There is a word that we most likely would rather skip over if we are being honest. It is a word that our flesh resists, our culture mocks, and our pride refuses. That word is submission. Even though we resist it, it is one of the most essential marks of a life that is anchored in Christ. In 1 Peter 2:13-25, we are confronted at the very core of how we live in this world as followers of Jesus. Peter has already established that those who belong to Christ are exiles. We are strangers in this land. We do not belong here for eternity, and because of that, the world is watching us more closely than we realize. They are observing how we respond to the government, how we respond to injustices around us, and how we carry ourselves when suffering comes.  In the middle of all of that scrutiny, Peter gives us one of the most countercultural commands in all of Scripture. 1 Peter 2:12 says, “Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.”

That verse from last week sets the stage for everything Peter is about to say. If you and I are going to live honorable lives before a watching world, there is a posture that must undergird and inform every relationship, every response, and every reaction we have. That posture is submission. Not weakness or passivity or blind obedience, but a willing, Christ-exalting, God-honoring arrangement of your life under the authority that God Himself has established.

When most people hear the word “submission,” they immediately think of losing. If you have ever watched or trained in Brazilian jiujitsu, you know exactly what I mean. The entire goal of jiujitsu is to use leverage, technique, and force to put your opponent in a position where they have no choice but to tap out. Submission in the world of combat sports is always the result of coercion, force, and dominance. Nobody taps out because they want to. They tap out because they have to.

This is what makes the gospel so radically different. When God calls you and me to submission, He is not twisting our arm behind our back. He is not choking us into compliance. The Lord invites us into submission. He draws us into it. He does so not because He needs to dominate us, but because submission to Him is genuinely good for us. It is the place where we flourish. It is the design for which we were created. In jiujitsu, the one who submits is the one who loses. In the kingdom of God, the one who submits is the one who is set free. That is the upside-down nature of the gospel, and it is exactly what Peter is about to teach us.

As you read this text, we need to be cautious, as each of us carries preconceived notions about what it means to be submissive to authority. For many Americans who profess to follow Jesus, how they respond to a passage like this depends entirely on who is in office. If the candidate we voted for is in power, we happily apply this text and become model citizens. If someone we did not vote for is sitting in that seat, we start searching for every instance of civil disobedience in scripture to justify our defiance. Peter will not allow us to stay in that shallow place. There is something far more significant at stake here than our political preferences. There is the witness of the gospel, the glory of God, and the formation of your soul into the image of Christ.

Peter gives us three anchoring truths about submission in this passage.

The first….

Submission Is Our Response to God’s Sovereignty

1 Peter 2:13-14 says, “Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.”

Submission is not a prescription in scripture that we should take lightly. It is relevant to every stage of your life and every circumstance you will face. Our human nature, in its fallenness, has built into us a resistance to submission. We view it as weakness even though it is as entrenched in us as breathing. What you will see in Peter’s discussion is that submission is not limited to one institution over another. It extends to every institution that God Himself has established. In verse 13, it is our response to government. In verse 18, it is how we respond in the workplace and in social structures. Then, in chapter 3, it is our response within the family. Submission to authority is foundational to life.

We live in a time where there is a growing misunderstanding of authority and a growing mistrust of it. Instead of assuming the best of those in leadership over us, we have shifted to questioning every decision and treating those in authority without respect. This kind of thinking creates a paranoia that spreads through society and causes disruption in every relationship that has any type of structure. It is not just a political problem. It grows quickly into the streets, our homes, and just as common in our church.

The church is designed to be the model for how society is to submit and trust authority. The same spirit of suspicion and mistrust that poisons our politics has crept into how many believers relate to the leadership of their local church. Rather than extending trust to the pastors and leaders that God has placed over them, some believers have developed a posture of constant scrutiny, second-guessing every decision and assuming the worst about the motives of those who shepherd them. Let me be honest with you. That is not a spiritually mature posture. But what about accountability? Scripture is clear that pastors are to be held at the highest standard. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:19-20 that accusations against elders must be confirmed by multiple witnesses, and those who persist in sin are to be rebuked publicly. There is a biblical process for holding leaders accountable, and it is a serious one. But there is a world of difference between biblical accountability and a consumer mindset that treats the church like a business and the pastor like an employee who needs to be managed. Biblical accountability is rooted in love, trust, and a shared mission for the glory of God. A consumer mindset is rooted in personal preference, control, and suspicion.

