Many modern translations and versions of the Bible include paragraph breaks and headers. These can be especially helpful during times when something needs to be found quickly, but they can also be misleading. When we see a paragraph break in a story we often think the author is done with that subject and ready to introduce something new. However, in most Bibles we see paragraph breaks where someone thinks there should be a break. Normally that works out well and does not take away anything from the text. But on occasion the breaking of paragraphs can lead into confusion or, at minimum, prevent the reader from fully comprehending the verses that follow. (See note below about how we should study specific verses in the Bible.)
2:13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
Beginning with the first two words, this section introduces us to what may be one of the greatest barriers for accepting Christianity in today’s world. The subject is the concept of “submission.” Most of the time before talking about submission to a group of Christians, I ask the question; “is submission a bad word or concept?” I usually get one or more people quickly state “yes!” Simply put, if Christians have a problem with submission, they undoubtedly have misunderstood what it means to be a Christian. Jesus was submissive to His Father (see Luke 22:42 and John 6:38-40 for examples) and we are to be submissive to Him. One place that makes that clear is when Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, He said we are to say: “thy will be done” (see Matthew 6:10). Although we believers are not ultimately under human authority we are expected to submit to human governments and institutions that God placed over us.
One might ask the question; “why should we submit?” As pointed out above many Bible translators and publishers put paragraph breaks in potentially the wrong locations, and many versions put a break between verse 12 and 13. If we disconnect the two verses we run the risk of misunderstanding the context the author intended. In verse 12 Peter reminds us that the value of our witness (not to any specific person but our witness to unbelievers in the world, wherever and whenever that may be and perhaps we may never know that we were being watched or listened to). Peter says to keep our conduct honorable at all times and our obedience will glorify God. God wants us to obey human authority to demonstrate that our faith is real and that our concern for others is genuine (see Matthew 5:3-11) so that others will see our witness and possibly accept Jesus. Does that mean Christians are to blindly follow human institutions? No, that is not what Peter is saying. Christians are to obey all laws and respect all authority up to the point we are called to do something God forbids or not do something He commands (see Acts 4:19-20; 5:27-29). Consider the story of Stephen in the Book of Acts. Stephen was obedient to God and was willing to stand in front of the Council giving them a beautiful summary of the Old Testament and pointed out that is was them (the Jewish authorities) who were actually wrong in their interpretation of God’s Word (would take a lot of courage and fortitude, see Acts 6:8-7:60). Even though he was instructed not to teach in the name of Jesus he would not stop which ultimately got him stoned. Are we willing to do like Stephen?
This verse begins with the words “be subject” or in some versions “submit yourselves.” This Greek term is considered a military expression (seen 38 times in the New Testament), it can be translated “arrange in formation under the commander”[1] so that they all can move as one unit. Peter continues to note that our motive for submitting to authority is for the Lord’s sake. We will never fully understand how God works or why God works the way He does. Instead of trying to understand, we need to focus on Him and trust Him completely (see Matthew 11:28-30; Philippians 2:14-15).
2:14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Using similar wording like Paul used in Romans chapter 13, “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…” (Romans 13:1, see also verses 2-7), Peter states that someone who was given authority will come to punish us if we are disobedient (like the police or sheriff) or commend us when we obey. He then emphasizes that our obedience to human authority is the will of God and that by doing this, it will silence (literally means to stop them from speaking) the ignorance of foolish people (see 1 Corinthians 15:34; Titus 3:1-3).
God’s wisdom seems foolish to humans (read 1 Corinthians 1:20-31) but we have to remember we are not exempt from being foolish ourselves. It is essential for all Christians to know the will of God. “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17) So how do we know the will of God? Paul would probably respond with what he wrote in the book of Romans: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2) Note how Paul discusses the importance of obedience, just like Peter. It’s hard to obey if you don’t know the Word of God! Don’t be an ‘ignorant fool’, study the Bible often!
Something to consider when studying the Bible
I know of a ministry that has a slogan of “never read a Bible verse.” This phrase may raise some people’s hackles (as it should) and that is the reason this ministry uses it, to get our attention. This ministry believes that we should never read just one verse, and I agree. We need to always know the context of a verse to fully understand what the author is teaching. Many so-called Bible teachers and scholars today teach the opposite. Some teach we should find a verse and call it our “own.” What they mean by calling a verse our own is that we can apply a verse to our life the way we want to interpret it, regardless of what the author had in mind. That is not a good practice, in fact it is not Biblical, as it’s exactly opposite of what we should be doing. Just as a good retailer might say there are three secrets to success namely, “location, location, location,” we need to understand that the secret to successfully understanding the Bible is, “context, context, context.”
To understand context, we need to read carefully several verses before (or in some cases several chapters, or read the book from the beginning) the verse you are studying and several verses that follow. As pointed out earlier we may begin reading at the beginning of a paragraph but occasionally the paragraph break is in the wrong location. In some cases, especially when reading the epistles, an author may lay a foundation beginning with one topic and then build on it with some other related topics which then, when read separately, can often be difficult to understand, unless you know the topic the author began with.
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[1] Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. Strong’s Greek No. 5293