Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 13:4

"for he is a 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, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil." — Romans 13:4 (ASV)

These verses constitute the most difficult portion of the passage, for they seem to take no account of the possibility that government may be tyrannical and may reward evil and suppress good. A few years after Paul wrote these words, Nero launched a persecution against the church at Rome; multitudes lost their lives, and not because of doing evil. Later emperors also lashed out against Christians. It should be noted, however, that the empire did not persecute Christians for their good works or even for their faith, but rather because they felt the Christians’ refusal to honor Roman gods threatened stability in the empire.

There are two ways to deal with this problem. (1) Paul is presenting the norm here, i.e., the ideal for government, which is certainly that of punishing evil and rewarding or encouraging good. If this is the correct interpretation, then we can understand why Paul warns against rebellion and makes no allowance for revolutionary activity. This interpretation does allow for revolution in cases where rights are denied and liberties taken away, since the state has ceased to fulfill its God-appointed function. At the very least, when justice collapses, the Christian community is obliged to voice its criticism of the state’s failure and deviation from the divinely ordained pattern. (2) The other possibility is to introduce the principle of 8:28, whereby God finds ways to bring good out of apparent evil, so that even in the event that the state should turn against the people of God in a way that could rightly be termed evil, he will bring good out of it in the long run.

Paul terms the state “God’s servant [GK 1356]” to extend commendation to the one who does good and, conversely, to punish the wrongdoer. This implies considerable knowledge on the part of the governing authority as to the nature of right and wrong, a knowledge not dependent on awareness of the teaching of Scripture but granted to human beings in general as rational creatures (cf. 2:14– 15). While “God’s servant” is an honorable title, it contains a reminder that the state is not God and that its function is to administer justice for him in areas where it is competent to do so. The state must not be thought of as infallible in its decisions. Yet this does not entitle persons to flout the state’s authority when decisions are not to their liking.

The warning to believers to avoid evil carries with it the admonition that if this warning is neglected, “fear” will be in order because the authority has the power to use the sword. This warning relates to public acts that threaten the well-being and security of the state, not to individual crimes that might warrant capital punishment. That is, Paul is warning believers against becoming involved in activity that could be construed by the Roman government as encouraging revolution or injury to the state. To engage in subversive activity invites speedy retribution.