Wise Counsel for Christian Citizens, Part 1

He begins by telling us to act as free men. Act as free men. You know, don't mope around, you're free.

In reality, you haven't yet really caught up to the reality, you're truly free. In other words, no matter how restrictive, no matter how repressive the government or the culture may be, where you've been assigned by God at that Embassy post as his ambassador, respectfully submit to it and just understand that you are actually the free one. Despite all the change in our culture, God's Word endures. The Bible teaches us how to live as citizens of our nation while honoring our commitments as citizens of heaven. In 1 Peter 2 16-17, the Apostle Peter spells out seven specific principles regarding how believers are to live as citizens of God's kingdom while still here on earth. These are important and timeless principles that will help you today. This is Wisdom for the Heart in a lesson called Wise Council for Christian Citizens.

Stephen Davey explores these principles. Here's part one of that message right now. Sometime ago, somebody in our congregation sent me a list of things called the perks of getting older. I'm not sure why.

Maybe they were feeling older. For the record, I'm not. I'm just getting started. I sound terrible, I know, and I need to acknowledge that.

You know what it is? It's spring allergies when the trees bloom in April. So I'm deeply confused, by the way. Actually, I should be on Claritin.

I usually start in the winter and didn't. So here we are. So I apologize for the rasp. At any rate, some of the perks of getting older. One, when you get on an elevator, you can sing along because you know all the words. That's kind of embarrassing, isn't it?

I like this one. People will call you at 9 p.m. but ask apologetically, did I wake you? Well, the truth is, whether you're getting older, feeling older, or whatever, life changes. And I think the issue, obviously, for us as we gather as an assembly is not whether or not we're getting older, but are we living more wisely, especially as it relates to how fast our culture is changing around us.

Listen to what one author, an evangelical scholar, wrote by the name of Robert Alden. He said this, since 1955, sheer factual knowledge, sheer facts, have begun doubling every five years. Our generation now possesses more data about the universe and the human body and personality than all previous generations put together.

Think of it this way. High school graduates today have been exposed to more information about their world than Plato, Aristotle, and the Apostles combined. In terms of facts alone, neither Aristotle nor the Apostles would be able to pass a college entrance exam today, end quote. He wrote that in 1983 and things have changed even more quickly than he imagined. A recent report from the education secretary and department informed us that by the year 2000, technical knowledge was doubling every two years. And now, get this, it is doubling every 72 hours. So if you came in here today and you feel a little behind, there's a reason for that.

You can't catch up. In fact, one author intrigued me by putting it this way. We are now preparing college students to hold jobs that haven't yet been created using technologies that haven't yet been invented in order to deal with problems that do not yet exist. How do you get ready for that kind of world?

Especially when you kind of feel old and that you can sing along with the elevator music when you go up. One of the amazing things to me about inspired scripture is the fact that God provides instruction for us regarding the issues of life and his instruction never goes out of date. No matter what culture, no matter what generation you live in, it's still fresh. We don't make the Bible relevant by the way. The Bible is relevant. It is the breathed word of God.

And even though everything around us changes and speeds up, technologies change and cultures and countries change and political leaders and governments rise and fall, but God's word not only endures, but it continues to be capable of equipping you for every good work in life, whether you're in the 21st century or the first century. One of the issues we've been discussing facing the early believers was how to respond with a changing culture and to their role as citizens in the empire of Rome while at the same time trying to live faithfully as citizens of heaven. How do you respond wisely to the accusations of hating a human life, a disregard for the values of that culture? They never quite fit in with the gods and goddesses.

Their treasonous attitude, it was slandered because they wouldn't burn incense to Caesar. I mean, how do you deal with all of this, especially as Christianity is becoming marginalized and attacked and that's all the rage? We're asking the same thing today.

