I know, I actually never really finished expounding on the topic of submission. It is not because I am worried about being unpopular that I am going to move on. It’s difficult to be unpopular, when you only have two readers! Really, it is because the topic is complex, I already spent two days (well, really three days) on it, and Peter is going to address it again soon. So, today I thought we could ask the question, Why be subject? And, of course, then we will get Peter’s answer, “For the Lord’s sake.”
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
For the Lord’s sake
What does Peter mean by for the Lord’s sake? I think we often associate this sort of phrasing with doing someone a favor. Before we go any further in analyzing word meanings, etc., we should get this idea out of the way. Peter is not saying God needs a favor from us. If you believe you are doing God a favor through any of your actions, you have misunderstood your position. God does not need anything from anyone. There is nothing He means to accomplish that can be spoiled by your action or inaction.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Acts 17:24-25
We owe everything to God in Christ
We could, then, think of for the Lord’s sake as implying a debt. And, we certainly do owe a debt to both God and Christ! It is, of course, a debt we can never repay. That is the whole purpose of Christ’s incarnation. Mankind cannot redeem himself. I am not sure whether associating for the Lord’s sake with our debt to God in Christ is a good line of reasoning or not. I am sure it cannot hurt for us to recall to our minds all that we owe – our election, regeneration, justification, etc., but also our freedom from the oppression of sin. We owe our very existence to Him. What about our ability to rest in His promises when life becomes a terrible struggle? I could go on, but I think you get my point. We owe, and ought to give thanks for, everything to our God.
In that since, we could probably do well, to keep our debt in mind. Then, when we have an apostle say, “Do this…” we can say to ourselves, “Why not? After all, I owe everything to the Lord.” The more I think about it, the more I think this is probably a fine place to rest the argument. But, Peter actually has some further reasoning in mind.
A practical exercise
Briefly, then, let’s apply this phrase, for the Lord’s sake, where we can to the rest of the parts of this passage, and see what comes.
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. – Here it is baked in, as they say. No flourish needed on my part to inset the phrase here. However, it is interesting to pause for a moment. Why does Peter not say, 13 Be subject 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 for the Lord’s sake.?
Why not the other way round?
Think about it for a moment. Do the emperors and governors of the world punish and praise for the Lord’s sake? That is, do they act out of a sense of obedience to God’s will, recalling to their minds the debts they owe their Creator? I do not think so. There have been kings and emperors and governors, etc., who were believers. But, they are rare exceptions aren’t they? So, Peter’s emphasis is on each of us as Christians. We are to be subject to rulers whether they act for the Lord’s sake or not. I think tomorrow we are going to go over the “why” more thoroughly. For today, let’s just recall two things: God has placed all rulers in their positions of authority, and we are to be subject to them for the Lord’s sake.
He changes times and seasons;
Daniel 2:21
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
Not today!
I am not going to get into good rulers and bad rulers today. I do believe that our being subject to rulers for the Lord’s sake has limits. I also believe there are times when it is our duty as people acting for the Lord’s sake to topple rulers. But, that’s a discussion for another day. Let’s use our modern day’s favorite extreme example to get this out of the way. I do not think Peter would tell us to be subject to (that is, to obey and comply with) Hitler’s rule for the Lord’s sake. No indeed. And, I listed some conundrums associated with being subject in our study from a few days ago. Feel free to read that at Be Subject. But, let’s move on.
Remember our motivation is for the Lord’s sake
In the next verse, Peter says, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” And, I think we could insert our phrase into the verse like this, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good for the Lord’s sake you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” I think it’s important to remember that we do not do good works, i.e., living lives as a model citizen (if we are sticking to the be subject motif), acts of charity, etc., only so that they can be seen by men – whether Christian or otherwise. If our motivation is to earn the praise of men, we are wrong.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4
Not for our own sake
Let’s be careful to remember our debts to God in Christ. When we do we will act out of our gratefulness to God and thankfulness for Christ. When we then do good for the Lord’s sake, we will be doing real good. Also, remember that doing good acts out of a desire to be praised by men, or a desire to cause covetousness in our neighbors, or a desire to shame our fellow citizens will not likely silence the ignorance of foolish people. If anything, it will only cause a stir – which would be what we wanted if we are acting for our own sake rather than for the Lord’s sake.
The exercise applied to the rest
Similarly, we can insert the phrase into verses 16-20. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God for the Lord’s sake. 17 Honor everyone for the Lord’s sake. Love the brotherhood for the Lord’s sake. Fear God for the Lord’s sake. Honor the emperor for the Lord’s sake.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect for the Lord’s sake, 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 for the Lord’s sake. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good for the Lord’s sake and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
Wrapping up, for the Lord’s sake
You see what I mean. I don’t need to beat this thing to death. But, I think it helps when reading these verses, which sometimes seem challenging (sometimes even impossible) to keep in mind the impetus Peter starts with. We are told to have this charity in our hearts, is revealed through our actions, for all people because of the great acts of God and Christ. We behave in this manner, not for the praise of men, but for the Lord’s sake.
