1 Peter 2:13-17
Notes
Transcript
1 Peter 2:13-17
What would you say is the most difficult teaching in the Bible?
There are some today would say that the Bible’s teaching on hell and God’s judgment to be difficult. They don’t understand how a loving God could judge sinful people.
Some would say the idea that God would come to earth as a baby, grow to be a man and then die on a cross for our sins is just too difficult for them to accept.
Of course the doctrine of the trinity is also difficult to understand and explain. How can God be one and three at the same time? Yet that’s certainly what the Bible teaches.
These are just some examples of difficult teachings in the Bible and there are many more, but I think one of the most difficult teachings can be found in 1 Peter 2 and can be summed up in the four letter word “obey.” Peter calls it submission. Turn to
In the next dozen plus verses Peter is going to talk about the difficult subject of submission. He’ll apply it to our relationship with the government, our employers, and finally to the family. This is such a difficult topic because we don’t like submitting and we would often prefer to disobey. We love our independence. It’s an idea our country was built on. But Peter is going to talk about the importance and necessity of obedience.
Just to remind us, in the previous verses Peter has been talking about our witness to unbelievers. He has been addressing how we are observed by those outside the church. He said in verse 12:
1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
We are to live such good lives that even unbelievers will notice the difference and attribute it to our faith in God.
I was talking to someone recently about the influence he had on his parents. He was the only Christian in the family. While his brothers and sisters went attended well respected colleges to have high paying careers he went to Bible College. His parents just didn’t understand, but after a number of years he was able to baptize both parents. They saw the difference his faith made in his life and in his happiness. That’s part of what Peter is talking about, living in such a way that people notice a difference in you.
Then he gets to that popular instruction concerning submission.
1 Peter 2:13-17 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.
I want to answer these four questions:
What is submission?
Who are we to submit to?
Why are we to submit?
What does submission look like?
First, what is submission?
The Greek word for submit is ὑποτάσσω (hypotássō) which is made up of two words. The second word – τάσσω (tássō) – means to put in order or arrange.
At church camp there are times when we’re ready to eat before the camp staff has finished the meal. In order to waste time we’ve sometimes had the campers line up in their groups. We’ve had them line up shortest to tallest and then tallest to shortest. Or we’d have them line up alphabetically according to their first name, their middle name, or their last name. Or we’d have them line up according to when they were born. We’ve just invented ways to get them to line up. Most of the time, it didn’t mean anything. Occasionally though, the group that lined up first would get to eat first, but usually it was just a way of wasting time.
We arrange things all the time. I arrange my books in categories to help me find them. We organize the spices in cabinet putting the ones you use the most in front where they’re easier to find and the ones you use less in the back. You arrange them in some kind of order. Tasso simply means to arrange or put in some kind of order.
The first word – ὑπό (hypo) – means under. Put together, ὑποτάσσω (hypotássō) means to arrange according to rank or importance. It was originally a military term referring to authority and rank, the higher the rank the greater the authority. In a room of privates a sergeant is in command until a captain walks in. The captain is in charge until a colonel enters. And the colonel is the top authority until a general walks in. There are ranks, order, and a recognized line of authority. Hypotássō means to arrange according to levels of authority with each lower rank yielding to the authority above it.
Two years ago Debra Hamil was pulled over by a police officer in Oklahoma for a broken tail light. The officer’s video shows that he was respectful and cordial, but when he gave her an $80 ticket she refused to sign it. She didn’t think she deserved to pay $80 for something that she could easily fix in just a few minutes. I don’t think it helped when she admitted to knowing about the broken tail light for six months. So for six months she’d known about it and failed to do anything about it.
When the officer asked her to step out of the car she swore at him, rolled up her window, and drove away. So the officer got in his car and pursued her. He was on a mission to enforce the law and nothing was going to keep him from accomplishing his mission.
She ended up pulling over, but again she refused to get out of the car. When the officer began pulling her out of her car she started kicking him so he tazed her. Then he arrested her and took her to jail where she was charged with assaulting a police officer, which is a felony. Debra Hamil ended up in a police chase, was tased, was arrested, and finally she was charged with a felony all over an $80 fine for a broken tail light. Her actions illustrate an important principle; things can only go from bad to worse when we reject authority over us.
David Owens writes that as Christians:
Submission is simply the recognition of God’s authority in our lives and ordering ourselves under God. God is our Creator, and God has established the home, and human government, and the church, and therefore, God has the right to tell us how these institutions should be run.
Peter says:
1 Peter 2:13a Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority. . .
Second, who are we to submit to?
There was a preacher at a church and the church was doing well, but the elders were having problems with the preacher. He’d just disappear during the week and not let anyone know where he was. Normally it wasn’t a big issue, but when a member ended up in the hospital or worse and they weren’t able to get in touch with the preacher it became a problem. Eventually the preacher quit and started another congregation. That congregation did well till the elders at that church had the same problem with the preacher and he left there too.
Everyone has someone they are to submit to. Most children can’t wait till they become adults and don’t have anyone telling them what to do. But we know that’s not true. Everyone has someone they have to answer to.
