Christians in the Modern State
1 Peter 2:13-17
Baptist Foundations — Christians in the Modern State
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the emperor.[1]
One aspect of Christian teaching that contemporary believers appear to find odious is the command to cultivate a submissive spirit. Submission is neither natural, nor is it a popular characteristic for contemporary Christians. We resist even the thought of cultivating a submissive spirit. We are assailed with constant insistence to exalt individual “rights.” Consequently, we admire assertive individuals, counting those who reveal a submissive attitude as wimps and wusses. Any message that calls for a submissive attitude is inimical to a generation imbued with the concept of self-esteem and that is so thoroughly indoctrinated in personal rights.
I well recall a wedding I performed some years ago. The bride-to-be informed me at the first counselling session that she would not publicly state her willingness to submit to her groom. I suggested that perhaps she should refrain from marriage, in that case, since submission is a biblical mandate for wives. In the Ephesian encyclical, Paul writes, Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord [Ephesians 5:22]. She decided against calling the marriage off, and she did express commitment to submit to her own husband.
Submission is certainly a virtue expected of a Christian wife; but that same attitude of a submissive spirit is expected of all Christians. In the verses preceding his instruction to wives, the Apostle wrote: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ [Ephesians 5:15-21]. Wise saints are careful about how they live. They are thankful, joyful, serious, and they will be submissive to one another. Church members are to be submissive to church leaders, and Christians are to submit to governing authorities.
Submission to Government Reflects Understanding of God’s Will — Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. Christians must respect the governing authorities. This is not to say that every law produced by Parliament or that every piece of legislation passed by a provincial legislature is good and worthy of respect; but it does mean that we are to make every effort to be obedient so long as that obedience does not bring us into conflict with the will of God.
This is not a plea for Christians to blindly submit to every state-sponsored idea; there are official positions that a Christian must conscientiously reject and refuse to obey. However, the Christian must willingly accept the consequences of his or her actions. Recently, I have been listening to some of the speeches of Doctor Martin Luther King. I am humbled to have arrived only lately at a full appreciation of the thoroughly biblically saturated position Doctor King promoted in resisting a moral cancer in his nation.
What made Doctor King so powerful against his foes was the moral correctness of his position, a position strengthened by resolute willingness to suffer the consequences that attended civil disobedience. I am not saying that Doctor King was a good man, his propensity toward sin is too well known to argue for that, but I do say that he was a great man because he fought the right fight, and he fought it in the right way.
In one extemporaneous speech that stands out in my memory, he speaks quite plainly of the consequences arising from civil disobedience. He warned that some listening to him that evening would be jailed—and they were jailed. Some would be beaten—and they were beaten. Some, he said plainly, may be called to die at the hands of cruel and callused assassins. Only days before he spoke these words, Medgar Evers had been murdered—shot in the back before the eyes of his children waiting their daddy’s return. The following summer, three young civil rights workers—James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner—were murdered and their bodies buried in an earthen dam. The power of Doctor King’s words lies in his willingness to accept the consequences of disobedience. The deliberate nature of his actions coupled to the willing acceptance of the consequences shamed supporters of those wicked and unjust laws.
So, there is a time to disobey some laws. We must be cautious, however, that we do not fall into a trap of thinking that we can pick-and-choose which laws we will obey or which laws we will ignore. On the whole, civil disobedience is exceptional, and it is this exceptional nature that gives power to the action. If disobedience were the usual course of action, it would have no significance when it was practised.
This begs us to ask: why should a Christian obey the law, and especially a bad law? Why should we as Christians obey our leaders? At any given time, some among us will dissemble at obeying laws passed by a given government. We live in a democracy, and the government of the day does not always represent our personal political leanings. When a government other than that which we desire to be in power passes legislation, why should we be obliged to obey their edicts?
