This is week ten of our 1st and 2nd Peter series.Introduction/Questions
This is one of the sensitive issues of our time as well as the time that Peter wrote this letter. How are we supposed to react/submit to our leaders when we disagree with them? That is a question that causes us to grapple with the answer.
13 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.22 “He committed no sin, no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Message
So, here we are with the command to submit to our authorities. Let’s stop for a moment and consider Peter’s past history and temperament. Wasn’t he one that cut off the soldier’s ear and was ready to go to ‘war’ at a moments notice? And now, he is telling the readers of this letter that there is a ‘better’ way to respond to unjust treatment by both the local officials and the edicts from Rome.
When we look at Roman’s 13:1-2 where Paul wrote: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
Therefore, we see the rationale for Peter’s command to submit to authorities.
Verses 15 through 25 provided the readers of Peter’s letter and ourselves the ‘upside’ of submitting to not only governmental authorities but also to anyone who has authority over us.
When we mention a sensitive subject like this, there’s going to be many different attitudes and views, and some of us are going to be very passionate about those views. Whatever political perspective we may be coming from, these verses should challenge us to think about a few things today. How is our witness as a Christian affected by our attitude towards government or towards authority in general? How are our interactions with those authorities reflecting the identity which Christ gives to us? Are they an outworking of Christ’s calling on us to be holy?
Specifically, when it comes to attitudes towards government, there are 3 prevailing attitudes: Passivity, Cynicism, and Rebellion. Passivity is the attitude which says, “I don’t care. It doesn’t affect me.” Cynicism is the “what I do doesn’t matter” or “everything is corrupt, so why bother” attitude. Rebellion is the “I won’t be subject to anyone” or “I will not submit” attitude. These attitudes are very common today, however, none of these attitudes are in keeping with our identity as Christians. More about that later.
Now what do we immediately learn from these verses about authority? We learn that there is no authority except from God (also see Psalms 62:11) and as a result, those authorities that do exist have been instituted by God. So it follows that government, as an institution, has been established by God.
So what about governments which are evil and act against God? Does God institute those? The short answer is that God does establish government in general and gives it authority to act; however it does not mean that God condones all actions they take with that authority.
To answer that question properly, we have to distinguish between the concept of government in general and particular cases of government. Simply having many particular cases of bad government does not necessarily make government itself an inherently bad institution. In fact, government as a general concept, according to Scripture, is an authority which God has established for our good. As previously mentioned in Romans and 1 Peter.
Peter was writing this so that we would lead holy, honorable lives in a corrupt world, and that by doing so, we would be salt and light to the world so that the gospel can be proclaimed by our actions and that God would be glorified through our conduct in how we interact with the governing authorities.
So what of the particular cases of government that does not fulfill its purpose? Are we still called to be subject to them? The answer is this: So long as they do not cause us to be disobedient to God, we are called to be subject to them. We, as Christians, are ultimately subject to God before anything else, so in the case that we receive two conflicting commands from God and government, God takes precedence.
“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.” (Romans 13:3-4)
“…or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” (1 Peter 2:14)
These two verses together form the Biblical purpose for government: Government is established by God for the purpose of praising good and punishing evil. As such, it is very important that government understands what good and evil really are. When government establishes laws that are in accordance with God’s law, then they fulfill their purpose. When government establishes laws that are contrary to God’s law, they deviate from their established purpose. So, if government is acting according to that purpose, we are called to be subject to them, for they are established by God for our good. And we see this attested to in verses 5-7 of Romans 13 as well.
“Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:5-7)
So what of the particular cases of government that does not fulfill its purpose? Are we still called to be subject to them? The answer is this: So long as they do not cause us to be disobedient to God, we are called to be subject to them. We, as Christians, are ultimately subject to God before anything else, so in the case that we receive two conflicting commands from God and government, God takes precedence. There are few notable examples of this occurring in the Bible.
One example comes from the book of Acts. In chapterActs 5, Peter and other apostles were arrested for preaching the gospel and thrown in jail. An angel of the Lord unlocks the jail and tells them to go to the temple and continue preaching. They were again brought before the religious authorities, who ordered them not to preach the gospel. Their response in verse 30 was, “We must obey God rather than men.” Here, God again took precedence over obedience to the established human institutions. There is a time to disobey the governing authorities for sake of obedience to God, but ultimately, God still calls us to be subject to the governing authorities in all other situations. Admittedly, this leaves a lot of gray area. What really constitutes a true conflict between God’s law and the laws of the land? It could be very tempting to stretch that exception farther than it should. It can also go the opposite direction as well, where we cower to government authority for fear of the consequences when God has called us to take a stand. Each situation must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis through prayer and searching the Scriptures.
