1 Peter series – “Holding onto Hope in a Hostile World”

1 Peter 2:13-17

13 For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. 15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

After seeing who should we submit to Peter now tells us:

·      Why should we submit?

 “for the Lord’s sake.” Here is the hard truth our submission to government flows out of our submission to God. It comes back to our relationship with the Redeemer. If we are not in a right relationship with Him we will not respond rightly.  Romans 13:1 teaches: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. People in power are there by God’s permission. This is more of a trust issue with God and it goes back to us resting in Him. Am I resting or wrestling with God? Authority is an instrument in the hand of God, to punishment evildoers and praise those who do good. Submission may not be a popular topic, but it is needful, especially in our rebellious and self-gratifying society. Submission does not mean slavery or subjugation but is a recognition of God’s right to govern our lives. God established the home, government and the church and He has the right to tell us how these institutions should run. We will not understand or exercise authority properly, until we come under God’s authority.

·      When should we submit?

Obey except when commanded to sin, Submit up to the point at which it becomes sin to do so. Let’s look at an Old Testament example and another one from the New Testament. Both have to do with governing authorities forbidding something that goes against God’s Word. When Daniel found out that King Darius had issued a decree that made prayer illegal, we read this in Daniel 6: 10: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” When political powers tell me that I can’t pray privately I’m not going to whine, I’m going to stop submitting and keep on worshipping. Now in Acts 4:19-20, we read that Peter and John were commanded to not preach or teach in the name of Jesus: “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’” When they were confronted again, Peter declared in Acts 5:29: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” When political powers try to prevent us from preach the good news of Jesus Christ we stop submitting and keep on sharing. But let me remind you that in both cases there were consequences for going against governmental authorities. Daniel was thrown in the lions’ den and Peter and John were imprisoned and then beaten. If I’m told to stop praying or preaching I won’t, I’m prepared to face persecution are you?