Arguably the two greatest theologians in church history, Augustine and Calvin, upheld the scriptural principle that it is the duty of the government to enforce the commandments addressing man's duty to God as well as man's duty to man found in the Ten Commandments.
Augustine's Defense
CHAP. 5.--19. But as to the argument of those men who are unwilling that their impious deeds should be checked by the enactment of righteous laws, when they say that the apostles never sought such measures from the kings of the earth, they do not consider the different character of that age, and that everything comes in its own season. For what emperor had as yet believed in Christ, so as to serve Him in the cause of piety by enacting laws against impiety, when as yet the declaration of the prophet was only in the course of its fulfillment, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and their rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed;" and there was as yet no sign of that which is spoken a little later in the same psalm: "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."
(1) How then are kings to serve the Lord with fear, except by preventing and chastising with religious severity all those acts which are done in opposition to the commandments of the Lord? For a man serves God in one way in that he is man, in another way in that he is also king. In that he is man, he serves Him by living faithfully; but in that he is also king, he serves Him by enforcing with suitable rigor such laws as ordain what is righteous, and punish what is the reverse. Even as Hezekiah served Him, by destroying the groves and the temples of the idols, and the high places which had been built in violation of the commandments of God;(2) or even as Josiah served Him, by doing the same things in his turn;(3) or as the king of the Ninevites served Him, by compelling all the men of his city to make satisfaction to the Lord;(4) or as Darius served Him, by giving the idol into the power of Daniel to bebroken, and by casting his enemies into the den of lions;(5) or as Nebuchadnezzar served Him, of whom I have spoken before, by issuing a terrible law to prevent any of his subjects from blaspheming God.(6) In this way,therefore, kings can serve the Lord, even in so far as they are kings, when they do in His service what they could not do were they not kings. 20. Seeing, then, that the kings of the earth were not yet serving the Lord in the time of the apostles, but were still imagining vain things against the Lord and against His Anointed, that all might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, it must be granted that at that time acts of impiety could not possibly be prevented by the laws, but were rather performed under their sanction. For the order of events was then so rolling on, that even the Jews were killing those who preached Christ, thinking that they did God service in so doing, just as Christ had foretold,(7) and the heathen were raging against the Christians, and the patience of the martyrs was overcoming them all. But so soon as the fulfillment began of what is written in a later psalm, "All kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him,"(8) what sober-minded man could say to the kings, "Let not any thought trouble you within your kingdom as to who restrains or attacks the Church of your Lord; deem it not a matter in which you should be concerned, which of your subjects may choose to be religious or sacrilegious," seeing that you cannot say to them, "Deem it no concern of yours which of your subjects may choose to be chaste, or which unchaste ?" For why, when free-will is given by God to man, should adulteries be punished by the laws, and sacrilege allowed ? Is it a lighter matter that a soul should not keep faith with God, than that a woman should be faithless to her husband ? Or if those faults which are committed not in contempt but in ignorance of religious truth are to be visited with lighter punishment, are they therefore to be neglected altogether ? - From Aurelius Augustine's A Treatise Concerning The Correction Of The Donatist; Or Epistle CLXXXV A Letter Of Augustine To Boniface.
Calvin's Defense
The duty of magistrates, its nature, as described by the word of God, and the things in which it consists, … extends to both tables of the law, did Scripture not teach, we might learn from profane writers; for no man has discoursed of the duty of magistrates, the enacting of laws, and the common weal, without beginning with religion and divine worship. Thus all have confessed that no polity can be successfully established unless piety be its first care, and that those laws are absurd which disregard the rights of God, and consult only for men. Seeing then that among philosophers religion holds the first place, and that the same thing has always been observed with the universal consent of nations, Christian princes and magistrates may be ashamed of their heartlessness if they make it not their care. We have already shown that this office is specially assigned them by God, and indeed it is right that they exert themselves in asserting and defending the honor of him whose vicegerents they are, and by whose favor they rule. Hence in Scripture holy kings are especially praised for restoring the worship of God when corrupted or overthrown, or for taking care that religion flourished under them in purity and safety. On the other hand, the sacred history sets down anarchy among the vices, when it states that there was no king in Israel, and, therefore, every one did as he pleased (Judges 21:25). This rebukes the folly of those who would neglect the care of divine things, and devote themselves merely to the administration of justice among men; as if God had appointed rulers in his own name to decide earthly controversies, and omitted what was of far greater moment, his own pure worship as prescribed by his law. Such views are adopted by turbulent men, who, in their eagerness to make all kinds of innovations with impunity, would fain get rid of all the vindicators of violated piety. In regard to the second table of the law, Jeremiah addresses rulers, "Thus says the Lord, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood" (Jer. 22:3)...
In here explaining the duties of magistrates, my exposition is intended
not so much for the instruction of magistrates themselves, as to teach
others why there are magistrates, and to what end they have been appointed
by God. We say, therefore, that they are the ordained guardians and vindicators
of public innocence, modesty, honor, and tranquility, so that it should
be their only study to provide for the common peace and safety. Of these
things David declares that he will set an example when he shall have ascended
the throne. "A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked
person. Whoso privily slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that
hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall
be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that
walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me" (Psalm 101:4ñ6). But
as rulers cannot do this unless they protect the good against the injuries
of the bad, and give aid and protection to the oppressed, they are armed
with power to curb manifest evil-doers and criminals, by whose misconduct
the public tranquility is disturbed or harassed. For we have full experience
of the truth of Solon's saying, that all public matters depend on reward
and punishment; that where these are wanting, the whole discipline of states
totters and falls to pieces. For in the minds of many the love of equity
and justice grows cold, if due honor be not paid to virtue, and the licentiousness
of the wicked cannot be restrained, without strict discipline and the infliction
of punishment. The two things are comprehended by the prophet when he enjoins
kings and other rulers to execute "judgment and righteousness" (Jer. 21:12;
22:3). It is righteousness (justice) to take charge of the innocent, to
defend and avenge them, and set them free: it is judgment to withstand
the audacity of the wicked, to repress their violence, and punish their
faults. - From Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion Book IV.