Obligations Of The Christian Life In A Broken World

1 PETER 2:11-17
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war again the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the things in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake 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 right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king (NASB).

INTRODUCTION
Many people think that freedom is the license to do whatever a person wants, but true freedom is the ability to do what is right. It takes obedience in order to have true freedom. I can sit at a piano and be at liberty to play any keys that I want, but I don’t have freedom, because I can’t play anything but noise. I have no freedom to play Bach, or even “Chopsticks.” Why? Because it takes years of practice and obedience to lesson plans to be truly free at the piano. Then, and only then, does one have the freedom to play any piece of music. The same is true of freedom in living. To be truly free, we must have the power and ability to be obedient.

EXHORTATION TO GODLY LIVING VV. 11-12
The Apostle Peter has expounded the concept of Christians as the new people of God in 1 Peter 2:1-10. Now he begins to explain the behavior that is proper for believers as we live our lives in the midst of a secular society. The basic commandment in this passage is that the Christian should abstain from fleshly desires. In the New Testament the word flesh stands for far more than the physical nature of man. It stands for human nature; it means life lived without the standards, the help, the grace and the influence of Christ. Fleshly desires and sins of the flesh, therefore, included not only the glaring sins but all that is characteristic of fallen human nature. From these sins and desires the Christian must abstain. From the standpoint of the passage there are two reasons for this abstinence.

First, you and I must abstain from these sins because we are strangers and pilgrims in this present world. These words give us two great truths about the Christian. (a) There is a real sense in which Christians are strangers in the world; and because of that we cannot accept the world’s laws and ways and standards. Others may accept them, but we are citizens of the Kingdom of God and it is by the laws of that Kingdom that we must direct our life. We must take our full share of responsibility for living on earth, but our citizenship is in heaven and the laws of heaven are supreme for us. (b) The Christian is not a permanent resident on earth; you and I are on the way to the country which is beyond. Therefore, we must do nothing which would keep us from reaching our ultimate goal. You must never become so entangled in the world that you cannot escape from its grip; you must not soil yourself as to be unfit to enter the presence of the holy God to whom you are going.

Second, there is another and even more practical reason why Christians must abstain from fleshly desires. The early church to which Peter wrote his Epistle was under fire. Slanderous accusations were continually being leveled against the Christians; and the only effective way to refute them was to live lives so lovely that they would be seen to be obviously untrue. Does your way of life give room for people to slander your name? The Word of God urges you to "keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." In other words, you should not live double life, whereby you act like an angel when you are with Christians but you act like the devil when you are with your unbelieving friends. The Bible teaches that our life should adorn the gospel so that if a person sees you, he can determine what the Christian life is all about. The Christian life is not about talk but our whole conduct, for talk is cheap. In the Greek language, there are two words for our English word, “good.” There is agathos, which means good in quality; and there is kalos, which means not only good but also lovely—fine, attractive, winsome. So what Peter is saying is that as believers in Christ we must make our way of life so lovely and so good to look upon that the slanders of our unbelieving enemies may be demonstrated to be false.

Here is the timeless truth. Whether we like it or not, every Christian is an advertisement for Christianity. By your life you either commend it to others or makes them think less of it. The strongest missionary force in the world is a Christian life. If our lives speak very well for Christ, we don’t have to scream or shout at the top of our voice to present the gospel message.

In the early church the demonstration of loveliness of the Christian life was supremely vital, because of the slanders the heathen deliberately cast on the Christian Church. These are few of the slanderous accusations brought against the Christians. 1. The Christians were accused of cannibalism. This accusation took its rise from a perversion of the words of the Last Supper, “This is My body;”" This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” The Christians were accused of killing and eating a child at their feasts. 2. The Christians were also falsely accused of immorality and even of incest. This accusation rose from the fact that they called their meeting the "Agape, or Love Feast." The pagans perverted that name to mean that the Christian feasts were sensual orgies at which shameless deeds were done. 3. The Christians were accused of damaging trade. Such was the charge of the silversmiths of Ephesus (Acts 19:21-41). 4. The Christians were accused of “tampering with family relationships” because often homes were, in fact, broken up when some members of the family became Christians and others did not. 5. They were accused of turning slaves against their masters, and Christianity indeed did give to every person a new sense of worth and dignity. 6. The believers were accused of “hatred of mankind” and indeed the Christian did speak as if the world and the Church were entirely opposed to each other.

7. Above all, the Christians were accused of disloyalty to Caesar, for no Christian would worship the Emperor’s godhead and burn his pinch of incense and declare that Caesar was Lord, for the believer Jesus Christ and no other was Lord. Such were the charges which were brought against the Christians. To Peter there was only one way to refute these charges and that was to live in such a way that their Christian life demonstrated that the allegations were unfounded. When Plato was told that a certain man had been making certain slanderous remarks against him, his answer was: “I will live in such a way that no one will believe what he says.” That is Peter’s solution for us as the followers of Christ. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

The striking fact of history is that by their lives the Christians actually did defeat the slanders of the heathen. In the third century, Celsus made the most famous and the more systematic attack of all upon the Christians in which he accused them of ignorance and foolishness and superstition and all kinds of things—but never of immorality.

Therefore, today as Christians we are to live our lives in such a way that any accusation our unbelieving opponents would bring against us would not be believable. When our lives are godly the unbelievers cannot ignore it but rather they would give praise and glory to God.

EXHORTATION TO SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY VV. 13-15

In these verses God lays down a principle that it is our duty as Christians to live law-abiding and honorable life. It is true that we are citizens of heaven and should regard ourselves as such, but we must also realize that we are citizens on earth; therefore, like other people we are to submit to human government and to show faithfulness to Christ by being good citizens. It is easy for some Christians to become too heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Some ill-informed and rash believers may disregard their obligations to civil authority.

