Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110626.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part VIII: Living In Godly Submission To The Secular Government, 1 Peter 2:11-17
A. Living Wisely Before The World And Its Governments
(1 Peter 2:11-12)
  1. Introduction
    1. As secular rulers participate in the apostasy from God so typical of our era and predicted in the Bible to occur (2 Peter 2:1-3), the believer faces a growing tension in relating well to the world's governments.
    2. 1 Peter 2:11-17 was penned around A. D. 64 when Rome's Emperor Nero began his infamous persecution of the Church, Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 838. Christians could still "honor the king" (1 Peter 2:17), but the "hostile pagan society would slander, ridicule, discriminate against and even inflict physical abuse" on Christians without much government protection for them, Ibid.
    3. 1 Peter 2:11-12 calls us to begin to relate well to the world and its governments in wisely living holy lives:
  2. Living Wisely Before The World And Its Governments, 1 Peter 2:11-12.
    1. The believer must live a life of personal righteousness before the world around him, 1 Peter 2:11-12:
      1. Since we Christians are citizens of the coming, righteous, world kingdom of Jesus Christ, we are so positioned in Christ that we are essentially foreigners and strangers in a lost world, 1 Peter 2:11a NIV.
      2. Thus, we should abstain, that is, hold ourselves back from (apechesthai) the "sinful desires, which war against your soul," 1 Peter 2:11b NIV; Ibid., p. 846.
      3. This call implies the world is geared to act out the lusts of the sin nature that still exists in the believer (Romans 7:15-24), so he must rely on the Holy Spirit to live the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:16-23.
    2. Such living is designed to shield the believer from the effectiveness of the slander he faces from a godless world, thus also tending to guard him from repercussions from the secular government, 1 Peter 2:12:
      1. Peter noted that if the believer's manner of life is honorable toward the lost world, when people in the world slander him, claiming he is an evildoer, his good works will function to glorify God in diluting the slander's effect and leaving a good testimony for Christ, 1 Peter 2:12 ESV, NIV.
      2. Viewing the contrasting works of living by the sinful nature versus living by the Holy Spirit as taught in 1 Peter 2:11 with Galatians 5:16-23 explains how and why this course of action succeeds as follows:
        1. Paul taught that if the believer lives by his sinful nature, he acts out deeds of "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like," Gal. 5:19-21a NIV.
        2. If a believer practices such deeds, and he claims to be a Christian, the WORLD will vent its wrath against him, for his Christian beliefs already critique the world of sin, making it hate him (John 15:18-22), so sin in the believer's acts foments the world's hatred into acts of hatred against him!
        3. [The world can perform acts of hatred against believers who are godly, but ungodly living in the believer only exacerbates the tension the godless world has with him and his beliefs!]
        4. However, if a believer relies on the Holy Spirit's power to produce "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23a NIV), he does works that do not violate any law (Gal. 5:23b), guarding him from excessive trouble from the world:
        5. <:I1224,288,288,0>Living by means of the Holy Spirit's power dilutes the effectiveness of what slander the believer receives, for his life does not violate any social ethics, and even supports the Christian's views that critique the world's sin, making his Gospel witness effective, cf. Rev. 22:17; John 16:8-11.
        6. <:I1224,288,288,0>Since living by the Holy Spirit's power violates no human government's law, the world's governments are less disposed to trouble or punish the believer who is filled with the Spirit than if he lives out the vices of the sinful nature that widely violate human laws and moral codes!
Lesson: To relate wisely with the lost world and its governments, the believer must first hold himself back from indulging in sinful lusts which war against his soul through depending upon the Holy Spirit. Doing so makes him less aggravating to a world and worldly governments that use the opportunity of sin in the believer to retaliate against him as his beliefs already critique the world and make it hate him.

Application: May we start relating wisely to the government by living godly lives in God's power!