1 Peter 2:11-17: Honorable Conduct I. Base Text: 1 Peter 2:11-17 II. Understanding the Text A. Background 1. 1 Peter 1:1-9: great encouragement in the midst of trial-- hope of the Christian based in the resurrection, salvation ready for the final day 2. 1 Peter 1:10-12: Great value of salvation, desire of angels to investigate it 3. 1 Peter 1:13-21: first application: set hope fully on grace, be holy in conduct, conduct self with fear throughout life, ransomed by blood of Christ 4. 1 Peter 1:22-25: second application: having been purified through obedience, love earnestly from a pure heart, having been born again by the imperishable Word of God, the Gospel 5. 1 Peter 2:1-3: Put away wickedness, grow up into salvation through pure spiritual milk of Word, if you have tasted that the Lord is good 6. 1 Peter 2:4-10: believers as being built up into spiritual house of God while unbelievers stumble over Jesus; believers in Christ the new Israel B. Abstaining from Passions, Honorable Conduct (1 Peter 2:11-12) 1. Peter indicates his spiritual affection for them-- "beloved" 2. Speaks to them as "sojourners and exiles" a. cf. 1 Peter 1:1 b. Many think it refers to Jews separated from Israel c. Yet, as seen in preceding verses, Peter consciously attaching claims regarding physical Israel to Christians who were "not a people" d. Therefore, a reference to Christians as not being of this world (1 John 2:15-17) e. Citizens of heaven, from whom we await a Savior (Philippians 3:20-21) 3. Exhortation to abstain from passions of flesh, waging war against soul a. Sounds extremely similar to Paul in Galatians 5:17-24 b. The spiritual conflict-- Galatians 5:17-24, Ephesians 6:10-18 c. Expectation that desires of the body will conflict with desires of the soul 4. Conduct among Gentiles is to be kept honorable 5. Reason: when they speak against believers as evildoers, will see good deeds, glorify God on day of visitation a. Seems contradictory: how can they speak against believers as evildoers but see good deeds and glorify God? b. Based in different events: today, partly because of conviction (cf. 1 Peter 4:4), consider Christians as evildoers because they do not continue in sin c. Yet, when God returns to judge the people, they will see all the good the Christians did and have to declare God just and glorious! d. Interesting-- "when" spoken against, not "if" e. Complete expectation that Gentiles will speak against believers f. They are looking for reasons to accuse Christians-- hence, pressure on Christians to be honorable in all conduct (cf. Matthew 5:13-16)! C. Subject to Human Institutions for God's Sake (1 Peter 2:13-14) 1. Part of keeping conduct honorable is obeying earthly authorities 2. Romans 13:1-7 3. Subject for the Lord's sake a. Jesus, even though the Son of God, did not attempt to overthrow government b. We are part of spiritual Kingdom (John 18:36) c. Our focus on the spiritual means that we must be in proper subjection to the physical government, for our quarrel is not with them (Ephesians 6:12)! d. Furthermore, if we refuse to subject ourselves to earthly governments, how will people believe that we subject ourselves to God in Christ? e. Standard exception-- when true conflict between two exist, obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29) 4. Both to Emperor and governors 5. Governors as sent to punish the evil, praise those doing good D. God's Will (1 Peter 2:15) 1. Peter then sums up what was said before (vv. 11-14) and what comes after (vv. 16-25): God's will is to put silence the ignorance of the foolish by good deeds 2. In their attempt to justify disobeying God, many point to the hypocrisy of believers in God 3. Peter encourages Christians to not give them fodder 4. After all, there is no law against doing good (cf. Galatians 5:24), and even the most hardened unbeliever cannot argue against acts of love, mercy, and compassion! 5. They may not know of the One True God, but they should be able to learn of Christ by seeing the life of the believer (Romans 8:29, Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) 6. The folly of sin is most evident when compared to the benefits of goodness! E. Living as Free (1 Peter 2:16-17) 1. Peter then encourages Christians to live as those who are free 2. Warning: freedom not license, but deliverance! 