Thriving Under The Emperor

Verses 13 to 17.

Just another prayer before we begin.

Father, we recognize this is your word and we ask that you would help us to understand it.

And that in understanding it, we would believe it.

And that in believing it, we would obey it.

For your son's sake. Amen.

Well, I suspect that the section of Peter's letter into which we now venture

will be a difficult one for many of us, if not all of us, to accept.

We should be fully prepared in the next few weeks and in the next few passages

for God to offend us.

Which is something we should expect as fallen sinners, right?

It's something that we should embrace as redeemed sinners.

It was Tim Keller who said,

Only if your God can outrage and challenge you

will you know that you worship the real God

and not a figment of your imagination.

If your God never disagrees with you,

you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.

And we need to be prepared anytime we come to the word,

but maybe especially in these next few passages

and the content that Peter deals with here.

Prepared for God to challenge us.

Prepared for him perhaps to disagree with us.

And of course, embrace that.

Repent where repentance is necessary.

And to be faithful.

Now the reason I say that is because the overarching principle

of this section is detestable to modern sensibilities.

The theme of Peter's instruction,

beginning in verse 13 all the way down to verse 7 of chapter 3,

is submission.

Submission.

Citizens are to submit to their rulers.

Slaves are to submit to their masters.

Wives are to submit to their husbands.

Submission is difficult enough.

But in each of these cases, as we read God's word,

Peter instructs this submission,

even though the authority figure is unbelieving,

often corrupt,

and even oppressive.

And what's more,

is that it isn't the potential oppressors

that Peter actually addresses.

He could have.

The scriptures certainly do.

He doesn't.

He addresses those who are most likely to be mistreated

and abused in each of those relationships.

Now modern theories like to look at this

and they categorize and determine that the problem

is authority itself.

That it's power dynamics itself

that create the issue.

And that true liberation only comes

when people are free from such power dynamics.

And you see this in all kinds of modern theories,

particularly critical theory and its outworkings.

The Bible wholeheartedly disagrees.

It is not authority itself.

The Bible recognizes that the real issue is sin.

The real issue is sinners

who rebel against God's good design.

The scriptures affirm that it is God

who authorizes human government

with the power of the sword.

He authorizes the church

with the keys of the kingdom.

The Lord authorizes husbands to rule their homes,

parents to rule their children,

teachers to rule their students,

employers to rule their employees,

and so on and so forth.

Authority itself is God's idea.

And the godly exercise of authority

is one way that we actually bear the image of God

in the world.

From the most powerful of us

to the least powerful.

In his book called Authority,

Jonathan Lehman is so helpful on this point.

Even to say, even as children,

we are invested with a sphere of authority.

Caden's sphere of authority

at this point in his life

might be his bedroom.

He rules over that bedroom.

He has responsibilities

that come along with that reign.

And as a sinner,

he can ruin it.

As someone who has fallen,

he can exercise that authority

in a way that isn't godly

and is unrighteous.

And so on it goes for each one of us.

But authority is God's idea.

We bear his image through it.

And until Jesus returns

to bring the fullness of his kingdom

and his perfect rule,

sinners are all that there is

to fill the authoritative roles

that God has designed

for his glory

and for our good.

In other words,

the answer to oppression

is not to reject

or to alter God's design in authority.

The answer to oppression

is to call sinners to repentance

and to faith

and to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And we do that

by calling out sin,

by standing for truth,

while also properly

submitting to the authorities

that God has established.

Whether that's in the sphere

of the government

or in the sphere of the church

or in the sphere of the home

or in the sphere of our workplaces

and so on.

Well, there's two things

we need to acknowledge

about this text

in this series of texts.

And one is that Peter

didn't seek to deal

with these categories exhaustively.

This is not a comprehensive treatise

on these issues

and we can certainly look

to other passages of Scripture

in the Bible

to help build

a more robust theology

of authority and submission.

And we ought to do that.

That's not what Peter is doing here.

We need to recognize that.

And yet still,

this is the word of God.

And we need to let it speak

without trying to blunt

the sharp edges

of the sword of the Spirit.

