Everybody does it every day in all kinds of ways. What am I talking about? Submitting. You can climb the highest mountain, dive the deepest ocean, or even build a rocket ship and fly it to another planet, and guess what, you’ll still be under authority. God has so ordered His universe such that it’s impossible for His creatures to escape authority entirely.
And why does submission chafe so at the human mind? Because of sin! Because from Adam and Eve on down, in our fallen human nature, we’ve been nothing but rebels, taking our cues from the chief rebel, the Devil, who got so full of his own angelic beauty that he no longer felt a need to submit to God, his Creator. Yet Satan has never and will never be out from under God’s authority; he will always be submitted to God. But his submission—along with the submission of all angels and humans who likewise remain rebels against God—will be an eternally aggravated and unwilling submission.
This is not the kind of submission Peter urges in this text. He urges a willing, glad-hearted submission on the part of Christians on the fringes of Roman society, with no direct access to the levers of political, cultural, or economic power—Christians and churches that Christians and churches today are coming to resemble more and more. He’s writing to Christians whose gospel influence upon society depends in no small part upon a mindset and lifestyle of joyous submission. And today I want to make the same case. Bridge Church, for our community to have maximum gospel impact on those around us, God’s prescription isn’t to assert ourselves by standing up for ourselves; it’s submitting ourselves.
For the Lord’s Sake…
But before we look at who Peter says we’re to submit to, we first need to understand why submitting is the order of the day. In v. 13 he doesn’t just say, “Be subject to every human institution…” He says, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake…” Those are four very important words. But do they mean God is somehow in jeopardy if we don’t submit—if we don’t willingly subject ourselves—to others? Not exactly. God isn’t in jeopardy but our worship of Him may be. And if the church’s worship is jeopardized by an unsubmissive spirit, this jeopardizes the chances of others worshiping God. As Peter has just indicated in v. 12: “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.”
John Piper’s saying is true: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” There’s a mutual benefit to worship for both the Worshiped and the worshiper. And while it’s impossible for us to calculate the benefit God receives from worship (since we’re not God), Peter’s point here is that worshipers derive maximal benefit—maximal joy, spiritual fulfillment and soul satisfaction—from worshiping God when we give His worship maximal focus through obedience. And the obedience sought in this text is that we “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” Nothing says satisfaction more clearly than obedience; and nothing says obedience more clearly than submission. And nothing indicates a worshipful, satisfied, obedient submission to God more impactfully than a community of Christ-followers living out that command together.
To Every Human Institution
So what does Peter mean when he says, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution”? There are a lot of human institutions, but not all of them are divinely ordained for human flourishing. Peter outlines three that are: government, masters, and marriage. Let’s look at government first.
Peter says, “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.” Believe it or not, government is a divinely ordained institution given for the sake of human flourishing—including bad government! Think of the worst, most abusive, repressive governments in history. Stalin brought a reign of terror; Hitler brought a holocaust, but I’m here to tell you anarchy is worse. One man’s sin, unrestrained, is a nightmare. But every man’s sin unrestrained is a horror beyond comprehension.
Peter (like the apostle Paul in Romans 13) was able to urge Christians to willingly subject themselves to the authority of a Roman emperor and government that were not kind to them. Why? It’s because Peter and Paul saw a larger will and plan operating behind and within human government: a gracious will and a plan intent on restraining human wickedness so as to protect and prolong human life for the purpose of extending the gospel of Jesus Christ to more people in more places until all of God’s elect from all the nations of the earth throughout human history are brought into the sheepfold of faith.
We, like Peter and Paul, have to be Christians who trust that our all-wise God is giving the human government to every people in every place and at every time in history best suited to aiding the Church in fulfilling His global redemptive agenda. In some places representative democracies will provide more tranquil environments for gospel expansion. In other places repressive dictatorships will provide more turbulent environments for gospel expansion. Peter says in v. 15, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” If the ignorance of foolish people is being silenced this must mean light bulbs are coming on. Whether it’s the light bulb of salvation and spiritual rebirth through an acceptance of the gospel, or the light bulb of simply recognizing that we Christians are really just living like Jesus—it doesn’t matter. As Peter then says in vv. 16-17, we are to “live as people who are free, not using [our] freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God, honor[ing] everyone, lov[ing] the brotherhood [of believers], fear[ing] God, [and] honor[ing] the emperor.”
Now don’t confuse “free” and “freedom” here with a “land of the ‘free’, home of the brave” kind of freedom. Peter knew nothing of American freedom. The only freedom he ever knew was the freedom of forgiveness through Christ! It can be easy for American Christians to mingle those two and muddy the waters of what real freedom is and where it comes from. You may be wondering, Well, where’s the line? How long are we supposed to honor and submit to a bad government? My answer is: we go as far as obedience to God’s Word takes us. It might be the ballot box or the gallows. I don’t see a stopping point here. I’m not saying the American Revolution or the plot to overthrow Hitler were wrong—they weren’t seeking no government but better government. That’s why Peter doesn’t specifically say “honor emperor Claudius or Nero”, etc. He’s not talking about a specific person but about human government in general. When we submit to human government we send the signal that we’re under an even higher authority than emperors, presidents, or constitutions.
Be Subject to Your Masters
But sometimes government can seem kind of far away. So Peter tightens the circle of submission a little bit by giving us another human institution a little closer to home. He says in v. 18, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect…” In our context masters and bond-servants would correlate to employers and employees. Peter says we’re to be subject to them with all respect—not with lip service or respect limited by a boss’s deficient character, but with all respect. Peter clarifies by adding, “not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” We send a signal God may use to save the souls of unjust employers when we honor them with hard work, punctuality, honesty, and commitment. We send the signal that we serve a higher master and a higher purpose than a paycheck. Peter says in v. 19, “This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.”
