1 Peter 2:13-25: Submission to Authority

1 Peter 2:13-25: Submission to Authority

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Peter, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Peter 2:13-25. It says,

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. ¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 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.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we’re taught that the heavens and earth will pass away but that your words will never pass away. They’re eternally true, eternally relevant, and eternally powerful. So, help us to see the truth of this text and understand its relevance and experience its power. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Well, as you can see, the title of the sermon this morning is “Submission to Authority.” And, just to be candid, you may not be sure how you feel about that. The idea of submitting to authority isn’t exactly the most popular idea nowadays. And even for Christians, it’s a topic that often makes us feel a bit uneasy.

That’s because, when we think about authority, it’s difficult not to immediately think about all of the high-profile examples of authority being abused. For example, I’m sure many of us remember a few years ago when the findings of a massive grand jury investigation were released detailing the horrific pattern sexual abuse and cover-up by various Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. This report named 301 Catholic priests who had engaged in the sexual abuse of minors while in active ministry in the church. Even worse, these cases of abuse were systematically covered up by bishops and other high-ranking church officials.

And of course, there are plenty of other instances of authority being abused not only by church officials but by many others in positions of authority throughout society. I recently read a story about a government official who oversaw a large government agency related to consumer protection forcing a restaurant to close because that restaurant wouldn’t seat his daughter where she wanted to be seated. Basically, the daughter went to a popular upscale restaurant without a reservation, and when the staff refused to let her sit where she wanted, she called her father. Her father then sent several officials from the consumer protection agency to carry out a “lightning raid” on the restaurant, and they claimed to find several violations there and proceeded to shut down the restaurant.

So, it’s very understandable for us to be uneasy about the idea of submitting to authority. All of these abuses of authority have certainly taken a toll on our view of authority in general. 

Not only that, one of the things that those of us who are from the United States instinctively value is our personal freedom and autonomy. That’s what being an American is all about, right? Enjoying our rights and freedoms without the government sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong. This country was formed so that we could enjoy these rights and freedoms, and we’re very passionate about doing so.

So, when we come to a passage like 1 Peter 2:13-25, it can make us feel uncomfortable. By any measure, the ideas Peter presents here about authority are radically counter-cultural and therefore difficult for many of us freedom-loving Americans to fully embrace. In all likelihood, there are several parts of this passage that step on our toes a little bit and perhaps even rub us the wrong way.

But let me just remind you that if your study of the Bible never makes you feel uncomfortable and never results in you having your toes stepped on, then you’re not doing it right. If you actually let the Bible speak for itself instead of just reading your own ideas into it, it will quite frequently step on your toes.

Yet, when you think about it, this is actually one of the reasons we can be sure that the Bible truly comes from God and that it isn’t just something people made up or the product of human imagination. The supreme wisdom and transcendent authority we find in the Bible are clearly of divine origin. We might say that the Bible bears God’s fingerprints. So, it’s very important for us to let the Bible sit in judgment over us rather than us trying to sit in judgment over it.

And that’s certainly the case as we come to this passage here in 1 Peter 2. In this passage, we’re going to be challenged not only to submit to earthly authorities but also to change our view of authority—to whatever degree our current view of authority is less than biblical. Could it be that authority is actually a blessing? Could it be that authority isn’t just some burden we have to endure but is actually a good gift from our loving God? That’s where we’re going.

So, look with me first at verses 13-14. Peter writes, 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. Now, obviously, we don’t have emperors today, but it’s not that difficult to translate Peter’s command into our own national context. Peter’s telling us to “be subject”—or submit—to all levels of human government. For us, that would be our national, state, and local governments.

And when you think about the historical context in which Peter was writing, it’s pretty remarkable that he would say this. Because the emperor of Peter’s day was a notorious tyrant named Nero—a man who had no regard for human life and who’d actually light Christians on fire and use them as human torches to light his gardens. He would also feed them to lions and have other horrendous things done to them. So, you could put Nero right up there with Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler as a ruler who was unspeakably evil. Yet, Peter’s very clear that our duty as Christians is to submit to the governing authorities. And as the historical context makes clear, that applies even if those authorities aren’t conducting themselves in a godly manner. So, I know there are many political leaders in our society today who leave much to be desired in both their character and their policies. But, first of all, at least they’re not Nero! And also, God still expects us to submit to them as our lawful authorities.

