ETB 1 Peter 2:11-17,21-25

Session #4 - p.37 - Our Witness

The opening paragraph in the book tells a story of a church van driver acting rudely to another driver.

Ask: How might the actions and attitudes of some believers dishonor God and detract from His glory? (p. 37)

Who gets to decide what is “dishonoring” or “detracting”?

The extremes of this calling out others can lead to legalism on one side or licentiousness on the other. Peter speaks to both of these extremes in today’s passage.

Understand the Context

In the opening verses of 1 Peter 2, the apostle stressed believers’ identity as God’s own people, a holy nation called to proclaim His praises to the world (2:1-10). At the same time, Peter encouraged his readers to grow toward spiritual maturity. Such growth meant eliminating sinful elements of their lives, including malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. These attitudes and behaviors destroy Christlike love within the community of faith. 

Perhaps the apostle remembered Jesus’s teaching by the Sea of Galilee following the resurrection. During that conversation Jesus commanded Peter to shepherd and feed His sheep (John 21:1-19). By providing guidance to the exiled Christians in Asia Minor, Peter was obeying that command. Believers would grow in spiritual maturity as they honored and studied God’s Word. It would strengthen them and transform them into “living stones” that Jesus could use to build His kingdom. [LifeWay Adults (2025). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Winter 2024-’25]

After one more admonition about what “not to do,” Peter shifts the rest of the chapter to focus on those things which are to be done by those who believe in Christ’s sacrifice for their eternal souls.

Explore the Text

1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

I urge you as sojourners and exiles

Abraham the first patriarch used these words to describe himself as he journeyed to a “land that was not his own.” Peter now connects that mentality with the “inheritance to come” which he mentioned at the beginning of his letter.

How would keeping this “strangers in a foreign land” mentality help us pursue holiness better?

For me Paul’s description of a “royal ambassador” helps me the most. It is the same concept geographically, but the reason for being in the alien lands is also alluded to. We are to be representatives of God to those who do not know Him. Peter’s plea for us to pursue holiness fits in with that perspective. By increasing in holiness, we reveal more of who God is as we go through life trying to be more like Him.

Abstain is a present infinitive = abstain from and continue abstaining from.

Passions of the flesh, sinful desires, fleshly lusts, worldy desires, and my personal favorite “disordered natural inclinations.” Whichever one you choose to describe it; they are all names of sin. You cannot go two directions at once. You either pursue holiness or flesh, you cannot do both. We will actively sin less the focused we stay on the things of God and His desires for our lives.

These things do not just come at us and leave, Peter says they “wage war against our souls.”

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 2

The Greek word translated “war” is strateuomai, from which we get our word “strategy.” The Enemy has a strategy to war against your soul—your personality, your emotions, your will, your volition.

That strategic war is not a single action, a mere battle, but a continuous one, a long campaign of war. The Enemy lays siege to our inner selves that have been sanctified by God, and he will not stop the attacks until he destroys us or we are glorified and out of his reach forever.

What things around you have the potential to damage your soul? What precautions can you take?

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable

Peter will tell us what that looks like in the next few verses, but he also knows that there is a balancing between doing what men say is honorable and what honors God.

Luke 2:52 “52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Which one do you tend toward, pleasing men or honoring God? Another way to ask it is, which one do you find yourself repenting of more often?

when they speak against you

I think the book also points this out. Notice it is “when” not “if” they speak against you. Those that will do so are of this world and cannot help but rail against those things that are of God. It is a logical expectation we must recognize, if the world accused Jesus of being “of the devil” we should not be surprised the same fate befalls His followers.

Can you be persecuted in a biblical sense by someone that is under your authority? Peter answers this question later.

See your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation

Peter consistently viewed life through the lens of eternity. For him, the motivation to live righteously also involved leading people toward their own personal relationship with Christ. The fact of Jesus’s return was established in Peter’s heart, as well as in his worldview. As a result, he understood the potential witness believers could provide by living with integrity and holiness in the face of persecution. [ETB:ALG Win’25]

Opening Up 1 Peter Witnesses (v. 12)

Honorable conduct won’t stop unbelievers speaking badly about the people of God, but it will trouble their consciences, and quite possibly lead them to respond positively to the gospel at some point in the future. Church history abounds with examples of people who, like Saul of Tarsus, at one time persecuted Christians, but then after a period of ‘kicking against the goads’ had a ‘road to Damascus’ kind of ‘day of visitation’ (v. 12)

Last week we heard 3 testimonies about how God visited and changed lives. I mentioned how I saw in Brad something different, and I wanted that peace. It was God drawing me to Himself that I may hear from Him and glorify God.

