Home • Preaching the Word • 1 Peter
Submitting to Authority for Christ
Preached October 28, 2009 at a Mission in Downtown Birmingham, AL by Jake Hanson
The great thing about preaching through a book of the Bible is that the text is chosen for you. The hard thing about preaching through a book of the Bible is that the text is chosen for you. Tonight, we come to a text which raises many questions for us, but it is the living and enduring Word of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.
Tonight, we come to a passage that deals with submitting to authority. In particular, three areas of submission are laid out. First, all of us submitting to government authorities. Second, slaves submitting to their masters. And third, wives submitting to their husbands. Each of these are extremely controversial ideas, but I want to frame them as Peter frames them.
Look with me at our text tonight to see how it is framed, starting in verse 11.
“11Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
12Keep your behavior excellent [good] among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
You who are believers in Jesus Christ are aliens and strangers in this world. This is not your home. As a result, you act differently. You talk differently. You think differently. You realize that this world is passing away and your treasure waits for you in heaven.
But notice here what is commanded as a result of being aliens and strangers. Verse 11: “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” Do not be fooled. The lusts of the flesh are not just private matters. They serve to destroy you and your life LL. They separate you from God. They separate you from others—from friends, from family and from other Christians. And as you let fleshly lusts characterize your life, you become more like the world and lose your platform to show the excellencies of Jesus Christ to this world.
But look at the second command in verse 12: “1Keep your behavior good/honorable among the world, so that…they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation [when Christ returns].” As you live good and honorable lives in this world, you stand in contrast to the world, and people begin, not just to see you, but to see past you toward the Lord Jesus Christ. As you live lives of righteousness and truth and justice in this unrighteous, untruthful and unjust world, you live lives which point others to Jesus Christ. As we saw last week and we will see next week, this gives us an opportunity to share with our mouths and words the excellencies of Christ.
But in our text, we see that as we submit to the authority of government, as slaves—the very worst possible of the human predicament—submit to their masters and as wives submit to their husbands, the world takes note and begins to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ in us.
Read this lengthy text with me starting in verse 13-3:7.
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,
14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
15For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
16Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
17Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
18Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.
19For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
20For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
21For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
22WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;
23and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
24and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
25For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
1In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
2as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
3Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
4but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
5For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;
6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
7You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Submitting to authority. To submit simply means to place yourself under the leadership or charge of another. It is to obey that authority. Let’s begin by looking at submitting to government.
Submitting to Government (2:13-17)
The Christian is commanded to submit to the government and to “every human institution” (vs. 13) which I think includes submitting to the authority at Br. Bry Mission.
At this point, some of you might be thinking, “But what about Hitler? Should we submit to him? Or what about Mao Zedong or Stalin—these brutal dictators who killed millions of people? Surely we should not submit to them!” But this is precisely what Peter is saying. Peter himself lived under terribly wicked governments—far more wicked than we will ever find in the United States. In fact, he lived under a government that put His Lord Jesus Christ to death, and he himself was put to death by the government. Peter was not unaware of the problem of an unjust government. However, Peter is teaching us that even when, and even especially when, you disagree with the government, you are to submit to its authority. There are exceptions which we find through looking at the book of Daniel, especially Daniel chapters 1, 3 and 6 which we do not have time to look at in detail tonight.
The exceptions to submitting to authority are these: 1) If the government is asking you to defile yourself by disobeying the Word of God and therefore is asking you to sin, you are to submit to God rather than to the government (Daniel 1). 2) If the government asks you to worship any other god than the Christian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you must resist the government and worship only the Lord your God (Daniel 3). And 3) If the government forbids you from worshipping the Lord your God, you must obey God rather than the government and continue to worship your God, even if you will face persecution as a result (Daniel 6).
These exceptions not-with-standing, you and I are to obey the laws of the government of the United States, of the state of Alabama, and even the rules established here at Br. Bry. You may find some of the laws and some of the rules to be intolerable or burdensome or even pointless, but God is calling on you to obey. And He is calling on you to obey so that as the world watches you, they will see that even though Christians call heaven their home country, and call Christ their King, they live lives within society which honor earthly authority even more than citizens of this world. And as the world watches, they will see that you are different. You are unique. You are holy. And as they see you, they will begin to see the Lord Jesus Christ.
Slaves Submitting to Their Masters (2:18-20)
Now we come to the issue of slavery. This is a very difficult issue given our history as Americans. Some of you in this room are descendants of American slaves—a system of slavery so grievous that British evangelist John Wesley called it the “execrable sum of all villainies.” The repercussions of slavery are so great that 150 years since its abolition, the impact is still felt very strongly in our neighborhoods, in our relationships, in our politics and in our very identity. The scars and racial inequality grieve me greatly and I know that it is difficult for some of you to hear a white man discuss slavery. But the teaching is in the Scripture. I am a servant of the Lord and have committed myself to preaching all of the Word of God, so I must preach it.
