The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 128

8Ucb fair deeds ns these they could hope to break down prejudice. 'The heathen beholding them might be lc,1 to change their mind about them as irreligious in their faith nnd life, might be led to think favourably of their God, nnd thus to be convertod to Christianity. Such a result would be glorifying to God, nnd it was only in keeping with his procedure. It wns a dny of visitation from God (in the comina- of tho mis- sionaries) that accounteu for their deliverance from heathenism; what ~vas to hinder a similar day of visitation in the conversion even of their defamers ?-Il. Ji'. Vers. 13-17.-Relation of Ohristwns to civil authorities. I. CATEGORY UNDER wnrcrr THE DUTY IN TnE r.ELATION COMES. "De subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." 'l'here are various oi·dinances of man; i.e. Divine appointments for hunrnn relations which a.re snbject to human moulding. With reference to every such ordinance our duty is s_ul,jcction, i.e. ?eferencc, e,·en when we cannot give our approval. \Ve are to be subJect to the ordmancefor the Lord's sake. 'l'here is here the Pauline thought that it is Christ who is represented in the position of authority nnd we nre to be subject to those in authority for the sake of him whose represen~ tntivcs they are, There is thus the placing of society, not only on a religious, but on a distinctively Ch,istian basis. "The relation of superiority and subordination which permeates the whole of human society, and excludes all abstract liberty and equality, -this perrnding relation of contrast, tending nevertheless to unity between authority and liber.ty, authority aud obedience, authority and filial piety-in its original source, in its inmost foundation, and i □ its actual essence, is not of roan, cannot be deduced from the right of the stronger or the more able, nor from the common consent, but rests on God's will and appointment, and is subject to his guidance. This implies that, in Lonouring his parents and obeying the laws, one obeys not only man, but also God. It implies that, whilst superiors and subordinates are mutually bound to each other, both are engaged to a higher third party, whose servants they both are, whose laws they must both obey, and to whom both must render an account. ·n implies, in one word, that the whole order of human society in its ultimate resort rests on the Di-dne will as its foundation" (Martensen). II. PAnTICULA.II DUTY OF SUBJECTION TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES. "Whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him." There is here specified the ordinance of civil government. It is viewed concretely in the persons in whom it bas reality. 'l'he highest authority is vested in the king; he is represented as sending governors, i.e. givi □ g authority to magistrates under him. There is no determina- tion here of the best form of ci ,·ii government; that is left to human moulding. 'l'he duty of being subject is not Riade dependent on the government under which we arc placed being the best, nor is it made dependent on legitimacy; we have simply to do with the government in fact, and its acting head as representing to us, however imper- fectly in the civil sphere, the·govcrnment of Christ. Our 111bjection takes the form of obeying the laws, paying taxes, lending our influence on the side of authority. What "ll"e render to our civil rulers should be all the more satisfactory that we render it to them for the sake of that Lord in who~e Name we regard them I\S e.cting. III. JuSTIFICA.TION OF THE ORDINANCE OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. If For vengeance on e\'il-doers and for praise to them that do well." 'l'his language is connected with the under-magistrates, but with them as sent by the surreme magistrate. It therefore puts before us the idea of civil government. It is the employment of force, but for moral endF. It is for vengeance on evil-aotrs; i.e. it sets itself to repress evil-doing (such as it tak<'s notice of) Ly proportionate punishrneonts. It is also for praise to them that do well; i.e. it sets itself to encourage law-keeping and industrial enterpiise by adequate protection to life and property. This is no human concepti.on; it is the bodying forth (however imperfectly) of the Divine love for order, for settled institutions, "God is not the Author of confusion, but of order, and as in all the Churches of the saints," l'O also in the states great and small IV. MOTIVE INFLUENCING SUBJECTION. "For so is the will of God, that by well- doing ye Fhould put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." It is implied that there was an impression abroad that the Christians were evil-doers, or elements of disorder in tLe state. That impression was not founded on fact; the apostle sets it down to tLe ignorance of foolish men, i.e. their self-caused inability in their ignorance to under- orr. II. 1-25.J 'l'llE FIRST ~PISTLE GENEUAL OF PETER. In