Does anyone else want to share about how God used a believer’s life to draw them from “darkness into light?”

Up until this point Peter has been speaking about general applications of holiness. Now the letter shifts to a specific application through the submission to authority.

I find the next few verses very prophetic as those who he is writing to were going to be persecuted on a more global and empirically sanctioned scale in the very near future.

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.

Submit or be subject to every human institution or authority

The Greek word for “submit” means to make oneself subject to another or to place someone at a rank higher than oneself. While “submit” can refer to showing respect or deference, it is stronger than that. Other uses in the New Testament suggest a voluntary obedience (Luke 2:51; Rom. 8:7; Eph. 5:24; Jas. 4:7). Consistently, New Testament writers encourage believers to honor human authority for the same reason Peter gives here: It is God’s will that we respect and obey them (v. 15; see Rom. 13:1-7). [LifeWay Adults (2025). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Winter 2024-’25]

It is very difficult to honor someone that you do not submit to in some fashion. You will not “lift them up” and “tear them down” at the same time. Submission and honor are two sides of the same coin. It takes both for either to be of value.

Human institutions or agencies. We usually associate this with governmental or law enforcement, but it is much more than that. If any human has authority over another, it was instituted by God. Whether they use that authority to glorify Him or not is not the issue. God’s image is within the person and God’s sovereignty is in their placement. To go against them or impugn them is a double assault on God’s work.

Silence is another present infinitive meaning our holiness can “silence and keep silencing.” We hear words like ignorance and foolish, modern readers think of a derogatory statement. Peter is however using them in a biblical factual statement about the non-believer’s spiritual awareness. The do not understand why we “obey God” instead of the whims of culture. They have no knowledge of such things and are therefore “ignorant” of them. Foolishness in Scripture is the opposite of Godly wisdom. Unsaved people cannot act any other way without divine intervention.

Opening Up 1 Peter Citizens (vv. 13–15)

We are to be like Daniel. His enemies ‘sought to find a ground for complaint’ against him (

As people who are free: While there is no Greek verb in verse 16, some translations insert live based on the context. Overall, the emphasis is on acting like people who are free in Christ. Because Jesus is working in the lives of His people, they enjoy the freedom to submit to those who don’t have that same freedom. The tempting alternative would be to use one’s freedom as a cover-up for evil. However, freedom in Christ is not a license to sin (see Rom. 6:1-2). [ETB:ALG Win’25]

Using your freedom as a cover-up for evil

What does this look like? How might someone do this?

I struggled to come up with a general example of this concept. The best biblical examples I could think of were legalism and the declaring of money as “corban” so as not to give it aid those in need. Peter may have been alluding to the sinful attitudes back in verse 1 that we studied last week that were “hidden” attitudes of the heart. I did think of several, person specific examples but many were those claiming to be Christians or church-goers so they could do this thing that they knew was sinful but it was OK, “because God would forgive them.”

What does this attitude toward sin do to the testimony of Christ’s change in that person’s life?

I think that end of verse 16, “servants of God,” is the key to be able to submit and using our freedoms correctly.

The Applied New Testament Commentary Servants of God (2:11–17)

We believers submit to other men, not because we are their servants but because we are God’s servants. We submit to others not out of compulsion but out of love, desiring thereby to serve both them and God (see

Verse 16 is our memory verse for the week, but I would encourage you to also memorize 17 for additional context.

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

There is a nice dynamic to the verbs used here. Honor grows to love; Fear decreases to honor. All image-bearers are reduced to believers in particular. Ultimate authority descends to one given authority.

The first honor and the last one are slightly different. The root words are the same, and one is plural (everyone) and this one is singular. But the Greek tenses add just a little more distinction to the action and attitude required.

The honor of everyone is aorist, meaning it is to be done without a regard to timing. You could say it that as long as there are people, they are to be given honor due God’s image-bearers.

The honor for the emperor is present tense. Although this action is also continuous, it has a definite end.

When do you think that would be?

Emperors do not rule forever. Peter may have been alluding to that and encouraging those being persecuted by reminding them of the temporary nature of empirical power trusting in God’s sovereignty to remove those abusing their authority.

Another way to interpret this is honor men as emperors while the preside in power but continue honoring them as image-bearers when they are removed.

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 2

At the time of Peter’s writing, a majority of Rome’s population were slaves. They were treated as less than human. Peter instructs them to not only honor the king, but to submit to their masters. How, then, can we have the audacity to snivel about our president or whine about our bosses when our brothers and sisters served cruel masters and honored a demented king whose main objective was to annihilate them?