In fact, the questions really don't change. How does the Christian respond in our culture where, for instance, the American Civil Liberties Union joins together with Americans for the Separation of Church and State and a chorus of so many others that have now rather successfully, I would say, have educated a generation of Americans to believe that freedom of religion really ought to be interpreted as freedom from religion, freedom from any kind of religious influence. Whatever you happen to believe, keep it indoors, keep it in the house, and keep quiet about it. So, you know, prayers banished at city council meetings and football games and any references to God are sort of, you know, scoured out of valedictorian addresses and copies of the Ten Commandments are, you know, coming down all over the country. How do you live in a generation that is really at its core, and we understand this, but it's trying to erase any conscious element of the existence of a creator God and some kind of absolute inspired scripture? I've often thought with gratitude that verses of scripture and acknowledgments of our creator God have been, you know, chiseled into the stonework of so many of our national monuments. I've been glad they've been chiseled literally into stones that are not so easily brought down. However, then again, you know, they can be sandblasted away in the future, and I'm not going to be surprised when the equipment shows up to do it. The question remains, though.

How do you respond to a culture like that? Well, first century Christians and 21st century Christians want to know. The Apostle Peter is in the process of delivering the answers to some of it in chapter 2 of his inspired letter, a rather surprising answer as we've begun studying last Lord's Day in our last session together. Go back there, if you would, to 1 Peter. Chapter 2 is where we're picking our study back up. And let me kind of get a running start.

Let's go back to verse 13. I'll say just a few things. We've got a lot to cover today, but let's go back where we started and sort of get a running start. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, that is just law and the institutional laws that come out of it, codes and ordinances and all those things.

We looked at that. Whether to a king, that's the highest position of authority in the land, as the one in authority, or to governors, they're lesser authorities, but still they're commissioned by him, that is the king. For, here's the job description of government, the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. Here's good government.

They punish evil and they commend what's right. So submit to that. For, verse 15, such is the will of God that by doing right, you may muzzle, silence the ignorance of foolish men.

In other words, live with that kind of submissive attitude to just law in such a way that the slanders against you, that you're seditious, that you're treasonous, that you don't care about your culture and all that, you will literally be able to muzzle the snapping, snarling, biting, foolishness of the culture around you. It may occur, it may not. That's why he says it may.

Well, that was the subject of our last study. Now, for today, Peter's going to deliver even more rapid-fire instruction for wise living and I've sort of divided it according to the seven statements we're going to cover fairly quickly, seven different instructions. Let me paraphrase each one and then we'll look at the text.

The first one would be paraphrased this way. No matter how it feels, you're actually free. No matter how it feels, you are actually free.

Notice verse 16. He begins by telling us to act as free men, act as free men. You know, don't mope around, you're free. In reality, you haven't yet really caught up to the reality, you're truly free.

In other words, no matter how restrictive, no matter how repressive the government or the culture may be where you've been assigned by God at that embassy post as his ambassador, respectfully submit to it and just understand that you are actually the free one. Think about it. You've been freed from the condemnation of sin, from the judgment of God, from the penalty forever of his wrath. You've been freed from all of that, Paul wrote to the Romans of chapter 6 verse 18. We're told that Christ rescued us from the domain of darkness, the kingdom of darkness and he has transferred, God has transferred us into the kingdom of his Son for we've been redeemed and have forgiveness of sins, Colossians 1 13. If the Son makes you free, if meaning he did, since he did, then you shall be what?

Free indeed. John chapter 8 verse 36. You're the one who's free and the bonds you might wear are temporary plastic. They will soon be replaced with the glory of who you really are and where you truly belong and in that day and in his kingdom the righteousness of God will flood the earth like waters covering the land. So live in light of that day. Secondly, never use your freedom to run wild. Notice again verse 16. Act as free men, do not use your freedom as a covering for evil. The word Peter uses for covering refers to a veil or a covering of some sort thrown over something to try to conceal it.

It also carries the idea of a mask. In other words, don't conceal sinful living. Don't conceal cutting corners with the religious jargon of hey, hey, you just said I'm free so I'm free, man.

I'm free. You know, liberty. There's perhaps no other doctrine so easily perverted as Christian liberty and I've seen all kinds of extremes along the spectrum which is why I think Peter seems so quick to add this caution to the statement that you're free. By the way, the Apostle Paul did the same thing when he wrote to the Galatians. He warned them not to use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh. Galatians 5 13. Peter will warn the believers in his second letter about the fact that there are people who are promising others great liberty who are in fact enslaved to corruption.

