The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 89

tho11d1t and life; they must live as citi1.e1;s of the heavenly -countr~. 2. Tlie necessay nf the exhortation. (1) l!'or the salvation of the soul. Fleshly lusts are not only beiwat.h the dignity of God's peculiar people; they are full of danger, for they war nf!:ainst the soul; they nre, as it were, the dark hosts of the evil one sent to wage a dC'adly warfare against the souls of men. It is the soul against which they fight-the soul which was first breathed into man by God; the soul for which the Lord Jesus died. 'l'o lose one's soul is to lose one's all; no apparent gain can compensate for that tremendous loss. (2) For the glory of God. If the inwnrd life be pure, the outward life will be blameless. If fleshly lusts are indulged in the heart, they will appear somewhere or other in the life. The outward life cannot be uniformly fair and seemly unless the heart is pure. But the Christian must for the glory of God let his light shine before men. Unbelievers will narrowly scan the lives of Christians; they will watch for any little inconsistencies, and magnify them, and turn them to the dishonour of their religion. The Gentiles spoke against the Christians of the ancient Church; they caricatured their sacraments, their worship; they accused them of atheism, of exciting seditions. Still the lives of Christians are watched. 'l'herefore they should have their "conversation honest," that is, their life should be fair and beautiful; and as the" beauty of a Christian's life consists in symmetry and conformity to the Word of God a.s its rule, he ought diligently to study that rule, and to square his ·ways by it; not to walk at random, but to apply this rule to every step at home and abroad, and to be as Cl!Ieful to keep the beauty of his ways unspotteu, as those women are of their faces and attire who are most studious of comeliness" (Leighton). And their object in all this should be the greater glory of God. We are bidden not to seek the praise of men; we might take no heed to their blame, to calumny and misrepresenta- tion, were it not that we must care for the souls of the slanderers, and for the glory of God. For those ends Christians must try to exhibit the beauty of holiness in their outward lives, that men may see their good works, and glorify their Father which is in heaven. It is from him that all holiness comes; all spiritual beauty is his gift. Men will see it in the lives of true Christians; they will feel its reality, its true loveliness; they know that such beauty is not of the earth ; they may by God's grace be led to recognize it as coming from God, and to glorify him by seeking themselves to imit.ate the holy lives of Christians, that they too, in the day of visitation, may be ready to attend the heavenly Bridegroom in the wedding garments of holiness. IL To OBEDIENCE TO CIVIL AuTHORITIES. 1. The extent of that obedience. "The powers that be are ordained of God " (Rom. xiii. 1) ; "The Most High giveth the king- doms of the earth to whom he will;" "By him kings reign, and princes decree justice." Therefore the Christian must be loyal to the government under which God's providence has placed him. One form of government may be better than another; but any regular government is Letter than ana1 chy. St. Paul bids us pray "for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." Government is from God; the form of it is determined, under God's overruling providence, by man. St. Peter bids us obey every ordinance of man, every human creation-all rulers, whether the sovereign or those who are set in authority under him; and that because orderly govern• ment is necessary for the well-being and the very existence of soc\ety, "for the punish• meat of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well." On the whole, the strong rule of Rome had worked for the good of mankind, for the peace and order of that vast empire. Roman gover:cors and officers, like Festus and Gallio and Claudius Lysias, had been on the side of right against the violence of Jewish mobs; even Felix and Pilate showed some traces of the Homa.a sense of justice. The reigning emperor, indeed, was a monster of vice; he bad treated the Christians of Rome with atrocious cruelty; the persecution would soon spread into the provinces. Bnt hitherto the Roman authorities had generally protected the infant Church. 'l'he institutions of civil government work for the good of society; Christians must be loyal and peaceable citizens. 2. TJ1e ground and limit& of that obedience. It should be "for the Lord's sake." His pro- vidence bas set us where we are; we must not rebel against his will. He ruleth all things both in heaven and in earth, aud he will make all things work together for the eternal good of bis chosen. It is enough for us; our duty is to say, "Thy will be <lone," and for his sake, in the consciousness that, in obeying those who aro set over us, we are obeying the King of kings, to submit ourselves to every human ordinance. But on. u. 1-25.J THE FJTIST EPISTLE GENERAL 01•' PETER. 83