Be Subject for the Sake of the Lord

Collect Prayer

Father and Creator of all mankind, we exult your name and recognize that we are unworthy even to be called your servants and slaves. I pray that through your Word and Spirit, we would be in subjection to Christ and to each other as we diligently strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It is in Jesus’ name that I pray, AMEN!

Introduction

Today is the 23rd Sunday after Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday (May 26th) is the first Sunday traditionally after Pentecost (May 19th). The Trinity season ends with Advent, the beginning of the church calendar. Advent begins on the first Sunday of December, which this year is December 1st.

I like to remind us of where we are in the liturgical year, because, after all, it is one way that we remember and celebrate the life and work of Jesus Christ. But particularly today, November 3rd, three days before election day in the United States, it is good to remember that the church as an institution of Christ, has and always will remain. Christ is ruling at the right hand of God on High, and He has sent us His Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance. We are living in victory even now. Nations will rise and fall, presidents will come and go, but our King will always remain on His throne.

Remember that Christ is King.

Whoever wins this election, Christ is still on His throne and He will exercise His rule. He will crush the nations with a rod of iron, break the teeth of the ungodly, and ultimately every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So, be encouraged and be joyful. And, be ready to give a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

Do your duty.

Christ is our king and we must obey Him. And in obedience to Christ we ought to be good citizens, good employees, and good spouses. Now, the trouble is, depending on who you listen to, you can get wildly different views on what constitutes being a good citizen (and then we can extrapolate what this might mean for employees and marriages).

Some say, it is never right to rebel against civil authorities because the powers that be are ordained by God (Romans 13:1). Therefore, obedience is the key to being a good citizen. From this perspective, rebellion against the authority is rebellion against God. This is known as the divine right of kings. Proponents will say Rex Lex, the king is law. The only law for the citizen is obedience to the magistrate. And, what may appear to contradict between God’s Word and the magisterium, is simply that, an appearance, and beyond our pay grade. Our sole duty, we are told, is to honor the king, and leave whether or not that honor was warranted up to God. Therefore, all schism and revolution is wrong, no matter how tyrannical the rule. It doesn’t matter if they are selling indulgences, killing people, etc, our duty is obedience and submission. This is traditionally the Roman Catholic view of ecclesiology (doctrine of the church). And it has also been the view of monarchical civil governments (king-ruled societies).

On the other hand, our nation was founded by declaring its independence from another government. Our nation rebelled against the king of England. Our forefathers obviously did not share the Catholic and monarchical opinion I just mentioned. So, what guided their decision to rebel against Britain? Was it morally justified? It is called the divine right of resistance. This is in contrast with the divine right of kings. From this perspective it is not Rex Lex, it is Lex Rex, the law is king. Therefore, if a king takes too much authority upon himself contrary to the rule of law, then it is the right of the citizens to resist.

“In theory, we have a right to challenge anything the state requires that God doesn’t authorize it to require. But that doesn’t mean we should. Not every state overstep must be resisted. There are times when it can be both lawful and profitable to forfeit an actual right. Christ Himself set an example of knowing when it was better to fold than to hold. There were cultural battles that Jesus absolutely would not back down on, and there were others where Jesus avoided conflict because it was not an issue He needed to fight that day.” (Kayser, Phillip. The Divine Right of Resistance: Biblical Options for Opposing Tyranny (p. 27). Biblical Blueprints. Kindle Edition.)

So, you can see, that depending on your view of civil and ecclesiastical authority, we will have very different views of our duty as citizens. And then, even if you believe the latter, that we have a divine right to resist tyrannical overstep of authority, the question still remains is it expedient to exercise that right? And if so, in what manner?

Therefore, in this sermon, my aim is to encourage you with (a.) the sovereignty of God and to (b.) exhort you to do your duty as Christians in light of it. We will be looking at 1 Peter 2:13-17 and some of the surrounding context. And after we exposit the text, we will then explore what it might mean for us as 21st century Americans.

*Let’s pray before we look into God’s Word*

I have the text outlined this way:

Submission in the Lord (v. 13-14)

Submission for the right reasons (v. 15-16)

Submission properly ordered (v. 17)

And, it seems as though the thesis statement of this passage and what follows into chapter 3, is found in verse 12,

1 Peter 2:12 LSB

by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good works, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Peter is telling these believers that by conducting themselves excellently, virtuously, honestly, etc. that through this, the Gentiles will glorify God.