If you saw their lives, if you somehow saw behind the curtain, you'd realize how corrupt they are. Their favorite topic is Christian liberty. Put it more bluntly in our own language. Being free in Christ does not mean party on. You know, no holds barred.

Anything goes. Paul wrote to the Corinthians who lived by that motto. Evidently, they had taken the motto or the slogan for their own lives. All things are lawful for me. All things are lawful for me. I think that's why Paul comes along in 1 Corinthians 6 12 and says, you know, there's another side to that. All things are lawful for you, but all things aren't good for you. They're not expedient.

They're not beneficial for your Christian experience. I like the way William Barkley summarizes it by saying this. He comments on this text that our freedom in Christ.

Be careful. It doesn't mean that we're free to do whatever we'd like to do. It means that we're free to do whatever we ought to do.

It's wonderful balance, which is exactly why I think Peter adds even more balance to his wife's counsel. Thirdly, let me paraphrase it this way. Remember, you've been freed only to be mastered by Christ.

Notice what he writes in verse 16 again. Act as free men. Do not use your freedom as a covering for evil.

Don't hide behind pious jargon to live any way you want to live. But use your freedom as a bond slave or bond servant of God. The word Peter uses for bond servant is a softened translation, primarily going back to the 16th century when we had our first English translations. They wanted to soften it because of the whole concept of slavery, which was broiling everyone. And so they translated it into English bond servant.

And unfortunately, though it removes the edges, it removes the nuance that we need to understand. Slave defined the lowest level of servitude in that Greco-Roman world. For believers, it's a word that describes our joyful freedom because we are now slaves belonging, mastered by God.

And that has the correct nuance. Our will isn't our will. Our rights are governed by him. We are his, holy his. This is the paradox of Christianity.

And they would have picked up on it. You've been freed from the bondage of sin and slavery in order to become the slave of Jesus Christ. By the way, though, what a master he is. What a master he is.

This is actually the paradox of all of life when you think about it. Everyone is under the mastery of something. Everyone is a slave to whatever it is that demands of them the highest allegiance and loyalty. The question isn't, are you a slave? The question is, whose slave are you?

That's the question. You are either a slave to your own will, your own life, your own career, your own plans, your own desires, your own body, your own intellect, or you have handed to Christ, as it were, your will so that he will have mastery over your life and your career and your plans and your desires and your body and your intellect. So here's the question, whose slave are you today?

What masters you? And in this context, I think Peter is implying that slaves of Christ make the best citizens of earth. Servants of the kingdom of God produce the greatest service to the kingdoms of earth. Listen, the best citizens who contribute the best of what can be contributed ought to be the Christians. It was that way in the first century as they began to change their world, it ought to be true today. Now with that, Peter really picks up speed and delivers four very short, quick commands that adds to his wise counsel for Christian citizens.

And it's number four on our list for this study. Here's the paraphrase, no matter what, show respect for everyone. Notice what he writes in verse 17, honor all people. You can understand that, honor every human being. Now he isn't telling us to honor everything human beings do. He isn't telling us to respect everything human beings do, okay? He's not saying that. He is saying to respect the very fact that they're a living human being.

Show deference and compassion even though in conviction you may disagree to the nth degree. Why? Because we happen to believe that every human being is a creation of God with inerrant value so they're not to be discarded, they're not to be abused, they're not to be mistreated.

Why? They're created in his image. James chapter 3 verse 9 expands on that. In fact, the verb to honor, to honor, would be helpful to understand you could render it to treat as valuable. That's what that means, to treat as valuable with a sense of respect knowing that God has created them according to his purposes and they have eternal value. By the way, this is the same verb Jesus used when he preached to the Jewish audience and he said to them, honor your mother and your father.

Same verb. In other words, don't treat them selfishly. Don't treat them as objects. Don't discard them. Care for their needs. Don't use them for financial gain. Treat them with respect.

