Living Honourably (1) (1 Peter 2:13-17)

Peter had told his readers to live honourably among the Gentiles (2:12). He now proceeds to explain how they should do so, and he mentions three specific areas before giving a general picture. The three specific areas are the government, the workplace and the home. In each of the three areas he says more about the weaker persons: he says more about the subjects than the government (2:13-17); he says more about the servants than the masters (2:18-25); and he says more about the wives than the husbands (3:1-7). The general section (3:8-22) describes how the believers should live with everyone. Sometimes, as in the general section, he mentions the example of Christ, which he also does in the section on servants. 

We may find it surprising that Peter tells his readers to submit to the government of the time, the Roman Empire, because it was that government that was persecuting them. Yet we also know that Paul gave the same kind of instruction to his readers, even although he personally suffered at times from its decisions. On the other hand, we also know that sometimes Paul was helped by the authorities, such as when he was arrested at the instigation of the Jews. Nevertheless, both Peter and Paul eventually were executed by the authorities.

 

Of course, we need to bear in mind the experience of Peter and John when the Jewish authorities attempted to stop them from preaching about Jesus. On that occasion, they refused to obey that instruction, although it was the case that the Jewish Sanhedrin was not the most powerful authority in Jerusalem. Still, there is an obvious principle there, which is that believers should disobey the authorities when they require something that is contrary to God’s revealed will.

 

Why should they obey?

Peter gives two reasons, and those reasons are interconnected. They are to live as subjects for the Lord’s sake, and he has revealed why they should do so – to silence the ignorance of foolish people. In his providence, God has arranged for human government, especially in the covenant he made with Noah after the flood, when he gave instructions about capital punishment (which does not seem to have been part of the pre-flood arrangement as we can see from the references to Cain and to Lamech). 

 

Although the submission is required by God, it is voluntary from the point of view of the Christians. It is also comprehensive, to be expressed at every level of authority. And it is also required of all Christians, whatever their status in society. It is required of masters and servants, and husbands and wives, of everyone.

 

Moreover, there is a recognition of the twofold role of the authorities – they punish those who do evil, and they reward or commend those who do good. This was a common assessment of the role of rulers at that time, even if many did not live up to that standard. Nevertheless, there is a reminder here that God’s common grace will be seen in the decisions of authorities. Calvin points out that ‘some kind of government, however deformed and corrupt it may be, is still better and more beneficial than anarchy.’

The desire of God is that their people by their submission ‘will put to silence the ignorance of foolish people’. Who does Peter have in mind as ‘foolish people’? He is referring to those who accuse Christians of crimes against the authorities. The way to silence such allegations is to have a lifestyle that cannot be condemned. 

 

It is important for Christians to realise that other people are ignorant about what Christians believe and why they do certain practices. For example, at the time Peter wrote, it was assumed by ‘ignorant’ people that the Lord’s Supper involved some form of cannibalism and that preaching about another kingdom was threatening to the state. The only real answer to such ignorance is upright behaviour.

 

How are they to behave

Peter informs his readers that upright living is part of Christian freedom, which means we need to consider what Christian liberty is. From what have we been set free? Matthew Henry’s commentary summarises the situation in this way: ‘All the servants of Christ are free men (Jn. 8:36); they are free from Satan’s dominion, the lawʾs condemnation, the wrath of God, the uneasiness of duty, and the terrors of death.’ 

 

Yet we have not only been freed from such sources of bondage. We have also been set free to serve God. The basic feature of Christian liberty is that every Christian is a servant of God. Salvation brings that about. Obedience to the God a believer loves is how to describe or define the Christian life. Any behaviour that does not come under this basic feature is an expression of rebellion, not against human authorities primarily, but against God.

 

The source of information for what a Christian should do is found in the Bible. Yet the Bible does not refer to every possible situation. Instead, it gives principles that can be applied to circumstances. For example, our catechism mentions several principles that can be deduced from the ten commandments. The fifth commandment is not only addressed to children acknowledging the authority of their parents; it is also part of the overall submission to God-ordained authority.

 

Christian liberty is never to be used for wrong practices, or as Peter calls it, ‘a cover-up for evil.’ Many kinds of wrong behaviour have been advocated as part of Christian liberty, and when that happens Christian witness is nullified. The reality is that Christians have been given freedom to serve God. This is what it means to live honourably. 

 

Peter briefly states four areas of where to live honourably – people in general, the family of God, God himself, and the emperor or political leader. He mentions how this should be done.

 

Regarding people in general, Christians must honour them all. Honour does mean that we should always approve of what they do because we can never approve of sinful behaviour. But we honour them for an obvious reason – each of them is made in the image of God. We must honour the intelligent and the not so intelligent; we must honour all races; we must honour the limited, those who cannot contribute much to life. We honour those we disagree with. 

 

Concerning the family of God, the response to them is love. There are several words for love in Greek and the one here is agape. Agape is basically the idea of practical love, that something is done to express our love. Such expressions may be big or small, private or public, sacrificial or straightforward. But it is to be expressed towards all Christians. Favouritism is not a Christian virtue. One way to keep this attitude is to remind ourselves that the people of God are a family, and when pagans see this, they sense that we are living honourably.

 

As far as God is concerned, the basic response is to be fear or reverence. God is my Father, but he is not my chum. It is not an expression of reverence to call him Daddy. Jesus commanded his disciples to fear God, and even Jesus, as far as his human nature was concerned, feared God. How can we so understand God as to fear him? One way is to think of the word ‘glory’ in the Old Testament, where it has the idea of heavy or weighty. The opposite of heavy is light. It is possible to treat God lightly, and that not only offends him, it also means that we are not living honourably in the sight of others. Whatever else they know, they know that God should be respected. 

 

The remaining area of life concerns honouring the emperor. Christians honoured him because God had given authority to him. Obviously, the Roman emperors until that time had flaws as rulers and none of them were interested in promoting Christianity. One way of honouring them is mentioned by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: ‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.’ We are to pray that their decisions will create circumstances in which God’s people will peaceful and godly lives. 

 

Another way of honouring them is by paying taxes that they impose on society: ‘you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed’ (Rom. 13:6-7).

 

Connected to showing respect is a recognition of who they are: ‘For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer’ (Rom. 13:3-4).

 

Application

The clear feature of this aspect of honourable living is consistency. The requirements of honouring everyone, loving Christians, fearing God, and honouring the authorities are not one-off situations. Obviously, we should not approve of others when they sin, and we should not obey instructions that contradict the Bible’s commandments.