You may be wondering if the Bible is supporting, condoning, or even encouraging slavery. It is not. So, what do we do with this passage and what does it say to us today?
First, I want you to notice that this passage addresses the power-less, not the powerful. You will notice that the masters are never addressed in this passage, just as kings and governors were never addressed in the previous verses. The command is to the slaves to submit themselves to their earthly masters even if their masters are unreasonable or wicked. These are very difficult words for us to take. But they remind us, and they remind slaves, who are in the worst possible human situation, that though they are slaves in this world, they are free through the power of Jesus Christ. No one can take the freedom away that is found in Jesus Christ. For no man, no woman, no institution, no set of circumstances can take away Jesus Christ and the peace—that peace which transcends all comprehension—that He brings to our hearts.
But even though this passage is to the powerless slaves, Scripture does speak to the powerful in other places. In Ephesians 6:9, Paul writes to the masters, “And masters…give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.” To “give up threatening” is a call to give up a fundamental aspect of the slavery system. And it is also clear from this passage that God will judge unjust masters. And in Colossians 4, Paul writes, “Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.”
And then there is the book of Philemon. The Apostle Paul had encountered a runaway slave named Onesimus who became a Christian. Paul sent him back to his master, Philemon, who was also a believer. But Paul wrote this letter, what we know as the book of Philemon in our Bibles, to go along with Onesimus. In it, he encouraged Philemon to bring Onesimus back into his house without punishment for running away, and he wrote to him, to receive him “no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother…”
So the powerful are given a responsibility to remember that their actions will face careful scrutiny on the Day of Judgment. And we who have power today are to fight for the rights and dignity of all who are oppressed, weak and needy, and we must fight slavery—the worst of the human predicaments—with all our might which continues to exist in this world. And as Christians in this world, we must fight for the dignity and fairness and justice for all who have lost their dignity, who have not been treated fairly, and whose justice has slipped away.
But, to the powerless, the call is to submit to the authority in order to demonstrate the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to overpower and overcome even the worst human circumstances. We see this most fully demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ who was completely innocent, but, verse 23 says, “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” And note the reason He accepted the suffering: He accepted the suffering in order to bring you and I to God. That we might live. That we might be healed. That we might be gathered from our wandering like sheep.
Christ, the text says, is our example. That word, ‘example’ in verse 21, is the word which described the letters that children would trace as they learned to write. So we are to trace our lives in the steps of Jesus Christ. Our lives become reflections of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our obedience to authority—even wicked authority—is for the purpose of bringing others to God.
So, God has called us to submit even in the very worst of human conditions. What might that say to us who are in better conditions? What does it say to us who work willingly, even for bosses who treat us unfairly? It tells us that we too are to submit to our employer’s authority in order that the world might see the power of the Gospel at work in our lives.
Wives Submitting to Husbands (3:1-7)
And finally, we come to chapter 3 where wives are commanded to submit themselves to their husbands. Now, seeing as how there are not many wives with us tonight, I would rather focus on the husband since some of you are, have been or will be husbands. And the commands to husbands should keep you busy enough that you will not be worried about the submission of your wife—you will be worried about the lovingkindness of yourself for your wife. But note one thing about the command to the wife. Note the evangelistic nature of the reason why wives submit: that those husbands who are disobedient to the word of God might be won over without a word. The submission is to bring others to God.
Look at chapter 3 verse 7 with me. “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”
Christian husbands are to be understanding and considerate of their wives. Ephesians 5 tells us that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. And how does Christ love the Church? He loves it so much that He sacrificed for it—He died for it. So also, husbands are to sacrifice everything in order to serve and love their wives. This is a tall order for any husband, but it is our command.
Husbands are to live with their wives in this way, “as with a weaker vessel.” Women, in general, are weaker physically than men. As I consider my own wife, I realize the capacity I have to hurt my wife physically and emotionally. But Scripture is clear. Abuse of any kind from a husband to his wife is unacceptable. Neither physical or emotional or sexual abuse. And the consequences are great for such abuse: the Lord will not hear your prayers. Your relationship with God will be breached until you treat your wife with respect and honor her as a fellow heir of the grace of life. We see this also in Malachi chapter 2. When the people of God wondered why God would not accept their offerings and prayers, the reply was “Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously.”
Husbands have a responsibility to protect and honor their wives—physically, emotionally and otherwise.
And as Christian husbands do this, we demonstrate to the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People begin to see within our marriages glimpses of the love that Jesus Christ has for His Church.
In closing, in all important aspects of our life: in our lives as citizens in this world, in our lives as workers and employees, and in our lives as family members—husbands, the world begins to see that Christians are truly different. And as they begin to see us as different, as unique, as holy, they will see your excellent behavior, and as they observe your good deeds they will be drawn to glorify our good and gracious and holy and unique God. We are called to submit to authority, even if it is unjust authority in order that the world might come to see and know our Lord Jesus Christ. Next week we will see that as they see us, they will ask questions and we will have an opportunity to declare more openly the excellencies of Jesus Christ to a world in great need.