Peter says we are to submit to and obey “every human authority” over us. In the weeks to come we’ll see Peter talking about submitting to authorities at work, at home, and even at church, but in this passage he talks about submitting to government: specifically the emperor and the regional governors under him.
I think we all have times when we disagree with a rule, law, or order handed down from the government. We might not think it makes sense and we have a difficult time submitting to it. However, Peter doesn’t make allowances for those we disagree with or even know are wrong. So as difficult as we may think we have it from time to time we need to remember what was happening when Peter wrote this letter.
As I’ve mentioned earlier in the study, Peter wrote this letter in the year 63 or 64. So that’s about thirty years after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The gospel had spread throughout the Roman Empire by that time. It was also in the middle of Nero’s reign. We may remember Nero most for the burning of Rome. Nero loved to build and when he ran out of room in Rome to construct more building it’s rumored that he had the city set on fire so he could start over again. When citizens started suspecting him of being responsible for the fire he blamed the Christians and thus began several years of intense persecution.
Nero’s reign is usually associated with extravagance, debauchery, and tyranny. Five years after becoming emperor he had his mother killed because he she was trying to dominate him.
One of Nero’s favorite pastimes was chariot racing. Some thought it was beneath the office of the emperor to participate in such behavior. The real problem he had was there were no electric or even gas lights to be able to race at night. Stories say Nero had Christians who had been arrested tight to poles, covered in tar, and lit as lamps for his evening activities.
So this is what was going on when Peter wrote and Peter said:
1 Peter 2:13-14 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. . .
Ultimately, we are submitting ourselves not to the specific person in office, but to the authority of that office. The person holding an office at any given time, may not be a person of integrity who is worthy of personal respect – Nero wasn’t – but if they hold an office, then we must respect the office.
An additional question we need to ask is if there is ever a time when we should disobey the law of the land? While the general answer is no, there are times when it’s necessary and we find several instances in the Bible. When the government asks or requires us to break God’s laws in order to obey its laws then we have a choice to make. In Exodus 1 the pharaoh ordered Hebrew midwives to kill all newborn male Hebrew babies. The midwives refused. In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were ordered to bow and worship before a golden image of the king or be killed. You know the decision they made.
Daniel 3:16-18 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
They were willing to die rather than submit to the command of the king that would require them to break God’s law.
We find a slightly different story in Daniel 6 when the king was convinced not to allow anyone in the kingdom to pray to anyone other than the king. Daniel was unwilling to pray to the king and continued to pray to God even though it meant his death.
Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
In this story Daniel wasn’t commanded to do something that broke God’s command but was forbidden from obeying God’s command.
We find a similar situation in Acts 4. In Acts 3 Peter and John had caused a stir when they healed a man everyone knew was unable to walk. After a crowd gathered to listen to the two men share the gospel they were taken into custody. The next they were ordered by the Sanhedrin not to speak in public about Jesus. Of course that went against the direct instructions of Jesus who told them and us to tell everyone the good news. What were they to do?
Acts 4:19-20 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
An important difference in this story is that Peter and John are now standing before men who believe in God. Pharaoh didn’t. Of course the Babylonian and Persian kings Nebuchadnezzar and Darius didn’t. But the men who made up the Sanhedrin would have claimed to believe in God. So Peter and John put it back on them. Is it more important to obey you or God? Who has the greater authority? Of course God does.
Third, why are we to submit?
Why is Peter making such a big deal out of this? It was obvious even to unbelievers that Nero wasn’t treating the Christians fairly. Why would he require Christians to obey him? Peter says it is for God’s sake. The first reason we are to obey those in authority is because God has told us to.
Peter is not the only one to address this issue. Paul wrote to the Romans:
Romans 13:1-2 1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Paul is reminding us that ultimately God is in control. Therefore there is no human authority that has not been placed there by God. That means when we rebel we are rebelling against God. So the second reason we should submit is because God established the authorities that are over us – even the bad ones.
Remember the story of Nebuchadnezzar ordering everyone to bow and worship before a golden image made in his likeness. This is what God had to say about Nebuchadnezzar.
Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
Jeremiah 25:8-9a 8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord.
God calls this king who does not worship him a servant. That’s because God placed him on the throne and had a purpose for his rule. Even this ungodly could be used by God.
We might find it amazing that Peter didn’t criticize the Roman government. Nor did he call for it to be overthrown. The church has been able to live, grow, and even thrive in all kinds of political systems and under all kinds of administrations – both those for the church and those against it. That’s because the focus has not been on the fairness or unfairness of the government but on the gospel and the amazing grace of God. That leads us to the final reason for submission. Peter says by doing so we will “silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”
If you believe Christians receive a distorted description of they are and what they believe it’s been like that from the beginning. The Romans charged Christians with cannibalism, incest, and atheism: cannibalism because they ate the body and drank the blood of Jesus, incest because these meals were called love feasts, and with atheism because Christians only worshiped one God and not dozens of gods. Christians have always been misunderstood and lied about and always will. The problem is when we deserve it. Christians aren’t perfect and will make mistakes like everyone else.
Fourth, what does submission look like?