Interesting to note that the word “Gentiles” is used in contrast here with “the church.” Not the Jews. The Church, as a Jewish institution, is God’s people, 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” Peter is quoting from Exodus and Deuteronomy, statements that God made to the Jews and he is applying them to the church. No longer is there a distinction between Jew and Gentile, now it is Christian or Pagan, New Creation or Old Creation. Peter is referring to those people outside of the covenant as Gentiles.

And if we are a part of this New Creation, we ought to live like it. Not using injustice and evil done to us as a cloak for, or a justification for, our own wrong-doing. Christians live in subjection to Christ. Period. We honor the authority of Christ and therefore we are the best of citizens. Not because we never resist, but because we know how to properly honor and submit to proper authority.

“And because the power which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another; they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God...” (WCF Chapter 20, Paragraphs 4)

Notice their use of the word, lawful: “…oppose any lawful power...” This is Lex Rex. If the authority is in line with God’s authority, then we must submit to it.

Submission in the Lord (v. 13-14)

1 Peter 2:13–14 (LSB)

Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good.

The purpose of government is here laid out and it’s cross-reference is Romans 13:4. The purpose of civil authority is to bring wrath or punishment on evil and to praise what is good. Inherent in this definition is the recognition that government defines its rule on how it defines what is good and evil. If it does not, how will it know what to punish and praise? Every law or ordinance is produced from a particular moral foundation.

The government condemns murder because it recognize murder as evil.

It condemns theft, because it recognizes theft as evil.

Interestingly, a striking example of this is how differently supreme court justices can define what is right. Thankfully, the majority of our current justices recognized that roe vs. wade needed to be repealed. But that was not a unanimous decision. And their moral reasoning is a direct result of their view of moral authority. This points to the inescapable question, not whether but which. It is not whether government will be religious, it is which religion will influence the government? Which set of moral principals will determine the laws of the nation?

“Be subject for the sake of the Lord” - The main theme of this section of text is being subject. Peter is talking to citizens here in verse 13, he then moves to servants (v. 18), and wives (in 3:1). And he grounds this subjection in Christ’s example (v. 21-25),

1 Peter 2:21 LSB

For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,

Christ, who did not sin, willingly subjected Himself and entrusted Himself to God who judges righteously. This is our example of the attitude of submission.

What this does NOT mean:

He is not saying that we are defenseless or that we allow violence to be done to ourselves or our loved ones.

When we passively endure all kinds of evil and do nothing, in our passivity we could be providing for anarchy.

If we allow violence to be done to ourselves or others, then we break the 6th commandment.

If we allow our property to be taken or destroyed, we break the 8th commandment.

If we allow slander and lies to be spoken about us or others, then we break the 9th commandment.

There is no virtue in the allowance of lawlessness.

He is also NOT saying that sinful behavior is justified if we are being obedient to authorities.

If a government, for example, demands that churches no longer congregate together, we ought not, under the guise of subjection to every human institution, obey that ordinance.

If the government stops recognizing the institution of marriage, that does not justify divorce, fornication, or adultery.

If the government fails to see a child in the womb as a person, created in God’s image, that does not justify the murder of that child (“I don’t think this is right but the government is commanding it, so I guess I need to obey the government, the Bible says so...”).

We cannot justify sinful action on the basis of obedient submission to authority.

The same is true for servants.

If a master (or employer) withholds what is due per a contract, falsely accuses of wrongdoing, or wrongfully terminates, we have recourse for these ills done to us, and we ought to seek justice.

Or, If they demand of us what is sinful, it is our duty to refuse to do it.

It is not virtuous to simply, passively accept the wrongdoing and chalk it up to righteous suffering. Nor is it acceptable to justify sin under the guise of obedient submission.

The same is true of wives.

If a husband is violent towards his wife, lies to her, cheats on her, she ought to seek justice. There is no virtue in allowing these things to be done.

If a husband demands what is sinful (blasphemy, murder, infidelity, or theft - and all of the associated sins that we can extrapolate from these [see the WLC on the 10 commandmnets]), it is the wife’s duty to refuse.