There is a way

for us to approach texts

like this one

and the next one

and the one after.

Over-qualifying them

so much

that we end up

rendering them ineffective.

We end up rendering them

as if they have

no authority over us at all.

And we need to recognize

that what Peter writes for us

in these texts

is God's word.

This is God's word for us.

So we will not

over-qualify them this morning

in order to try

to remove the sharpness

of what Peter intends to say

and what God intends to say

to us.

We need not think of this

as all that God has to say.

And yet we still must recognize

that this is indeed

the word of the Lord.

And so Peter is addressing

the specific situation

of these Christians

in the first century

which has plenty of parallels

to even our circumstances today

and for Christians

all over the world.

He does not seek to

weigh out the ethics

of political revolution.

He does not seek here

to weigh out the ethics

of when and how

it's permissible

for oppressed people

to resist

resist

or to even flee

from their oppressors.

There are passages

that help us with that.

This is not one of them.

That's not what he's attempting to do.

We need to recognize that.

The second thing

that we need to recognize

is that submission itself

is not the goal of the text.

Submission itself

is not the goal of the text.

Now, there is a way

to take a text like this

and many like it

and we see this mostly

in the applications

of the marriage relationship

when we come to texts like this.

We find those

who would come so strongly

from the perspective

of authority

that they would see

submission

as the great end

of these passages

and that is not

the great end

of these passages.

The entire section

revolves around

the example of Jesus

in verses 21 to 25.

You won't read it now

but you might mark it.

You might even see

the next series of sections

even getting into chapter 3

and further deeper

into chapter 3.

Peter's dealing

with all of these things

and he's intentionally

right at the heart of it,

right in the middle of it,

he's put the example

of Christ

and Christ's own submission

telling us

that the goal of this text

is to instruct us

on true Christ-likeness.

Submission isn't the goal.

Christ is the goal

and as we are pursuing Christ,

we must learn as his people

to rightly submit

to proper authority.

Thriving in exile then

is about faithfully following Jesus

and that is what is Peter's concern here.

Now, the first category he covers

is submission

to civil authorities.

Thriving in exile

means thriving

under the emperor

and Peter helpfully instructs us here

on just how to do that.

Now let me give you

the summary of his thesis

and then we're going to dig in.

Here's his point, okay?

Christians must submit

to civil authorities

under Christ.

Obeying the rule of law

except when doing so

would result in disobedience to God.

And the goal of this submission

is to be like Jesus

and to prove the goodness

of Christianity

in the public sphere.

That's the general idea here.

Peter's saying

Christians must submit

to civil authorities

insofar as obedience

to the civil authority

does not require

disobedience to God.

And the reason we must do this

is because we want to be like Jesus

and we want to make Jesus

look good to the world.

Okay?

Four things to work through here.

First, let's look at

the general principle.

The general principle

in verses 13 and 14.

Be subject for the Lord's sake

to every human institution

whether it be to the emperor

as supreme

or to governors

as sent by him

to punish those who do evil

and to praise those

who do good.

Now Peter's supplying

a moral principle here.

This is a moral principle

that transcends

all systems of human government.

So that a Christian

in the democratic United States

in communist China

those who live beneath

the Islamic State

in a place perhaps like Iran

or in other places

around the world

despite the vast differences

of our cultures

despite the vast differences

of our social orders

despite the vast differences

of our political systems

we are all bound

to this moral principle

that Peter affirms here.

We may apply it

in unique ways

depending on those differences

but the principle itself

stands.

And the principle

in a general sense

is this.

We must willfully submit

to human authorities

that rule over us.

We must willfully submit

to human authorities

that rule over us.

Let's work this out

in the text.

The ESV renders this

human institutions.

Human institutions

in this case

doesn't refer to

societies

or organizations.

It refers to principles

of order

instituted

by human authorities.

Okay, so this is

not Peter's way

of saying

you must be loyal

to a political framework.

This is not Peter saying

Christians must be

loyal

to a particular

type of order.