And that brings us to the main idea of this passage, which I’ve already stated several times in various ways but just to state it clearly and concisely: God calls Christians to be subject to earthly authorities. Again, God calls Christians to be subject to earthly authorities.

Peter then continues to instruct his readers about this in verses 15-16: 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. So, Peter acknowledges that Christians are people who are free. That is, we’re free from the penalty of our sins, free from our former bondage to sin, and free from Satan’s power. Therefore, Peter says, we should live that way—“live as people who are free.” Yet, Peter cautions us not to use our freedom “as a cover-up for evil.” Don’t think that your freedom means you can live however you want. Instead, Peter says, remember that you’re a “servant of God.” In other words, our freedom isn’t a freedom to live however we want at any given moment but rather a freedom to serve God.

After that, Peter goes on to explain what this looks like in verse 17. He writes, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” So, we’re supposed to “Honor the emperor,” Peter says. Notice that this is a higher requirement than what Peter said before. Back in verse 13, Peter simply told us to “be subject” to our governing authorities, which basically means to simply submit to them and do what they tell us to do. Yet here Peter says that we need to not only submit to our governing authorities but actually “honor” them. Think about that. Think about all that honoring someone might involve. Among other things, it involves speaking about them in an honorable and respectful manner. And if you want to know what that looks like, just look at the kinds of things that are typically posted on X and other social media platforms…and do the opposite.

Now, at this point, you might wonder, “What if they’re not worthy of honor?” Well, I don’t think Nero was very worthy of honor either. Yet Peter writes this even during Nero’s rule. So, even if we’re not able to honor the person for who they are, we’re still called to honor them for the office they hold.

One of the most striking examples of this in the Bible is in the book of 1 Samuel when David honors King Saul. Saul sensed that God wasn’t with him any longer but was instead with David and had chosen David to be the new king. So, in a jealous rage, Saul repeatedly tried to murder David with the result that David was forced to flee for his life. Yet, while he was on the run, David actually had opportunity on two different occasions to kill Saul. On one occasion, Saul was relieving himself in the very cave David was hiding in without knowing David was in there. And on the other occasion, David was able to sneak up to Saul undetected while Saul was fast asleep. So, on both occasions, David finally had a chance to do what needed to be done, right? That’s certainly what many people would say, at least. They’d say that any action David took against Saul under such circumstances could easily be justified as self-defense. And perhaps God had even given David these opportunities for the very purpose of providing David with a way to immediately gain the kingship.

Yet David held a deep conviction that it was his duty to honor his earthly authorities. So, David resisted the temptation to do any harm to Saul on either these occasions. In fact, after the first occasion when Saul was in the cave and David had cut off a small corner of Saul’s robe in order to prove that he could have killed Saul, David’s conscience bothered him. We read in 1 Samuel 24:5-6, ⁵ And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” So, not only does David not kill Saul, he actually has a guilty conscience for even cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe. He then honors Saul by referring to him as “the Lord’s anointed.” And that’s actually the way David continues to refer to Saul throughout the subsequent chapters. He repeatedly refers to Saul as “the Lord’s anointed.”

So, the point is that, if Peter could command his readers to honor earthly authorities even during the reign of Nero and if David could give such honor to King Saul even while Saul was trying to kill him, don’t you think you and I should honor our governing authorities today? So, even as things heat up during this election season, let me encourage you to be thoughtful about the way you speak of political leaders. Even if you find it difficult to have any respect for their character and even if you strongly disagree with their policies, they’re still the authorities whom God’s currently placed over us. And that means we’re called to honor them—even if our honor is only because of the office they hold.  

Then, moving forward in our passage, Peter turns his attention to servants in verses 18-20. He writes, ¹⁸ Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. Now, it’s well documented that slavery in the ancient Roman Empire was a lot different than the slavery that used to be practiced in our society. Nevertheless, it was a terrible injustice in which people were considered to be property. However, that was the system in which the early Christians lived, and they had no opportunity to change it. Remember, they didn’t have elections back then. Instead, Nero was in charge. So, it was really no use opposing that social order.

Therefore, Peter instructs those who are “servants”—or slaves—to be subject to their masters. And he tells them to do so “with all respect.” He then clarifies that it’s their duty to do this even if their masters are “unjust”—which is a term that carries the literal meaning of being “bent” or “crooked.”  Peter then speaks of how commendable it is when we endure unjust suffering.

Of course, that’s not in any way to say we should voluntarily endure unjust suffering when there’s a legal way of removing ourselves from it. Remember that Peter’s referring to a situation where there’s no legal remedy. I also think it’s very clear from other passages of Scripture that God would have us pursue whatever legal means of obtaining justice are available to us.

The point of this passage, though, is that we should honor whatever earthly authorities are over us for as long as they’re over us. So, perhaps the closest modern-day parallel would be an employee submitting and showing honor to their employer. That doesn’t mean you can’t leave your job and find another one, but it does mean that, for as long as you work for that employer, it’s your duty to submit to them and do so, as Peter says, “with all respect.”

This also means, by the way, that Christians should think long and hard before participating in any kind of labor strike. I know it might be controversial to say that, but I’m not sure how it’s possible to justify going on strike in light of the seemingly clear teaching of this passage.

So, Peter’s instructions so far have been for all of us to submit to our governing authorities and for employees to submit to their employers. And as we look through these verses once again, we see there are two primary reasons Peter cites for giving these instructions. The first is for the sake of our witness. As we saw last week in verse 12 of the previous passage, Peter told his readers to “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.” This means to conduct ourselves in such a way that even those non-Christians who accuse us of doing evil will see our honorable conduct and eventually “glorify God” by becoming Christians.

Peter then alludes to this same idea again in our main passage in verse 15. He says, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” In other words, by submitting to our earthly authorities, we can demonstrate to the watching world a certain kind of virtue and godliness and, in that way, create a platform for a powerful gospel witness. This was especially important for Peter’s original readers because there was widespread suspicion in the first century that Christians were secretly subversive to the state. Yet this is still an important and relevant principle for us today.

So, for all of us who are freedom-loving Americans and who are very passionate about our rights—and I’d put myself in that category—let’s remember that the most important thing for us to be concerned about isn’t our rights but rather our witness. People’s eternal souls are far more important than our rights. So, let’s make sure our focus is on the proper thing.

In addition, not only should we honor our earthly authorities for the sake of our witness, we should also honor them because we’re ultimately servants of God. In verse 16, Peter writes, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” Peter’s point in referring to us as “servants of God” is that our submission to earthly authorities is ultimately submission to God’s authority.

This teaching is even more explicit in Romans 13:1-2, where Paul writes, ¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. It’s kind of like when parents go out somewhere maybe on a date or to run a few errands and leave their children at home for a few hours. Usually, when they do that, they’ll leave their oldest child in charge and tell the other children to do what that oldest child says while they’re gone. In that situation, the oldest child doesn’t have inherent authority but merely has delegated authority for that brief period of time.

Similarly, all earthly authority—whether it be the authority possessed by governments, employers, teachers, churches, husbands, parents, or any other authority—is all delegated authority. It all has its origin and has been put in place by God himself. So, any rebellion against that authority is ultimately rebellion against God.

And friends, Iet me remind you that the God of the Bible is a good God and a loving God and a God who’s established things the way he has in order to promote the maximum amount of human flourishing. And that includes the earthly authorities he’s established. Contrary to what people today often believe, the authority structures found throughout society are actually wonderful gifts from our loving God. Of course, just like everything else in this fallen world, authority is often twisted and distorted and abused. But authority itself is a gift from God that’s designed to promote human flourishing.

I love the way David says it in 2 Samuel 23:3-4. He states, ³ The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, ⁴ he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? That’s the way God designed authority to operate and the effect he designed it to have. Of course, as I said, that’s often not the way authority actually ends up working in this fallen world, but that’s nevertheless God’s design for authority.

And one of the key ways we can glorify God as Christians is to embrace that view of authority—that is, authority as a good gift from a loving God—and seek to promote a proper exercise of authority to whatever extent we can. Perhaps the most obvious way we can do that is for those of us who are in positions of authority to try to exercise that authority in a godly manner.

And on this topic, I really appreciate Jonathan Leeman’s book, entitled Authority. The subtitle is, How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing. Toward the end of the book, Leeman offers four principles for how God designed authority to work. We obviously don’t have time to dig into each of these, but I would like to go through them very briefly with the hope that these will be helpful especially for those of us who are in positions of authority.

First, godly authority isn’t unaccountable, but submits to a higher authority. When Jesus came, he came as one who had authority. Yet, in John 8:28, Jesus says, “…I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.” So, if even Jesus submitted to a higher authority, certainly God would have you and I to submit to a higher authority as well—specifically his authority. So, regardless of how high you rank or how much power you have, don’t ever allow yourself to forget that your authority isn’t ultimate and that you yourself are accountable to God and will one day be held accountable by God for how you exercise the authority he’s delegated to you. The day’s coming when you’ll have to stand before God and answer for how you’ve used, or abused, your authority. 

Second, godly authority doesn’t steal life, but creates it. Just as God uses his authority to promote human flourishing, he calls us to use our authority to promote human flourishing as well. So, for example, parents should be seeking to help their children grow up to be godly and responsible adults. Managers should be seeking to help their subordinates grow and develop in their career fields. Police officers should be seeking to protect the vulnerable and promote justice. Every earthly authority should seek to use their authority not to benefit themselves but rather as a way of helping those under their authority to flourish—in Leeman’s words, not stealing life, but creating it. And let’s not forget how David described a godly leader in 2 Samual 23:4: “he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.” For those in authority, is that the effect you seek to have on those under you?

Third, godly authority isn’t unteachable, but seeks wisdom. Proverbs 12:15 states it directly, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” And if you’ve ever read Proverbs, you know there are numerous other proverbs that say basically the same thing. A key difference between a foolish leader and a wise one is that the wise leader continually pursues greater wisdom. He or she has a teachable spirit, is open to correction, and often seeks out advice and feedback.

And finally, number four, godly authority isn’t self-protective, but bears the costs. In Mark 10:45, Jesus says that he “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And that’s the mentality everyone in authority is called to have—a mentality of serving others rather than of being served by them. Unfortunately, many leaders today have it backwards. They abuse their authority in the pursuit of their own gain and then try to use their authority to protect themselves from the consequences of their behavior. Yet as Leeman says, it’s not about being self-protective but rather about sacrificially bearing the costs.

As anyone who’s been in a position of authority knows, there are very real costs associated with being in that position. Many times, these costs involve significant stress, a demanding schedule, being required to make difficult decisions, having people upset with you on a regular basis, being a target for slanderous attacks, and just the general weight of responsibility that’s on your shoulders. Yet a godly leader will sacrificially bear these costs as a way of serving those who are under their authority. Again, it’s about serving others rather than being served by them.

So, let me encourage those who are in authority to exercise that authority in a godly manner. And let me encourage all of us to submit to the authorities God’s placed over us. Now, of course, there are limits to that submission. As we find taught very clearly in Acts 4:19 and Acts 5:29, we’re not required to submit to earthly authorities if they tell us to do something that God forbids or prohibit us from doing something that God commands. As Peter and John state unequivocally in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” But in all other cases, God expects to be subject to the authorities he’s placed over us.

In some cases, of course, this may be a very difficult thing for us to do and even cause us a measure of suffering in this life. Peter certainly demonstrates an awareness of that in our main passage when he tells slaves to obey their masters even if that requires enduring unjust suffering. And you might wonder, how in the world could Peter require such a thing?

Well, he explains in verses 21-25: 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.

So, our ultimate example of submitting to authority even when that involves enduring unjust suffering is Jesus. Jesus suffered in the most horrendous ways when he was publicly reviled, mercilessly beaten, and eventually crucified. Yet he didn’t resist or seek to extricate himself from that situation but instead, Peter says, “entrust[ed] himself to him who judges justly.” That is, Jesus entrusted himself to God the Father and therefore submitted himself to the Father’s will.

And we should be glad he did, because, as Peter says in verse 24, it was on the cross that Jesus “bore our sins.” All of our sins were placed on his shoulders as if he was the one who had committed them. Essentially, Jesus functioned as our substitute and voluntarily suffered the punishment our sins deserved. Instead of us having to endure the penalty for our sins forever in hell, Jesus endured that penalty on the cross. And the result of his sacrifice is that, in Peter’s words, “By his wounds you have been healed.” Jesus’s death, coupled, of course, with his subsequent resurrection from the dead, is what enables us to experience healing and forgiveness and eternal life as we put our trust in him.

And as we think about the subject we’ve been discussing—our responsibility to submit to the earthly authorities God’s placed over us—that’s something we can do even when it’s difficult because we know that Jesus has already traveled this path before us. Among other things, his example reminds us that any unjust suffering we end up enduring in the course of our submission to authority has a purpose—just like the cross had a purpose. And, of course, we know that no matter what we face, Jesus is always facing it right beside us, bearing our burdens and giving us strength. As Peter says in verse 25, he is the “Shepherd…of our souls.”