So, to say this more simply, our obedience to God’s instituted authority ends when that authority is in conflict with God’s authority or even goes beyond what God has authorized it to command (require). Remember our first exhortation: Christ is ruling. He is the King of kings. We obey him first. Our relationship to God must be primary. We are God’s people primarily, we are not Americans primarily. We are Americans secondarily. We are God’s servants primarily, we are employees secondarily. We are God’s people primarily, we are husbands and wives secondarily.

In summary,

It is not virtuous to allow civil, social, or marital evils to be done to us or others without seeking justice.

And, Evil is never justified even under the guise of submission to a God-ordained authority.

This concept has been co-opted by Satan to disarm Christians in the public sphere.

We are told to righteously endure all kinds of evil in our society without seeking recourse. And passages such as this one are used by the enemy to make Christians feel guilty about seeking justice and/or defending ourselves.

The reason this has happened is because Peter was writing to people in positions without recourse:

Christian citizens in the Roman empire were subjected to all kinds of evil by the government and there was no civil recourse for them to take. They were left to die in the arena.

Servants and slaves had no overseeing body to which to appeal in cases where they were mistreated.

Wives were viewed as the property of their husbands, to be used as the husbands saw fit. They could treat them violently and sleep around without any civil consequences. They also had the power to command death if they saw an action of their wife warranting such a condemnation.

These are the ones to whom Peter is writing this letter. They have no recourse. And what Peter is reminding them is that the actions of the authorities do not determine their obedience to Christ. Our fidelity is to God first.

Even if your husband is doing violence to you, that does not justify you undermining the proper authority inherent in his office of husband. That does not give a wife the right to disrespect her husband’s office. This is the old adage, “two wrongs don’t make a right.” Your service must be done as unto the Lord.

To put this another way, if you as a wife have been wronged legitimately by a husband, that does not mean that you no longer hold the responsibility to act as a wife in way that is in line with God’s Word. And even if you, as a husband, have been wronged by a wife, then that does not mean that you no longer have any responsibility to provide for your wife. They are culpable to God for their actions, yes, but their actions do not change your responsibility.

My duty as an employee is to work honestly and with integrity even if my employer is cheating me. My employer’s sinful conduct does not justify sinful conduct from me in response.

My duty as a citizen is to obey the just laws of our society even in the presence of unjust laws. The presence of the unjust laws does not justify civil disobedience on the whole. Unjust rule does not nullify all authority.

Because the people to whom Peter was writing had no recourse, some have taken this command to be subject as a command for us in our society to never engage.

Your husband wrongs you, then take it like a good Christian.

Your employer fires you because of your religious beliefs, then take it like a good Christian.

Your government commands that you facilitate abortion, sexual deviance, or idolatry, then take it like a good Christian.

In other words, don’t fight injustice, that’s not Christian. Because the people Peter was writing to could not seek justice, they tell us that we ought not seek justice.

This is not the Christian way. We uphold law and order in society because we render our service to God, the highest authority, not to any subordinate authority. We do not blindly submit to husbands, masters, or magistrates without any thought, just because they have been given authority in that office, and we also don’t sinfully throw off all authority in response to its misuse.

We need to know the Word of God so well that we can actually recognize when the people to whom we submit are overstepping their bounds. And then, we need to exercise Christian prudence to know if this is a case in which I ought to seek justice, or a case that I can cover in grace and patience, entrusting myself to the righteous judge of all.

Peter is telling these Christians to yes, submit to these human creations of government but to do so “for the sake of the Lord.” Just because the current ruler is evil does not mean that all rule is evil. We recognize proper authority as of God.

To give you an example using our own situation here, one of the membership vows of our church is written this way,

“Do you swear in the name of God to support the ministry of this church in its worship and work, submitting in the Lord to its government and discipline, while pursuing its purity and peace?”

That statement “in the Lord” is very important. Because we are not asking anyone to give their undying allegiance to this local institution. We are asking for our members to submit to the government and discipline of this church only in so far as the government and discipline are in line with God’s Word.

And there will be times when we fail. In those times, you will have to decide: “does this warrant being addressed, or can we cover it in grace?”