3. Romans 6:16-23 8:2 4. As Peter says: freedom not a cover-up for evil, but as servants of God 5. Believers not to be focused on their wants and "license," but to devote themselves to what God desires 6. Peter then provides pithy statements of how we keep our conduct pure and honorable and free 7. Honor everyone (cf. Romans 13:8-10, Philippians 2:1-4) 8. Love the brotherhood (cf. 1 Peter 1:22-24, 1 John 4:7-21) 9. Fear God (Psalm 19:9, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 7:1) 10. Honor the emperor (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 1 Peter 2:13-14) F. If we do these things, our conduct will be honorable, and God will be glorified! III. Applications A. Abstaining from Passions of the Flesh 1. We are all constantly at war with ourselves, as Peter makes evident! 2. Romans 7:13-25 describes that contest at length 3. If we do not feel that we are having that contest, does that mean that we have won the battle for Christ-- or have we lost it? 4. When the desires of the flesh war against the desires of the spirit, who most often wins? 5. What can be done in order to tilt the battle more toward the spirit? a. Seek out brethren (Hebrews 10:24-25)? b. Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)? c. Flee (1 Corinthians 6:13)? 6. The battle must be won for God! B. Honorable Conduct 1. Peter presents an extremely realistic description of our situation in the world 2. As believers, we purport to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16) 3. At any given moment, even if we do not put ourselves on that pedestal, others are watching 4. Our conduct, therefore, must be worthy of honor! 5. By necessity, such means that we are avoiding sins, doing what is right 6. But it also requires us to go above and beyond-- even if we could justify certain behaviors as not being sinful, they may cause unbelievers to think us less honorable! 7. The spotlight is difficult-- but we must bear it 8. We must also recognize that we will likely be maligned no matter what we do-- but we need to do good anyways! 9. Even if they do not like it, they cannot argue against it! C. Subject to Human Institutions; Honoring the Emperor 1. Peter provides the same testimony as Paul in terms of Christians and earthly authorities 2. We are to be subject to them and honor them for their purpose 3. The Emperor in question is Nero-- we have yet to have had a President of the United States who was less deserving of honor than Nero 4. Yet Peter tells believers to honor him! 5. Recognition: our contest is not with flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and we are of the spiritual kingdom (John 18:36, Philippians 3:20-21), with spiritual priorities (Matthew 6:33) 6. The Gospel can change people, not government (Romans 1:16)! 7. We have our hands sufficiently full with our spiritual contests, both within ourselves and against the spiritual powers of darkness-- we should not have time for the political wrangling and demonstrations of disobedience! 8. If we disrespect and/or disobey earthly rulers, how can we expect to get anyone to respect and obey God? 9. If we disrespect and/or disobey earthly rulers, are we not giving plenty of reason for ignorant and foolish people to blaspheme? 10. Who are the unbelievers who will consider our conduct honorable if we disrespect and/or disobey earthly rulers? D. Living as Free People 1. The idea of freedom has been distorted by society 2. Freedom in America is considered as license to do as one wishes 3. In Christianity, freedom is deliverance from sin and death and bondage 4. The expectation is that you are freed from sin to serve God (Romans 6:18, 1 Peter 2:16) 5. Therefore, we must not use our freedoms in Christ to cover up evil desires, thoughts, or actions within the world 6. We should also not use our freedom and liberties in Christ to cover up rivalries, strife, and self-seeking within the Body (Romans 14) 7. Love, humility, and service-- the characteristics of Christ and thus Christians-- demand concern for others and a willingness to help them in any way possible, which is antithetical to focus on self and what self wants to do! E. Honoring Everyone 1. We are all equal before God (Romans 2:11, Galatians 3:28) 2. God desires everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) 3. We are to love everyone, even those who do not like us (Luke 6:27-31) 4. It is natural to judge others and find a reason to not like them (cf. Matthew 7:1-4)-- we must resist and find ways to honor and love others! IV. Conclusion A. 1 Peter 2:11-17 B. We must conduct ourselves honorably! 1. Abstain from passions of flesh 2. Do good, silence ignorance of foolish people 3. Honor earthly authorities 4. Serve God, live as free, honor everyone C. Let us serve God, conduct ourselves honorably, and be the force of good in the world! D. Invitation/songbook