13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
Submission in our world today is a negative term, a sign of weakness over against personal empowerment. Yet the Greek word occurs thirty-eight times in the NT, most often translated “to subject” or “to subordinate.” This vexes the fallen sin nature, which wants to exalt itself by following Satan’s character. Isaiah, in his taunt against the king of Babylon (which many have seen as a reflection of Satan) wrote:
“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless, you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” (Is. 14:13–15)
Submission, when seen as obedience to God’s command or will, carries inherent consequences. And clearly, Peter is writing about human governments. Instead of watering down this teaching by saying, “But the government where I live is corrupt . . .” we must acknowledge that in the first century, Rome had an iron-fisted hold on all the people under its control. This included the Christians to whom Peter writes. The Roman empire was certainly not a democracy; there was no vote for the emperor or local and provincial leaders. Human rights were essentially nonexistent apart from Roman law. The ultimate determination of moral or ethical rightness could be summed up with the phrase, “Might makes right.” To be sure, philosophers expounded ethical and moral principles, but the reality was Rome held absolute authority, even to the point of emperor worship.
It was in this environment that Peter wrote that believers should subject or submit themselves to human authority (see also Romans 13:1–7). Now, we don’t take this command in isolation. When forbidden to preach Christ, Peter responded to the Jewish Sanhedrin, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). So there is a limit to our subjection. But in general, God allows human government because it does do some good, namely to enforce certain positive ethical or moral behaviors. Therefore, He calls Christians to cooperate with human leaders (“every human institution”) in everyday life. In other words, as believers in Jesus Christ, we should keep the laws of the countries in which we live, unless it would require disobedience to a clear command of Scripture.
Lord, I commit to living lawfully so as not to hinder my testimony for Christ. Help me especially with those laws that affect me adversely.
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