I want to frame this in comparison to the WCF chapter 1, paragraph 6:

“...there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.” (WCF 1:6)

With the aid of Christian prudence, the light of nature, and Scriptural principal, we can not only govern churches, families, and nations, but we can also resist church government, family government, and civil government.

So, be subject for the sake of the Lord.

Why should we do this?

Right Reason (v. 15-16)

1 Peter 2:15–16 (LSB)

For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God.

“For such is the will of God that by doing good...” - The reason we conduct ourselves in this way, in submission, is because it is God’s ordained means of silencing foolish men.

When we do not use our freedom as an excuse to do evil, but we use it to subject ourselves to the ordinances of God, that is a powerful witness to the world. When we actually govern ourselves. We obey because it is right. Not because we are coerced.

When we do not break the law in retaliation or vigilante justice, but instead seek justice through the lawful means of society, we silence foolish men.

If we use evil done to us as an excuse to do evil, then we are demonstrating our allegiance to evil ultimately. As Paul says in Romans 6, if you yield yourself to evil, then you are a slave to evil. It does not matter if you have a “good reason,” in the end, you are still yielding yourself to evil. So, we are free from yielding ourselves to evil. And free to yield ourselves to righteousness.

What Peter is saying here is that there is no inherent authority to any human institution. There is nothing special about the magistrate in society, meaning his word is not law. It is not Rex Lex, it is Lex Rex. We are free, as it were, from subjection to this person. The supposed inherent authority of any office does cannot coerce us into obedience. We are free. However, we are to use our freedom as servants of God; obeying human authority. We still serve the Law of God. We are still slaves to God. This is what is so powerful. We are truly a self-governing people because we are subject to God.

We are free from sin, not free from righteousness (in the words of Matthew Poole). As God’s people, we are required to obey God’s law, which requires that we submit to proper authority (5th commandment).

“They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” (WCF Chapter 20, Paragraph 3)

We freely offer these ordinary humans our submission because we are slaves of God. And this is true everywhere:

You do not submit to the elders of the church because of who they are. You submit to them because of the office they hold as servants of God.

You do not submit to your husband because of who he is, you submit to him because of the office he holds as a servant of God.

You do not submit to the magistrate, or the president, because of who they are, but because of the office they hold as a servant of God.

And as freed, servants of the Most High God, we freely offer our submission to the forms of human civil government. We do not need to be coerced to be good citizens.

When we do this, we silence the critics.

Here is where I will remind you of the second exhortation: do your duty. It is your duty to submit for the sake of the Lord.

Lastly, Peter gives us kind of a summary with these four precepts:

Right Foundation (v. 17)

1 Peter 2:17 (LSB)

Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king.

I believe that this is put in a kind of chiasm moving from “all people” to “the brethren” and ultimately to “God,” before going out again to “the king.”

So, the progression is we honor all people as made in the image of God, being sons and daughters of Adam. But, we love our brothers and sisters in the new creation, being sons and daughters of Jesus, the second Adam. He brings us in right relationship with God, who establishes all authority, particular that of the magistrates.

Application

In summary, remember that Christ is King and our submission is to Him. All governing bodies ultimately derive their authority from Christ. This does not absolve us from the responsibility of knowing when we ought to obey or resist. We cannot blindly obey our authority; we must know where that authority ends, and our resistance begins. This is the harder way, because we cannot simply rely upon the leadership to tell us what is right and wrong. We must know and act accordingly. This is our duty. We must study the Word to know our responsibility to both God and man.

We submit to Christ and His Word. By Way of application I would like to flip the Script and speak to the authorities rather than those in submission:

So, husbands, it is OK and right for you to submit to your wife’s counsel and admit you were wrong about something. If what she is saying is in line with God’s Word, we must submit to it since we must submit to Christ. We cannot in pride attempt to wield our authority. Remember, that in Christ’s kingdom the first shall be last and the last shall be first. We eagerly should put ourselves in a position of subordination. This does not mean that we are letting our wives lead in our home. It simply means that we recognize the beginning and ending of our own authority. And we should be leading our wives to do the same.

