Free Slaves and Earthly Kings: The Christian Political Order Text: 1 Peter 2:13-17
Introduction: The War for Authority
We live in an age of political hysteria. The public square is a gladiatorial arena where two rival idolatries are locked in a death match. On the one side, you have the ever-expanding god-state of the secular left, which promises salvation through bureaucracy and demands total allegiance to its fluid dogmas. On the other side, you have a frantic, often compromised, right that frequently wants nothing more than to be left alone to make money, which is its own form of idolatry. Into this chaos, the modern Christian is often thrown into confusion, tempted toward two equal and opposite errors. The first is a pietistic retreat, where we decide that faith is a private matter of the heart, with no bearing on how we are governed. The second is a carnal rage, a revolutionary fervor that adopts the world's tactics of power-grabbing and outrage.
Both of these errors are a surrender. Both abandon the public square to the enemies of God. The apostle Peter, writing to Christians scattered as exiles under the boot of pagan Rome, gives us no such options. He does not offer a pragmatic strategy for political influence, nor does he counsel a quietistic surrender. Instead, he lays down the foundational grammar of Christian political engagement. And the central, non-negotiable axiom of this grammar is the absolute authority of Jesus Christ over every square inch of the created order, including the halls of government.
This passage is not a tame suggestion to be nice citizens. It is a radical declaration of where true authority lies. It teaches us how to be the best of citizens and, when necessary, the most principled and joyful of rebels. It is a treatise on how to live as free men while being slaves of God, and how to honor a king while fearing God alone. If we do not understand these principles, we will be tossed to and fro by every wind of political doctrine, and we will inevitably end up serving a master other than Christ.
The Text
Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God. Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king.
(1 Peter 2:13-17 LSB)
Submission for the Lord's Sake (v. 13)
The instruction begins with a command that immediately sets the Christian apart from both the anarchist and the statist.
"Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority," (1 Peter 2:13 LSB)
The motive for our submission is everything. We are to be subject, but notice the reason: "for the sake of the Lord." We do not submit to the state because the state says so. We do not submit because the state has some inherent, mystical authority residing in itself. We submit because the Lord Jesus Christ, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, has commanded it. This one phrase demolishes the foundation of all tyranny and all secular political theory. The state is not autonomous. The state is not God. The state is an institution under God, and its authority is delegated, derivative, and therefore limited.
When we obey a lawful command from the government, we are not ultimately obeying the government; we are obeying Christ. The magistrate is God's deacon, as Paul tells us in Romans 13. He is a minister, a servant. Our submission is therefore an act of worship to God, not an act of fealty to the state. This is crucial. If our ultimate reason for obeying the state is the state itself, then we have an idol. But if our ultimate reason is Christ, then Christ Himself defines the nature and the limits of our obedience.
Peter calls it "every human institution." This phrase reminds us that government is a created thing. It is part of the creaturely realm, and it stands on the other side of the infinite Creator/creature distinction. Because it is a human creation, ordained by God, it is not absolute. We must never give it the worship and total obedience that belong to the Creator alone. This principle is the bedrock of freedom.
The Magistrate's Job Description (v. 14)
Peter then provides the specific, God-given job description for the civil magistrate. This is not a suggestion; it is a divine mandate.
"or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good." (1 Peter 2:14 LSB)
Here we have it, in plain terms. The government has two, and only two, legitimate functions. First, it is to be a terror to evil conduct. It wields the sword to punish criminals, to restrain wickedness, and to administer God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Second, it is to praise those who do good. A just government creates a stable and free society where righteousness can flourish, where families can thrive, and where good work is honored.
This is the standard by which we must measure our government. This is God's definition of a "good" government. But what happens when a government inverts this mandate? What happens when it begins to punish those who do good and praise those who do evil? What happens when it calls the murder of the unborn a "right" and calls the preaching of God's Word "hate speech"? When a government does this, it has become a rogue institution. It has violated the terms of its charter. It is acting outside the bounds of its delegated authority.
This verse, therefore, is not a command for blind obedience to tyrants. It is the very foundation for principled, godly resistance. We obey the magistrate when he is doing his God-given job. When he abandons that job and commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, our duty is clear: "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). To resist a tyrannical command is not to defy God; it is to honor the one who gave the magistrate his limited authority in the first place.
