“Seeing Beyond Troubles” – “Living in Submission—Part 1” – 1 Peter 2:11-17

The term “submission” has a negative connotation to it for many people. The idea of submitting to someone or something entails giving up my freedom or my personality. Granted, we may be willing to submit to someone or something for a short period of time or if we knew that the submission would lead to greater gains, but for the most part we shrink back from a call to submit.

And yet, in life, we are called to submit to many things. Growing up, we were taught to submit to the adults in our lives – whether it was to our parents or our teachers. We were taught that adults knew better and that we should trust them.

In the next three weeks, we will see that God calls on you and me to be submissive. In the next three passages, we will look at the relationships we have within our families, within the workforce and, in today’s passage, with our government.

Background

When we speak of submission, what do we mean? A review of the definition on the internet shows that submission is the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary has the following definitions. One, an act of submitting something; two, the condition of being submissive, humble or compliant; three, an act of submitting to the authority or control of another. In other words, becoming submissive is placing our lives or plans in the hands of another. We lose control when we submit.

While the Bible does teach us to be submissive, the Bible always explains what that submission is. In Ephesians 5, before Paul begins to write about submission for wives, children and slaves, he prefaces the teaching with the words, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). Paul prefaces that statement with instructions that we are to live wisely, understanding God’s will, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and always giving thanks to God for everything (cf. Ephesians 5:18-20).

The greatest hindrance to living a submissive life is pride. The Bible teaches us pride goes before a fall. A quick look at Proverbs gives the following verses:

• To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech (Proverbs 8:13);

• When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom (Proverbs 11:2);

• Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10);

• Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18); and,

• A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor (Proverbs 29:23).

Pride causes us to insist on our way, and hinders our submission to the Holy Spirit’s leadership, while the Bible teaches us that submission is the way of life for Christ’s followers, because we are called to surrender to His will, or to submit ourselves to Him and, by extension, to one another.

With this in mind, then, let us look at Peter’s inspired words in today’s text. As we look at it, we need to keep in mind the following:

Central Truth: A life of obedience to God is a life of submission to Him and the government.

We submit:

1. To bring glory to God (11-12)

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

I’ve always found it interesting when different ethnic groups take time to celebrate their culture. The various dances, music, foods and lore help remind us that each of us comes from different backgrounds, and while we honor our commonality by being Americans, we can also celebrate these differences that help to make us a rich tapestry of cultures and ideas.

It’s one thing to willingly migrate to a new homeland, but it’s another thing to be taken from one’s home and forced to live in a different nation. The psalms and the prophets are filled with such references, none more poignant than Psalm 137:1: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. To be far from home, it is easy to imagine that a person would take whatever steps he or she could to remember their heritage.

Peter reminded the readers that we are no longer at home in the world. He reminded them and us that “aliens and strangers in the world.” As such, we are not expected to embrace the world’s traditions and rituals. Instead, the apostle pointed to the new traditions and rituals that are expected of the children of God, the chosen people, holy nation, belonging to God. This is told in a negative and a positive way.

The negative is to abstain from sinful desires. Peter wrote that these desires war against our souls. Jesus promised us peace when we follow Him, and one of the ways we achieve this peace is through willfully turning away from our sinful desires. As we prepare our minds for action and purified ourselves through obedience to Christ, we use this self-control and Spirit power to abstain from evil desires, the desires that once ruled our bodies when we were part of the world. Remember that that which is evil is that which is opposed to God’s will. Even it seems right and reasonable in our world, if it is not consistent with God’s will us, then it is evil.

The positive is that we live good lives. The lives we are told to live are of such nature and character that even the pagans will acknowledge our good deeds when Christ returns, bringing glory and honor to our Lord.

Polls consistently show that more and more people are turning away from the Church as we move through history. The truth of the matter is that the church often acts in such a way that we seem to contradict everything Jesus taught. Too often, the message of the church is about anger, division and distrust, not a message of reconciliation through Christ and His love. If we want to present Christ in the best light to our world, then it is imperative that we live such good lives that people will acknowledge we are truly and deeply committed to Christ and His message and commands.

The reason we submit to Christ and obey the truth is to bring glory to God. But submitting to Christ also means we need to submit to others as well.

2. To silence the “ignorant talk of foolish men” (13-15)

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

“n tell me what to do. You’re not my mother; you’re not the boss of me.” Maybe you’ve said such a thing or heard someone say it. Maybe they said it to you. Generally, these phrases are said by children, usually to an older sibling. It rankled when Mom or Dad would say the older sibling was in charge, usually because the older sibling would let the power go to their head.

In America, we have a tendency to distrust our government, particularly when the party or candidate we didn’t support is in office. The interesting thing, though, is that God doesn’t care about politics or government. He does insist that we submit to every authority instituted among men. That means that God wants us to submit to our leaders, whether on the national, state or local level.