He's saying

we must be

subservient to

subject ourselves

to

those

principles of order

that are instituted

by the authorities

that we have.

older translations

like the King James Version

render this as

ordinances

which I think

probably gives us

a better sense

of what Peter's

focus is here.

And that Peter

has civil authorities

particularly in mind

is made clear

from the fact

that he names

the supreme ruler

of the empire

Caesar in his case

along with

whatever officials

that ruler

has authorized

to carry out

punishment

for evil

and

praise for good.

Now punishment

for evil

praise for good

that's God's idea

in it.

It is God

who establishes

human government

he authorizes

that human government

with the power

of the sword.

That is a distinct

power.

The church

does not have

that power.

That was one

of the problems

coming through

middle ages

even through

some of the

reformation time

is the church

was in some cases

trying to hold

the power

of the sword

and the government

was trying to hold

the power

of the keys

of the kingdom.

We can't mix

those things up.

God has given

civil authority

the power

of the sword

and generally

speaking

that is to

punish those

who do evil

and praise

those who do

good.

In our situation

we don't have

a supreme emperor

we have a president

and a vice president

we have a congress

representative government

and so it flows.

Governors

state congresses

we have federal

institutions

that are

for law enforcement

we have local

institutions

that are for

law enforcement

all of it

included here

first to the

supreme leader

and then to all

whom he puts

underneath

that's what

Peter makes

clear.

Now that

he emphasizes

they are human

institutions

or human

ordinances

is important

pushes against

the cultural

notion

of Peter's

day

that the

emperor

was divine.

Peter's making

it clear

that when he

tells these

Christians

that they

must be

subject

to human

authorities

he is not

saying that

their subjection

is the same

as their

subjection

to God.

It is

vastly

different

and we must

understand

the distinction.

There is a

distinction

between God's

law

and man's

law

and Peter

makes that

clear for us.

Now the bottom

line here is that

we are to submit

to the rule

of law

even though

that law

issues

from creatures

rather than

God

and this is

Peter's

affirmation

that God

himself

ordains

government

and gives

it the power

of the sword.

So though

Christians are

first and

foremost

certainly

concerned

with the

law

of God

and obeying

God

we are

servants

of God

that doesn't

mean that we

are automatically

free to

rebel against

the laws

of men.

