Listen, civil government is not just a pageant. It’s not just a symbol. It’s not just a verbal threat. Government has the power to take life. It must have that power. It must have that ultimate restraining power. Genesis 9 says that whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed Why Christians Submit to Government — John MacArthur // January 11, 2012 If you ever wanted to ask yourself how depraved man is, just look at behavior that is unrestrained. How long would it take if we had no police and no government for deadly chaos to disrupt the life of this city? That’s the human heart. Haldane says, “The world, ever since the fall, when the dominion of one part of the human race over another was immediately introduced, has been in such a state of corruption and depravity that without the powerful obstacle presented by civil government to the selfish and malignant passions of men, it would be better to live among the beasts of the forest than in human society. As soon as its restraints are removed, man shows himself in his real character.” Then Haldane says, “When there was no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes, we see in the last three chapters of the book of Judges there were dreadful consequences.” So Paul is building his case. We submit to the government because God is the source of government. To rebel is to resist God. To resist God is to bring judgment. And government serves to restrain evil and it serves to promote good. Two more. Number six, rulers are empowered by God to inflict severe punishment. Rulers are empowered by God to inflict severe punishment. If you do what is evil - back to verse 4 - be afraid, for it - meaning government, the authority, the rulers, the institution of government - “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.” Listen, civil government is not just a pageant. It’s not just a symbol. It’s not just a verbal threat. Government has the power to take life. It must have that power. It must have that ultimate restraining power. Genesis 9 says that whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. Capital punishment, Genesis 9, for murder. Jesus said, in Matthew 26:52, “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.” And thus did he affirm capital punishment. And Paul affirmed it in Acts 25:11 when he talked about committing things worthy of death. Paul affirms what Jesus said; Jesus affirms the revelation of God way back in Genesis. This institution of government, this ruler, this one who wields the authority of the government is the minister of God, and he is avenging by bringing wrath on the one who practices evil. Capital punishment is the will of God, and the executioner is the servant of God. “As unpleasant,” writes Robert Culver, “as is the task of the jailor and the use of the whip, the cell, the noose, the guillotine, these things stand behind the stability of civilized society and they stand there necessarily for God has declared it so in harmony with reality rather than with apostate, sociological opinion.” Government, with its coercive powers, is a social necessity but one determined by the Creator, not by the statistical tables of some university social research staff. And when a society loses touch with the realities of the wretchedness of man and pulls back from punishment, it contributes to its own death. The context now of Romans 12 and 13 shows that the vengeance which is forbidden to the individual - remember the end of 12? Vengeance is forbidden to the individual; it is, however, given to the government as a minister of God.