Therefore, the main duty stated in verse 13a, is submission. In this chapter, Peter looks at the duty of the Christian within the spheres of his life; and Peter begins with the duty of the believer as a citizen of the country in which he/she happens to live. Nothing is further from the teachings of the New Testament than any kind of anarchy. Jesus said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). The instruction of the New Testament is that those of us who call ourselves Christians must be good citizens of the country in which we live. The New Testament principle is perfectly logical and just. It holds that you cannot accept the privileges which the state provides without also accepting the responsibilities and duties which it demands. As Christians we cannot in honor and decency take everything and give nothing.

In verses 13b and 14 the principle of submission is specifically applied to the duty of subordination to the king (example, the Roman emperor) and to governors. The emperor in Peter’s day was described as “supreme,” because at the human level he was indeed the supreme authority. It is noteworthy to remember that the emperor at that time was Nero, who was not a particularly noble character. It is believe that Nero was the Roman emperor who put Peter and Paul to death. He was the one who set the city of Rome ablaze and put the blame on Christians.

Governors (the officials and ministers sent to govern by the emperor’s mandate) are to be obeyed because they are sent (appointed) by the higher authority (the king, emperor) to punish those who do wrong and to praise (commend) those who do right. While Christians are under obligation to submit to the ruling authorities, we are not to follow them blindly if they violate the principles of God’s Word. A good rule of thumb is that higher authority must take precedence over lower authority. If obedience to a human law or authority would violate our allegiance to God, we must obey God at all costs. In the Book of Acts when Peter and John were arrested for preaching the gospel of Christ, the religious authorities warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus any longer, but these apostles defied them, because a higher authority must take precedence over a lower one. Listen to the statement of Peter, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you (the Jewish authorities) rather than God” (Acts 4:19). Later under similar circumstances, Peter put it more bluntly “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

God provides two reasons for the duty of Christians to submit to governmental authority. The first is stated in verse 13a: “for the Lord’s sake.” In His earthly ministry, Jesus was obedient to established authority, so the Christian must do likewise. Another thing is that if we are submissive to the ruling authority we bring honor to the Lord. It is the Lord who establishes the government and therefore, if you submit to the ruling authority, you honor your heavenly Father.

The second reason (or incentive) for submission is given in verse 15: “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” This verse means that when we comport ourselves as obedient citizens we will silence those who accuse us falsely. The accusations of unbelievers against Christians arise from ignorance, and those who make them are foolish men. Foolish men are people who are arrogant and set themselves against God.

EXHORTATION TO USE FREEDOM
RESPONSIBLY VV. 16-17
Any great Christian teaching can be perverted into an excuse for evil. The doctrine of grace can be perverted into an excuse for sinning to one’s heart’s content. We can push the doctrine of the love of God to a certain precipice that it becomes a license for sin. The teaching on the life to come can be perverted into an excuse for neglecting life in this world. The easiest doctrine to pervert is the Christian freedom. The doctrine of Christian freedom was so pushed to the limit that the Apostle Paul told the Galatians that they have been called to liberty but they must not use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh to do as they want (Gal. 5:13). In Second Peter we read of those who promise others liberty and are themselves the slaves of corruption (2 Pet. 2:19).

You can put it this way. Christian freedom is always conditioned by Christian responsibility. Christian responsibility is always conditioned by Christian love. Christian love is the reflection of God’s love. The Christian is free because he/she is the slave of God. Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as you like; it means being free to do as you ought. Christianity is community. You are not to live the Christian life in isolation (Heb. 10:25). You are a member of a family, in fact, a big family of God or a big community and within this community your freedom operates. Christian freedom therefore is the freedom to serve. Only in Jesus Christ are we so freed from self and sin that we can become as good as we ought to be. Freedom comes when you receive Christ as King of your heart and Lord of your life. In conclusion, Peter offers us a four-point summary of Christian duty. First, honor all men. In those days, there were about 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire, who were not considered as persons, but a thing with no rights whatsoever. In effect, Peter is saying, remember the rights of human personality and the dignity of every person. It is still possible to treat people as things (employer and employee). Second, love the brotherhood. Within the Christian community, respect for every person turns to something warmer and close; it turns to love. Love should always characterize the Christian community. Church is the extension of the family. The church is the largest family of God and its bond must be love. Third, Fear God. The writer of the book of Proverbs says it best, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). Fear in this context does not mean terror; it means reverence. It is a timeless truth that you will never reverence men until you reverence God. It is only when God is given His proper place in the center that all other things take their proper place. Fourth, Honor the king. Of all the four injunctions the fourth one is the more amazing. The one who was king was the same one who was persecuting the Christians and yet Peter urges them to honor him. As Christians we are to honor the king in spite of who he is, because he has been chosen by God to preserve order among the people and that he must be respected, even when he is a Nero. We may not agree with President Obama or Mahama in many of his decisions and yet we must honor him, because God is the one who enthrones and dethrones a ruler.

Though free, as Christians we must exercise our freedom in a manner commensurate with our relation to God. So on the deepest level we must submit to authority not merely as an obligation to men but as an obligation to God, the Master of all. When you and I are submissive to the government of the United States, the government of Ghana, or wherever we live, we do not become the slaves of the state; we remain slaves of God, because government is never the Christian’s master; we owe our allegiance only to God. Therefore, we respect the President and the King but we do not worship them. We reserve our allegiance to God; we bow down only to Christ, and not anybody else.