It would be correct to speak of the need for political stability, though Scripture is silent on that particular issue. I could even speak of the fact that we have agreed to accept the terms of the constitution, which compels obedience to the laws of Parliament, demanding obedience even to laws that are odious and not entirely to our liking. That, also, is true. However, the Apostle clearly identifies the reason for our obedience when he writes, Be subject for the Lord’s sake to governments. The child of God accepts that no government exists without God’s permission. Because we are citizens of heaven [Philippians 3:20], we make every effort to be good citizens of our natal land.
Government, in God’s economy, is a gift to ensure stability. Paul maintains that government bears responsibility to commend what is good and to punish those who do evil. Protection of citizens from wickedness and from foreign invasion is a biblical mandate. It is somewhat more difficult to justify regulatory activities through appeal to the Word of God. Nevertheless, Christians must be obedient for the Lord’s sake.
The Apostle urges us to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings … for … all who are in high positions. The reason we are to pray for those in authority is so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way [1 Timothy 2:1, 2]. We pray for the welfare of government so that we can enjoy peace. There is an immediate benefit resulting from government, and we are to obey the law so that we can enjoy peace. However, if we stop reading at that point, we miss a vital reason for obedience.
In 1 Timothy 2:3-6 Paul continues: This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. In other words, we seek good for governing authorities, and we demonstrate obedience to those in authority, because it permits us to do what we are supposed to do, which is point men and women to Christ. Paul gives the same instruction with a differing twist in Titus 3:1, 2. Remind [believers] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarrelling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
These passages from Paul’s pastoral letters supplement what Peter has written. Together, they become a corpus of general instructions for how a Christian is to conduct himself in society. The basis under girding this particular “household code” is recorded in the verses preceding the text. I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation [1 Peter 2:11, 12]. Holiness is accomplished through living honourably.
We must not live only for the moment, accumulating goods that are destined for dust. It is not our purpose to live solely to avoid upsetting anyone because we are godly. God left us on this earth after giving us His salvation so that we could glorify Him. For those who wonder what it means to glorify the Father, it means that we demonstrate the transformed life that reveals the presence of Christ and that we live self-controlled, godly lives that exhibit the will of God for all people. God’s will is for His people be holy, and in particular for His people to abstain from sexual immorality [1 Thessalonians 4:3]. We live in a day in which we might well wonder if there is an exception clause to such narrow statements, but all sex outside of marriage, all infidelity, all refusal to seek a life demonstrating righteousness and self-control are condemned.
God’s will is for His people to be thankful in all things [1 Thessalonians 5:18]. This is simply a statement that we are to recognise the good hand of our God ruling over this fallen world, understanding that He is in control. Thanksgiving is nothing less than the response of a soul at peace with God because that individual recognises that our God is too wise to make a mistake and too good to needlessly hurt His child. Gratitude flows from confidence in God’s reign both over the world and in our own life.
The will of God for Each Christian is salvation and preservation. Having been saved, you are now kept secure in the Master. There is, in John’s Gospel, a powerful statement concerning the will of the Father. This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day [John 6:40]. It is God’s will that all who look to Christ will be saved. Jesus has promised His own, it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish [Matthew 18:14]. Those who are born from above are forever preserved in Christ.
Because you are redeemed, the Father wills that you reflect the transformed life He has invested in you. The way in which you reveal that transformed life is through being thankful and through deliberately choosing to be holy in your manner of life. Now, in our text, we are given one further expression of the will of God for His people. Christians redeemed by the grace of God and left in this world as ambassadors of Christ, are to be subject to every human institution.
What are the human institutions that Peter has in mind? The Apostle identifies the human institutions before which we are to live honourably. Peter teaches of the need for a submissive spirit toward the church [1 Peter 3:8], choosing to speak well of one another and to build one another. He identifies the need for a spirit of submission within marriage [1 Peter 3:1-7], an attitude of submission in the work relationship [1 Peter 2:18], and a submissive attitude toward government [1 Peter 2:13-17].
An Attitude of Submission is Expressed Through doing Good — This is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Recently, the world has been transfixed by the spectacle of adherents of one of the world’s great religions raging through the streets of multiple cities throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Chanting mobs have burned embassies, murdered Christians while they worshipped, burned church buildings; and even in Western democracies adherents of that religion parade about, carrying signs that threaten entire nations with warfare and death. All this is because of the publication of political cartoons by a newspaper.
