What Is the Role of Government in the Bible?

What is the role of government in the Bible? That may seem like a strange question to ask in a country where nearly every discussion about government quickly becomes a political argument. We tend to start with whether we want more government or less government, whether we agree with Republicans or Democrats, or whether we approve of whoever happens to be sitting in the White House.

As Christians, however, there is a question that needs to come before all of those discussions: What did God design government to do?

Throughout this Start at Home series, we have looked at the different responsibilities God has given to individuals, families, churches, and government. Each has a legitimate role in society, but none of them was designed to do everything. Problems begin when we neglect the responsibilities God has given us or when one institution begins assuming responsibilities God gave to another.

Government is no exception.

Government Gets Its Authority From God

Paul gives us one of the clearest biblical teachings about government in Romans 13:

“Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.” — Romans 13:1, CSB

That is a strong statement, especially when we remember the government under which Paul lived. He wasn’t writing to Christians living under a government led by people who shared their beliefs. Nero was emperor when Paul wrote Romans, and Rome certainly wasn’t governed according to Christian principles. Years later, Nero would become notorious for his persecution of Christians, and early Christian tradition associates Paul’s death with Nero’s reign.

Nevertheless, Paul told Christians to submit to governing authorities because legitimate governmental authority ultimately exists under God’s sovereignty.

We can apply that same principle in our own political system. Joe Biden served as president under the legitimate authority of that office. Donald Trump serves under the authority of the same office. Christians may strongly disagree with either man’s policies, character, priorities, or decisions. We are free to vote against a candidate and peacefully advocate for different policies.

What we should not do is decide that governmental authority only deserves respect when our preferred candidate wins.

You may have heard someone say, “He’s not my president,” after an election. From a biblical perspective, that attitude is difficult to reconcile with Romans 13. You don’t have to approve of the person holding an office to recognize the legitimate civil authority of the office itself.

The same principle applies much farther down the political ladder. Governors, judges, mayors, county officials, township supervisors, and other legitimate authorities exercise civil authority within their proper jurisdictions. Respecting that authority does not mean agreeing with every decision they make.

Government Has Civil Authority, Not Spiritual Authority

Recognizing legitimate governmental authority raises another important question. If government receives its authority from God, does that mean Christians must do whatever government tells them to do?

Scripture clearly shows that the answer is no.

Government possesses civil authority, but God has never given government ultimate spiritual authority over Christians or Christ’s church. A president cannot determine Christian doctrine. Congress cannot decide what Scripture means, and a court ruling cannot change what God has declared morally right or wrong.

Peter gives us an interesting distinction in 1 Peter 2:17:

“Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” — 1 Peter 2:17, CSB

Notice that Peter doesn’t tell Christians to fear the emperor. He tells them to honor him. God, however, is to be feared.

That distinction helps us understand the limits of governmental authority. Christians should give civil authorities the respect appropriate to their position while remembering that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God.

When those two authorities come into direct conflict, Scripture tells us which one takes precedence. After the religious authorities ordered Peter and the apostles to stop teaching about Jesus, Peter responded:

“We must obey God rather than people.” — Acts 5:29, CSB

Therefore, submission to government is real, but it is not unlimited. Government remains under God’s authority just like everyone else.

What Did God Design Government to Do?

Romans 13 does more than explain how Christians should respond to government. Paul also gives us a basic description of what government is supposed to accomplish.

He writes:

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason.” — Romans 13:3–4, CSB

Government is supposed to restrain wrongdoing and administer justice. In order to accomplish that responsibility, civil authorities possess powers that private individuals do not.

For example, if someone steals from me, I don’t get to decide how long that person should spend in prison. Likewise, if someone harms a member of my family, Scripture doesn’t give me permission to hunt that person down and administer whatever punishment I believe is appropriate.

In fact, immediately before Paul’s discussion of government, he tells Christians:

“Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath.” — Romans 12:19, CSB

Paul then explains in Romans 13 that government “does not carry the sword for no reason.” The contrast is important. God has not given private individuals the authority to administer civil justice according to their own wishes. He has given that responsibility to legitimate governmental authorities.

We see the principle much earlier in Scripture. After the flood, God told Noah:

“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans his blood will be shed, for God made humans in his image.” — Genesis 9:6, CSB

Human life has value because people are created in God’s image. Therefore, when innocent life is taken, there must be accountability.

