Since our true home is with Jesus in His kingdom, we should live in peace with the authorities on earth. Peter exhorts his readers to submit to earthly governments for the purpose of silencing the ignorance of foolish people. If we live with good character as good citizens, it will be difficult and inaccurate for anyone to speak badly of believers in Jesus.
1 Peter 2:13-151 Peter 2:13-15 commentary now turns from maintaining a good witness through excellent behavior as unto the Lord to living our good witness in submission to earthly authorities. He writes Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution. (v. 13a).
The command Submit yourselves literally means to put yourself under the authority of someone and voluntarily obey them. This does not mean that the person doing the submitting is inferior in any way mentally, emotionally, or spiritually to the person to whom they are to obey.
Peter uses a form of the Greek word translated submit six times in this letter (1 Peter 2:131 Peter 2:13 commentary, 2:182:18 commentary, 3:13:1 commentary, 3:53:5 commentary, 3:223:22 commentary, 5:55:5 commentary). It is therefore a theme. Proper submission to authority is a key witness believers are to have in this world. The command to submit is given to the one doing the submitting, not to the one having the authority. This means, therefore, that Peter is speaking here of how to steward our own choices in a manner that pleases God.
This obligation is all inclusive, as Peter states to every human institution. The word every comes from the Greek word “pase” meaning all. This implies there are no exceptions, exemptions, or exclusions regarding the human authorities.
Peter does, however, provide both a motivation and limitation on our obligation to submit to human authorities. Our submission is for the Lord’s sake. The word Lord translates the Greek word “kurion” meaning the one in charge by virtue of being an owner, the one who is in the ultimate position of authority—God. This would explain why Peter defied human authority when it conflicted directly with God’s commands (Acts 4:19-20Acts 4:19-20 commentary).
Peter’s instruction means our motivation for submission to human authorities comes from our proper submission to God as the Creator. It is certain that any human authority will be less than perfect. Nevertheless, we are to submit to human authorities. It is God who appointed human authorities, and in properly submitting to them we are submitting to God (Romans 13:1-2Romans 13:1-2 commentary; Colossian 3:22-23).
By including For the Lord’s sake (v. 13) Peter also provides a limitation on the believers’ obligation to submit. Our first obligation is to submit to God as our Lord. He is our ultimate authority (Romans 13:1Romans 13:1 commentary). This means if some human authority over us orders us to disobey God, our obligation is to obey God.
For example, Peter and the Apostle John were commanded by the Jewish council over them not to preach or teach the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18Acts 4:18 commentary). They replied,
“Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20Acts 4:19-20 commentary
Peter and John rightly chose to obey their Lord’s command to speak the truth of the gospel (Acts 1:8Acts 1:8 commentary, 5:28-295:28-29 commentary) over the command of the Jewish council not to speak or teach the name of Jesus. Peter might have had this situation in his mind when he included for the Lord’s sake in his command to obey human authorities.
Peter explains what he means by every human institution. The word institution is a translation of the word “ktisei” which means that which is created, particularly a system of established authority that is the result of some creative action. So, the inference is that this applies to any legitimate man-made authority under which we live. This could include city, county, state, and federal government. It could include the people in charge of a conference we decided to attend. It could also include authorities in a business or a non-profit organization.
Peter hones in on government authorities as his primary application, saying whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him (v. 13). A king refers to the highest authority in a nation. With respect to governors, that would apply to those to whom the king has delegated authority.
At the time Peter wrote his letters, he is believed to have been living in Rome under the rule of Nero, the emperor of Rome. Because the Romans viewed their kings as a god, it is significant that Peter makes a point of calling these human authorities because all humans are under the authority of God (Romans 13:1Romans 13:1 commentary). It is possible that by inferring Nero is merely human, Peter would have been breaking a Roman law that violated God’s law. The Apostle Paul embraced this basic concept when he stated,
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18Romans 12:18 commentary).
The application of Peter’s admonition seems to be that we ought to do what we can to submit to human authorities, within the bounds of God’s moral commandments.
The divinely designed purpose of governing authorities is for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right (v. 14). Governments are themselves governed by moral laws God established within His created order. God placed within His creation knowledge of right and wrong. As Paul asserts, even Gentiles who know nothing of God’s law intrinsically know right from wrong (Romans 2:14-15Romans 2:14-15 commentary).
God’s moral law sets boundaries of what is wrong and the guidelines for the punishment of those who break the law. For example, God set the punishment for murder to be execution, life for life (Genesis 9:6Genesis 9:6 commentary). The Bible also tells us the effectiveness of any punishment depends on being administered promptly (Ecclesiastes 8:11Ecclesiastes 8:11 commentary).
Scripture also states that punishment for doing evil should be proportional to the offense and redemptive in nature (Exodus 21:23-24Exodus 21:23-24 commentary, 22:4-522:4-5 commentary). The purpose of punishment is restoration of community. For a property crime, the restoration is restitution to the one damaged. For personal damage the restoration is to be proportional, understanding that human life has such immense value that another life is the only restoration for an intentional murder.
