No Criteria

People will argue that governments do good. The problem is that when it comes to governments, we do not know what “good” means. The bible does not give criteria for assessing a government, because they are not part of his plan.

Only God knows whether the actions of government are good, because only he knows whether the action fits with his purposes.

If the people have forgotten God, the government cannot protect them from the consequences. That might appear to be good, but if it prevents the people from turning back to God, it is not good. What may appear to be good is actually bad, because it leads away from God. Political actions that appear to be good, may be bad, if they cause the people to stop trusting God.

The only way a government be sure it is doing good by applying the Law of God in God's way (voluntary judges). Unfortunately, that never really happens. Moreover, the government action would be unnecessary, because it would happen anyway.