Peter gives us essentially the same picture of civil government:

“Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.” — 1 Peter 2:13–14, CSB

Taken together, these passages give us a fairly clear picture of the role of government in the Bible. Government exists to administer justice, restrain wrongdoing, protect people, maintain civil order, and exercise legitimate authority for the good of society.

However, that doesn’t mean God gave government every responsibility society needs.

God Also Gave Responsibilities to the Family and Church

Government is only one of the institutions God established for human flourishing. The family has responsibilities of its own, and Christ has given His church responsibilities that government was never designed to fulfill.

Within the family, parents are responsible for raising their children, providing for their households, teaching the next generation, correcting their children, and teaching them about God. Scripture repeatedly places those responsibilities on parents rather than civil authorities.

The church has a different mission. Christ commanded His followers to proclaim the gospel, make disciples, teach His Word, worship together, serve one another, and care for people in need.

James gives us a particularly direct example:

“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” — James 1:27, CSB

Jesus repeatedly spoke about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing people who were in need, and caring for the sick. The early church also developed ways to care for widows and believers who lacked basic necessities.

Family responsibility is equally clear. Paul wrote:

“But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” — 1 Timothy 5:8, CSB

When we put these passages together, we begin to see three distinct but complementary areas of responsibility.

The family cares for the household, raises children, provides for its members, and teaches the next generation. The church proclaims the gospel, makes disciples, teaches God’s Word, worships, serves, and cares for people in need. Meanwhile, government administers justice, restrains wrongdoing, protects people, and maintains civil order.

These responsibilities sometimes touch one another, so we shouldn’t pretend there is never any overlap. However, recognizing some overlap is very different from assuming government should become responsible for everything.

America’s Federal Government Was Also Designed With Limits

The United States Constitution is not Scripture, and Christians should never treat it as though it carries biblical authority. Nevertheless, America’s original constitutional structure illustrates an important principle: legitimate governmental authority can have clearly defined boundaries.

The Constitution did not simply give the federal government unlimited power to address every problem in American life. Article I, Section 8 gave Congress specific enumerated powers, including taxation, borrowing, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, establishing post offices and federal courts, declaring war, and maintaining armed forces.

Later, the Tenth Amendment made the limitation even more explicit:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Federal authority was also divided among Congress, the president, and the courts so that governmental power would not be concentrated in one place.

Although the Constitution and Scripture are obviously not equivalent, they share an important concept for our discussion: having legitimate authority does not mean possessing unlimited authority.

That brings us to a difficult question about modern government.

What Does It Cost When Government Takes on More Responsibilities?

So far, we have looked primarily at what Scripture says government is supposed to do. Now let’s compare that biblical picture with the government we have built in the United States.

The scale is staggering.

The United States federal government is the largest single employer in America, with more than 2 million civilian employees. That doesn’t include the uniformed military or the millions of people whose jobs are connected to federal contractors, grants, and other federally funded activities.

Even more striking is the amount of money our federal government spends. With approximately $7.4 trillion in projected spending for fiscal year 2026, the United States federal government has the largest budget of any organization in the world. No corporation comes remotely close to spending $7.4 trillion a year.

Think about that for a moment. The government established to serve a nation of roughly 340 million people has become the largest employer in the country and operates the largest budget on earth.

How did we get here?

Part of the answer is fairly simple. Every time government assumes another responsibility, it needs people to administer it and money to pay for it. Over generations, we have asked government to take responsibility for more and more areas of American life. As those responsibilities grew, government grew with them.

That brings us back to the question we have been asking throughout this article: How much of what our government does today actually falls within the role of government in the Bible, and how much of it belongs to responsibilities God originally gave somewhere else?

One of the largest places to examine that question is social spending.

Roughly $4 trillion of the federal budget falls into the broad social-program categories we have been examining, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, income-security programs, and other major health and social benefits. Another approximately $1 trillion goes toward interest on the national debt.

Now consider a simple thought experiment.

What if families, churches, individuals, and communities were carrying the responsibilities that Scripture substantially assigns to them rather than relying upon federal social programs? Furthermore, what if we removed the enormous interest expense created by decades of federal borrowing?

Subtract those two broad categories from $7.4 trillion, and we are left with approximately $2.4 trillion.

