Be afraid” is the second person singular present (deponent) middle imperative form of the verb phobeo (fobevw) (fob-eh-o), means “to be terrified, frightened of, to live in a state of fear or dread of.”
The word is used in a hypothetical sense of the Christian as its subject who at any time practices evil by breaking the law and the governmental authority as its object.
Therefore, it refers to criminals who “live in a state of fear or dread” of the governmental authority as a result of opposing them by breaking the laws of the land and thus are in disobedience to the will of the Father and practicing evil since God established governmental authority to govern the affairs of men.
So Paul is teaching his readers that if they at any time practice that which is evil, then, they are to live in a state of fear of the governmental authority since God has delegated authority to them to punish those who practice evil.
The present imperative form of the verb is “ingressive-progressive” emphasizing both the inception and progress of an action commanded.
This indicates that Paul is teaching his readers that if they at any time practice that which is evil, then they are to begin living in a state of fear of the governmental authority and continue to do so since they are established by God to punish evil doers.
Romans 13:4, “For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“For it does not bear the sword for nothing” presents the reason why Paul wants the Roman believers to begin and continue to live in a state of fear of the governmental authorities if they at any time practice that which is evil in character.
The reason is that God the Father has delegated to those in human government the authority and power to punish those who commit evil.
“The sword” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun machaira (mavxaira) (makh-a-rah), which is used in a figurative sense for the power and authority to inflict capital punishment.
The sword was the symbol of the magistrate’s right to inflict capital punishment on the criminal.
Ulpian wrote, “They who rule whole provinces have the right of the sword.”
The machaira was the symbol in the ancient world of capital punishment and symbolized an authority’s power to punish the criminal, the power of life and death.
The machaira was a symbol of the imperium power that the archon exercised in the Roman Empire who had the power and authority to employ capital punishment.
The sight of the lictors bearing the fasces ahead of the archon was an awesome sight which demanded respect from the citizens of the Empire.
The Word of God prohibits murder according to Exodus 20:13 and is one of the sins that God hates according to Proverbs 6:16-19 and according to Genesis 9:6 is to be punished through capital punishment.
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. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.”
Genesis 9:5-6 records the institution of human government where God delegated authority to mankind as His agents in exacting retribution by capital punishment upon those who take a human life indicating as well that this is not a personal matter but a social obligation.
It is clear that the authority for capital punishment implies also the authority to establish laws governing human activities and personal relationships, which if unregulated would lead to murder, robbery, adultery, thus this instruction to Noah is the fundamental basis for all human legal and governmental institutions.
Romans 13:4, “For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“For nothing” is the adverb eike (ei)kh|) (i-kay), which pertains to being without purpose indicating that the governmental authority by no means constantly bears the sword without purpose or justification.
The word means that governmental authorities by no means exist in a state of possessing the power and authority to use the death penalty without justification.
The word indicates that there is a definite purpose for the governmental authorities having the power and authority to inflict capital punishment on those who practice evil.
This purpose is defined in the next causal clause to follow, which teaches that governmental authorities are God’s servants by administering the death penalty to those who commit evil such as murder.
Romans 13:4, “For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“For it is a minister of God” presents the reason why governmental authority is justified for inflicting capital punishment upon those who commit evil.
They have justification “because” they are God’s servant by administering the death penalty to those who practice evil such as murder.
“A minister of God” is composed of the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$) (theh-os), “of God” and the nominative masculine singular form of the noun diakonos (diavkono$) (dee-ak-on-os), “a minister.”
In Romans 13:4, the noun theos refers to God the Father and is a genitive of possession indicating that all governmental authority on the earth “belongs to” the Father and is His possession and thus serves His purpose.
In Romans 13:4, the noun diakonos means “servant” and is used to describe the relationship between governmental authority and the Father by punishing those who practice evil such as murder.
So from our study of Romans 13:4b, we can see that the assertion “if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing” elaborates on the negative function of governmental authority, which Paul mentions in the causal clause at the beginning of verse 3.
Then, the causal clause “for it is a minister of God” presents the reason why Paul’s readers should live in a state of fear for practicing evil, namely, that God has delegated authority to the government to inflict capital punishment for those who practice evil such as murder.
For the Christian, the negative function of governmental authority is that it serves God by discouraging evil conduct.