PILGRIMS AND GOVERNMENTS

Introduction

-{1 Peter 2}

-Today we come to a passage in our study of 1 Peter on the subject of government. Specifically, how are Christians to relate to earthly, human governments? We are not the first generation to look at government with skepticism and cynicism..

-Augustine, the Christian theologian (from around the 400s AD) lived during the waning days of the Roman empire. He saw government as a necessary evil—meaning, it was necessary because of the evil of sinful humanity. Yet, he could not help but look at government with similar skepticism and cynicism as we have. Augustine had a hard time looking past the fact that wicked, sinful humanity was governing over wicked, sinful humanity, and some of the hypocrisy that goes with it. He tells a tale of Alexander the Great capturing a pirate and how Alexander scolded the man for keeping hostile possession of the sea. And the tale goes that the pirate replied to Alexander, saying, “I seize the seas with one petty ship and you call me a robber. You seize the seas with a great fleet, and then call yourself an emperor.” It’s like: what’s the difference?

-Government makes itself an easy target for sarcastic barbs and witicisms. Actor and comedian Will Rogers stated:

There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.

Will Rogers

-Then there is the ever famous quote from Mark Twain who said:

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

MARK TWAIN

-We hold onto these hostile views of government. We are Americans, and our nation was born out of rebellion, and there is just something within us that constantly wants to fight the system. Or, on the other hand, we become so patriotic that we (in all practicality) worship the nation and its government. Neither view is the biblical view. The Bible gives us God’s view of human government, but what God says through His inspired Word goes against our seemingly natural tendencies. However, if we want to live as Christian pilgrims, these are the views and attitudes we are to take. To give a summary, Christians are called to relate to human governments in God-honoring ways. So, let’s see what Peter has to say about this.

1 Peter 2:13–17 ESV

13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

-{pray}

-To put this passage within the context of the book, Peter starts by telling us that we are mere pilgrims and sojourners on this earth—this world is not our home. If we are in Christ, we are looking forward to an eternal home. But also, being in Christ means that we have been given a new life that is to be lived in holiness. Which means that we have to fight against the passions and lusts within us to just live however we naturally feel led to live.

-And so, this includes how it is that we relate to the civil authorities that God has allowed over us. Even though this world is not our home and we are mere pilgrims, while we are taking our life journey on this earth we live in a certain place and that place is run by a government. We are a citizen of somewhere on earth, while also being a citizen of heaven. We don’t interact with the earthly government in a way led by our flesh, but in a way that is God-honoring and Christ-honoring. And how that is done is discussed here. And in these five verses, there is a lot to unpack, so I want to highlight some of the main points that Peter touches upon (not in order of how they appear in the text, but more in logical order of the concepts). First, let’s look at the...

1) The Background: Our Position

-There is concept of truth regarding who we are that we need to constantly keep in the back of our mind, not only for the way that we interact with government and society, but how we live in general. The background, this position that we hold, is highlighted in v. 16 where we are told that we are to live as servants of God. Our position of being servants of God is the background behind everything we do and say and believe and live. Why is this important?

-In biblical times, a servant was someone who owed a debt and gave themselves over to be someone’s servant in order to pay the debt. The servant no longer belonged to himself or herself, but is under the authority of another to do what is demanded of them by that authority. Now, for the Christian, we definitely owe a debt, but we’re not able to pay that debt. Someone paid it for us. But by paying our debt, we in a sense become indebted to that one who paid the price. They are now our authority and we live to serve that authority.

-We had a debt of sin, and Jesus died and rose to pay that debt so that those who believe are saved from deserved judgment and become God’s people. But because Jesus paid that debt, He purchased us and we belong to Him. And so He is our authority, and that means that we obey Him and live the way that He tells us to live. That is one of the reasons He is called Lord.

-This means that a servant does NOT have any right to live in whatever way they feel like. The servant has no say so in how the Lord expects to be served. The Lord does not ask the servant for their opinion. The Lord expects obedience from the servant. We are the servants of God / Christ so we are in no position to say NO to what Jesus wants from us or expects of us.

-But, what does this have to do with government? This is the background we need to keep in mind. When Peter says what he says about government, we listen and obey because we are servants of God, and Peter is God’s inspired mouthpiece of revelation. We don’t look at what Peter writes and say: “NAAAAAA! I don’t like this whole idea!” We don’t have that option. And so, our second point is closely tied to this one, since the background of what is written is our position as servants, then this naturally leads to...