That does not mean the Bible gives America a $2.4 trillion federal budget. Scripture obviously doesn’t tell Congress how many dollars to appropriate in 2026. Nor does this exercise prove that every dollar remaining in that $2.4 trillion represents a biblically required governmental function.

What it does show is the enormous financial difference between a government focused primarily on its civil responsibilities and the government we have today. When families and churches surrender responsibilities God gave to them, those needs don’t disappear. Government steps in, government grows, and eventually somebody has to pay for it.

Putting Trillions Into Numbers We Can Understand

We can simplify the illustration one more time.

Corporate income taxes currently provide roughly $400 billion in federal revenue. If we subtract that amount from our two spending scenarios, today’s $7.4 trillion spending level leaves approximately $7 trillion, while the $2.4 trillion thought experiment leaves approximately $2 trillion.

There are roughly 163 million employed Americans.

Dividing those amounts across the employed population gives us a way to comprehend the scale. Under current federal spending, the $7 trillion represents approximately $43,000 for every employed American. Under the $2 trillion illustration, the figure falls to roughly $12,000 per employed American.

Now compare those figures with the median full-time worker, who earns approximately $65,000 per year.

Percentage of your Income to cover the Budget

Current federal spending, after our simplified corporate-tax adjustment, represents an amount equivalent to roughly 66 percent of the median full-time worker’s annual earnings for every employed American. Our $2.4 trillion illustration brings that figure down to approximately 19 percent.

Those percentages are not individual tax rates, and I don’t want anyone to mistake them for that. Americans pay different amounts in taxes, businesses contribute revenue in several ways, and the federal government receives money from sources other than individual workers. Washington also borrows enormous amounts of money rather than collecting enough current revenue to pay for everything it spends.

The illustration simply translates trillions of dollars into numbers that are easier for ordinary working people to understand.

Social Security and Medicare provide another example that appears directly on our paychecks. Most employees currently pay a combined 7.65 percent payroll tax for those two programs—6.2 percent for Social Security and 1.45 percent for Medicare. Employers generally contribute another 7.65 percent.

Whether we see the government’s cost through income taxes, payroll taxes, employer taxes, or federal borrowing, the basic principle remains the same: government programs require resources, and those resources have to come from somewhere.

The Financial Cost Points to a Bigger Problem

It would be easy to reach this point and conclude that Washington is the whole problem.

I don’t think Scripture lets Christians off that easily.

If we believe government has assumed responsibilities that God primarily gave to families and His church, we also need to ask why there was a vacuum for government to fill.

Are Christian families caring for their aging parents? Are churches caring for widows who genuinely need help? When a family in our community cannot afford groceries, are Christians willing to help put food on their table?

If children need clothing, are churches prepared to provide it? When a single mother is struggling to keep her family together, will believers come alongside her?

Those questions are much harder than complaining about Washington because they require something from us personally.

We cannot complain that Caesar is feeding the hungry while keeping the church pantry locked. Nor can we criticize government for helping widows while ignoring the widow who lives down the street. If we object to government assuming responsibility for struggling families, our churches should be prepared to help those families when genuine needs arise.

The same principle applies within our homes. Parents cannot surrender the responsibility for raising their children and then be surprised when government institutions begin shaping what those children believe.

Government did not necessarily force its way into every area it occupies today. In some cases, families, churches, and communities left needs unmet, and government increasingly stepped into the vacuum.

That reality should concern us financially, but it should concern us even more spiritually.

Maybe Everyone Needs to Get Back in Their Lane

Understanding the role of government in the Bible should not make Christians hostile toward government. Romans 13 describes government as God’s servant, which means legitimate civil government has an important and necessary role in society.

Christians should respect legitimate authority, obey laws that do not require us to disobey God, pay what we owe, and honor those who hold public office. At the same time, we should remember that government is not God, it is not the family, and it is not the church.

Perhaps our greatest mistake has been expecting government to solve problems that God intended His people to address much closer to home.

That brings us back to the central message of this entire series.

Before we complain about what Washington is doing, we should look around our own kitchen table. Is my family doing what God gave my family to do? Is my church doing what Christ commanded His church to do? Am I caring for the people God has placed within my reach?

If families begin functioning like God designed families to function, churches begin functioning like Christ designed churches to function, and government stays within the authority God gave government, we may discover that many problems we keep asking Washington to solve were supposed to be addressed much closer to home.

You can’t change the world by Friday. But you can change your family today, and that’s how the world actually changes.