Elders, the same is true in the church. It is right for the leadership of the church to submit to the counsel of congregants and admit that we may have been wrong. If the congregant is resisting an improper use of authority, then it is our duty to submit. We don’t wield our authority. We give it up when it conflicts with God’s Word: our ultimate authority.

So, be subject in the Lord and entrust yourself to God, the one who judges righteously. Even in cases where we may not have recourse or the ability to ensure justice is done to an authority that is overstepping its boundaries.

So, this is an election sermon, let me bring this all together. It is our duty to be subject to the authorities, but it is also our duty to know where that subjection ends.

In America, we have the ability to participate in the civil order through voting. In order to cast a meaningful vote, we must know the policies and platforms of the candidates. And, we also must know our land: who stands a chance to win? How can we do the greatest amount of good through our vote?

Know who your leaders are.

Who represents you? What was it that they stood for that the majority of the people in your area liked and supported? What was their margin of victory? What work needs to be done in the community to address concerns?

Example: A candidate is elected because of their social stances on welfare. How does the Gospel effect a person’s view of social welfare? How can you use this issue as a means of advocating for Christ’s Rule? What is the Christian solution to the problem of poverty?

Know who your leaders are, know your land, and know what issues face your community that the Gospel can address.

Exercise discernment in casting your vote.

There will be some candidates who we simply cannot vote for because they advocate for things that are directly in opposition to God’s Law: transgenderism and abortion. But, in our context, there are many who take this to an extreme. They will say that because X candidate stands for transgenderism and abortion, then I cannot vote for them. But because Y candidate stands for prideful nationalism (not to mention their immoral lifestyle), I cannot vote for them either. Therefore, I am going to write in some random name that has no rational hope of being elected. This is silly. Cast your vote in a way that will do the most good in society. Writing in a candidate is wasteful and pietistically useless: under the guise of being pious, we will vote for a candidate who has no hope of winning.

There is a time to have higher standards when casting a vote: the primary and local elections.

In the primaries, we need to as a Christian community, gather around whatever candidate best represents Christ’s rule. Evangelicals ought to have a sweeping influence in the Republican primaries.

Run for office - we have a large christian community. We need people to run for local office and rule well so that people can see what true Christian leadership looks like.

We submit to Christ, we do not submit to people.

Know your leaders and excise discernment in casting your vote.

Do your duty and entrust yourself to God, the One who is over all authority.

Let’s pray.

The Lord’s Supper

Ephesians 4:1–3 (LSB)

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

And then drop down to chapter 5, verse 21:

Ephesians 5:21 (LSB)

and being subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

I once had a conversation with someone about an elder board. They said, you really do not want many elders because then you will never get anything done. It is easier to work with less elders. I said, have you read the list of qualifications for elder?

Beyond reproach

Husband of one wife

Household in order

Not accused of rashness or rebellion

Not self-willed or quick-tempered

Not addicted to wine

Not pugnacious (fighting about everything)

Not dishonest

Hospitable

Loving what is good

Sensible

Righteous

Holy

Self-controlled

Holding fast the faithful word

We’re like, “Paul! That’s enough! We get it!” Who wouldn’t want an entire church full of men like this? Imagine what you would be able to accomplish for the kingdom with a regiment of men who are qualified as elders.

Well, I view this passage in the same way, imagine how sweet our fellowship and community would be if we are all living like Paul commands in Ephesians:

Humble

Gentle

Patient

Bearing with one another in love

Diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Christ showed us the way - He said, for you, the least shall be greatest. So let’s be subject one to another. Let’s serve one another and be careful to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

This Supper was instituted as a sign that a people had been purchased: you know that in the temple and tabernacle there was not a place for the priests to sit. In the words of Jeffery Meyers,

“Their work is never finished in the tabernacle and temple. Jesus completes the work and sits down in the Holy of Holies to celebrate the completion of the priestly work. His saints join with Him in this celebration when they sit and drink wine in the Lord's special presence.” (Concerning Wine and Beer, Part 1)

This table of victory around which we are seated, communicates our unity as God’s people in Christ. Christ purchased peach with God and fellowship with His body, the church. So, let’s walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called. And let’s participate in this feast of victory, as we celebrate our peace with God and unity in Christ.

Let’s pray and give thanks for the bread and the wine.