The authority of the state comes from God, and the state is answerable to God. Whenever that is lost sight of, eventually totalitarianism is going to follow as the result. The state, then, is an agency of God's common grace, not His special grace which deals with our salvation, but the common grace of God whereby He restrains wickedness and causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust alike. He has given to us the state. Its purpose is to enact and to execute the laws which God has given in His Word — the moral laws of God that He has written upon the hearts of men.

Exodus 18:21	"Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."
Leviticus 19:15	"You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. But in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor."
Jeremiah 18:5-10	Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it."
Psalm 2:10-12	Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Proverbs 14:34	Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 29:2, 4, 14	When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, the people groan....The king establishes the land by justice, but he who receives bribes overthrows it....The king who judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.
Proverbs 31:4,5	It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
Romans 13:1-2	Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

Issues And Answers From God's Word (D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.) Page 6-7