Romans 13:3

Romans 13:3 For rulers are not. terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:

'For' -'explains why the punishment comes upon the rebel. It is because government exists to promote the good and suppress the evil.' (McGarvey p. 509)

'rulers' -the "higher powers" in this section. (Romans 13:1) Which would include everyone in the chain of command, President, Representatives, Senators, Governors, Mayors, Police Officers, National Guard soldiers, Judges, IRS and Immigration Agents, etc.. (1 Peter 2:13...or unto governors, as sent by him.. '). God expects submission to all those who are "sent" by the king also. Food and Health Inspectors, Building Inspectors, Fire Marshals, DMV and DEQ officials, etc..

'are not. terror to the good work' -'not. cause of fear for good behaviour' (NASV).

What Paul here states is generally true. 'The principles of the Roman law were just, and Paul himself found protection from its officers and tribunals (Acts 19:35; Acts 21:31; Acts 22:30; Acts 24:10; Acts 25:10; Acts 26:30)' (P.P. Comm. p. 391)

This is not to say that the civil authorities sometimes swerve from their God appointed mission. Sometimes the civil authorities get confused over what actually constitutes 'good' and 'evil' (Isaiah 2:20). Unfortunately, for awhile the Roman government would view Christians as "evil-doers" (2 Timothy 2:9; 1 Peter 2:12). There are many instances in history where governments due to ignorance, prejudice or bigotry mistook the wrong for the right. Our present government is sadly mislabeling right for wrong and wrong for right-(abortion, homosexuality, prayer in the schools, spanking, etc..). Paul had even found himself mistaking right for wrong. (Acts 8:3; Acts 9:1; 1 Timothy 1:13)

'but to the evil' -'but to those of bad behavior' (Amp) And for the most part, most governments try to fulfill this God-given task. (1 Peter 2:20; 1 Peter 4:15)

Points to Note:

1. 'Law and order is. boon to any society..any form of government is better than anarchy. All forms of organized government depend on the law-abiding majority...no government can abide unless the law-abiding situation be prevalent...Peking, Hanoi, Moscow, London and Washington would all be in ruins unless they defended the rights of the law-abiding majority.'

2. We have too many people in our society that naively think that no government would be preferable to the government that we have. On. daily basis we receive the benefits of living with. civil government, paved roads, clean water, electricity and heating, order and justice that enables the establishment of businesses, which brings employment so we can support our families and buy nice things and own our homes.

'wouldest thou have no fear of the power' -'Do you want to have no reason to fear the Authorities?' (TCNT) We fear "authority", because we understand it can punish us. And we need to be grateful for that, for it means, that it will punish the evil-doer that might try to harm us. All forms of government, even the most corrupt, depend upon the law-abiding majority to remain in power.

'do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same' -doing good in this verse includes being law-abiding, i.e. obey the tax laws, speed laws, building codes, etc..(1 Peter 3:13) In the vast majority of cases this principle is true, but, at times governments do get right and wrong confused. (1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 3:17)