Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1 Peter 2:11-12

Verses 11 and 12 are transition into the next section of Peter’s letter, transition that is of particular interest to us today.  Peter’s general context here is that we are in this world of Mankind at the present, but we are citizens of a heavenly Kingdom that is not of this world at all, thus we are foreigners and exiles where we are now.  Oh no, we are not exiles from the heavenly Kingdom, we are exiles from this world.  As such, we are here representing that heavenly Kingdom of which we are citizens.

Have you ever visited a foreign country? When you did so, did you behave as unofficial representatives of your own country and adopt your best behavior, or were you a jerk?  We Americans have sometimes been described as “ugly Americans” in other countries because apparently, we don’t behave well when we travel.  I don’t know if that is true or not… when I visit other countries, I am on my best behavior…  but I have seen how we are usually portrayed on British television and I must say if Americans are really like that in Britain, they don’t act the way we do at home! Suffice it to say that Peter is going in much the same direction that Paul went when he spoke of us as Ambassadors of Christ.

The other side of this “strangers and exiles” metaphor is that we really don’t belong to this world any more, and as such we need to let the priorities of this world go by the wayside.

This is what Peter is referring to when he says that we should abstain from “sinful desires that wage war against your soul”. Sin is over. Slavery to sin is over, and it has no hold on us any more… our chains are gone; we have been set free from the law of sin and death!  So why must we insist on holding onto sin? Peter’s alternative is that we should so conduct ourselves, that the un-Christian world we live in may come to belief when they see how we live.

There is one other point we should consider here.  Notice that Peter says, though they accuse you of doing wrong. 

So, here we are, strangers in a strange land, citizens of a heavenly Kingdom, representing our King… let’s act like it, and show the world what Christ’s love looks like in action.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, 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 people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:13-17

You will recall that Peter has told us in general terms that we need to behave in a manner that is right and proper, as citizens of heaven and not of this world.  His particular concern in verse 12 is that we must live good lives among the pagans, even though they will accuse us of all sorts of things, so that the love and light of Christ will save some of them. Now, starting with verse 13 Peter gets more specific, first talking about our relations with government officials, then with Masters, and then within our own homes.

First off, we are to show proper respect to the rulers of human government.  I always told my students, that this is where the Bible commands that they obey the speed limit, and do you know what they always did?  They laughed, thinking that I was joking! You are probably laughing as you read this… Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we can’t do the little things, how can we do the big things? Oh yes, put a “Jesus” sticker on your car and drive recklessly… great, just great. We are to obey the laws, and show proper respect to our officials, even when they aren’t as respectable as they should be.  Why?

For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. (v. 15)

If we behave badly, it will reflect badly on the Gospel.  What goes through your mind when you read a news story about a foreign diplomat who breaks the law and gets away with it because they have diplomatic immunity?  Probably something not very close to good feelings, shall we say maybe something negative?  How does it appear to the unbeliever when you tell them about Jesus and then misbehave?  Does that unbeliever want to hear more from you about righteousness?  Not likely, you’ve lost your credibility, and so have all other believers.

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (v. 16)

This is a contrast between free people and slaves.  Keep in mind that the Roman Empire was a slave economy, and a significant percentage of believers were slaves.  Peter is reminding them and us as well, that we are God’s servants (slaves) and our freedom in Christ must never be used to enable evil conduct on our parts.  This is followed by Peter’s imperative in verse 17:

Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

As Peter has set this up quite nicely, I have little else to say here… Oh, except that you should obey the speed limit!

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:17-21

Slavery was a fact of life in the Roman world of the first century, and Peter addresses it as such.  It isn’t accurate to insist that the Bible condones it, however, as some would do.  It was not permitted under the Law of Moses, and the New Testament addresses it only as one of the ways of this ungodly world. There were many in the past who cited the New Testament’s treatment of slavery in an attempt to justify the practice, and of course there are some today who use the same approach to discredit Christianity, but in both cases, such commentators demonstrate a complete lack of understanding concerning the nature of the New Covenant, which established a Kingdom not of this world, and in opposition to this world.

Since we, for the most part, live in places where slavery does not exist as an economic system, we can draw insight from this passage regarding our relations with employers, and others in authority, and that is how I’ll approach it here.

Peter is telling slaves (employees) to submit themselves to their bosses out of regard for God.  He goes on to say that we should do this not only with “good” bosses, but with the harsh ones as well.  For our time, let’s look at it this way: If you are a Christian and you have a bad attitude at work, how does this look to your fellow workers or your boss?  You talk about all the good and wonderful things, and then you are resentful, demanding, and lazy and cause problems for everyone. So, is this what it is to be a Christian? Seems a fair question. If you are always telling your friends that the boss is always trying to cheat you, what kind of impression does that make?

OK, to be fair, I was almost always in management, but to me you would just sound petty and selfish, certainly not like a humble servant of Jesus… but maybe I’m wrong.

Peter goes on to ask what good it would do for you to suffer a beating for doing wrong.  For our time, you sure can’t complain too much if you get fired for doing something wrong, can you?  Getting in trouble for doing right is a whole different matter!  In all cases, Peter is saying that we need to do what is right in God’s eyes and in building God’s Kingdom, and if that requires some sacrifice on our parts, that’s well worth enduring for His sake. Jesus thought so, and as a result of His willingness to suffer and sacrifice, you and I are free from sin and death.

In the next section, Peter looks directly at the suffering of Christ, and we will dive into that one next time.