Do the simple fact they are your mother and your father even though you may disagree with the way they live. Treat their position with respect. Now, you need to understand that the idea of honoring every human being was a staggering concept to these original readers. Their world had an incredibly calloused view of human beings.

You think we've got stratas in our society, move back to the first century and hold your breath. I'm telling you life was cheap. If you didn't want your baby, leave him on the doorstep while dogs can cart him away.

No legal repercussion from that. There were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire when Peter was writing this letter. I mean life was cheap. The gospel comes along and it changes the price tag on everything, doesn't it? Women are no longer beasts of burden. Embedded in the gospel is truth that dissolves slavery. So you have Paul writing a slave owner saying, by the way, your runaway slave, bring him back in as your brother.

Staggering to our minds. No matter what someone's station was in life, their ethnicity, their color, honor every human being. The mockery, the slander, the jives, the off-color conversation. None of it is befitting a Christian. The world in Peter's day and in our day ought to know that when they meet a Christian, they ought to apologize for their French.

You ever had that happen to you? They find that you're a Christian and they say, oh forgive my French. It wasn't French.

I've never had French but I know there wasn't French. But you notice immediately they sort of, oh they ought to do that. There ought to be that sense that things kind of clean up when a Christian comes around.

That they can expect you to be respectful of every human being. Let me give you an illustration I came across. There's a debate going on between an evangelical and an atheist, a scholar and professor from Oxford by the name of Jonathan Glover. And the believer posed this question to him in the debate that I think is a wonderful testament to what Peter is saying here. He said this, he posed this to Professor Glover. He said, if you, Professor Glover, were stranded at midnight in a desolate downtown street neighborhood, and if as you stepped out of your broken down car with fear and trembling, it's dark, it's midnight, you're in the inner city, and you were suddenly to hear the sounds of pounding footsteps and conversation coming up behind you, and you turned and you saw a dozen burly young men who just stepped out of a nearby apartment, and they were coming directly toward you, would it or would it not make a difference to you to know they were just leaving a Bible study? Praise God from whom all blessings flow, right?

They're carrying Bibles. That argument wins the day. Shouldn't that make a difference, even to an atheist?

It ought to make a world of difference, and that's his point. The reputation of the Christian is that they are respectful of everyone, and we're going to deal with this a little later on. Let me go back to the idea of slavery. I appreciated D. Edmund Hebert's wonderful commentary that I've been following along with the, you know, 25 others, but he made the comment at that particular command, honor every human being, he made the comment that if this were followed, this would deal a mortal blow to any kind of racial conflict. We would treat no one with scorn, no one in any kind of setting, any kind of strata, any kind of ethnicity. To me, one of the most wonderful declarations of the gospel is that we have in the assembly people from all walks of life, back to my left sitting in the last hour is Dr. Israel, an Indian who is teaching a Telugu Bible study that meets on our campus with those that have matriculated into our congregation. And in the audience is a Filipino couple who've started a Bible study and are integrating into this church.

So they have their Bible study for Filipinos, and in that language and the food that goes along with it, enjoying that together, that's wonderful. We are having, frankly, the nation's move to our community. That's why the gospel is the solution. Isn't this a practical message for today?

We can't control or determine how those in authority over us will act, but we can control how we act. Thanks for joining us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey.

Stephen is in a series called Above Politics and Parliaments. He calls this message Wise Counsel for Christian Citizens. When we return next time, we'll bring you the second half of this important lesson.

Between now and then, please take some time and explore our website. You'll find us at wisdomonline.org. That site contains the archive of Stephen's teaching ministry. Stephen has pastored the Shepherd's Church in Cary, North Carolina for over 35 years. All of those sermons are available to you. We also post each of these daily radio broadcasts. If there's ever a day when you miss our program on your local station, you can go to our website to keep caught up with our daily Bible teaching ministry. The archive of Stephen's teaching is available on that site free of charge, and you can access it anytime at wisdomonline.org. We sure are grateful you are with us today. Stephen is here to help you know God's Word and apply that truth to your life. And I hope you found that to be the case today. Join us again next time for more wisdom for the heart.