The Christian's Public Strategy (v. 15)
So, what is our primary method for engaging a hostile culture? Peter tells us it is not what we might expect.
"For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:15 LSB)
Our primary weapon in this spiritual war is "doing good." Our public witness is our public righteousness. The world, in its ignorance and folly, will slander us. They will call us rebels, haters, bigots, and dangers to society. And how are we to respond? By living such orderly, productive, joyful, and righteous lives that their accusations are shown to be absurd. We are to build strong families, run honest businesses, create beautiful art, and care for the needy. We are to build a robust and attractive Christian culture that functions as a parallel society, a city on a hill.
This "doing good" is what puts the gag in the mouths of our accusers. When they call us hateful, our love for the brethren and our neighbors testifies against them. When they call us destructive, our fruitful and creative lives testify against them. A vibrant, obedient Christian community is the most powerful apologetic there is. It demonstrates that God's way is not a way of death and restriction, but the very path of life and true freedom.
The Paradox of Christian Liberty (v. 16)
Here Peter gets to the heart of the matter, the engine that drives this entire political theology.
"Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God." (1 Peter 2:16 LSB)
This is a glorious paradox. We are to act as free people. In Christ, we have been set free from the condemnation of the law, from the power of sin, and from the fear of man. But what is the nature of this freedom? The world defines freedom as autonomy, the right to do whatever you want. This is a lie. That is not freedom; it is slavery to your own lusts. As Jesus said, "whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).
Christian freedom is entirely different. We are free from sin in order to be free to righteousness. And the foundation of this freedom is that we are "slaves of God." Because our ultimate, absolute, unqualified allegiance belongs to God and God alone, we are free from any ultimate allegiance to any man, any party, or any state. Our slavery to God is what makes us free men. The man who fears God is free from the fear of everyone else.
This freedom must not be used as a "covering for evil." It is not a pretext for antinomianism or for selfish rebellion. It is not a justification for sin. Rather, our freedom is the platform from which we serve God with joy. This is why the Christian can be both the most submissive of citizens and the most un-moveable of dissenters. Our submission is principled, not servile. And our dissent is principled, not rebellious. Both flow from the same source: we have one Master, and His name is Jesus.
A Four-Point Catechism (v. 17)
Peter concludes with four crisp, summary commands that ought to govern all our relationships.
"Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king." (1 Peter 2:17 LSB)
The order here is brilliant and instructive. First, "Honor all people." Every human being is made in the image of God. This is the basis for basic civility and respect. We must honor the image of God even in those with whom we profoundly disagree, even in our enemies.
Second, "love the brethren." This is a higher, covenantal duty. We have a special, familial love and loyalty to the household of faith. The church is our primary society, our true citizenship is in heaven, and our first loyalty is to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Third, "fear God." This is the absolute, the non-negotiable that governs everything else. This is the ultimate allegiance. Our honor for all men and our honor for the king are both limited and defined by our fear of God. Because we fear God, we cannot deify man, and we cannot deify the state. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and it is the beginning of all true political sanity.
And last, in light of all the above, "honor the king." This is not a contradiction. We honor the office that God has established. We give respect to whom respect is due. But this honor is not absolute. It is qualified by our fear of God. Sometimes the most profound way to honor the office of king is to refuse an unlawful command from the man who currently holds that office, reminding him that he is under a higher authority. David honored King Saul's office even while fleeing from his tyrannical rage. True honor wants the king to be what God called him to be, a minister of justice, not a lawless tyrant.
Conclusion: The Politics of the Resurrection
This entire framework is grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our King is one who submitted to a corrupt and unjust state. He stood before Pilate and acknowledged his delegated authority, even as that authority was being used to murder Him. He did this "for the Lord's sake," to fulfill the will of His Father. But that is not where the story ended.
God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, giving Him all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus is Lord. That is the fundamental Christian political confession. And because Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not. Because Jesus is King of kings, every earthly governor, president, and king is His deacon, and will give an account to Him.
Our political task, then, is to live out the reality of that Lordship. We are ambassadors of the true King. We live as free men, as slaves of God, joyfully submitting where we can, and respectfully resisting where we must. We do good, we love the brotherhood, we fear God, and by doing so, we show the world what true, ordered liberty looks like. We are planting the flag of Christ's kingdom in every realm of life, waiting for that final day when our King returns and every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.