1 Peter 2:13-17

1 Peter 2:13-17  Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.  For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.  Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.  Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king (NIV).

          We have reached a new section in this text which contains a word which many deem to be controversial: “submit.”  There really is no controversy here, rather a need for careful interpretation.  I will take the three “submit” points one at a time, yet before I do, I introduce all three with two principles of interpretation given by the minister Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in his classic book on the Sermon on the Mount.  Principle one of Biblical interpretation: “… no part of this Sermon can be understood truly except in the light of the whole”(1).  He is specifying the Sermon on the Mount, yet the principle applies to the entire Bible.  When studying a passage of the Bible, you need to take a verse in the context of the passage, a passage in the context of the chapter, and the chapter in the context of the book, and the book within the context of the entire Bible.

          Second principle of Biblical interpretation: “… never consider the letter apart from the spirit”(2).  Dr. Lloyd-Jones states earlier on, “I do feel constantly the need to warn myself and everybody else against becoming so immersed in the mechanics of Scripture that we miss its message”(3).  Now Dr. Lloyd-Jones had much more to saying about interpreting the Bible, and others have obviously given some important points of Biblical interpretation, but I think these are two key points. Scripture was not given in a vacuum, rather it was given in human history contexts, and in different literary styles.  This is a critical point.  Neglecting to apply what is called “exegesis,” which is “… the careful historical, literary, and theological analysis of a text”(4), will lead to misinterpretation.  And more than anything, not putting Scripture into the context of the book that it is in will cause misinterpretation.

       I think Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes a wonderful musical presentation analogy in that chapter.  There is a certain art in listening to the messages of God in Scripture.  And any Bible artist needs assistance from the Holy Spirit.  This is a third principle of Biblical interpretation!  Just as Jesus enlightened the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:27, we folks need the Spirit of Christ to enlighten us.  So as we began this section, I truly say, “Help me Holy Spirit.”

          What do we have here in this passage?  It is a general statement.  The point really is not that people are supposed to go around giving allegiance to horrible leaders as well as good leaders.  Let us interpret this passage in the context of the Bible.  In the Old Testament, God had originally determined for the Israelites to be ruled by judges.  It was only because the people cried out to Samuel to have a king like other nations that God permitted them to have a king.  And God warned them of the negative consequences, which took place as He said they would.  Kings of Israel and Judah were usually bad.  Most of the kings did evil, whereas only a few kings did good.

          And how about those Roman emperors who persecuted Christians.  It was horrible.  And there have been numerous evil leaders since.  Then in the century of my birth, there was one of the most evil leaders in human history.  And now here in this day and age, you have people like me who advocate republics like our great United States of America where there is democracy, and who renounce kingships and dictatorships altogether.

          Two thousand years ago, Peter was not denying that there had been bad rulers in the history of humanity, and he was not saying that Roman emperors were God’s gift to mankind.  He is saying that as a general principle, people need to submit to authority, authority which keeps sin in check.  My country is the U.S.  I have never been to a town in the U.S. that did not have police officers or a sheriff.  In our country where we are blessed to have so many freedoms, without the support of such authority, there would be horrible results.  Any country which has a civil government is a country where there is the potential for goodness to be bestowed to the citizens.

          Christians are to be first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of heaven.  However, we are still supposed to be concerned with what is going on in the world.  In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  God’s intention is not for Christians to bail out of civil society, rather Christians should be model citizens, respecting authority rather than rebelling against authority in general.

          Back around 1995, my friend was working on a PhD at Cornell University.  He is a great Christian man, and he was in a wonderful fellowship with a small group of fellow Christian graduate students, men and women.  I visited him one weekend, and I attended his church that Sunday.  The minister preached on Romans 13:1-7, and I thought his sermon was exceptional.  He made the specific point that Christians are to obey rulers unless the rulers make laws that prohibit expressing the Gospel, which was a specific instruction of Jesus.  That is why Christians can smuggle Bibles into various countries.  I agree, but I would take it even further saying that any laws that go against any of the teachings of Jesus do not need to be obeyed.  The reason is that Paul in Romans, and Peter here in his epistle, were never advocating that anyone needs to submit to an evil ruler or laws that require sinful actions.  They are giving a general principle that Christians are not to make church laws their binding legal principles, and then scoff at secular laws.  Under the persecution that the early Church faced, there was a need to often go underground.  Look what ended up happening to the author of this epistle.  Peter was crucified by the Roman government!  Yet Peter is clearly teaching that Christians are not to bail out on the world!  In fact, Christians who are so passionate should even participate in civil government.

          Near the end of this verse, Peter mentions the importance of the brotherhood of believers.  Church communities are important!  Likewise, we Christians are called to be lights in the world.  There is a time for Christian conclaves, and there is a time to be out there in the thick of it.
Hunter Irvine

(1)            D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: One Volume Edition (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971), 22.
(2)            D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: One Volume Edition (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971), 29.
(3)            D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Studies in the Sermon on the Mount: One Volume Edition (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971), 21.
(4)            Michael Gorman Elements of Biblical Exegesis; A Basic Guide for Students and Ministers (Peabody, Massachusetts.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001), 8.