I’ve been writing about Peter’s first letter to the church. In my last post, I started talking about godly submission to authorities. We concluded by seeing that submission is always to the powers established by God, not to a person.

This is important to understand, because power always flows down the authority structure. But that brings up a question. What structures are there?

Actually, there are four authority structures that God has established. They are the government, the home, the church, and the workplace. It’s through these that authority flows down from the throne of God to the individual.

When they first hear this, some say that I missed one – the school system. No, God didn’t establish that structure independently. Scripture tells us that the parents are to train up their children. So in reality, the school is under parental authority.

As we talk about godly submission, the true question is “How do I submit?”

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good…

Titus 3:1 NIV

We need to be reminded of this truth sometimes. That word, obedient, literally means to allow yourself to be persuaded by. Submission always allows persuasion to take place.

“What if I don’t like that person?” It doesn’t matter. The only case where you would rebel against the person is if that person contradicted the known will of God.

It’s like what happened when the Jewish Sanhedrin ordered the disciples not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus. These believers made it clear that they had an obligation to serve God rather than man.

Now we can understand what Peter was saying. We must be under submission to the ultimate and sent authorities. That means we must place ourselves in a position to be persuaded by their leadership.

Peter continues by showing us God’s purpose through all of this.

For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

1 Peter 2:15 NIV

Peter always speaks his mind. This is quite the verse if you read it in the original Greek. The apostle says that it’s God’s will that through your doing good, you can muzzle the ignorance of the mindless people.

It’s the next verses that are the key in speaking about submission.

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

1 Peter 2:16-17 NIV

Here he tells us to live our lives unrestrained. Yet, as we do this, we don’t hold our freedom as a cloak for evil.

As God’s people, we understand power. We serve the ultimate power. Submitting to the office that people hold, allowing ourselves to be persuaded by the person holding that position.

Then we must place the correct value on everyone. This includes love for fellow Christians. Fear of God and honor for government officials. We must place ourselves in the position of correct submission.

Question: How do you see this operating in your life?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi