Keys of The Kingdom 6 - The 'S' Word

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 2:11-17)

Submission is a word we can't stand—yet Scripture constantly calls us to it, even toward wicked rulers, as a witness to God's ultimate authority.

The Word We Cannot Stand

Submission is a term and concept we repudiate, reject, and refuse. And yet the Scriptures constantly call us to submit to those who are in authority over us, especially human government. That is exactly what we are looking at today in 1 Peter 2: submission to earthly government.

This word in these verses is not an easy one to apply. As we've seen throughout the Scriptures, some of the easiest things to understand are often the most difficult to practice. So we pray that God would not only give us wisdom and understanding, but ability and power to do the things His word prescribes—that we would live in a way that honors and glorifies Him.

A Night in the Garden

It was a beautiful spring night. The temperature was crisp, the smell of new growth was in the air, and a full moon overhead cast a bright light upon everything, making it almost like a dimly lit, overcast day. He had asked them a simple thing: just stay awake and pray with me. But they had eaten and drank so much that it was hard to stay awake, and they kept drifting off.

Now again they were woken by his soft voice. Wiping the sleep from their eyes, they tried to make sense of his words. "It is time. My betrayer is here." Just then a commotion stirred in that little olive grove, and dozens of torches came walking in. Mostly soldiers—but at the front was a group from the high priests, and in the soft moonlight you could see a face they knew very well: Judas. As he approached the Master he said, "Rabbi," kissing him on the cheek.

Immediately the soldiers rushed in, pushing Judas aside, and put their hands on Jesus to seize him. One of the disciples sprang forward with a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant. And the Master said to him, "Put away your sword. Stop. Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword."

If ever there was a time to rise up against injustice, against the wicked authority of the day, you would think this was it. And yet Jesus says: now is not the time. John's Gospel tells us it was Peter—the very author of this letter—who had the sword in his hand. If you've been around the Gospels any length of time, you almost don't even need John to tell you it was Peter.

Twelve Legions of Angels

A few hours later, that same Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, and said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight that I should not be delivered into the hands of the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here." The Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the perfect Son of God, was seized by Roman soldiers, unjustly tried, illegally convicted, and crucified that very day.

When they laid hands on him, you would think that would be the opportune moment for everything to strike—Peter leading the charge. I imagine Peter thinking, "I'll strike first, and then Jesus, like some action hero, will fight off the soldiers and start an epic series of victorious battles as we cast off oppression." That's the way I'd be thinking. But it didn't happen that way.

Instead Jesus rebuked him: "Or do you not think that I could at this very moment pray to my Father, and He would send twelve legions of angels?" Twelve legions—more than seventy thousand angels. Consider the context. About 2,800 years ago, the prophet Isaiah saw with his own eyes what one angel could do: one angel sent by God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. Think of what twelve legions could do. And Jesus says, "Put the sword away."

In every generation since that night, governing authorities have acted with wicked injustice against the people of God. Even today we see people persecuted, burned, beaten, beheaded, and killed—especially children—for no other reason than that they follow Jesus. When you see that, there is no way you can look at it and not feel the desire to pull the sword. And Jesus says: put away the sword, the gun, the missile, whatever it may be. Everything in our nature recoils. And Peter says, "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake."

Writing From Nero's Rome

Let's be honest—especially the guys—that is the worst possible exhortation. What we want to hear is "stand up for your rights and fight against tyranny."

No doubt when Peter wrote this, everything was perfect in his world. There must have been a Republican president, the Dow at 19,000, unemployment at two percent, oil under thirty dollars a barrel. Right? Not so. Peter was writing from the city of Rome around AD 63-64, when the emperor was Caesar Nero, a complete nut job who ushered in the first state-sponsored persecution against Christians. Many believers would be crucified during this period for no reason other than following Jesus. And to them Peter writes: submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.

Citizens of Another Realm

"Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your souls." In those two words—sojourners and pilgrims—is a simple reminder that His kingdom is not of this world, and that we are simply passing through. This place and this life are temporary. So, as those just passing through, reject and renounce the carnal desires that wage war within your mind and heart.

