1 Peter 2:17

‘Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.'

Thus the Christian's freedom should mean that he shows due respect and consideration to all people. He ‘honours all men'. This is to be a general attitude of life fixed once and for all (aorist imperative). And he is especially to continually (present imperative) love his fellow-Christians, to continually walk in the fear of God, and to continually pay due honour to the overall ruler. This is not, of course in order of priority. Loving the brotherhood and fearing God is the heart of the matter. They are the first essential. Honouring all men on principle, and continually honouring the overall ruler are the way in which these are outwardly manifested to the outside world.

This remarkable brief description of Christian responsibility is a reminder of four great responsibilities:

· The first covers our attitude towards all. All are to be treated with honour, both Christian and non-Christian. The Christian degrades no one. He is not at enmity with the world of men, even when the world of men are at enmity with him. He recognises that all are God's creatures, and should therefore be treated with respect and consideration, even when often they do not deserve it. No Christian should ever have contempt for a fellow human being, however he may view his behaviour. He remembers what he is himself, but for the grace of God. Nor does he use violence towards any (except in self-defence), for that is to demean his fellow-creature.

· The second covers our special relationship with the sojourning community, the true people of God, that is, all who are Christ's. As fellow-pilgrims we are to love and support each other continually along the way, even if we do have secondary doctrinal differences. For to fail to love a brother or sister is to fail to love God (1 John 4:20).

· The third establishes the fact that the fear of God will ensure our conformity to all these other requirements and overrules all. We are to walk continually under the Kingly Rule of God and in His ‘fear'.

· And fourthly it is because of this fear of God that we will honour the kingships that He has set in place because we know that that is what He wants. Due respect and honour must therefore be shown to those who are set to rule over us, because we recognise in them agents appointed by God. But all in the end must be subject to the fear of God. Thus if they do flagrantly act contrary to God and His ways to such an extent that it become totally unacceptable, it may sometimes be necessary to remove them from office for the good of all. But this should only be when all else has failed. Normally the stability of society is best ensured by non-precipitate action.

‘Fear God, honour the king.' This may well have in mind Proverbs 24:21, ‘fear the LORD and the king', with Peter putting the fear of God into the ascendancy. It is God that they must fear, and that will result in honouring the king. (In the context of areas where emperor worship was popular, to equate the two would have been dangerous doctrinally).

Household Servants Are To Be Obedient To Their Masters.

The Christian's attitude towards the state having been established, the thought now moves on to the question of a more local authority, the responsibility of household servants towards their masters, that is towards heads of households, whether large or small. And it is soon apparent that here is where the Christians were having problems.

Some large households of, say, provincial governors or local aristocrats and large landowners would have been of many thousands. Others would consist of only a few. But Peter makes no distinction between them, nor between slaves and freemen. His concern is rather with how all household servants, whether slave or free, should behave towards their masters. For many among his readers/hearers would be household servants. The fact that as compared with Ephesians and Colossians no parallel instructions are given with regard to masters might suggest that few masters in that particular area had become Christians. This is in decided contrast with the Colossians 4:1; Ephesians 6:9.

Peter's response to the situation is to point out how the genuine Christian servant must behave. He must remember that he is a representative and servant of Christ and, by being responsive and obedient, he is to behave honourably and be a good witness for his Master out of the fear of God. Otherwise he will only bring dishonour on Christ. And this is to be so even if he is harshly treated. Indeed then he must follow the example of his Master in taking his unfair treatment graciously, looking to the Lord for his recompense, and recognising that his suffering is a part of the forwarding of God's purposes in the world. If his ill treatment is undeserved then his patient endurance of it will be ‘acceptable to God', that is well pleasing and deserving of reward. He will not lose out by it. For after all that was how the Lord Himself behaved, Who had Himself given a similar example when He had died to bear our sins.