If we follow Peter’s instruction what will it look like? It will look like good citizenship. Throughout the Bible we’re told to submit to authority and be the best citizens we can be.
You may remember the story of the man who some cash to the IRS and a letter that read:
I have been unable to sleep knowing that I have cheated on my income tax. I understated my taxable income and have enclosed $200.00.
P.S., if I still can’t sleep, I’ll send you the rest.
I don’t think that’s what Peter is talking about. There are some people who say they want to know God’s will for their lives. I can tell you a good place to start, is with the speed limit. Sometimes that’s difficult, but God instructs us to submit to the authority he has placed over us.
Back in the 1960s Charles Cranfield wrote a book he titled “The Christian’s Political Responsibility According to the New Testament.” Cranfield pointed out that there’s a big difference between the government of Peter’s day and the government as we know it today. In New Testament times the government was authoritarian and the ruler had absolute ruler. The sole duty of a citizen was to give absolute obedience and to pay taxes. But today we live in a democracy. In a democracy the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Part of being a good citizen is questioning what the government is doing. Since the New Testament demands that Christians fulfill their responsibility to the government as good citizens what should we do? Cranfield wrote that there must be:
. . . a voluntary subordination of oneself to others, putting the interest and welfare of others above one’s own, preferring to give rather than to get, to serve rather than to be served.
Isn’t that what Paul wrote to the Philippians?
Philippians 2:3-4 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
If we want to be good citizens and a good witness for God, that’s how we’ll live.
Peter makes an interesting comment in verse 16. He tells us to live as free people. How can he tell us to live as free after just telling us to submit to authority? If you submit aren’t you giving up your freedom? How do those two ideas go together? William Barclay described it this way:
Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like; it means being free to do as we ought. In this matter we have to return to the great central truth which we have already seen. Christianity is community. The Christian is not an isolated unit; he is a member of a community and within that community his freedom operates. Christian freedom therefore is the freedom to serve. Only in Christ is a man so freed from self and sin that he can become as good as he ought to be. Freedom comes when a man receives Christ as king of his heart and Lord of his life.
At the beginning of their freshman year of high school a teacher pulled twenty students aside and told them that we would be willing to work with them and help them be better students. If they would listen o him and do what he told them he promised they would be the top twenty students in their graduating class. They all liked the idea and said say, but one by one they dropped out of his study group. One thought it was just too difficult. Another thought his friends were having more fun. At the end of the four years there were only two left and they graduated first and second in their class. You think about what they gave up, but you also have to understand how much more they gained by submitting to the teacher. What kind of academic scholarships do you think were available because of their better grades? What freedoms did that give them they would not have had otherwise? Sometimes is restricting certain freedoms you gain others.
We’ll end with this last verse from Peter that describes what submission looks like.
1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
Four points: show respect for people, love for believers, fear of God, and honor for authority. Every single person deserves to be shown respect. There are people we agree with. They deserve respect. There are people we disagree with. They deserve respect. There are people who are willfully living in disobedience to the commands of God. They deserve respect. They are still made in the image of God and deserve respect. When Peter wrote this women had very little rights and slaves had no rights, but Christians demonstrated respect for all people and as a result changed the world.
Second, we’re to love fellow believers. That only makes sense. Isn’t it how Jesus said others would know that we belong to him because of the love we show for each other? Jesus didn’t say they would know we are his because of our love for him, but because of our love for each other. Jesus is essentially giving the world permission to judge us and see if the gospel is working for us. I could go on for a long time with illustrations from history showing that’s exactly what happened. I’ll give just one found in Acts 6.
There was a problem with some of the widows who were not being taken care of. The apostles set apart seven men to serve the widows. When unbelievers saw how the believers took care of each other they were drawn to the gospel and we read:
Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Third, we are to fear God. This is a reverential fear and awe of God. It does not mean to be in terror, but an awe and reverence that leads us to obedience. To appropriately fear God is one of the greatest needs of the church today. Too many people refer to God as “the man upstairs,” “the good guy,” or “the good Lord.” We need to see God in all of his glory and might as Isaiah did – high and lifted up. Then we will bow in awe in his presence and worship him.
And fourth, honor authority. Peter ends where he started. This is a little different though. In verse 13 Peter was talking about our actions when he said to submit to authority. In verse 17 he’s dealing with attitude as he says we are to honor. You can obey with a bad attitude. That means that whether or not we agree with or even like the authorities over us we are to honor them and pray for them.
On January 9, 1985, a preacher in Bulgaria named Christo Kuleczef, was arrested and put in jail. His crime was preaching in his church. Christo immediately began to share Christ while he was in prison. He had a trial, but it was a sham and he was sentenced to eight months. He did his eight months and when he got out wrote these words:
Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and I had a more fruitful ministry there than I could have expected in church. God was better served by my presence in prison than if I had been free.
There are millions of Christians all over the world right now who are being persecuted for their faith. It’s been estimated that since the death of Jesus almost two thousand years ago, 43 million Christians have become martyrs. More than half of those were in the last hundred years alone. More than 200 million Christians face persecution each day. We are all obligated to submit to and honor human authority. Start by picking out a leader you may not particularly care for and start praying for that person daily.