2) The Motivation: God’s Authority

-We are the servant, God through Christ is our authority. That’s all the motivation that we need. If God says it, and we understand it within its context, then we live it. And this is true of what Peter is writing about government and civil authority. We are called to live a certain way in relation to government and civil authority because God said so. Just like our parents may have told us when we would question them. We questioned why we had to do something, and their answer was BECAUSE I SAID SO. And that was the end of the discussion. Why do we live according to what God inspired in the Bible? Because God said so. End of discussion.

-And so Peter recognizes this authority behind the mandate on how we interact with government: in v. 13 he says that we live and relate this way for the Lord’s sake, and in v. 15 he says that this is the will of God. The servant lives to do the will of the authority. We are the servants under God’s authority. Living under the authority of an earthly government is the will of God. Why? Because God said so and because God is sovereignly in control, even of bad governments. Paul also recognized this truth when he was inspired to write:

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

-There is a lot of crossover between what Peter writes and what Paul writes. But for our purposes right now, we notice that Paul said that ultimately there is no authority except God. However, God instituted the governing authorities, and to resist their authority is to resist God’s authority. God has invested government with authority for law and order, and therefore, as servants of God, we place ourselves under the authorities that He has instituted.

-This is a hard pill to swallow. We don’t like authority. We don’t do very well following God’s authority, much less any human authority God might institute. And you need to consider the historical context of when Peter and Paul were writing. They lived under the power of the Roman Empire—the same human government that crucified Christ. Most likely, both letters were written during the reign of Emperor Nero, one of the most wicked men in history. Although the letters were written before the widespread persecution of Christians, Nero was still a wicked pagan. And both Paul and Peter most likely lost their lives toward the end of Nero’s reign. And here they both are, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saying that since you are God’s servant, you are under the authority of the authorities that God institutes since He is the ultimate authority. But, what does living under that authority look like...

3) The Call: Submit to Government

-Both Paul and Peter use the same word in talking about submitting to the government. Paul says be subject to governing authorities. Peter says be subject to every human institution. Peter literally says be subject to every human creation—the KJV says human ordinance, but it’s more accurately human institutions. The word for subjection means to place yourself under the authority of another—to submit to that authority. You are a servant of God who is the ultimate authority, God has placed this other authority over you, therefore submit to it. For Peter and Paul, it meant the Roman Empire and ultimately the emperor himself and the governors he set under himself.

-Peter and Paul both recognize that God has ordained human governments for certain purposes. One of these purposes is to punish those who do evil. Chuck Colson wrote:

Government originated as an ordinance of God. It is, in one sense, God’s response to the nature of the people themselves. Whilst it cannot redeem the world or be used as a tool to establish the kingdom of God, civil government does set the boundaries for human behavior. The state is not a remedy for sin, but a means to restrain it.

Charles W. Colson

-People have sinful natures and are going to sin, and government is there to restrain the wickedness as much as is possible by a human institution. No matter what you might think of the Roman Empire, they did usher in the Pax Romana which was general peace and safety in the land. Peter also says that government is there to praise those who do good. Even in the Roman Empire, before they become unhinged with persecuting Christians, they generally treated good citizens fairly (until the whole emperor worship thing came along). If you were a good citizen, that would be recognized. So, you submitted to the government and tried to be a good citizen.

-Notice, that there is no fine print here about submitting to government if you like the people or like their policies or agree with them or if they represent your political party or political views. I’m sure Paul and Peter did not completely agree with the way Nero handled things, even before he went off the rails. You don’t ever see in Scripture calls for revolt or revolution or any sort of hostile action against the government.

-But, does that then mean you have to follow each and every law that a government lays down? Do you just blindly follow the governments rules no matter what? The short answer is NO, you don’t blindly follow every law. So, what are the exceptions? And this is important because you can’t just pick and choose what to follow for any old reason.

-The criteria for not following a government ordinance is if it directly contradicts a command or law of God. We see this at play in the book of Acts, when Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin (who were religious leaders, but also in a sense were the local government), and they were told never to preach in Jesus’ name again. This is Peter and John’s response:

Acts 4:19–20 ESV

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

-The bottom line was, it is more important to obey God than other humans. Peter, who wrote to us to be subject to human institutions disobeyed this time because it contradicted God’s law. Again, God being the ultimate authority is who you ultimately obey. And if the laws of human institutions run against the laws of God, the laws of God always take precedence. But there has to be a biblical basis, not personal opinion.

