Yesterday, we studied how we might apply the phrase for the Lord’s sake to Peter’s exhortation to be subject. There are actually separate studies on both those phrases. You can find them here: Be Subject, and For the Lord’s Sake. Today, I wanted to look at another exhortation which shows up, do good. Like be subject, this is something Christians are to do. Like for the Lord’s sake, it is something we must not count on from others, including those in authority. I think I will borrow heavily from yesterday’s study, at least for the style of today’s.
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
1 Peter 2:13-20
It’s not the other way round
Before we really get going on defining doing good, I want to look at the verses above from the other direction, as it were. This is pure imitation of yesterday’s study, but I think it is helpful. You will notice that Peter does not call on emperors and governors to do good. Maybe he should have? But, Peter’s audience was made of a miscellany of folks who were most definitely not rulers, unless they might be former rulers of synagogues, etc. That said, if one of his audience were to rise to become an emperor, I have no doubt Peter would expect them also follow these instructions. None of that is the point. Here’s the point. We are not called to do good only when we live under rulers who do good.
Peter says it for me!
Peter does not say, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution which does good, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” Similarly, (and here, I don’t even have to paraphrase because Peter wrote this word for word) Peter writes, Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.
Anyway, I think it is important to remember that, as with all of Peter’s writings thus far, the impetus is on us as Christians, and not on those around us. It is Christians who must do good. And, Peter makes it plain we must do so regardless of the nature – whether just or unjust – of our authorities.
Do good!
We probably all have certain things in mind when we imagine what it means to do good. There are some very basic things that almost go without saying, yet the Bible says them, so let’s not balk at putting them down here. I think one of these is the widows and orphans commands. I believe they start in Deuteronomy.
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
Widows and orphans
Of course, the same injunction to care for widows and orphans is repeated many times, but perhaps most poignantly in James 1:27, Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James said this was pure religion. But the command to do good must certainly contain the basic necessity of caring for the unfortunate. The apostle John doubled down on this concept (1 John 3:16-18). He says that we care for the unfortunate because God’s love abides in us. Or, we don’t because God’s love is not present within us. Christ himself expands this exhortation to care for the unfortunate to caring for everyone around us.
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:35-40
Doing good requires action, not sentiments only
I believe I mentioned this in a previous study, but when you put care for the less fortunate along side loving your neighbor, you realize that we are indeed called to do good. We cannot get caught up in an emotional Christianity where we love our neighbor and the unfortunate by try to gin up good-natured feelings about them. We are not called to feel good.
How else might we do good?
Okay, so those are the basics. What else might Peter mean by do good? Well, Peter tells us. He tells us to Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. We’ll cover what it might mean to live free in another study. But, let us jump to the living as servants of God. I don’t think it is a stretch to picture servants of God as those who do good, especially if we borrow from yesterday’s study, and word it as follows. Do good for the Lord’s sake, living as servants of God.
Servants of God
So, how do the servants of God do good? First of all, we should find a model servant of God from whom we can take our cues. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. (Acts 3:13). Those are Peter’s words in the book of Acts. So, we know that Peter likely has Christ in mind when he pictures a servant of God. How then do we do good for the Lord’s sake, living as servants of God? We imitate Christ.
Imitating Christ
If imitating Christ seems daunting, rest assured that those who are called and justified will be, over the course of their lives, made into the image of Christ.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
Can anyone do good apart from Christ?
I say, rest assured, but I don’t mean just rest. Remember, we are called to act. And, on that note, we should ask whether or not anyone can do good – that is real good – apart from Christ. This idea was actually refuted. For those of you who are “Jesus only” Bible readers, you will no doubt be surprised (because I think a lot of you do not actually read even Jesus’ words) that this comes not from Paul, but from Christ Jesus himself.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:1-5
Where are we anyway?
We are called to do good. Doing good is bound up in action. We know that we do good for the Lord’s sake by living as servants of God. Our model for living as servants of God is Christ himself. We must imitate Christ. And, we know that we can only do good by abiding in Christ. Finally, we know that by abiding in Christ we will be conformed to his image. In this way we will become more like him the longer we abide in him. Thus, imitating Christ we do good. Now, what does that look like?
Doing good is not just a list of don’ts
There are many places to which we might refer in the New Testament which give us a picture of how a Christian might do good living day to day. We have a lot of lists of what we should refrain from. I think I have covered many of these. If I recall, there is a hefty list coming up in Peter’s own writings. So, we will get to that. But, I thought it would be good to put here a few instructions having to do with mindset and perspective.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Titus 2:11-15
God’s grace enables us to do good
This may seem an odd choice to pair with Peter’s exhortations. But, I think it captures some aspects of what it means to do good as Christians while living under earthly authorities. If we applied the call to do good to Paul’s writing to Titus, we see an expanded list. We can also rest easy knowing these commands never stray beyond the boundary of imitating Christ. For, it is Christ and the Holy Spirit who enable us imitate Christ. Here, Paul says that through grace we can do good by renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions. That is sort of a blanket covering all the do nots, if you will, I mentioned previously. What about the rest? We can see that the same grace enables us to do good by training us to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. These are less about what we don’t do and more about those things we put into practice daily. (If you don’t believe me, see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
Another church leadership aside
Also, you will note part of what I believe do good entails while living under earthly authority is participation in the Church. This means living under church leadership. Or, if you are part of church leadership, it means you are to do good by practicing authority. This has been so misused and abused by some, and totally neglected by others, that it is a sticky subject. We covered it briefly in the study To Whom. Before we pass it on by again, I just want to reiterate something I have said elsewhere. The fact that men have made a mess of a God-ordained institution does not negate the fact that it was God-ordained. Let’s pray for church leadership that obeys the call to do good.
A picture of Christians doing good in the world
Finally, let me finish up with another passage of scripture which calls us to do good while living under earthly authority. In it, Paul lays out for us a clear picture of what it looks like for Christians. I pray this has been beneficial to you, dear reader. Let us read scripture, pray we might be conformed to the image of Christ, and that we might do good in this world.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:14-21