Lord, forgive us.

The book skips over verses 18-20, but the leader’s guide did have a few comments.

In verses 18-20, Peter gave a brief admonition to household slaves. Individuals could become slaves in many ways. Some were spoils of war or were born into the slavery of their parents. Others voluntarily submitted to servanthood/slavery to pay off debt or simply to survive. Some slaves lived a meager existence, while others enjoyed a broad education (maybe more than their masters) and a measure of prosperity. Regardless of their situation, though, slaves/servants had no legal rights and were subject to their masters. [ETB:ALG Win’25]

We do not have the same type of governments or laws that were present at that time of this letter’s writing, but we do still have the governmental, work, and family relationships. The Bible speaks to us about them all. Hopefully the writers were just trying to stay focused on the governmental relationships and moved on to Christ’s example of perfect submission under the ultimate civil and religious persecution.

1 Peter 2:21–25 ESV

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Because Christ suffered, you have been called so that you might follow.

While many come to Christ looking for answers to their suffering, Peter pointed out that suffering for Christ is synonymous with following Christ. He noted that believers are called to follow Christ in His suffering (see Matt. 10:21-25; Phil. 3:7-11). There is no inheriting our final reward without it. [ETB:ALG Win’25]

Since Christ suffered for us to the point of death and separation from God, should we not expect to suffer at least in some capacity for Him?

The leader guide, and the next few verses by Peter remind us that:

Suffering is not a sign of personal failure or God’s lack of sovereignty. On the contrary, it affirms these things. Jesus promised a cross to His followers (Mark 8:34). Our suffering validates our relationship with Him, and our endurance underscores His control of every circumstance. [ETB:ALG Win’25]

Christ was perfect in all ways and without sin. Billy Graham reminds us that:

No one ever experienced greater spiritual suffering than Jesus did. The wheel of humiliation and death would squeeze Jesus to the point of great agony. His death was a spiritual battle against the powers of darkness, and His resurrection meant the triumph of God over Satan. No mere man could defeat Satan. Only Jesus. And He did it for us. Jesus’ agony was endured because of His great love for mankind. - https://billygraham.org/

Jesus’s suffering was also “that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” putting off the old “former passions” and putting on the new life in Christ. Pursuing holiness.

Jesus offered more than a good example. His death accomplished forgiveness for all who believe. We have eternal life as a result of His suffering. Peter highlighted this truth in chapter 1 to inspire persecuted Christians to persevere in their faith. Here, Peter emphasized how Jesus’s death empowers a righteous life in the present. [ETB:ALG Win’25]

Most of the imagery in these last few verses seem to be pulled from Isaiah, especially chapter 53. One of the first verses I memorized was Isa 53:6.

Isaiah 53:6 “6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

This coupled with John’s account of Jesus declaring Himself the “Good Shepherd” is probably what Peter was alluding to as he finished this portion of the letter.

These terms “Shepherd and Overseer” reminds believers that Jesus holds authority over every aspect of our lives now and for eternity. By combining “shepherd” (a chosen profession) with “overseer” (an appointed position), Peter emphasized that true power did not rest with the emperor or other government officials. It rests in Christ alone, the Head of His church (Col. 1:15-20).

Apply the Text

The Open Bible Chapter 2

It is impossible for a believer to be a good Christian and a bad citizen at the same time.

Life Application Bible Notes Chapter 2

If we are to be persecuted, it should be for obeying God, not for breaking moral or civil laws.

I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude III. Conclusion: Spiritual Rigor Mortis

Peter insisted that we learn that living life involves spiritual growth verified by positive daily relationships and activities. General Douglas MacArthur focused on a similar perspective: “Life is a lively process of becoming. If you haven’t added to your interest during the past year; if you are thinking the same thoughts, relating the same personal experiences, having the same predictable reactions, then rigor mortis of the personality has set in.”

Like we said last week, we cannot be a “mature” Christian, but we should always be a “maturing” one.

Pray: Holy Spirit guide us this week in ways that we can bring glory to God by living holy and honorable lives. Prevent us from following through on any plans that may hinder Your work in the hearts of any unbelievers that may see our actions and hear our speech. Show us the best way to use the freedoms we have in Christ to serve You the most effectively. Thank You Lord for the provision of Your Son for our sins so that we may live an abundant life both now and for eternity. Help us to commit to living a life that reflects Christ in our actions and attitudes to bring glory and honor to God, even in the midst of any unjust suffering.