1 Peter 2:13-17
We are in the process of examining what God has to say about government and it's role in our lives (for that matter, our role in it's life!). Today we take a look at 1 Peter 2:13-17.
13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
The Government's Call:
Once again, just as we needed to find the historical context for Paul's writing in Romans, we must do the same with Peter. And once again, we find that he was most likely writing during the reign of Nero, a scoundrel of a ruler. He is writing actually to people that have already faced persecution and suffering for their faith (the major theme of the whole letter is how to deal with this "unfair" suffering when it comes).
Vs. 13 and 14 begin by showing us once again the primary calling of Government: Protection and peace for it's law abiding citizens; punishment for it's disobedient citizens. This responsibility is given to them by God. Notice the contrast between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man. The Kingdom of God does not punish or reward people based on behavior, but sheerly by grace through faith. The Kingdom of Man punishes or rewards people solely on the merits of their behavior. Yet, the Kingdom of Man is still ruled by God, just in a different way than He rules His spiritual kingdom.
Gene Veith states it this way:
God rules his earthly kingdom by power; He rules His spiritual kingdom by love. God's earthly kingdom is under the Law; His spiritual kingdom is under the Gospel. Christians are citizens of both kingdoms.... In the spiritual kingdom, they are passive recipients of God's grace. In the earthly kingdom, they are active for God in the tasks of their vocations. Christians must function in both realms at once, so that they are "in, but not of" the world.
So the Government's responsibility is to execute justice, not to dispense mercy. It's supposed to reward those who do good, and punish those who do bad.
Well then, what's our responsibility as Christians to the Government? Peter gives us 3 verbs:
1. Subject- As members of a particular society with a particular set of laws, we are to subject ourselves to the Government's rule of law. Now, as we will see later in our discussion, there are times where we must rebel against the Authorities, but in general, this is to be the rule and norm for life.
2. Serve- Paul refers to the Government as "God's ministers" (literally deacons or servants). They're supposed to serve us, we also serve them. Again, we shall go into how far this "service" is allowed to be forced on us in the future, but in general, we are to serve those above us, because through serving them, we serve God's agents of justice.
3. Honor- Finally, we are to show our Leaders respect and honor. I know this is hard for us American's that have been raised to believe that criticism of Government officials is inherently "patriotic" (is it really "inherently" patriotic?). Peter's not saying one has to think the Emperor's a great guy, but he is saying that we need to respect the office that God gave this person pure and simple. Even a President's greatest critics in this country, will shake his hand, and refer to him as "Mr. President." As Christians we must do the same.
What then is the hoped for result of this attitude towards Government? "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." The goal is that outsiders would be brought to glorify God through the behavior of His people. You have to remember that in the beginning, Christians were seen by the Empire as subversive. The Person they worshiped, Jesus Christ was referred to as their King! Because they had no temple, no idols, and no high priests, they were known as Atheists. (That's right, you Christian were known as an Atheist! Everyone else worshipped many gods, but you're God was raised in heaven, and you worship by His Spirit and Truth.) So it was, and still is, imperative for the Christians to prove that they are not threatening the government at all, because frankly, their true Kingdom is somewhere else.
Tomorrow, we examine Jesus statement, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" and begin to deal with the question of when Christians can and should (if ever?) rebel against the Governing authorities.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Erick
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