Focal Passage: I Peter 2:11-17, 21-25
Most transient people have one thing in common – they travel lightly. How often have you seen a hitchhiker pulling a wagon? They tend to have the clothes on their backs and only a few very portable possessions, because they know they are just passing through.
Peter addressed his readers as “strangers and exiles” in this world and exhorted them to “abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul” (2:11). He understood that the more we are attached to this world, the more likely we are to be pulled into its temptations. Unlike the transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau who wanted to demonstrate his self-reliance and “suck the marrow out of life” (Walden), we are called to harness this life for the glory of God.
When we understand that life’s goal is God’s glory and not our unrepressed freedom, we take seriously the call to good works. I fear that we as Baptists have been so careful to distance ourselves from groups that preach works righteousness that often we have neglected the biblical call to good works. Paul’s declaration that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works is followed by the clear explanation that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (Eph 2:10). James declared, “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works” (2:18b), and that “faith without works is dead” (2:26b). Biblical salvation is not earned by good works, but it will certainly produce them.
Rust
Why does it matter? Peter clarifies that good works are our response to the unbelievers who slander us as evildoers (2:12). These works are far more than good citizenship, whatever that means, because they lead unbelievers to give glory to God most likely due to their own conversion!
Whether we like it or not, our good works include submission to the governing authorities “because of the Lord” (2:13). The name of Jesus which we bear is far more important than the degree of freedom or self-expression we feel. If that seems difficult today, imagine being part of Peter’s audience that lived under the Emperor Nero. Historians tell us that he persecuted and executed Christians who did not denounce their faith using such heinous methods as feeding them to savage animals or burning them alive as human torches to light his gardens!
Peter described the role of governors as punishing those who do evil and praising those who do good (2:14). This passage is a reminder of Paul’s instruction that proper government is “God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong” (Rom 13:4). Peter went on to reiterate the purpose of our submission – “to silence the ignorance of foolish people” (2:15). This attitude of submission, which included Peter’s exhortation for servants to submit to their masters (2:18-20), is the same attitude that led Jesus to endure the cross and bear our sins (2:24). Why should we as sinful servants show less submission than our Lord and Master? B&R — Rust is associational mission strategist for Holston Baptist Association.