The Biblical Reason a Smaller Government Is Better

No government on this earth will be absolutely biblical in every way. No matter who’s in office, sin will always occur. However, I do believe there are better and worse forms of government. The more biblical principles we can recognize and apply in our governments, the better our society will be.

I believe a smaller government is better than a bigger government because of the principles I see in Scripture. Therefore, here is one reason, among many others, rooted in Scripture, why a smaller government is better.

A Smaller Government Is Better Because the Bible Promotes Personal Freedom

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

What is freedom? Freedom is the ability to do what you want. In a world of sin, a free society must have some form of government to protect the individual’s freedom from being violated by other people. This is why I believe that a government, at its best, should restrain evil (Romans 13:3–4) but not attempt to manufacture good.

To live in a free society, people must have the capability to make good and bad choices that produce good and bad results. And yet, we know that evil people can cause harm if their freedom is not restricted. A government should only restrict an individual’s freedom if it is violating the freedom of another individual. Notice this emphasis on Romans 13:3-4, which states:

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

The emphasis of a government promoted in Scripture is one that punishes the wicked and approves of the good. Approval is not the same thing as promoting. Approval is a passive action. So a good government should be passive in promoting good because it is just meant to approve of good, not force good. The focus of this type of government, therefore, is not on forcing what it thinks is good, but on punishing what it thinks is bad. Thus, a just government will focus the majority of its energy on creating and enforcing laws that protect individual freedoms.

That, again, is very different than creating and enforcing laws that force people to do what those in power think is good for society. Telling people what they can’t do in order to protect individual freedoms of one taking the freedoms of another is needed; what is not needed is a government that identifies what ought to be done, and then forces people to do those things. That violates personal freedom, which is a biblical principle.

But why shouldn’t the government force people to do what it thinks is good? For one, we all disagree on what is actually good. The beauty of America is that we are meant to be free to choose the way of life we deem best for ourselves, so long as it doesn’t violate the rights of others. It is biblical to let people reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7-10).

Second, the government should not force people to do good because true goodness cannot be forced; it must be chosen. Contrary to popular slogans, Jesus would never have been a socialist because socialism forces a dispersion of one’s wealth to others without individual choice. God himself calls people to walk freely in obedience to him—not under compulsion, but willingly (2 Corinthians 9:7). He never forces someone to obey his word. He lets people disobey him and sin and reap the consequences.

Imagine a gardener forcing a flower to bloom by prying open the petals. He may achieve the appearance of a blossom, but in reality, he destroys the flower. In the same way, government-forced generosity destroys the beauty of genuine compassion. True good can only grow when freedom exists.

As the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

A smaller government respects this principle by allowing individuals and communities to take responsibility for acts of kindness, generosity, and love. A big government becomes big so that it can micromanage society and enforce certain actions. A government should only be as big as is needed to create the security for its citizens to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

And notice this is meant to be an individual pursuit. You don’t have to pursue these things. You can live a wasted life if you want. You are not entitled to these blessings if you don’t want to work for them. You are entitled to reap what you sow.

When society aligns with biblical truths, people flourish—not because government forces them to, but because God designed freedom, responsibility, and accountability to be the soil where genuine good can grow.

Here’s a related article called The Biblical Reason Leftism Always Leads to Hate and Violence.