The Politics Of Praise - 1 Peter 2:13-17 Series

1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men 16 as free men, and not as using the freedom as a cover-up for evil, but rather as slaves of God. 17 Honor everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Introduction

Have you ever had someone just really put you in your place? Think, for a second, about that phrase – “put you in your place.” That is a painful thing to have happen, right? Anybody wake up this morning and say, “Man, I hope someone puts me in my place today”? What a strange figure of speech that is. Why would it be bad to be put in your place? Where else do you want to be? In every other context, things being in the right place is always good. If things are out of place in your house, you say, “I’ve got to get organized.” If you get in your car and the steering wheel is lying on the floor in the back seat, you say, “That’s not good.” If one of your ankle bones comes loose and lodges in your hip somewhere, you don’t say, “Good for you! You’re working your way up!” Being in your place is a wonderful thing… if you were designed for that place.

And that is really the rub. If this life is one giant, evolutionary accident, then your place in this world is random, purposeless, and meaningless. You are just a scrap of junk sitting randomly in the middle of the junkyard, and there is nothing special about your place. But if this world was created, and human society was created – designed by an infinitely wise God who designs complex systems like the ecosystem or a living cell or the human body – if there is a Creator who runs this world, then your assigned place is perfect. You do not want to mess with your assigned place any more than you want to randomly take portions of your brain and move them around to some other part of your body. You being in your place is a marvelous thing. And the more you trust in the wisdom of God the more you will believe that. If you are an ankle bone, and God has placed you way down the chain, below the hip, below the knee, then your happiest, most effective, most fulfilling life is the life of an ankle bone. And you can praise God for all the people who are over you in authority because it is all by His design.

If you are just joining us in this study through 1 Peter, Peter has been repeatedly telling us that we are aliens and strangers in this world. This is not our home, we are just passing through, we exist here as foreigners who are temporarily residing here. So that brings up a very fundamental question: What is our relationship to the authorities here? If I am a citizen of another kingdom, then do I need to submit to the rules of this kingdom? Do I have to follow their laws, or pay their taxes? What is my relationship to the government authorities?

Submit to the Government Authorities

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men:

The command in verse 13 is very simple – submit. It means to subordinate yourself or place yourself under their authority. Get used to that word because it is going to keep showing up. Here he tells free people (non-slaves) to submit to the governing authorities. Now look down at verse 18.

2:18 Slaves, submit to your earthly masters.

Now look at 3:1.

3:1 Wives, in the same way, submit to your husbands.

So Peter introduces this whole section in verse 12 by saying, Live such good lives among the gentiles, then he goes on to describe what he means – submit to government authorities, submit to masters, submit to husbands. Why? Why all the submission and obedience? Why is that such a big deal? Peter gives us two reasons.

Reason #1 – Cooperation with God

The first one is in verse 14. But before we get to that, let’s make sure we understand who it is we are submitting to.

Government Authorities

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men.

Two things we need to notice about that command. Peter emphasizes every authority. Whether it be the king himself, or some lower official who represents the king – it does not matter who it is or what his level is, any government official who is in a position of authority over you is included - Everyone from the president to the police. The men and women in positions of authority over us in the government have been placed there by God. Even though the systems have been set up by human beings, God is sovereign over that process, so much so that whether the person gets the position through a vote, or by being appointed, or through a military victory, or a coup or whatever – even though it was human activity that placed that person in that position of authority, it is also accurate to say God placed the person there. That is implied in this passage, and it is explicitly stated in Romans 13.