Christians are citizens of another realm. This is not our eternal home. To that we say thank God. There are wonderful things and beautiful places in this life, but there is also an awful lot of wickedness, darkness, sadness, and despair. Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in heaven. Jesus says in John 18, "If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight; but now my kingdom is not of this world."

We sometimes imagine heaven like that faint dream state we have early in the morning, ethereal and gone in a moment. But heaven is more tangible and more real than this place. We look forward to another life in another place that is more real than this one.

Declaring War on Internal Desires

The easiest command to obey would be the command to fight, because that's in our fallen nature. From the very beginning, one of the first things after the fall is Cain killing Abel, and wickedness only expands from there. If Jesus said, "Go for it, fight," we'd say, "Right on—give me a couple of those angels." But repeatedly in the Gospels and epistles we are told the opposite. Jesus' teaching to turn the other cheek runs against every inclination of my fallen heart.

So there is an internal battle associated with what Peter calls us to. In verse 13 he commands—in the imperative—Christians to submit to every governing authority for Christ's sake. And before he gives that command, he acknowledges in verse 11 the internal struggle: "abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." Christians are to declare war on ungodly internal desires.

When we hear "fleshly lusts," we usually think of immoral sexual desires. That's certainly something to renounce—Paul tells Timothy to flee youthful lusts. But in this context, with submission to government in view, a different kind of ungodly desire wells up: anger, rage, bitterness, malice, wrath, unforgiveness, anxiety, and fear. If you find yourself under a government that is against Jesus—as believers are in Pakistan, Iran, and across the Middle East—these are the internal desires that rise up, and Peter says we must shun them.

Why? Because they war against the soul. They cause an internal irritation in the Christian that the non-Christian does not feel. When you were not a follower of Jesus, you could be filled with bitterness and wrath and feel completely justified. But now, when these things rise up, there's an irritation: "I shouldn't feel that way; I don't want to feel that way." Why? Because as a Christian you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christ dwells in you. And if the Holy Spirit who is completely holy is in you, then malice, anger, hatred, anxiety, and fear are like cockroaches in His house—and He wants them removed.

A Good Witness Begins Within

Verse 12: "having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation." Already in chapter one Peter told us three times that our conduct must change—we are to be holy in all our conduct, to do away with our former, aimless conduct.

Now he says your life must be conducted in a manner honorable not just to God but to non-believers—people who don't go to church, don't read the Bible, and think you're nuts for getting up early on a rainy Sunday to hear the Bible taught. Even though they speak against you as evildoers, your conduct should be so honorable that those who can't stand Christians say, "I don't like Christians, but man, they sure live in a righteous manner."

A good witness begins with an internal transformation. You cannot be a good witness of God in this world without being transformed by His Holy Spirit from the inside out. In Mark 7, Jesus says, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within."

Our society tells us murder and hatred come from unjust systems and unequal pay. No—the Bible says they come from our wicked hearts. But the opposite is also true. Ezekiel says God gives you a new heart, and when you have a new heart that thinks and acts in a transformed way, then good things come forth, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So we must declare war on internal ungodly lusts, asking, "God, enable me by your power to uproot this bitterness, to forgive even when I don't want to, that I might be a witness of you during my temporary stay here."

The 'S' Word

Then the kicker, verse 13: "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him."

This is the S word: submit. The very idea of submission is hated, even from infancy. Anyone who's cared for an infant knows they don't like to submit, and toddlers really don't. I have a little unsubmitted two-year-old—cute as can be until he doesn't want to do what you want him to do, and then all chaos breaks loose at Home Depot in a scream that dolphins thirty miles offshore can hear.

The Greek word is hupotassō: to arrange oneself under, to make oneself subject, to yield or obey, to be in subjection. There may be no more hated word in human vocabulary, and our culture says, "No way." But surely Peter must mean only good and righteous governments? No—the word "every" is the Greek pas, which means all. There is no way to make "all" mean less than all.

Christians Respect Even Non-Respectable Authorities

Christians respect even non-respectable governing authorities. "I didn't vote for him. Not my president." But Peter confirms what Paul wrote in Romans 13:1-2: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

Surely Paul means a godly king? No—he wrote to Christians in Rome around AD 58, when Caesar Nero, the most corrupt and insane leader the world has ever known, ruled. That word "appointed" is the same idea as "ordained." Verse 2 continues, "Whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves."