Christians certainly have many opportunities to be angered by the actions of a society that is militantly secular and antagonistic toward people of faith. Artists ridicule our faith through calling a crucifix immersed in urine, or a “painting” of the Virgin Mary made with elephant dung “art.” Movie and television producers imagine that we will laugh at a menstruating Madonna statue or at a sitcom that glorifies immorality in the family of a priest. What is important for the purpose of this message, however, is to note that despite the continual hostility of a few people toward our Faith, there were no Catholic riots in New York over these insults. No Baptists seized control of a bus and drove it into a building. No Presbyterians raged through the streets sawing off heads.
What did happen in each of these instances—and in many others as well—was that Christians expressed disgust and disappointment, and in some instances, they informed corporate sponsors that they would no longer be using their products. With this measured response, Christians demonstrated that they were committed to “doing good.” They recognise that riots and rampage cannot be construed as doing good. Some may counter that threats and intimidation create fear, but Christians are not called to cower the enemies of righteousness. Instead, we are called to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us [Matthew 5:44]. In this way, we will do good.
As Christians, we are required to make every effort to do what is good. By this means, we put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. At the time Peter wrote, slanderous and false charges were levelled that Christians practised cannibalism, that they engaged in continuous orgies and that they were atheists. After all, didn’t they speak of eating the “body” and of drinking the “blood” of their God? Didn’t these Christians participate in “love feasts?” Wasn’t it true that the Christians had no images of their gods and that they refused to acknowledge the existence of the gods that everyone else worshipped? Therefore, people reasoned that there had to be validity to the charges against Christians.
The Christian Faith did not become religio licit because believers had superior apologists or because they were more forceful in their arguments. Christianity did not sweep the Empire because the Christians outnumbered the pagans. The Faith of Christ the Lord became accepted because of the power of love those first Christians had for one another and because of their deep the love for the Master. Tertullian, in his Apologeticum (39:7), states of the testimony of the pagans about Christians, See, they say, how they love one another, for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.[2]
To be subject means “to show respect toward,” or “to defer to” the governing authorities, in contradistinction to the meaning when we say we must be subject to the will of God.[3] The submission in the former is a voluntary choice in which we must know the impact of our choice on observers. If the higher duty to God leads us as Christians to dissent, we willingly accept the consequences, knowing that God is honoured and that observers will ultimately glorify the Saviour because of our choice. If respect toward the governing authorities is exhibited, we knows that observers will be unable to speak ill of us because of their choice. Whether obeying or disobeying governing authorities, our attitude as Christians has, of necessity, an impact on those watching. Of this, you may be certain, someone is watching you as you live out your life.
To do good means to honour those to whom honour is due. This does not mean that only on special occasions are we to honour those “institutions ordained for people.”[4] To honour the church wherein God has placed you is to accept those whom He has appointed to leadership and to obey their rule [Hebrews 13:7, 17]. To honour marriage means to accept that God has established marriage for our benefit and to maintain a pure life within the boundaries of marriage [Hebrews 13:4]. To honour the workplace is to accept your position either as an employer or as an employee, doing the best possible work, knowing that you must ultimately answer to Christ the Lord for your conduct [Ephesians 6:5-9]. Honouring those in government means maintaining an attitude that demonstrates respect for the institutions that characterise our governments.
It must be said that many of the “good” aspects of modern society are the result of the Christian Faith, growing out of conscientious and practical application of biblical teaching, and because of social stability that arises out of the Faith of Christ the Lord. Hospitals and orphanages are rooted in Christian missions and not because of governmental largess. Public education arose from Christian concern for people to be able to read the Word of God. And despite the caricature of Christians as a threat to the liberal social agenda of our nation, Christians are counted as among the “best” citizens. Christians are not prone to being or to becoming bad citizens.
