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1 Peter 2:15-17

November 01, 2007

Text: 1 Peter 2:15-17 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Peter is addressing the church as “strangers and pilgrims”

1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Honest lives among the outsiders

1 Peter 2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

A false accusation

Acts 17:7-8 “…these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.”8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

Christians are against Caesar

John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

Answer your critics by submission to Caesar

1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

By resisting Caesar – we may be resisting God

Romans 13:2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

Submission is not unconditional

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men.

Do not resist Caesar’s punishment

Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

It reveals your trust in the Lord

Isaiah 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Jesus taught separation between state and church

Matthew 22:21 “…Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”

Submission is the will of God

1 Peter 2:15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

Well doing versus evil doing

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

Liberty is not for sinning

1 Peter 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke [or covering] of maliciousness [evil or wickedness], but as the servants [or slaves] of God.

The truth set us free

John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Free from sin

Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Free from the law

Galatians 5:1-2 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage [the ceremonial laws of Moses]. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

Free from vain traditions of men

1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

Free from the fear of death

Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Free from the power of Satan

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes (“the eyes of your understanding,” Eph.1:18), to turn themfrom darkness to light, and fromthe power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me

A perversion of the new covenant doctrine

Jude 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

Christian liberty has its limits

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh [“as an opportunity for the flesh,” Nkj] , but by love serve one another.

Temper your freedom with love

Romans 14:15 If your brother is being injured by what you eat (your freedom), you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat (your freedom) cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died.

A paradox: Free – but yet not your own!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Servants to whom we obey

Romans 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Four commands to the servants of God

1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men [imperative mood]. Love the brotherhood [imperative]. Fear God [imperative]. Honour the king [imperative].