The Season of Resurrection: Part 5

First Peter 2:11-20
    Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

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.
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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.
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Saint Peter refers to Christians as “sojourners and exiles” in this world. Sojourners are those who are traveling through a place, but do not really belong there. They are visitors. And an exile is one who has been removed from his true home, who cannot get to the place that he should be. So, how do these labels apply to Christians? 

In one sense, we do belong to this world. We are created beings, and we belong in the world that God created for us. We have physical bodies that are at home in the physical world that God fashioned with them in mind. 

Our “at home-ness” in this world stays true, even after the fall of Adam and Eve into sin. We are all sinners, and sinners belong in a sinful world. 

That is where the story begins to change. Sinners are at home in the sinful world. They follow their leader, the devil, who exerts influence over them. (John 8:44) Yet, Christians have been redeemed by the death of Jesus. They have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ and, therefore, no longer belong to the devil and his kingdom. You, Christian, are a child of God.  You belong to Jesus, not to the devil. You are under the authority of the new and divine heavenly reign of God, not the satanic ruler of this fallen and sinful world. 

Jesus is our King. God is our Father. We are motivated, not by the spirit of the age, but by the Spirit of Christ. So we are sojourners, traveling through a world that lives under the devil’s banner. We are exiles, unable to live in the new creation that will be brought into existence when Jesus returns and raises the dead. 

Peter’s warning and exhortation is for Christians to live as citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. (Philippians 3:20) We do not live under the authority of the devil or according to his rules and laws. 

So how should we live? First, with conduct that honors God, not the devil. The passions of the flesh (greed, lust, anger, etc.) “wage war against your soul” that belongs to God. If we follow these passions, we are marching to the tune of Satan’s band. Rather, we should live in such a way that the people of this world see our conduct and praise God for it. Some will see these acts of loyalty to the Kingdom of Christ as “wicked”. They may even deride you as “evil”. Think of what people outside the church would tell you if you said that two men should not be allowed to be married. But speaking clearly about God’s design for marriage and living joyfully in it honors our Lord and confounds the devil. 

Second, we should subject ourselves to the human institutions that govern this world. Civil government and societal structures give order to a chaotic world. Good government is to punish evil and praise good. (1 Peter 2:14) God did not call us to stir up chaos and disorder, but to sow peace, justice, and love. Because these institutions (the U.S. Constitution, elected leaders, etc.) serve an honorable purpose, we should uphold them and willingly submit to them.
Notice, however, that this is a voluntary subjection. “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” (1 Peter 2:13) “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”  

One of the ways that we honor these human institutions is by recognizing that they are not eternal. They are not without flaws and sins. They have limits and boundaries. We honor the emperor, not because he is without sin, but because God would have it be thus. That means when they cross the line, we can call them on it. “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) 

In the end, we are free from these institutions. Yet, we use that freedom to make these institutions better, stronger, more aligned with God’s will and less in line with the dictatorial mandates of hell. As you live in exile here in the fallen world, live as a loyal citizen of Christ’s Kingdom.   

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