Honorable Conduct of Heavenly Citizens 1 Peter 2:13-17 Series: True Grace ~ 1 Peter
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Matt Kruse NBC – AM Service 2-18-18 Honorable Conduct of Heavenly Citizens 1 Peter 2:13-17 Series: True Grace ~ 1 Peter Introduction: Take your Bibles and find your way to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2. During the last presidential election there was quite the sharp disagreement over immigration, and especially over the issue of undocumented or outright illegal aliens. One of the situations most often referenced in that debate was the killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco. She was walking with her father and friend along Pier 14 when Jose Zarate shot her in the back. Two hours later Kate tragically died because of her injuries. This shooting and Kate’s death sparked political outrage by the advocates of immigration reform and stricter enforcement of immigration laws already in place. In fact, the murder was so egregious that even those politicians who would normally defend policies like “Sanctuary Cities” were loudly denouncing the management of this illegal immigrant. I bring this up not so that we can get down into the weeds on immigration issues, but as an example of how conduct affects argument. So, if you would find yourself to be a proponent of loosening our immigration laws or enforcement, then the conduct of this immigrant in San Francisco in 2015 widely affects your ability to influence others of your sincerely held beliefs. Now the analogy is not perfect, so do not apply it completely, but this is similar to how our conduct as Christians relates to our witness. The compelling argument of Gospel truth out of our mouth is directly linked with our way of life. As has been said, your life before the unbelieving world is the only Bible some people will read. One poem says it this way: You’re writing a “gospel,” a chapter a day, By the deeds that you do, by the words that you say; Men read what you write, whether faithless or true, Say, what is the “gospel” according to you? (http://www.preceptaustin.org/1peter_verse_by_verse_213-25) And the great Scottish preacher, Alexander Maclaren, once wrote: “The world takes its notions of God most of all from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. In fact, they see us, they only hear about Jesus Christ.” This is Peter’s point in the verses before us this morning. Our conduct conveys a message about our core message – the Gospel. And so, he instructs here in verses 13-17 on how we should conduct ourselves in this world among those who do not know Christ. His Gospel exposition is matched with Gospel exhortation. As people who have been shown the great mercy of the new birth by grace through faith in Christ, we are now to live in these ways in the world. Let’s read 1 Peter 1:13-17. We established last week that our new identity in Christ grants us great privilege that comes with great responsibility. Because we have been shown great mercy and have been brought from darkness to light, and because we are now a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a chosen race, and God’s prized possession, we are to conduct ourselves in a different way than before. This great spiritual and eternal change in our status necessarily now affects our daily lives in this world. We are to abstain from the flesh and conduct our lives among unbelievers in an honorable way. And that honorable lifestyle of verse 12 is now detailed out in verses 13-17. This is how heavenly citizens should now live in the world. You probably noticed, but these verses are packed with imperatives – with Gospel commands. There are 6 total in the English translation – Submit to every human institution in verse 13; Live as people who are free in verse 16; honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the emperor – all in verse 17. This is the conduct of those who are heavenly citizens trying to navigate their way through a foreign land. This is how we must walk each day so as to amplify our Gospel witness rather than detract from it. And all of these commands are putting us in our place in relationship to others. So, as it relates to governmental authority – submit. As it relates to all people – honor them. As it relates to the Church – love them. As it relates to God – fear Him. As it relates to the chief government official – honor him. And these are exactly the opposite of what we would do if we were walking according to our fleshly passions. These are the impulses of our sinful inner man that we were told in verse 11 to stiff arm. If we were walking through life in obedience to those passions of the flesh then we would be led to disregard governmental authority. We would be led to use our freedom in Christ as license for our own sinfulness. We would be led to honor ourselves over everyone else, to despise and use the brotherhood, to live with a high view of self and a low view of God, and to despise the head of government as the chief symbol of everything we hate about government. That is what life would look like according to the flesh. But what does life look like according to the Gospel? Or another way to ask that is – what does life look like for a heavenly citizen who is sojourning through this life in anticipation of the real Kingdom which is to come in eternity? Well, Peter says that heavenly citizens submit to earthly authority, and they honor everyone and they maintain supreme loyalty. I. Heavenly Citizens Submit to Earthly Authority – vs. 13-16 a. We see this first Gospel command in verse 13 – 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. All of verses 13-16 are governed by this command to submit ourselves to earthly authority. They are all explaining what this looks like and how and why this is to be done. And this explanation is necessary because one could easily take the Gospel truth of our new privilege found in Christ’s mercy, and make the case that we now no longer have to obey human authority structures because we only have to obey Christ. Our new identity could be the platform for all kinds of strange activities in the world – but Peter clarifies that immediately by calling us to submit to earthly authorities. b. This word for “be subject” will dominate the next whole section of Peter’s letter. He calls everyone to submit to government here in verse 13, and then in verse 18 he will use the same word to call slaves to be subject to their masters, and then in chapter 3 he will call wives to walk in submission to their husbands. This is what it looks like to be new people in Christ – we are freed from our sinful pride-filled self-focus, and we can now fill our God-given role in this world. That is the idea of submission by the way. It is to willingly place yourself under someone’s authority for the sake of order. It is living in compliance and obedience to someone that God has put in a rank of authority over you. This is not a value statement relating to you or to that person of authority, but rather this is putting ourselves under the God-given structure of authority for the sake of order in this world. This submission is then directed in the text by descriptions relating to our True King. That is the issue here – we are to submit to our temporal, here and now, earthly king (or president as it may be in our land), but this submission is done first of all for the sake of the True King – the Lord God of Heaven. c. For the sake of the True King – 13-14 i. So, in verse 13 there is this immediate aid to our understanding of what it means to submit to every human institution. We are to do this for the Lord’s sake. Our submission to human authority on earth is actually an expression of our submission to our True King – the King of kings. In other words, our submission tomorrow to earthly authorities is an expression of our ongoing and eternal submission to our Lord. This is His plan and His way. He has put these earthly authorities in our life and he now calls us to function under their authority. These earthly authorities are specifically government authorities in verses 13-14. So, we are to place ourselves under the ruling authority of the Emperor and of any local governors that he sends to carry out his authority in a local area. Our system of government is obviously different than Rome’s was in the first century, but the principle is obvious. God has placed over you in government those whom He has chosen for this time. Therefore, in submission to your Lord who showed you great mercy, you should submit to human authority. ii. It is also for the Lord’s sake in the sense that human government fits with his plan. So, he established it and this is how he governs mankind. But it also is for the Lord’s sake in that submission to secular human authorities is according to God’s plan.