God and Government
A Meditation on 1 Peter 2:13-16
By Wayne Christiansen
In 1596, King James VI of Scotland had a private audience with Andrew Melville, one of the prominent Presbyterian pastors of the country. Melville had been sent, deputized by his colleagues, because of growing concerns that the royal policy was undermining the gains of the Gospel that had been made in Scotland by the Protestant Reformation. Eventually, Melville lost patience with King James, though not at all losing courage. At one point, Melville plucks at the king’s sleeve and he calls him “God’s silly vassal.” He then went on to say, “There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland. There is Christ Jesus the King and his kingdom, whose subject King James VI is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king nor a lord nor a head, but a member.” Melville was putting the king in his place (adopted from a sermon by David Strain on Oct. 20, 2019; fpcjackson.org).
The most basic and fundamental Christian confession is that which declares: Jesus Christ is Lord. For example, Romans 10:9 says, “but if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Because we so often refer to the acknowledgement of Jesus’ lordship as that which is necessary for salvation, and it is, we may fail to recognize that it is also a political statement. When we say that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, we’re clarifying that he is over all earthly kings or lords or presidents or prime ministers, etc.
In 1 Peter 2:13-16, we have a command to be submissive to human institutions (vs. 13), as well as a reminder that we live as servants of God (vs. 16). In order to prioritize these two obligations, which do conflict from time to time, it is incumbent upon us to have a clear picture of how these two authorities relate to each other. Only God’s authority is ultimate, while the other has derivative authority that comes from God, and exercises (or should exercise) that authority under God.
The principle of submission is straightforward: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (vv. 13-14). Similarly, we read in Romans 13:1: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Government is a gift of God’s common grace. As Reformed Christians, who understand the doctrine of man’s total depravity, we of all people should thank God for the institution of government, which is necessary to punish those who do evil, even though the governing authorities themselves are all fallen and corrupt to varying degrees.
The responsibility of the government as outline by Peter is to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good (1 Peter 2:13-14). Likewise, Paul says in Romans 13:3-4: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Twice Paul refers to rulers as God’s servants (literally, God’s deacons). Just as there are deacons or ministers in the church who serve God and are accountable to God, so there are deacons in the state who serve God and are accountable to God. And specifically, we see that these ministers carry out God’s wrath. And at times they carry out God’s wrath by means of the sword, which is an instrument of execution.
In fact, without God, we don’t have any objective basis to say that anything is good or bad. All we have are subjective opinions. Some prefer to work for a living, while others choose to rob banks. To each his own. Defining good and evil is what it means to be God. In Genesis 3:5 Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, by saying: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” R. J. Rushdoony comments, “If men are not gods, then they have no right to determine what is law and morality either as individuals or as institutions [meaning, independent of God and his Word]. Neither church nor state can see itself as a lawmaker. To do so is to usurp God’s prerogative and to set itself up as a god… Man’s lust to be his own god is the consuming passion of the sons of Adam” (Genesis, p. 34).
Peter, who said, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” is the same Peter who was arrested in Acts chapter 4 because he was proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead (vv. 2-3). And after being charge not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, he responded, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (vv. 19-20). And then in Acts 5, we see that Peter is arrested again. And, sounding like a broken record, he tells the authorities, “We must obey God rather than men” (vs. 29). My point with these two examples is simple: Peter who was constantly in trouble with the authorities, obviously didn’t see the command to submit as absolute—not even close.
In this same passage where Peter tells us to be subject to every human institution, he also commands us to live as servants of God (1 Peter 2:16). Literally, we live as slaves of God. This is a clear reminder that while we submit to the government, God owns us, because he has redeemed us in Christ. As Paul said: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19b-20). Thus, when there is a clash between God and government, we too must obey God rather than men. In such situations, resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.