Let’s stop for a moment and note the context of 1 Peter and Romans. Peter and Paul both wrote to a completely different political situation today than we live in. They wrote to Jewish and Gentile Christians who were in the minority and had very little influence or impact on the governing of the Roman Empire. 1 Peter and Romans were written during the reign of Nero, who was well known for his torture and persecution of Christians. Yet we still see Peter and Paul calling the church to be subject to that governing authority for the Lord’s sake. So while the basic truths are the same, how these principles would apply back then would be different than how we apply them today to our situation.
So how do they apply to our context today in the United States of America? We are very lucky to live in the United States. For all its faults that we complain about, we have it good here when we compare it to governments that have existed both today and throughout history. History is replete with examples of tyrannical and corrupt governments. For the most part, we have freedoms and rights that the majority of people on this earth are not afforded. We, the people, have the right to vote to elect representatives that govern on our behalf. We have rights guaranteed under the Constitution that no law is supposed to violate. Our government is structured in such a way where power is divided to help prevent one group of people from becoming too powerful over the others. These freedoms and many others have led to great prosperity in this country.
How are we today as Americans and as Christians supposed to interact with our own government? Remember, the 3 common attitudes toward government: passivity, cynicism, and rebellion.
Passivity is the attitude which says, “I don’t care. It doesn’t affect me.” That is not true. The actions of the government directly affect us on a day to day basis, even if we don’t realize it. It determines how much money we pay in taxes, how fast we can drive on the roads, what kinds of foods and medicines we can consume, the size of our toilet bowls, whether we need a permit to have a Bible study in our own home, or even whether we can sell lemonade from our front lawn. It is involved in matters of morality, being able to determine the legal definition of marriage, whether prostitution is illegal or not, or whether certain drugs are illegal or not. It is involved in matters of life and death, like whether an unborn baby has a right to life or not, whether a criminal can be given the death penalty, whether we go to war with a foreign nation and put the lives of our soldiers in jeopardy. In short, we could say that the government is one of the greatest, if not the greatest influence on our culture. And guess what? We, the people, are in charge of electing the people who make these decisions. To say it doesn’t affect us is simply untrue.
As Christians, since we have the ability to affect these kinds of crucial decisions, even in a small way, we have a responsibility to affect these decisions. In our country, we do this through voting and participating in the political process. We need Christian voices in politics, especially when the government is making such critical decisions about morality or life and death. We need Christians to hold government accountable to its Biblical mandated purpose to promote good and punish evil. If the entire body of Christ in this country were to exercise our voting right, how great an impact could we have on our culture?
The next attitude is cynicism. Cynicism is the “everything is corrupt, so why bother” or the “I can’t make a difference” attitude. Part of cynicism is skepticism. The fact is, politicians do lie, misstate, and “misremember” the truth quite often; so skepticism is actually a good thing. Scripture tells us to test all things and hold on to the good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). But where cynicism becomes dangerous is when it goes beyond simple skepticism and leads to passivity. And for the same reasons above, passivity does not coincide with the responsibility we have as Christians. We need to actively pursue the truth in these matters so we can be well informed when we cast our vote. Cynicism needs to be replaced with healthy skepticism and a feverish pursuit for the Truth.
The final attitude is rebellion, which simply says, “I will not be subject to anyone.” If we say that we are subject to God, then we must also be subject to those authorities that he has established for our good. As mentioned before, we are subject to God first before government. But so long as government does not cause us to be disobedient to God, then we are to be subject to them as an authority established by God. We need to replace rebellion with godly submission.
Let’s be clear about one more thing – godly submission does not mean that we become a doormat for the government to walk on. If government deviates from its Biblical purpose and mandate, then being subject to the governing authorities does not mean that we should do nothing about it. The laws of this country allow us to go to court and see that our rights are protected. They also allow us to petition the government to make good laws or repeal bad ones. Don’t mistake subjection to the governing authorities for passivity.
We are called not only to honor those in authority, but as it says in I Peter, we are to honor everyone.
“Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:17)
All human beings, whether in a position of authority or not, are created in the image of God, and that means that everyone is to be treated with dignity and respect. The best way to say this is said all over Scripture: Love one another. How do we love those in authority? We are able to love them by giving them the honor they deserve.
Second, we are called to have holy conduct in our interactions with the governing authorities. Remember, the Biblical mandate of government is to praise good and punish evil. Theoretically, so long as we live in accordance with God’s law and the government is abiding by its ordained purpose, we shouldn’t come into conflict with the government. Of course, that’s not the case in real life because the government is not perfect. But one practical way our calling to be holy works itself out is to obey the laws of this land so long as they do not conflict with the law of God. That includes big things like being honest in paying our taxes or little things like buckling our seat belt.
Concluding Thoughts and Application
Let our identity in Christ dictate our conduct. Our identity in Christ calls us to act in such a way that is both holy and honorable, especially to those whom God has placed in authority over us. As Christians, we are citizens of heaven first, and as Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ here on earth. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Let our identity in Christ dictate our conduct in such a way that is loving, holy, honorable, and glorifying to Him so that it advances the gospel and the kingdom of God.