The writer of Hebrews makes this remarkably clear. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

Notice two things in that verse. First, your leaders will give an account to God for how they shepherd. That is an enormous weight that every faithful pastor carries. They are not leading for their own benefit. They are leading because they will stand before the Lord and answer for how they cared for your soul. Second, the text says that when you make it grievous for your leaders to shepherd you, it is unprofitable for you. Not for them. For you. When you refuse to trust the leaders God has placed over you, when you undermine their authority through gossip or constant suspicion, you are not hurting them nearly as much as you are hurting yourself. You are cutting yourself off from the very means of grace that God designed for your spiritual growth.

Peter himself understood this. He writes in 1 Peter 5:1-2 as a fellow elder, urging pastors to shepherd God’s flock willingly and eagerly. Then in verse 5, he turns to the congregation and says, “In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” There it is again. Submission to authority within the church is not about the worthiness of the leader. It is about the humility of the one being led. And God’s response to pride and humility could not be more different. He resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble.

This does not mean you follow a leader into sin. It does not mean you stay silent if there is genuine unrepentant sin or abuse of power. But it does mean that the default posture of every church member toward their pastors and leaders should be trust, prayer, encouragement, and willing submission. Not because leaders are perfect, but because God is sovereign over the leadership structures He has designed for His church, just as He is sovereign over the governments of this world.

However, we must understand that all authority is grounded in God’s sovereignty and His rule. Paul teaches the same truth in Romans. Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.”

All authority is under the rule of God Himself. Now, I know that many of you may be uncomfortable with that because you can look around and see that we do not always have godly leaders in place. Surely Peter and Paul are only talking about godly rulers, right? Not exactly. Submission to authority does not mean blind allegiance that runs against God’s design. This is precisely why Peter uses the phrase, “because of the Lord,” or as some translations say, “for the Lord’s sake.” The motivation for our submission is not the character of the one in authority over us. It is the character of the God who placed them there. Our submission is ultimately aimed at the Lord, and our lives in that submission illuminate His design for the world.

Jesus said the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Peter wants us to see that submission is not primarily a political act. It is a theological one. When we submit to earthly authority for the Lord’s sake, we are putting the order, the will, and the freedom of God on display for a watching world.

Our Response Illuminates God’s Order (v. 14)

1 Peter 2:14 says, “Or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.”

The design of God for the world is not chaos but order. It is for your good that God established government. It is for our good that we have structure in life and in church. If you have children, you know this well. My wife is really good at maintaining order in our home. We have four kids that need to get up every morning, get ready for school, be fed, have their lunches packed, their water bottles filled, their homework finished and signed, and we need to leave on time to beat the nightmare of traffic. That cannot happen without planned order and without proper submission to that order.

Peter is telling us that we are not to be known as subversive instigators, even though we are aliens in this world, just passing through. Instead, we are to be model citizens for the purpose of illuminating God’s greater order. God is a God of order, and you and I are tasked with reflecting that order in the way we live.

Our Response Illuminates God’s Will (v. 15)

1 Peter 2:15 says, “For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.”

Did you catch what Peter just said? He reminds every one of us that because God is sovereign, we are illuminating God’s will when we respond in submission. The posture of submission is not ultimately aimed at a president, a governor, a king, or any earthly ruler. It is aimed at the King of Kings and Lord of Lords so that His will and His purpose will be established on this earth.