Not getting the hours or dollars you think your worth? Don’t just up and quit. Remember, you’re not first and foremost a hired hand; you’re an ambassador of God’s grace in your workplace! It’s a “gracious” thing to suffer unjustly! Peter asks in v. 20, “What credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?” What good is it if you endure a reprimand for tardiness or a demotion for dishonesty at work? There’s no credit in that; you’re just getting what you deserve. But when we endure as targets of unjust treatment we begin to show forth Christ in our workplaces like we never have before.
I grew up with a union electrician dad and a union school teacher mom. I learned early on that workers shouldn’t have to put up with bad bosses or work conditions, and that if those things persisted there was recourse. That’s all well and good, but it should never be a Christian’s first impulse to complain or put pressure on an employer. Going through human channels to change a person’s heart or behavior only bring about further hostility, never true repentance. Rather, our first impulse must always be to pray, asking God to show us how to be gracious to that employer, trusting the Holy Spirit to wake them up through the gospel. Our calling—not our careers—should be our first concern. Peter says in vv. 21-25,
“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. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 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. 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. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul.”
Can we receive these words with gratitude on behalf of ourselves, and yet not receive them as marching orders? Can we believe that Jesus suffered and died for our sins (who were once hostile to Him) and yet not believe He died for those hostile to us and wants us to represent Him to them? Can we be glad Jesus suffered unjustly for us and yet demand justice for ourselves, believing that our abusers are going to get an accurate picture of the gospel? If so we’ve reached the height of hypocrisy and selfishness—neither of which, needless to say, are Christian traits.
Wives & Husbands
Submitting to human government may seem a way-out-there notion. So Peter brings it a little closer to home by urging submission to employers, whether just or unjust. But so we don’t think submission is something Christians just do “out there,” he brings it right through the front door and into the home in the first part of chapter 3. He says in vv. 1-2, “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.” This should confirm to us that in each of these scenarios—government, employers, spouses—Christian submission is all about evangelism; it’s not just a spiritual activity but a strategic activity!
Peter knows not all the married women in the church have Christian husbands. And, as a man, he knows enough to know that brow-beating and spiritual guilt-tripping aren’t going to win these men to Jesus. The husband is a human institution, ordained by God to fulfill a good and needed role in society and in the home. A Christian wife’s best hope for winning an unsaved husband to Christ is respectful submission and pure conduct—not trying to captivate them with outward beauty but with what he calls in v. 4, “the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” Peter gives the saintly women of the Old Testament—namely Sarah—as an example. He says, “you are Sarah’s children (daughters), if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.” Is he saying that wives should never be frightened by anything? In this context I think Peter is pointing to one more way that Christian wives can submit to their husbands—even unsaved husbands—by looking to them for strength and protection from evil and harm. Men want to feel like protectors. It turns us on when we feel like our wives are looking to us for strength and security. So, wives, instead of copping the feminist agenda of trying to be men, let your husband fill his role of protector. Find ways to appreciate him in that role. Even if he’s not very engaged right now, deep in his core—even if he’s not a Christian—there’s a protective instinct that needs to be awakened and appreciated. Your recognizing that could be part of what helps him get saved and grow spiritually.
Now husbands, Peter hasn’t forgotten us! In v. 7 he says, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way…” Peter doesn’t use the word “submission” or “be subject” that he uses for wives in v. 1 or for employers in 2:18 or the emperor in 2:13. But the English word “understanding” captures something beautiful. Men, we’re to live with our wives in an under-standing way. There’s submission in that! Jesus went to the cross in submission to His Father, but also in service to His Bride, the church. And what could be more submissive than service? Men, we’re to be a vital and spiritual support to our wives. This means putting their needs above and before ours. It means waking up and being that protector that God made us to be and that God made them to want. It means, as Peter says, “showing honor to the woman…”
Ladies, I hope Peter’s unpolitically-correct term, “weaker vessel,” doesn’t offend you! He’s respectfully, reverently recognizing the more delicate physique, more sensitive emotional constitution that God purposefully gave to women and not men. He’s not suggesting an inequality of value or personhood between men and women. He calls women ‘co- or joint-heirs’ of the grace of life with men, not sub-heirs. He then warns husbands that failing to live in an understanding way or to honor their wives as co-heirs of grace will hinder their prayers. Guys, don’t presume to be spiritual men with a hotline to God if you diminish and demoralize your wives. Don’t presume to be good representatives of Christ to the unsaved if you’re mistreating the woman who represents His Bride, the church, behind closed doors. God sees it all and isn’t fooled.
Conclusion
Our question today is how to pursue an attitude of joyful submission. The answer in general is that we pursue it together—in community with one another. Alone we’ll always gravitate back to the sinful and satanic mode of standing up for ourselves rather than submitting ourselves to others.
To humbly submit to government as ordained by God we need to talk about politics and government with each other in small groups and one on one, not griping but asking sincerely, How will we seek to submit ourselves to human authorities in a way that showcases our submission to God?
To be rightly submitted to the institution of the workplace, instead of complaining about our jobs or bosses when we come together let’s be willing to say, I’m really struggling with a difficult work situation; will you pray with me and help me think through the best way to honor my employer and show them Christ? Leave out the gossip, the complaints, the dirty details.
And to rightly submit to the institutions of government and employment we need to be sure we’re rightly submitted in the home. Husbands and wives portray Christ’s submission to each other before anyone else. And God intends the benefit of that witness to ripple outward to every other sphere of life making a gospel impact as it goes.
Submission is a community undertaking, but it begins with the question, Are you submitted to Christ through faith?