It is interesting that Peter calls the violators of the established laws evildoers. This is the same word used by those who slander godly people, falsely accusing them of being evildoers (1 Peter 2:121 Peter 2:12 commentary). Peter’s admonition to believers is to answer slanderous attacks of being evildoers with excellent behavior and good deeds. Meanwhile, believers should submit to authorities because they have been duly appointed by God to punish evil and promote good.
An additional purpose of governing authorities is the praise of those who do right.
The idea contained in the word praise is the act of expressing admiration and recognition to someone. In the context, this recognition goes to those who do right. The phrase those who do right is the translation of one Greek word “agathopoion.” It contrasts right-doers to evildoers.
It is proper for authorities to honor people for sustained outstanding service in doing what is right.
For example, in the USA the president offers these medals as rewards:
Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Citizens Metal
Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor
However, for the believer, praise from the government is not the primary goal of doing the right. The true and ultimate goal is doing God’s will, for such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men (v. 15).
It is always God’s will that believers are to be continuously doing right. Acts 14:17Acts 14:17 commentary uses the same word translated doing right and refers to God choosing to bless nations with rain and food even though they were walking apart from Him. The idea is that doing right to someone is seeking their best interest and seeking to improve their welfare.
God’s will is not just for His people to do the right thing, it is also His will that by doing so there is a positive witness. The result of the positive witness is that you might silence the ignorance of foolish men. The reference to foolish men likely refers back to 1 Peter 2:121 Peter 2:12 commentary which speaks of “Gentiles” who “slander you as evildoers.” By honoring and obeying authorities, these Jewish believers would silence these foolish men.
The word silence refers to muzzling the mouth so it cannot speak. The word foolish means lacking good judgement because of ignorance. The Greek word translated ignorance is “agnosia,” from “a” meaning “not,” and “gnosis” meaning “know.” So it literally means to “not know.” By our living witness believers can bring knowledge to those who live in ignorance.
In Peter’s time, there were political leaders who were persecuting Christians and saying slanderous things about them. An application of this instruction by Peter was to honor and submit to them while doing good. The intent would be for this to both silence and inform the foolish men who oppressed Christians.
The Apostle Paul said something similar in his letter to the Philippians, where he was grateful God allowed him to be arrested that he might provide a witness to the palace guard (Philippians 1:12-13Philippians 1:12-13 commentary). We know from church history that many believers followed this admonition, and in just a couple of centuries Christianity went from being outlawed to dominating Roman culture. All without any violence or military actions.
Set to dark mode
1 Peter 2:13-15 meaning
1 Peter 2:13-151 Peter 2:13-15 commentary now turns from maintaining a good witness through excellent behavior as unto the Lord to living our good witness in submission to earthly authorities. He writes Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution. (v. 13a).
The command Submit yourselves literally means to put yourself under the authority of someone and voluntarily obey them. This does not mean that the person doing the submitting is inferior in any way mentally, emotionally, or spiritually to the person to whom they are to obey.
Peter uses a form of the Greek word translated submit six times in this letter (1 Peter 2:131 Peter 2:13 commentary, 2:182:18 commentary, 3:13:1 commentary, 3:53:5 commentary, 3:223:22 commentary, 5:55:5 commentary). It is therefore a theme. Proper submission to authority is a key witness believers are to have in this world. The command to submit is given to the one doing the submitting, not to the one having the authority. This means, therefore, that Peter is speaking here of how to steward our own choices in a manner that pleases God.
This obligation is all inclusive, as Peter states to every human institution. The word every comes from the Greek word “pase” meaning all. This implies there are no exceptions, exemptions, or exclusions regarding the human authorities.
Peter does, however, provide both a motivation and limitation on our obligation to submit to human authorities. Our submission is for the Lord’s sake. The word Lord translates the Greek word “kurion” meaning the one in charge by virtue of being an owner, the one who is in the ultimate position of authority—God. This would explain why Peter defied human authority when it conflicted directly with God’s commands (Acts 4:19-20Acts 4:19-20 commentary).
Peter’s instruction means our motivation for submission to human authorities comes from our proper submission to God as the Creator. It is certain that any human authority will be less than perfect. Nevertheless, we are to submit to human authorities. It is God who appointed human authorities, and in properly submitting to them we are submitting to God (Romans 13:1-2Romans 13:1-2 commentary; Colossian 3:22-23).
By including For the Lord’s sake (v. 13) Peter also provides a limitation on the believers’ obligation to submit. Our first obligation is to submit to God as our Lord. He is our ultimate authority (Romans 13:1Romans 13:1 commentary). This means if some human authority over us orders us to disobey God, our obligation is to obey God.
