1 Peter 2:11-25
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1 Peter 2:11-25 Submission to Those Above You
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Summary of passage
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Text and Translation
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Original Context & Exegesis
A. Passage Boundaries (why are these verses grouped together in this chapter or pericope?)
B. Exegesis of passage as a whole (or verse-by-verse, if helpful).
2:12 Our lives must be such that the unsaved, though at first they may falsely accuse us of wrong-doing, will in the end glorify God because of the behavior they have seen in us. This is seen practically when unbelievers ask "What's different about you?" or "Why didn't you try to get revenge on me for what I did to you?” This can prove to be the strongest testimony to the truth and power of the Gospel.
2: 13-15 We need to be subject to all ordinances of government that do not contradict the Bible. Many Christians have misused the Bible or used pseudo-logic to skirt around laws regarding everything from taxes and building permits to illegal ownership of guns and ownership of illegal automatic weapons. This profanes the name of Christ and continues the "ignorance of foolish men" in v.15 rather than silencing it.
2:18 Our actions are judged by themselves, irrespective of the circumstances.
2:16 Prior to salvation, we could only sin – we had no choice. Now, in Christ, we are free to choose whether to sin or not. We must not use this freedom to live a life of sin, however, or it defeats one of the purposes of Christ saving us in the first place, namely to free us from sin. We are to instead be bondservants (slaves by choice) to Christ. This does not refer to achieving some sort of sinless perfection as some would teach (citation needed man who thinks he doesn’t sin is deceiving himself) but to our patterns in life.
2:17 This verse has four statements: Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king. It doesn’t seem as though they were put in order of importance, obviously, or “fear God” would have been first. The random order seems to denote that all of these commands are equal in importance. They are, however very different commands. We are to honor all men, especially the king (government), love the brotherhood, and fear God. The importance of the commands may be the same, but the commands themselves are very different. When we honor men or government, we place a value on them and respect them. The respect of man, while not giving us the right to sin “out of respect” for someone, does make it a sin to insult, degrade, and tear others ---down. The respect of government does not trump God’s law, but we should be obeying government’s laws as long as they do not directly contradict Scripture. Our love for the brotherhood should be self-sacrificing agape love, willing to do whatever is best for the other person. Note, I did not say, “whatever the other person wants”, I said whatever is best for the other person. Sometimes what is best is confrontation, rebuke, or calling to repentance. These too can be acts of true love. To fear God is to be in total awe of Him. If we truly hold Him in this place, we will obey Him, not profane His name, have a continual desire to learn more of Him, etc. The word “fear” or “revere” puts Him in a position of preeminence and authority over those we must “honor” while not relieving us of the responsibility to honor them.
2:18 We need to be faithful, obedient employees to any boss. The last word in this verse, translated variously “forward”, “cruel”, “difficult to please”, etc. is literally translated “warped” or “perverse.” We are to obey employers even if they appear to us to be evil incarnate. The law of God overrules the commands of men of course, and so we should not sin in obeying them, but that’s rarely the big issue. The big issue appears when we realize that to “be in subjection to” them doesn’t mean to only be obedient and respectful when they are present, but even when they’re out of sight and earshot. That means we need to keep working when they’re not looking. It also means that we are not to be part of the “office humor” making fun of the boss when he’s out of the room. That’s not easy to do when you have a bad boss, but it is a Divine command.
2:19-20 It is an honorable thing and something worthy of reward if we endure unjust persecution. It doesn't appear to mean only persecution for our faith, but all unjust persecution. Sometimes we can handle being persecuted for our faith, but other injustices are often hard to take. What we fail to realize is that the unjust attacks may not be on our faith, but could be motivated by a hatred of our faith, even if the attacker doesn’t know we are saved. Satan will do whatever he can to destroy our testimony, and when we start crying “that’s not fair” like a schoolyard child, no one will want to listen to what we have to say about Christ either. Sometimes these attacks are allowed by God to give us an opportunity to shine as lights in a dark world by virtue of the fact that we do react differently to persecution. His plan may be to lead someone to Himself by what they see in you.
2:21-24 Verse 21 is abused by at least one Word of Faith teacher by quoting only the second half of it and stating "...that's why I drive a Rolls Royce -- I'm following Jesus' steps" This is an absolute disgrace to the passage. We are to follow Christ's example in suffering as delineated in verses 22-24. Note the colon at the end of verse 21 -- the sentence continues through verse 24. The Holy Spirit through Peter left no doubt as to what He meant by following in Jesus' steps. Verse 24 ends by going full circle back to Isaiah 53:5.
2:25 Isaiah 53:6 is now quoted with some modifications. Instead of "have gone astray" in the past perfect tense (happened in the past and continuing still) it's "were going astray" in past tense followed by that wonderful word "but", showing that not only is it a past tense phrase, it is also a thing of the past. Glory to God! We who WERE going astray have been returned to the Great Shepherd never to stray again,
C. Literary Features--What genre is it? What literary devices (e.g, metaphor) does it use?
D. Connections to the rest of book—what purpose does this pericope serve in the bigger picture of the book?
E. Connections to the rest of Scripture--How is it referenced or alluded to elsewhere?
Jesus Christ: The Redemptive-Historical Context
A. Where is Christ and the Gospel present in this passage?
B. How does this passage point to Christ or depend on Christ? How does Christ fulfill this passage? How was it fulfilled already? How will it be fulfilled?
C. What does this passage tell us about God’s plan of redemption in Christ?
Current Context
A. What does this tell us about ourselves, our world, and the human condition?
B. What are some modern parallels to the original situation?
C. What is the call/command/invitation of this passage?
D. How does Christ & the Gospel in this passage enable us to see, think, and live differently?
Links/References/Bibliography
A. Representative sermons on the passage
B. Examples and Illustrations
C. Commentaries on this book
D. Articles on this book or passage
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