The word Peter uses for “silence” here is phimoun (φιμοῦν), which literally means to muzzle. It is the same word used in the Gospels when Jesus muzzled the storm and when He silenced the demons. Peter is saying that the way we live submissive, God-honoring lives actually muzzles the slander and ignorance of those who oppose us. You do not win the world by arguing louder. You do not silence the critics by posting sharper takes on social media. You silence them by doing good. You put a muzzle on foolishness by the way you live.

Our Response Illuminates God’s Freedom (v. 16)

1 Peter 2:16 says, “Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.”

Submission is a hard word for us because it feels like it naturally undermines our concept of freedom. But notice what Peter does here. He does not say submit despitebeing free. He says submit as free people. Submission according to God’s design does not exist because of the absence of freedom. It is only possible because of our freedom. Your freedom in Christ is not a freedom to react however you want. It is a freedom to act in line with God’s order and God’s will.

Submission Is Also Our Response to Suffering (vv. 18-20)

Peter turns the conversation to a different arena where submission is tested, and it is in the context of unjust treatment in everyday relationships. Peter is working his way from the broadest circle of authority to the most personal. He began with the government in the national, federal sense. Now he moves to the societal and workplace level by addressing the relationship between servants and masters in verse 18.

This passage strikes some people as if Peter is endorsing slavery because there is no explicit call to abolish it here. Let me be clear. The Bible stands against the oppression and ownership of human beings. Paul calls the slave trade ungodly, unholy, and profane in 1 Timothy 1:9-10. The Lord abhors the dehumanization of any person made in His image. Peter is not speaking to the chattel slavery that Americans understand from our history. He is writing to the servant class that existed within the Roman social structure. There were three classes of people in this society. You had the Roman citizen with full rights and protections under Roman law, you had the freedmen with limited protections, and then you had the servant class. Peter is addressing the common social circumstances of his day to build the case for submission even in the midst of suffering.

1 Peter 2:18-20 says, “Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel. For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.”

The word Peter uses for “cruel” here is skolios (σκολιοῖς), which means crooked, perverse, or morally warped. It is the same root from which we get the English word “scoliosis,” a curvature of the spine. Peter is not talking about masters who are merely difficult. He is talking about masters who are morally bent, who are unjust by nature. And even in that circumstance, the call is to submit with reverence. Not reverence for the crooked master, but reverence for the God who sees everything and whose purposes cannot be thwarted.

There is a phrase in verse 19 that we cannot afford to miss. Peter says this kind of endurance “brings favor” with God. The Greek word here is charis (χάρις). It is the same word that is translated “grace” throughout the rest of the New Testament. When you suffer unjustly and you endure it because of your consciousness of God, that is grace at work in your life. It is evidence of grace. It brings the favor and the pleasure of God. Your suffering in this life does not have the final word, nor does it cause the purpose of God to collapse around you.

Acts 14:22 says, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

This does not mean that we should go looking for suffering or that we should create it or pretend it does not hurt. Peter is not asking you to be dishonest with your pain. He is reminding you that suffering allows us to know Christ more deeply, to experience Him more intimately, and to reflect His light even more brightly. When you are mistreated, when someone is unjust to you, when you experience the broken world, you have a choice. You can respond in panic and outrage, or you can rest in the assurance that nothing is happening outside of God’s sovereign plan for you.

But Peter does not leave us to figure this out on our own. He brings us to the highest example and the deepest motivation for enduring unjust suffering. He brings us to Jesus.

Submission Is Our Response to Jesus’ Example (vv. 21-25)

1 Peter 2:21 (CSB) “For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

Here is where Peter brings everything together, and it is where the weight of this entire passage rests. Jesus lived the perfect life of submission. And Peter says that you and I were called to walk in that same pattern. The word “called” here is eklēthēte (ἐκλήθητε), a divine calling, the same word used throughout the New Testament for God’s effectual summons on the life of a believer. This is not a suggestion. This is not a helpful tip for spiritual growth. This is your calling. You were called to the path of submission and suffering, because that is the path your Savior walked before you.