Having stated these truths, there is a temptation to castigate politicians holding an opposite view than that which we might incidentally hold. Whether you are liberal or conservative in your political views, it is wrong, if you are a Christian, to speak ill of those with whom you disagree. Assail their position, but spare the individual.
I am not seeking to dissuade you from involvement in the political process, but you must give honour to those to whom honour is due—and that includes politicians holding to a view opposite of that which you hold. Scot McKnight is correct in saying, “our motivation for political activity needs to be set in the context of our mission as a church. Too often political activity by Christians seems to have so little Christian motivation that it betrays what we are all about. Our first task is to glorify God by bringing the good news of the gospel of the kingdom to bear on our world. If our political activity is not drenched in that motivation and is instead only slightly stained (work as hard as possible to appear nonreligious and acceptable) by the message of the kingdom, then we are denying the purpose of our existence. Peter motivated the churches to good actions in their world so that they would declare forth the good news of God and demonstrate his goodness and glory, in the hope that others would want to become Christians.”[5]
This is not a plea to measure every act by whether that particular action is evangelistic or not, but it is rather a challenge to realize that every action we perform as Christians will either advance or hinder the cause of Christ. Either we are laying the groundwork for others to learn of Christ through giving us a hearing, or we are turning them from the Faith as they determine that we really do not differ from them. For many of us, we are saying, “Come to Christ” with our lips, while we are saying, “Go to hell” with our lives. Peter confronts us to ensure that our attitudes and lives do good.
Jonathan Edwards is perhaps best known for his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Often forgotten is that Edwards was a university president and an incisive thinker that wrestled with great philosophical issues affecting the Christian Faith. At one point, Edwards fashioned guidelines for Christian interaction with public life. Gerald R. McDermot has summarized six points of Edward’s theology of public life.
(1) Christians have a responsibility to society beyond the walls of the church.
(2) Christians should not hesitate to join forces with non-Christians in the public square to work toward common moral goals.
(3) Christians should support their governments, but be ready to criticize them when the occasion demands.
(4) Christians should remember that politics is comparatively unimportant in the long run.
(5) Christians should beware of national pride.
(6) Christians should care for the poor.[6]
Christians must live in society; and in the society in which they live they are responsible to make every effort to “do good.” It is only as we Christians have turned from the mandate to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness [Matthew 6:33], that the charge that we are detrimental to the advance of society has gained traction. It is to the glory of Christ the Lord that we Christians respond with compassion as we are noted to do during disasters. It is to the glory of God that we Christians aspire to live quietly and mind our own affairs [1 Thessalonians 4:11]. It is to the glory of the Father that we Christians hold firmly to our convictions, and speak the truth in love in order to hold society accountable to moral and ethical truth.
An Attitude of Submission Expresses Christian Freedom — Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the emperor. Here is a balance that is too frequently neglected. We are to live as servants of God—servants, and not kings. We are to honour all peoples, demonstrating respect and accepting all with the dignity that is due fellow creatures of the Lord Christ. We are to be vitally and vibrantly connected to the church. There, among the people of God, we are to worship the Living God. Only then, are we capable of honouring government, keeping perspective as free people.
It is impossible to imagine a truly democratic state arising out of a society that adheres to a religious view other than the Christian Faith. Democracy has never been produced by a culture saturated with Buddhist principles, or from a Hindu state, or from a Muslim society. Neither democracy nor freedom is sustained within an atheistic society. Western democratic societies are living on dividends derived from past Christian investment. Totalitarian religions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam—do not, indeed cannot, respect individuals, and cannot maintain perspective.
The reason that society tempered with the Christian Faith tends toward freedom is that ultimately the Christian must confess that he or she is not truly a citizen of the country in which he or she resides. We recognise that citizenship is temporary, and we will quite naturally have patriotic pride in our nation because we are concerned for the needs of our country. However, superseding the transient citizenship we hold is the knowledge that our citizenship is in heaven [Philippians 3:20]. Ultimately, as Christians, we are free of the jurisdiction of the governing authorities. As Christians, we are slaves, not of Caesar, but of God. Therefore, we must live free, as we truly are in Christ.
