Most of us have days when we think that Ronald Reagan was correct when he declared: “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” While every government has flaws, Christians know that God has established government for our good.

In Romans 13:1-7, Paul exhorts the Roman Christians to submit to the governmental authorities because God has established their authority and asserts that governments serve God by protecting the good and punishing evil. The fact that God has instituted these authorities demands that Christians fulfill their responsibilities to the state by paying their taxes and giving the authorities the respect and honor they are due (1 Peter 2:13-17).

Christians should submit to the ruling authorities and do good because God has freed them to be His servants who obey, with the missiological goal of silencing those who disparage the name of God — and not because the state compels them to obey.

Further, we are to pray for the kings and those who are in positions of leadership in order that believers can live peaceful and quiet lives that are godly and dignified and not in fear of oppression because they follow Christ (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

What implications can we discern from these Scriptures to enhance our understanding of the biblical role of government?

1. God reigns over His creation as the sovereign king and provides every government with the power it possesses. Earthly rulers, therefore, must submit to God or face His judgment. In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar asserts that he has built the empire by his own power, so God demonstrates His power over Nebuchadnezzar by causing him to eat grass like a cow until he knows that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will” (Daniel 4:32b, ESV). In Acts 17, Paul declares to the Athenians that God has established every nation, the length of time that they will last, and the limits of their boundaries (Acts 17:26-28).

2. God alone deserves ultimate allegiance, but that allegiance must not be gained or prohibited through government coercion. Any attempt that an earthly government makes to take religious liberty from its people violates the charge God has given. In the Exodus narrative, God demands that the Pharaoh allow His people to go into the wilderness to worship Him. When Pharaoh does not comply, God unleashes the plagues to demonstrate that He alone deserves the worship of His people as He triumphs over the gods of the Egyptians and over the Pharaoh himself. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar constructs an idol and demands that his subjects bow down before it, but he learns that God reigns even in Babylon when God saves His servants from the fire. In Revelation 13, John presents the timeless truth that the state must not be worshipped as a god and that followers of Jesus should resist any effort made by the state to take that place in their lives.

The founders of our nation understood that a government cannot compel religious belief. Throughout our history and in our confessional statement, Southern Baptists have defended the right of all people to choose to whom or to what they will give their ultimate allegiance, free from the coercion of a government that supports a state religion (secular progressivism and atheism included). Additionally, we have sought to preserve the right of all people to exercise their faith in every sphere of life, as the First Amendment articulates, because our culture’s axiom that the sacred and the secular must be separated is false. As Bruce Ashford has explained, “We should argue that religion cannot be contained. It cannot be restricted to the private realm. … We should fight for the right of all people to exercise their religion (unless, of course, their “exercise” poses a clear and present danger to other citizens).”

3. God has established governments to protect the good and punish the evil. God created governments to protect their people from violence and to stabilize society. Does that mean every government is just? No, but every government is a servant of God because God is always working to accomplish His purposes.

Our government is becoming hostile to the public practice of the Christian faith, but Christians should not despair. Rather, we should proclaim that Jesus Christ is the true king, live so that others can see that our king has transformed us to flourish under His lordship, long for Christ’s kingdom to come on the renewed earth as it is in heaven, and persevere in our calling to live as citizens of the kingdom of God who give our ultimate allegiance to Him. This means we must resist unjust laws that violate our consciences and oppose governments that abuse their power.

Until God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven, let us live as citizens of His kingdom who are a benefit to our nation because our goal is to honor King Jesus in every area of our lives, knowing that, in the Lord, our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

— Donny Mathis is professor of Christian studies at North Greenville University.