In other

words

the disposition

of the

Christian heart

is to be

one of

submission

not of

anarchy

obedience

not

rebellion

and someone

may come

to this

passage

and say

Peter

is just

so

ignorant

here

so naive

to the

kind of

oppression

that comes

from human

authorities

if Peter

really cared

about the

marginalized

in society

he wouldn't

have focused

so much

on such

an offensive

command

but we

know that

isn't

true

Peter

was the

marginalized

he wasn't

ignorant

of that

and he

wasn't

naive

to it

Peter

was a

personal

witness

to the

wicked

corruption

that led

to the

crucifixion

of the

son of

God

he himself

had been

beaten

and imprisoned

by Jewish

authorities

in Jerusalem

not for

breaking

the law

but for

preaching

the gospel

let's not

forget

that the

Roman

emperor

at the

time he

wrote this

letter

was none

other than

Emperor

Nero

an avowed

hater

and persecutor

of Christians

Peter

himself

would eventually

be crucified

by the

very man

that he

writes here

that Christians

are to

submit to

and to

obey

and yet

this is

the word

of God

and God's

word

stands

the moral

imperative

to submit

to the

rule of

law

is not

negated

or diminished

when the

rulers

themselves

are wicked

men

and they

are almost

always

wicked

men

how could

Peter press

such a

command

what could

possibly be

the reason

he tells

us

at the

very

beginning

be

subject

he says

for the

Lord's

sake

be

subject

for the

Lord's

sake

this is

as much

about what

Peter says

here as

what he

doesn't

say

he didn't

say

submit to

them for

the

preservation

of your

life

he didn't

say

submit to

them

so that

you can

try to

help build

a better

tomorrow

for your

children

he didn't

say

submit to

them

so that

you might

pursue

peace

all of

those things

are great

all of

those things

would be

affirmed

in other

passages

that's not

what Peter

says

because none

of those

things are

foundational

to the

moral

imperative

the moral

imperative

is founded

on the

glory of

Christ

we

submit

because

Christ

taught

this

submission

we

submit

because

Christ

modeled

this

submission

we

submit

because

God

is glorified

in this

submission

it's not

fundamentally

for our

sake

it is

fundamentally

for the

Lord's

sake

and as

we have

sung

so often

in the

last

several

weeks

his

glory

is

our

good

even

when

his

glory

means

suffering

that's

the

general

principle

now

let's

look

at a

particular

motivation

a

particular

motivation

we find

this

in

verse

15

look

at it

with

me

again

for

this

is

the

will

of

God

that

by

doing

good

you

should

put

to

silence

the

ignorance

of

foolish

people

this

is

the

will

of

God

he

says

why

well

in

part

it

is

so

that

by

doing

good

which

is

directly

connected

to

the

previous

verse

the

good

that

governors

are

meant

to

praise

in

God's

design

by

doing

good

being

a

good

citizen

you

will

put

to

silence

the

foolishness

of

or

the

ignorance

of

foolish

people

now

I want

you to

put

yourself

in

these

Christian

sandals

for a

moment

Christians

in the

Roman

Empire

at that

time

were

already

held

in

suspicion

this

is

a

long

time

before

the

days

of

Constantine

where

Christianity

was

set

up

as

something

to

be

encouraged

that

is

not

the

condition

and

the

circumstances

these

Christians

were

in

they

were

held

in

suspicion

they

rejected

the

Roman

gods

even

though

they

were

not

atheist

as

we

acknowledge

atheism

that's

the

label

that

they

were

given

not

because

they

didn't

believe

there

was

a

god

but

because

they

didn't

believe

in

the

Roman

gods

well

that

causes

some

suspicion

in

Roman

culture

they

refused

to

worship

the

emperor

historically

culturally

in

Asia

minor

the

emperor

cult

was

magnified

Caesar

the

emperor

he

was

not

just

a

leader

he

was

divine

a

son

of

God

and

so

when

the

Christians

come

through

and

decide

that

they

will

not

bow

to

him

they

will

not

worship

him

and

we

have

many

many

examples

of this

playing

out

in

history

they

were

persecuted

they

were

killed

for

that

the

Christians

in

this

day

as

they

should

be

doing

!