We need to step back and remember when Peter is writing this letter. The emperor of Rome was Nero, and Nero was the Caesar who first issued an empire-wide edict to persecute men and women for no other reason than their profession of Christ as Lord. Peter was writing from Rome itself, the heart of the empire and the seat of the government. God knew what was about to happen or what was possibly happening at the moment Peter wrote. Still, the Holy Spirit inspired the words we read in these verses.

Why does God want us to do submit to a government, even when it’s bad? It is for the same reason that God always expects us to live exemplary lives according to His will: to bring glory and honor to Him. Verses 13-14 tell us to submit to the government and other authorities instituted by men (not God-given, necessarily, but instituted by men). Verse 15 is the reason God calls us to submit to these institutions: “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

When we walk according to God’s will, living lives of submission to one another (cf. Ephesians 5:21) and to the man-made authorities, then our testimony and our lives refute those who deny the power of Christ and the influence of the Holy Spirit.

These verses do not tell us we have to show complete loyalty to those who rule over us. If your candidate lost the election, it doesn’t mean you have to support his or her positions. What it does mean is that we show respect, calling the person by his or her title, and that we pray that God grants them the wisdom to rule justly and mercifully. Submitting to the governing authorities is to obey the laws of our land and to stand in unity to our nation. As long as the laws of the land do not break the laws of God, we must be exemplary law abiding citizens.

We submit to the authorities to refute ignorant talk of foolish men and bring glory and honor to God.

3. To show proper respect (16-17)

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

We recently celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the statement that said we all have God-given rights, among them the rights to life, liberty and happiness. Our American revolution was fought under the premise that we were fighting for freedom and for liberty. We endured a civil war in the 1860’s to extend these rights to men and women who were enslaved by fellow Americans. We fought world wars to ensure liberty for all people of the world. While we acknowledge there are still millions of people in our world who do not enjoy our freedoms to vote, to have freedom from want and good health, we still believe in these truths, to one degree or another. These freedoms, though, are derived from men.

True freedom comes from a right relationship with God through Christ Jesus. God inspired Peter to write the words of v. 16 to acknowledge our freedom in Him. Our freedom is not to be used as a cover-up, but as a testimony.

There are some who profess Christ who understand their relationship as nothing more than a life insurance policy. They point to their baptism as the assurance that they will spend eternity with God and apart from hell. They understand the concept of forgiveness of sin, and live their lives accordingly. That is, they indulge in sinful behavior, knowing that God is obligated to forgive them through Christ. Such a way of living is a lie. God is never obligated to do anything for us. If we fail to prepare our minds for action, practice self-control and purify ourselves through obeying the truth who is Jesus, then we misunderstand what it means to be Christian.

God wants us and expects us who are saved to live as His servants. Which raises an issue: What rights does a servant have? Put it another way, what rights does a slave have? In Romans 6, Paul wrote that we are no longer slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness. Because we have been redeemed, we belong not to ourselves, but to Christ. As such, our freedom is from sin but not from obedience to God through Christ.

We use our freedom to live as servants of God. The way we do that is found in v. 17: “Show proper respect to everyone. Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

As God’s servants, we are called to show proper respect to everyone. Jesus said it this way: “So in everything, treat people the way you want to be treated” (Matthew 7:12). “Everyone” means all people we encounter every day, regardless of race, ethnicity, politics or any other thing that may divide us.

As God’s servants, we are called to love the brotherhood of believers. We are to support one another by fulfilling our parts as the living stones that are building the spiritual house that is Christ on earth. We are to pray for one another, fellowship with one another, worship with one another.

As God’s servants, we are to fear God. To fear God is to give Him the respect and reverence He deserves. He has paid a great price to bring us into His family. He is worthy of our respect, our worship and our praise. He is worthy of our obedience and our loyalty.

As God’s servants, we are to honor the king. Pray for our political leaders. Speak of them with the honor and respect owed the office. Regardless of the person in the office, he should be referred as “President Washington” or “the president.” He is to be shown the same respect we would want to be shown to us.

We submit to God by using our freedom in Christ to live as servants of God.

Conclusion

We live in a time when it seems that our trust in government is at an all-time low. Recent polls show that up to eight out of ten Americans believe our nation is heading in the wrong direction. There is a genuine concern that we are fragmenting and unravelling in a way that hasn’t been seen in over a century. We don’t believe the words from our president, our senators, our congressmen, even our courts.

While it is understandable, yet we are called by God to submit to our government. WE do it not because our government is always right, but because it is what God expects of us.

Because submission is acting in obedience to God, do we have any choice but to submit?