-So, for example, you might not like the speed limit on a certain highway because it slows you down. And you can try to justify it as much as you want (it’s slowing me down from doing the Lord’s work). But the bottom line is that there is no biblical law that somehow overshadows speed limits. So, you follow the speed limit.

~If, on the other hand, the government were to say that the Bible is illegal and that me, as a preacher, can no longer preach biblical truths, that’s not something that I can follow. 2 Timothy 4:2 tells me to preach the Word, so I am going to preach the Word.

~This is what Chinese Christians run into. The law of the earthly government says you have to be a registered church so that the government can control the message that you put out there. But the true churches go underground so that they can obey the biblical commands of not forsaking the assembly of believers and they can obey the biblical command to preach the Word. God’s laws supersede human laws.

-And there are biblical examples of this besides Peter and John. Think of the Hebrew midwives who were told by the Egyptians to kill the male children, but they feared God more than man. Or, think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were told to bow down and worship an idol or be burned in a furnace—they refused because God’s law said not to worship any other God. Or think of Daniel, after a law was passed that you couldn’t pray to any other god other than the King of Persia. He went to his room and prayed like always, because He feared God.

-Those were examples of the right way to disobey, but you also need to consider Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel—they actually worked for the government directly under the emperor. And they obeyed him even though he was an outright pagan. Unless the law contradicted God’s law, they obeyed. And that is the same call to us. And real quick, I want us to see...

4) The Reason: A Holy Witness

-Peter says in v. 16 not to use our freedom to do evil, but instead (according to v. 15) we live as good citizens and do good to put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. We live as good citizens within the context of the government which we are under, and by doing so those who are not Christians or even those who are hostile toward Christianity will have no basis of accusation against us. They can’t say that you are an anarchist or insurrectionist because you are working within the system of authority for the betterment of the nation and the people within the nation. By your good works and the positive things that you do within the culture, it gives no room for pagans to accuse you of wrongdoing.

-This actually was an argument and defense of the Christian faith put forth by early Christian apologists. In the late 1st century into the 2nd century there was some heavy persecution against Christians going on. So, these church leaders would write letters to the emperors and say: Look, Christians are some of the best and most loyal citizens you have—they give you no reason to persecute them. You arrest them or kill them, you are losing out on citizens that can do the nation some good. Would we be able to use that same argument today? Professor Tom Schreiner summarized it by saying:

By submitting to government, Christians demonstrate that they are good citizens, not anarchists.

Thomas Schreiner

-But we in the United States find ourselves in a unique situation, because we are able to use our freedoms to sway the government to do the right things. We are able to speak what is right and argue against what is wrong. But here’s the thing: are the methods that we use God-honoring? Or do we do things in such a negative way that we do give our opponents and enemies reasons to accuse us? Are we so negative and overbearing and jerky on social media that we are dismissed as quacks? Do we do more complaining and posting and picketing than we do praying and serving and sharing the gospel? Are we being a holy witness to a nation and government that obviously need it? Are we being Daniels?

Conclusion

-Over the millennia, thousands of governments have come and gone. Some were good, many were bad, but all were to be submitted to because God set them up as an earthly authority. There is no exception clause in Scripture, other than anything contradicting God’s law itself. But we have to remember not only the temporariness of these governments, but also the temporariness of our stay here. If we so focus on the here and now, forgetting the bigger picture of eternity, then we are going to miss out on the purpose God placed us here for to begin with. We were placed at this time in this place for purpose. Will we be salt and light, or will we be tasteless and dull?

-But as an encouragement through good and bad governments, we remember that these dictators and emperors will not last forever, but the Kingdom of God as founded by Jesus Christ will be forever. That is the citizenship and government that we are ultimately a part of, and it will never be overthrown. And we have a part in bringing His kingdom to bear on earth here and now. His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

-Christian, come to the altar today and pray for our government. Don’t complain about it. Don’t be cynical about it. Pray. And pray how you can be salt and light as a good citizen, and how that might open people up for a gospel presentation.

-But there might be some here who are not part of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved and you are part of the Kingdom under King Jesus and will be with Him forever...