Living as Strangers for God's Glory

1 Peter 2:11-17

Big Idea: Believers honor God by living differently in a watching world.

Peter has just reminded these Christians of who they are. They are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for God’s own possession. Their identity is no longer determined by the world around them. They belong to God.

Now Peter explains what that identity should look like as they live in the world. In verse 11 he returns to language we have seen from the beginning of the letter and calls them “sojourners and exiles.” They belong to God, but they are still living in a world that is not their home.

Being an exile does not mean withdrawing from the world. Peter calls Christians to live differently in the midst of the world. We are citizens of heaven who have been called to live faithfully on earth.

Resist sinful desires (v11)

Peter begins, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh.” Notice that he grounds this command in their identity. Christians should abstain from sinful desires because they belong to another kingdom.

This connects with what Peter said earlier when he told Christians not to be conformed to the passions of their former ignorance. Following Jesus involves learning to say no to desires that are contrary to God’s will. The world often tells us that if we strongly desire something, satisfying that desire is necessary for happiness. Peter reminds us that not every desire is good. Some desires need to be resisted.

Peter tells us why: these desires “wage war against your soul.” This is the language of conflict. Sinful desires are not harmless impulses that we can entertain without consequence. They are enemies seeking to draw us away from faithfulness to God.

Ephesians 4:22

Paul similarly describes the desires of our old nature as “deceitful desires.” Sin promises satisfaction while leading us away from God. It tells us that compromise will not hurt anything and that obedience will cause us to miss out on something good. Peter says instead that these desires are waging war against us.

Application

We need to learn to think about temptation as warfare. Sometimes we treat sin much too casually. We see how close we can get without technically crossing a line, or we keep things in our lives that continually feed sinful desires.

There may be relationships, entertainment, habits, or things on our phones that continually pull us toward sin. There may be bitterness, pride, lust, jealousy, greed, or anger that we have allowed to become comfortable in our hearts.

The question is: What desires am I feeding that Peter tells me to fight?

The fact that a desire is strong does not mean that we must obey it. We belong to Christ. The desires of this world do not have the right to rule people who belong to another kingdom.

Display honorable conduct (v12)

Peter now moves from the inward battle against sinful desires to our outward conduct before the world: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable.” What we refuse to indulge privately will affect how we live publicly.

Christians are not merely supposed to avoid sin. There should be something positively good about the way we live. The world should be able to look at the lives of Christians and see something genuinely honorable.

Peter knows that this does not guarantee everyone will approve of us. He says unbelievers may “speak against you as evildoers.” These Christians could live faithfully and still be misunderstood or falsely accused. Peter’s response is not primarily to win every argument. Instead, he tells them to live such honorable lives that the accusations against them are contradicted by their conduct.

Matthew 5:16

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Peter gives us the same pattern. The world sees the good works of God’s people, and ultimately God receives the glory.

This is why Peter is not calling Christians to isolation. We live among unbelievers. We work beside them, go to school with them, live next door to them, and interact with them every day. As we do, they should be able to see the difference Christ makes in our lives.

Application

We should ask ourselves: What picture of Christianity do people get from watching my life?

People see how we respond when we are angry. They see how we talk about those who annoy us, whether we tell the truth when lying would benefit us, how we treat people who cannot do anything for us, and how we respond when things do not go our way.

Our strongest response to criticism of Christianity will sometimes be a faithful Christian life. When someone says Christianity makes people hateful, let them encounter Christians who sacrificially love. When someone says Christians are hypocrites, let them encounter Christians who confess their sins and genuinely pursue holiness.

Our goal is not ultimately our own reputation. We want people to see the work of God in us and give glory to him.

Respect earthly authorities (v13–17)

Peter now applies honorable conduct to our relationship with governing authorities: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” He mentions the emperor and governors, which we can understand broadly as the various civil authorities under which we live.

God has established governing authority as part of his ordering of human society. Peter says its proper purpose is “to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” Governments will not always fulfill that responsibility faithfully, but the failures of particular rulers do not remove the Christian’s general responsibility to respect legitimate authority.

The most important phrase is that Christians submit “for the Lord’s sake.” Our submission to earthly authority is ultimately an expression of our submission to God. We do not obey because government is our highest authority. We obey because God is.

Romans 13:1-4

This allows Christians to respect authorities even when we disagree with them. Our confidence is not ultimately in any president, governor, judge, or political party. Human rulers possess real but limited authority. God possesses ultimate authority.

Peter once again connects this to Christian witness. He says that “by doing good” Christians can “put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” This is the same idea we saw in verse 12. The believer’s defense before a watching world is not merely what he says but how he lives.

Peter then says, “Live as people who are free.” But Christian freedom does not mean that we are free to do whatever we want. We must not use our freedom as “a cover-up for evil.” We have been set free from slavery to sin so that we can live as servants of God.

Peter summarizes all of this with four commands:

Honor everyone.

Love the brotherhood.

Fear God.

Honor the emperor.

There is an important distinction here. Everyone deserves appropriate honor. Fellow Christians receive the particular love appropriate to brothers and sisters in Christ. Governing authorities are honored because of their position. But God alone is feared.

Peter does not say, “Fear the emperor.” He says, “Honor the emperor.” Human authority must always remain underneath God’s authority.

This also gives us the limit of Christian submission. The same Peter who tells Christians to submit to governing authorities also said, “We must obey God rather than men” when he was commanded to stop preaching Christ.

Acts 5:29

Christians should ordinarily obey governing authorities, but when government requires what God forbids or forbids what God requires, obedience to God must come first. There is still a difference between a law we dislike and a law that requires us to disobey God. Political disagreement is not automatically grounds for disobedience.

Submission also does not require political passivity. Christians may vote, petition, advocate for laws, seek changes, and participate responsibly in civic life. We can pursue what we believe is right while still treating people with honor.

Application

Politics can reveal where our deepest allegiance actually lies. It is easy to say God is sovereign until the person we wanted to win loses. It is easy to say we should love our neighbors until our neighbors strongly disagree with us politically.

Peter gives us a better way. Christians can disagree strongly without becoming dishonorable. We can oppose policies without treating people as though they have no dignity. We can pursue political change without acting as though our hope depends upon political victory.

Christians should neither idolize government nor despise it. Presidents change. Governments change. Nations rise and fall. God’s kingdom remains.

Our political lives should make it obvious that Jesus is our King.

Conclusion

Peter begins this section by reminding Christians that they are “sojourners and exiles.” This world is not our home, but that does not mean we withdraw from it. It means that we live differently within it.

Because we belong to another kingdom, Peter calls us to resist the sinful desires that wage war against our souls. We cannot faithfully live as citizens of heaven while allowing the desires of this world to control us.

He calls us to display honorable conduct. The world is watching, and sometimes it will misunderstand or accuse Christians. Peter tells us to keep doing good. Our lives should demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel and ultimately point people toward God.

Finally, he calls us to respect earthly authorities. We honor human authority because we live under God’s authority. We can obey without idolizing government, disagree without becoming dishonorable, and when human authority conflicts with God’s authority, our highest allegiance remains clear.

Peter summarizes the Christian life in this world well:

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

We are strangers here, but God has not called us to hide from the world. He has called us to live faithfully in it.

So fight the desires that wage war against your soul. Live honorably before the people who are watching. Respect those God has placed in authority while remembering that God alone deserves your ultimate allegiance.

We are citizens of heaven faithfully living on earth, and the way we live here should point people toward the God to whom we belong.

Believers honor God by living differently in a watching world.