1 Peter 2:13-25--Submission to Authority

READ:  1 Peter 2:13-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/1Pet.2.13-1Pet.2.25
Submission to Authority
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.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

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We often like to think that the world is simply getting worse and worse and we are the only people and the only time to face the brutality and persecution that we see in the world today--especially against Christians, but in the face of one of the most brutal dictators of all time who used Christians as human torches for his parties and openly crucified them on the streets as an example of what would happen to anyone who gave their life to a god other than Caesar, Peter penned these words to the Church....."Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as a supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good."  Wow!  Did God just tell us to submit to evil dictators?  Is it too much to read into this and say that civil disobedience is simply disobedience and rebellion not only against man's authority, but against God's authority?  (We'll see this more clearly when we read Romans 13--I also wrote a blog about this several years ago if you're interested in reading ahead as my thoughts are unlikely to have changed).  God has instituted government to restrain evil, execute His law and justice, and to bless those who are obedient.  It is part of God's command for man to have dominion and stewardship over all creation.  But what happens when those rulers are opposed to God's law and God's people?  God's answer is pretty simple...do what is right so that you will not incur the wrath of the emperor or any other leader and entrust the rest to God.  We are not to use our beliefs as an excuse to do evil like being rebellious, seditious, and treasonous.   "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor."  That's so simple, yet so difficult at the same time.

While we may not be servants or slaves in the Western world, much of these teaching to slaves can be translated over to our employer-employee relations where our employer has authority over us and pays us a wage for the work that we perform for him or the company he represents.  Again, we are told to live peaceably with them even if they are unjust to us.  We should not riot or destroy the reputation or the property of our employer, even if we felt we were done and injustice.  We should not steal anything from our employer, and we should always remember that we ultimately work for God and represent Him wherever we are and with whatever we do.  Let us do all of our work as it is unto the Lord.  Jesus Himself had to endure even greater hardships.  He had all authority on heaven and on earth and yet people reviled Him, hated Him, abused Him and refused to listen to Him, and He did so in order that you could be called a son or daughter of God.

God then lays it out...don't try and put it on God and say that you are facing "persecution" when you are simply being punished for being disobedient to the authorities that God Himself has put over you.  Jesus did nothing wrong and yet never fought back and instead submitted to earthly authority to the point of death.  We likewise are expected to be obedient and endure suffering and trust God for our deliverance.  Sometimes He will provide it supernaturally like when we read about God sending an angel to break Peter out of prison or sending and earthquake to open the doors of the jail where Paul and Silas were being held, but other times men were delivered by death through martyrdom like Stephen, one of the first deacons of the Church and in doing so they were able to give great testimonies as to why there was one line they were unwilling to cross and that was to give worship to anyone or anything other than God because...they would never deny Him or recant when they were told all they had to do was say "Caesar is Lord."

Christ suffered and died for us so that we could experience the blessings of God and healing that comes to our souls when He makes all things new and gives us not only eternal life, but abundant life.  He gives us His righteousness in exchange for our sin, His life in exchange for our death as we were dead in our sins and sin nature before He called out to us by the power of His resurrection, just like He did with Lazarus.  Now He lives not only as Lord, but also as our Good Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (see Psalm 23).

Remember these words and these lessons the next time your candidate doesn't win an election or the next time your employer does something you don't like.  Maybe God has you in that place and that time for something greater than your personal happiness and comfort.  There is definitely a line that we do not cross when we are commanded to commit or condone sin.  We'll study this more throughout the epistles and even in some examples in the Old Testament, but ultimately that still comes back to giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.  Trust God to take care of you as you are obedient first to Him and then to every earthly authority that He has placed over you.