All earthly powers are ordained by God—even corrupt governments—in His sovereign direction for His sovereign plan. He allows even wicked rulers to rule. Romans 13 continues: "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil... he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers... Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."

But what if they're unjust? Submit. What if they take away our rights? Submit. What if they pass laws favoring sinful lifestyles? Submit. What if they use my tax money for things against God? Submit. What if they persecute Christians? Submit. Why?

This Is the Will of God

Verse 15 gives seven words: "For this is the will of God." Submit, and trust that God will judge righteously. "This is the will of God" means He has a plan. And if I'm a follower of Jesus, I have to trust His plan even when I don't understand it. Isaiah 55 says His ways are beyond our ways—and that's true, because so often I don't get what He's doing.

The number one question Christians ask is, "What is God's will for my life?" Well, at the very least it is this, because He says it explicitly: "that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, and not using your liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."

This is God's will for your life: to submit to every ordinance of man for God's sake, trusting that God has a plan, that this existence is temporary, and that in eternity He will rule with justice and mete out righteous judgment. Those who were unjust in their authority will answer for how they led. As a pastor, I will be responsible for how I led. The President will be responsible for how he led. God will hold each accountable. So I can say, "God, you are sovereign, and I'll leave it in your hands."

Is that easy? No. There's a war within the soul, because our flesh wants to fight, stand up for its rights, and head-butt that Roman soldier. And God says, put the sword away—so that by your good conduct you may put to silence foolish men, that they may be saved and glorify God.

Submission as Witness

Submission to earthly power is a witness to God's ultimate authority. Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, stood before a falsely condemned Galilean and realized the man had done nothing wrong. Pilate said, "Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and power to release you?" The Greek word is exousia—jurisdictional authority. And Jesus said, "You could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above."

What did that do to the strong Roman governor? It put the fear of God in him. Read every Gospel account of the crucifixion and you'll see Pilate did not want to put Jesus to death. His wife warned him by a dream to have nothing to do with this man. A Roman soldier who had likely seen great battle was reduced in an instant before a Galilean who said, "You have no authority but that which was given you from God, and my kingdom is not of this world."

"As free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice." The New Living Translation reads, "For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil." What evil? Malice, hatred, unforgiveness, bitterness, wrath. Don't use your freedom as an opportunity to keep doing evil.

Four Final Words

Verse 17 gives four simple statements: honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Honor all people—respect and honor every person, even those you don't like, and all of us have someone we're upset with. This implies you cannot be a Christian and be a racist, because you must honor all people. Love the brotherhood—you cannot be a Christian and be unloving to other Christians. Fear God—you cannot be a Christian and not reverence God. And your reverence for God is seen in honoring the king; you cannot be a Christian and dishonor earthly authorities.

This is a hard word, and it gets more difficult next week and the week after, when we come to submission in marriage—which will really reduce the church to about twenty people. You have a harsh boss? Submit. You have a harsh husband? Submit. "This is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." How? Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.

Closing Prayer

Father, this is a hard command to obey—hard is an understatement. It is impossible for us in and of ourselves, without your power at work in us, to obey this command. So Lord, we need your help. We pray, Jesus, that you would enable us to set ourselves under earthly authorities, trusting you, trusting that they are instituted by you for a purpose, trusting that you have a plan, and trusting that there will come a day when you, the ultimate authority, will justly judge the much injustice in this world—much of which comes at the hands of those in authority and power.

Help us to trust you, to lay ourselves into your care, and to submit first to you, and then in obedience to you to follow the command of 1 Peter 2:13. Give us supernatural strength and ability to do that, so that through our obedience and submission you would be exalted and people would see your glory just as Pilate did two thousand years ago.

Lord, help us know how to put these things into practice this week. Help us to renounce and shun any internal ungodly desire founded in malice, hatred, unforgiveness, and bitterness—none of which represent you or your kingdom, all of which flow from a fallen, sinful, wicked heart. Work in us to make us honorable and glorifying to you among those inside and outside the church. Thank you, Jesus. Work in us this week, we pray, in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed.