Be Subject To - Government
2:12-17
Part of living among the lost as those who bring honor to God is living within the structures God ordained. Believers who live as servants of God must be willing to be in submission to others. Because we know who we are in Christ, we do not need to cherish our dignity and honor in society.
One of these structures is human government. Peter tells us to be subject to (or submit to) every human institution for the Lord’s sake. That is, Christians should obey their governments so that they will not be seen as lawbreakers who are dangerous to the society.
For example, there is a group in Africa known as the Lord’s Resistance Army. They are known for abducting children, slavery, and terrorism. They do not bring glory to the Lord when they commit atrocities. They bring shame. In contrast, Christians who obey the law and are good neighbors bring glory to God. Peter wrote “…by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people”. (15)
Paul wrote about this subject in Romans 13. He likewise said to be subject to the governing authorities. He went on to say there is no authority except that comes from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. He said to obey, respect, and pay taxes to whom they are due.
Jesus said “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. (Mark 12:17) The context was paying taxes. The Pharisees wanted to know if it was lawful under Jewish law to pay taxes to Caesar.
The question first asked is “when does the government get so bad that a Christian does not have to obey it?”. As context, we should remember that Peter wrote to people under the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero who would ultimately execute him. Peter knew Nero was evil, but most of the Roman law was acceptable and had to be obeyed.
Ultimately, Nero demanded that Christians renounce, or at least minimize, Christ, and worship the emperor. This they could not do, so they refused and were punished for it.
The key here is Peter’s statement that the Christian’s freedom is not a license to do evil, but to live as servants of God. (16) We should weigh all of our actions in terms of obeying God’s will and bringing glory to him.
Verse 17 has an all encompassing instruction on how to live with other people. First, honor everyone. Treat everyone with respect and dignity. Second, love the brotherhood. Have genuine love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Third, fear God. We treat other people with respect, but we only express reverent fear toward God. Only he deserves that level of honor and devotions. Fourth, honor the emperor. That was a difficult one for Christians in the Roman Empire at times. It is difficult for us at times also. Yet, it is the will of God for us.
Be Subject To - Masters
2:18-25
The second human institution Peter deals with is slavery. He specifically directed his message to slaves who had become Believers. Peter instructed them to be subject to their masters with respect, whether the masters were good or not. It is similar to the instruction regarding the government.
Peter acknowledged that they may suffer, but says when they suffer and endure with a Christ-like Spirit, God sees it as a gracious thing. It is gracious because they suffer in order to be a witness to others.
Christ is the example in this, for he also suffered although he did nothing wrong. (22) And, though he suffered unjustly, he did not retaliate or revile. (23) He simply trusted himself to the Father.
He even did this for us, dying on the cross so that we could be forgiven and live in righteousness, even though we had been in rebellion against God. (25)
Be Subject To - Husbands
3:1-7
The third institution Peter mentions is marriage. As with the other two institutions, Peter begins with “be subject to”. (1) (Many versions say “submissive”, but the Greek word is the same.) He said for wives to be subject to their husbands even if the husbands are not living in obedience to God’s word. The reason is that they may be won to Christ by witnessing the conduct of their wives. He also advised making their gentle and quiet spirit their main adornment rather than their clothing and accessories. That is not to say women cannot makes themselves look pretty. But that the thing that will witness to Christ is character not physical appearance.
There is a cultural element here. As people came to Christ, they had to figure out to deal with their Christian freedom in the context of their daily lives. At that time, most societies were patriarchal. A woman who realized her freedom in Christ, married to an unbeliever, might feel free to disrespect him. But, that would not make her look good, nor would it make her religion look good.
But the same basic principle applies today. If a married woman becomes a Christian, is she more likely to lead her husband to Christ if she is nice to him and respectful to him, or if she constantly argues with him and disrespects him?
Peter also had an instruction for husbands. He does not use the phrase “be subject to”, wanting to maintain the Scriptural structure of marriage, but sets a high standard of behavior. He said to live with your wives in an understanding way. (7)
Men need to understand that women think and feel differently than they do. Men usually love that when they are dating. They love a woman’s tender heart, her affection, her emotional makeup. But, sometimes, after marriage, men find those things annoying and lash out at their wives. Peter said, live in an understanding way. Understand she is different. Enjoy the good parts of that and tolerate the difficult parts of it. Realize that her differences can help you. God made woman to be a helper to man. That implies that he needs help. I know I do.
For example, my wife can ascertain if someone is troubled within seconds of meeting them. She can get people to tell them their troubles and comfort them. She has taught me to do this much better than I ever did on my own.
Peter also said to show honor to the woman as the weaker vessel. There was a time when men held the door for a woman, carried her packages, and did the more physical things. It was not because men did not believe women could do those things. It was to honor them.
The most important thing to remember is that women, wives, are equal to men, husbands before God, both heirs of grace. Failure to honor your wife in this way will even hinder your prayers.
Christian life is not lived by demanding our rights, but by giving them up for the sake of Christ.
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