The freedom I have received in Christ is a precious gift that must not be abused through ignoring personal responsibility to the society in which I live. Because I am free, I am free to honour God through the choices I make. Because I am free, I am free to live righteously. The strength of a Christian is strength that arises from his freedom in Christ the Lord. This is a freedom that can be voluntarily held in check for the sake of another [e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:23-29] or that can be invoked in order to refuse to accommodate evil. The freedom we know in Christ gives courage to do what is right, even as we resist evil.
However, freedom does impose responsibility. Freedom requires that the free individual deliberately, voluntarily, accept responsibility to use his freedom for the benefit of others so as to honour the Lord. Christians living within the modern state must live as free people. The expression of the freedom each Christian enjoys will be demonstrated in compassion for those neglected within society. Christian freedom will be expressed through participation in the political process. Freedom in Christ will be expressed through accepting the burden to be the conscience for society. Freedom for the child of God will lead that individual to be holy and righteous in the way she or he lives.
Freedom is God’s gift in Christ. Listen to Paul’s teaching concerning freedom in Galatians 5:1. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Shortly after penning these stirring words, the Apostle reminds readers, you were called to freedom, brothers. The application of this knowledge is then appended: Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another [Galatians 5:13]. In Christ, we enjoy perfect liberty. We Christians are those who live without fear, honouring and serving Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Our freedom is grounded in the Word. James attests to this truth when he writes, The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing [James 1:25]. His words iterate the word of our Lord, who promised, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free [John 8:32]. Indeed, He promised that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed [John 8:36]. Because liberty is the purpose for which we are saved, this Word that reveals Christ to us is called the law of liberty [James 1:25].
The freedom we enjoy in Christ is freedom from sin [Romans 6:18, 22], and consequently, freedom from fear [Romans 8:2]. The Spirit of the Lord dwells with us and in us, and thus we are assured of freedom, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom [2 Corinthians 3:17]. This freedom permits us to live godly lives that honour Christ through living honourably in the midst of a fallen world. This freedom, this divine gift entrusted to each Christian, becomes the strength that instils conviction and courage in each of us. We need not fear what others may say concerning us, because we can be confident that our lives will refute any lie that will be formed against us.
Because this is true, it is evident that the professed child of God that fails to nourish his soul with the Word is sacrificing freedom that s intended for his enjoyment. The Christian that neglects feeding on the Word makes himself vulnerable and will become increasingly susceptible to falling from the secure position previously enjoyed in Christ. Would you be truly free—free from the power of sin and free from the penalty of sin? You must embrace Christ as Lord of life, believing that He died because of your sin and that He raised to declare you free of all condemnation before the Father.
The Word of God declares, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. That glorious truth continues by declaring, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].
If you have never believed this message of life, this is the day for you to believe. Jesus, the Son of God, has provided a way for you to be free. Only as you accept the grace He offers can you hope to do good. The call is for you to believe that He died because of you and that He raised for you. Believing that He lives, accept His offer of life. Then, you will have the divine power that enables you to do what is good. Only as you rest in Christ the Lord is that the possibility that you will know His peace because you have received the forgiveness of sin.
Undoubtedly, I have spoken primarily to Christians with this message. You who name the Name of Christ, the burden of the message is for you to live as the Lord’s slave, so that you can enjoy freedom [see 1 Corinthians 7:22]. Only as you serve Him can you hope to obey the injunction that warns against becoming slaves of men [1 Corinthians 7:23]. Be righteous in a fallen society to the praise of His glory and for His honour. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. III: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997.
[3] Cf. J. Ramsey Michaels, Word Biblical Commentary: 1 Peter, Vol. 49 (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN 1988) 124
[4] Alternative reading provided in the ESV
[5] Scot McKnight, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: 1 Peter (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI) 159
[6] Gerald R. McDermot, “What Jonathan Edwards Can Teach Us About Politics,” Christianity Today, July 1, 2001, http://www.ctlibrary.com/8180, accessed March 9, 2006