lived

in

stark

contrast

to

the

immorality

of

Roman

culture

that

produces

suspicion

unbelievers

looked at

Christian

worship

gatherings

they

called

them

secret

meetings

and

that

provided

this

opportunity

for

rumors

of

sedition

to

begin

to

spread

so

the

people

outside

of

the

church

looked

at

the

church

not

as

something

that

was

good

not

as

something

that

was

positive

they

didn't

look

at

it

as

a

well

we'll

just

agree

to

disagree

kind

of

thing

they

looked

at

it

with

suspicion

and

so

when

Nero

decides

that

he

will

send

a few

people

to

set

the

city

on

fire

who

does

he

blame

the

Christians

why

they

were

the

easy

target

they

were

already

under

suspicion

all

of

that

happening

at

the

time

that

Peter

is

writing

this

letter

that

Peter

is

pastoring

in

the

city

of

Rome

in

the

heart

of

it

all

Nero

taking

advantage

of

the

public's

misconceptions

blaming

them

for a

great

many

things

leading

to

widespread

martyrdom

Nero

himself

put

nearly

a thousand

Christians

in Rome

to death

in the

Colosseum

for the

entertainment

of the

mob

they

cheered

as you

and me

were

devoured

by animals

and put

to death

and executed

for sport

that's

the culture

they lived

in

and of

course

none of

this is

true of

real

Christianity

is it

it was

easy for

them to

look and

say well

we have

a king

his name

is

Nero

but they

say they

have a

different

king

whose

name

is

Jesus

we

bow

to

Nero

they

bow

to

this

other

Jesus

surely

that is

a threat

to Rome

surely

that is

a threat

to our

way

of

life

they

say

that we

ought not

live the

way

we

live

that God

is

displeased

by that

that God

will pour

his

judgment

out on

us

for that

they

talk of

this

place

called

hell

they're

trying to

ruin

our

way

of

life

that's

how

they

were

looked

on

and

of

course

that was

a

misconception

wasn't

it

Jesus

himself

when being

interrogated

by Pontius

Pilate

said

my

kingdom

is

not

of

this

world

if my

kingdom

were of

this

world

my

servants

would

have

been

fighting

that I

might

not

be

delivered

over

to

the

Jews

but my

kingdom

is not

from

this

world

and what

is it

that Peter

has

repeatedly

referred

to

Christians

as in

this

letter

exiles

this is

not

our

home

loved

ones

this

is

not

our

home

and we

are

not

to try

and make

it

our

home

we

are

exiles

in the

world

but the

church's

mission

is not

to

overtake

the

world

that's

not

why

God

has

left

us

here

Jesus

has

overcome

the

world

for

us

the

church's

mission

is to

preach

the

gospel

the

church's

mission

is to

display

the

glory

of

Christ's

kingdom

while

we

await

its

fullness

at his

return

it's

not

for

us

to

make

the

kingdom

of

this

world

our

own

but

to

represent

the

kingdom

of

God

as

glorious

and

superior

to

the

kingdom

of

this

world

and

Peter's

point

is that

proper

submission

to

authority

is the

strongest

apologetic

we have

against

those

who would

assume

that

Christians

are

always

up to

no

good

that

submitting

properly

to

civil

authorities

proves

to

the

world

around

us

that

we

are

not

fundamentally

revolutionist

and

like

the

suspicions

of

first

century

Rome

it's

not

uncommon

for

unbelievers

to

paint

Christians

today

as

threats

to

their

way

of

life

we

are

not

a

threat

to

their

way

of

life

God

is

the

gospel

is

and

there's

a

difference

in

those

two

things

but

it's

God's

will

that

by

living

in

proper

submission

to

the

rule

of

law

the

church

will

silence

the

ignorance

of

foolish

people

who

love

their

sin

more

than

they

love

the

truth

that's

the

bottom

line

does

this

mean

that

we

are

to

blindly

obey

everything

the

government

says

is

there

any

sense

in

which

Christians

can

and

should

stand

in

opposition

to

human

authority

well

that's

what

Peter

answers

next

third

I

want

you

to

notice

a

necessary

clarification

a

necessary

clarification

we find

it in

verse

16

live

as

people

who

are

free

not

using

your

freedom

as a

cover

up

for

evil

but

living

as

servants

of

God

do

you

see

what

he's

doing

do

you

see

the

clarification

he's

making

here

in

verse

13

he

tells

us

that

we

are

subject

in

verse

16

he

tells

us

we

are

free

but

we

are

free

because

we're

a

different

kind

of

servant

he

says

in

verse

16

we're

free

because

we're

servants

of

God

now

again

Peter's

intent

is not

to

provide

a

comprehensive

treatise

on

this

it's

not

what

he's

doing

we

shouldn't

expect

every

question

to be

answered

here

we go

to

other

texts

for

that

but

he

does

provide

a

really

helpful

clarification

though

we

are

subject

for

the

Lord's

sake

to

every

human

authority

we

are

to

live

as

people

who

are

free

in

other

words

human

authority

is

not

our

final

authority

and

there

are

times

when

we

are

free

in

Christ

to

rebel

against

it

why

because

we

are

first

and

foremost

servants

of

the

living

God

he

no pun

intended

trumps

the

emperor

Nero

may have

been the

emperor

but he

wasn't

Peter's

lord

and

as

citizens

we

must

honor

the

rule

of

law

but

as

Christians

we

must

prioritize

the

law

of

God

over

and

above

human

law

therefore

in

any

circumstance

in

which

obedience

to

civil

authority

means

disobedience

to

God

Christians

are

not

only

free

to

rebel

but

we

must

rebel

after

all

it

was

Peter

himself

who

after

being

commanded