THURSDAY
Now, as we begin to apply this value of the kingdom of God, let’s turn to the book we are currently in—1 Peter. Remember, Peter has already called the Christians to whom he is writing “elect exiles.” He calls them, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” These are kingdom terms. This implies their dual citizenship. They are chosen by God even in the midst of their exile at the hands of the Romans. Their earthly kingdom doesn’t want them, but God wants them in his kingdom. Being accepted into God’s kingdom is far more precious than acceptance into their earthly kingdom.
This is the theology that grounds what he is about to say next. We will cover this in more detail next week, but it applies to what we are talking about this week as well.
1 Peter 2:13–17 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, 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 ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
Again, we will discuss this passage in more detail next week. For today, submission to governing authorities—you’ll notice from what I highlighted—is grounded in obedience to God. We submit to governing authorities because we are first and foremost citizens of God’s kingdom. We submit to them for the Lord’s sake. Governing authorities are sent by God. It is God’s will that we do good. We are to live as God’s slaves.
Remember, Peter is writing this to a group of Christians who have been exiled from their homes by their governing authorities and in their new homes they are being persecuted! They have no concept of representation in government. They have no aspirations of influencing the government at this point. In a few short years, they will be harshly persecuted by the Roman government—we’re talking being fed to lions in the Colosseum as sport, being lit on fire in the streets to light up the night, etc. If this were written after those events, I’m sure Peter’s instructions would be the same because they are rooted in the life and teaching of Jesus himself.
This has a couple of very important implications:
- Our general disposition towards our governing authorities should be one of submission and obedience to the laws of our country, state, and city.
- Since the kingdom of God is our higher authority, we are not only justified, but required to practice civil disobedience when our government demands we do something contrary to God’s law. We tend to over-glamorize this today as we culturally value rebellion against tyrannical institutions, forgetting #1 above.
Reflection
Reflect on your hierarchy of allegiance. Our primary allegiance is to the kingdom of God. Then “for the Lord’s sake” we submit to our governing authorities. This order must be properly maintained.