For example, Peter and the Apostle John were commanded by the Jewish council over them not to preach or teach the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18Acts 4:18 commentary). They replied,
“Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:19-20Acts 4:19-20 commentary
Peter and John rightly chose to obey their Lord’s command to speak the truth of the gospel (Acts 1:8Acts 1:8 commentary, 5:28-295:28-29 commentary) over the command of the Jewish council not to speak or teach the name of Jesus. Peter might have had this situation in his mind when he included for the Lord’s sake in his command to obey human authorities.
Peter explains what he means by every human institution. The word institution is a translation of the word “ktisei” which means that which is created, particularly a system of established authority that is the result of some creative action. So, the inference is that this applies to any legitimate man-made authority under which we live. This could include city, county, state, and federal government. It could include the people in charge of a conference we decided to attend. It could also include authorities in a business or a non-profit organization.
Peter hones in on government authorities as his primary application, saying whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by him (v. 13). A king refers to the highest authority in a nation. With respect to governors, that would apply to those to whom the king has delegated authority.
At the time Peter wrote his letters, he is believed to have been living in Rome under the rule of Nero, the emperor of Rome. Because the Romans viewed their kings as a god, it is significant that Peter makes a point of calling these human authorities because all humans are under the authority of God (Romans 13:1Romans 13:1 commentary). It is possible that by inferring Nero is merely human, Peter would have been breaking a Roman law that violated God’s law. The Apostle Paul embraced this basic concept when he stated,
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men”
(Romans 12:18Romans 12:18 commentary).
The application of Peter’s admonition seems to be that we ought to do what we can to submit to human authorities, within the bounds of God’s moral commandments.
The divinely designed purpose of governing authorities is for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right (v. 14). Governments are themselves governed by moral laws God established within His created order. God placed within His creation knowledge of right and wrong. As Paul asserts, even Gentiles who know nothing of God’s law intrinsically know right from wrong (Romans 2:14-15Romans 2:14-15 commentary).
God’s moral law sets boundaries of what is wrong and the guidelines for the punishment of those who break the law. For example, God set the punishment for murder to be execution, life for life (Genesis 9:6Genesis 9:6 commentary). The Bible also tells us the effectiveness of any punishment depends on being administered promptly (Ecclesiastes 8:11Ecclesiastes 8:11 commentary).
Scripture also states that punishment for doing evil should be proportional to the offense and redemptive in nature (Exodus 21:23-24Exodus 21:23-24 commentary, 22:4-522:4-5 commentary). The purpose of punishment is restoration of community. For a property crime, the restoration is restitution to the one damaged. For personal damage the restoration is to be proportional, understanding that human life has such immense value that another life is the only restoration for an intentional murder.
It is interesting that Peter calls the violators of the established laws evildoers. This is the same word used by those who slander godly people, falsely accusing them of being evildoers (1 Peter 2:121 Peter 2:12 commentary). Peter’s admonition to believers is to answer slanderous attacks of being evildoers with excellent behavior and good deeds. Meanwhile, believers should submit to authorities because they have been duly appointed by God to punish evil and promote good.
An additional purpose of governing authorities is the praise of those who do right.
The idea contained in the word praise is the act of expressing admiration and recognition to someone. In the context, this recognition goes to those who do right. The phrase those who do right is the translation of one Greek word “agathopoion.” It contrasts right-doers to evildoers.
It is proper for authorities to honor people for sustained outstanding service in doing what is right.
For example, in the USA the president offers these medals as rewards:
However, for the believer, praise from the government is not the primary goal of doing the right. The true and ultimate goal is doing God’s will, for such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men (v. 15).
It is always God’s will that believers are to be continuously doing right. Acts 14:17Acts 14:17 commentary uses the same word translated doing right and refers to God choosing to bless nations with rain and food even though they were walking apart from Him. The idea is that doing right to someone is seeking their best interest and seeking to improve their welfare.
God’s will is not just for His people to do the right thing, it is also His will that by doing so there is a positive witness. The result of the positive witness is that you might silence the ignorance of foolish men. The reference to foolish men likely refers back to 1 Peter 2:121 Peter 2:12 commentary which speaks of “Gentiles” who “slander you as evildoers.” By honoring and obeying authorities, these Jewish believers would silence these foolish men.
The word silence refers to muzzling the mouth so it cannot speak. The word foolish means lacking good judgement because of ignorance. The Greek word translated ignorance is “agnosia,” from “a” meaning “not,” and “gnosis” meaning “know.” So it literally means to “not know.” By our living witness believers can bring knowledge to those who live in ignorance.
In Peter’s time, there were political leaders who were persecuting Christians and saying slanderous things about them. An application of this instruction by Peter was to honor and submit to them while doing good. The intent would be for this to both silence and inform the foolish men who oppressed Christians.
The Apostle Paul said something similar in his letter to the Philippians, where he was grateful God allowed him to be arrested that he might provide a witness to the palace guard (Philippians 1:12-13Philippians 1:12-13 commentary). We know from church history that many believers followed this admonition, and in just a couple of centuries Christianity went from being outlawed to dominating Roman culture. All without any violence or military actions.