Romans 13:4

Romans 13:4. For he is God's minister to thee for good. This is a purpose for which civil government was ordained of God (the word ‘God's' is in emphatic position). By the fulfilment of this purpose the relative excellence of forms of government may be determined. It is an empirical test, and does not assume that there is a jure divino form. The verse presents a confirmation of Romans 13:3: ‘ Dost thou then wish,' etc.

Be afraid; for he weareth not the sword in vain. ‘Weareth' points to the habitual bearing; ‘the sword;' is not the dagger of the emperor and his prefect but the curved sword of the provincial Roman magistrates, which moreover was borne before them in public processions as a symbol of their right to punish with death.

An avenger for wrath, etc. The magistrate is God's minister, not only for good, but in this respect also; he is ‘an avenger for wrath,' it is his office to punish evil, to vindicate those who have been wronged (comp. Luke 18:3-8), for the execution of the Divine wrath, which is here named to strengthen the force of the argument. The theory of civil penalty here involved includes more than efforts to restrain and reform the criminal. The Apostle undoubtedly here asserts the right of capital punishment. He is describing an ideal of civil government, and this right has been and will be abused, to the extent that the state falls below this ideal. But the right remains; fully justified by the theory of punishment here advanced, and by the necessities of self-preservation on the part of society represented by the punishing power. Moreover, the right to punish also implies the right to pardon; and the measure of the right (i.e., the conformity to the ideal here presented) will be also the measure of the sense of responsibility, both as to the punishing and pardoning power. The usual objections to capital punishment misapprehend both the nature of punishment in general, and the divine authority in civil government.