The word Peter uses for “example” is hupogrammos (ὑπογραμμός), and it is a word that was used in the ancient world for the tracing letters that children would use when learning to write. A teacher would write the letters at the top of the page, and the student would trace over them again and again until the pattern was embedded in their hand. That is the picture Peter is painting. Jesus has written the pattern of submission with His life, and we are called to trace our lives over His. Not perfectly, but intentionally. Not in our own strength, but by the power of His Spirit at work within us.

Peter then quotes directly from Isaiah 53 to describe what the submission of Jesus actually looked like in practice.

1 Peter 2:22-23 (CSB) “He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.”

Look at the progression Peter gives us. Jesus did not sin. He did not deceive. He did not retaliate when insulted. He did not threaten when He suffered. And instead of lashing out at those who were destroying Him, He entrusted Himself to the Father who judges justly. The Greek word for “entrusted” is paredidou (παρεδίδου), which means to hand over or to commit into the care of another. It is in the imperfect tense, meaning this was not a one-time decision. Jesus was continually handing Himself over to the Father. Every insult, every accusation, every blow, every thorn, every nail. He kept entrusting Himself to the One who judges justly.

This is what submission looks like at its highest and purest form. It is not gritting your teeth and enduring. It is not stuffing your emotions and pretending everything is fine. It is actively, repeatedly, and deliberately placing yourself into the hands of a Father who sees everything, who knows everything, and who will make all things right. The submission of Jesus was not passive. It was the most powerful act of trust the world has ever witnessed.

But Peter does not stop at the example of Jesus. He presses further into the purpose of His suffering.

1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

This is the gospel in one verse. Jesus did not merely model submission for us. He submitted Himself to the cross so that the penalty of our sin could be placed on Him. The phrase “bore our sins in his body on the tree” echoes Isaiah 53:4-5, and the word “bore” is anēnenken (ἀνήνεγκεν), a sacrificial term that means to carry up and offer upon the altar. Jesus carried our sins up to the cross the way a priest would carry a sacrifice up to the altar. He was both the priest and the offering. He was both the one who carried and the one who was consumed. Because He bore them, we have been set free to live for righteousness.

Peter then adds this incredible phrase: “By his wounds you have been healed.” The Greek word for “wounds” is mōlōpi (μώλωπι), which refers to a bruise or a welt left by a blow. It is singular in form, meaning Peter views all the suffering of Jesus as one collective wound. Every stripe, every lash, every nail. It is all gathered together as one great wound, and it is that wound that purchased your healing. Not merely physical healing, though He can do that. This is the healing of your soul, the healing of your relationship with God, and the healing of everything that sin broke in you and in me.

Peter closes this entire section with one of the most tender images in all of scripture.

1 Peter 2:25 says, “For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Our natural tendency is to wander. We are sheep without a shepherd, drifting from the things of God, following our own instincts into danger and darkness. But through the submission and sacrifice of Jesus, we have been brought back. We have returned to the Shepherd who watches over our souls. The word “Overseer” is episkopon(ἐπίσκοπον), from which we get the word “bishop” or “overseer.” Jesus is not a distant ruler issuing commands from a throne. He is a Shepherd who knows His sheep, who watches over them, who laid down His life for them. And it is to this Shepherd that we submit. Not because He demands it with force, but because He earned it with His blood.

What This Means Today

So where does this leave us? If you are anchored in Christ, then submission is not optional. It is the shape of your life. It is the pattern Jesus traced for you, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are called to trace your life over His.

When you face an authority you disagree with, remember that your submission illuminates the sovereignty of God. When you suffer unjustly in your workplace, in your relationships, or in the broader culture, remember that your endurance brings the favor and grace of God. When you are tempted to retaliate, to threaten, to insult in return, remember that Jesus Himself entrusted His cause to the Father who judges justly. You can do the same as you submit to Him.

So many times, we water down the life of a disciple into this understanding that as long as I am anchored in Christ, meaning I am saved by Christ, then nothing else matters. Salvation matters infinitely, but it is not the end of the story. A life anchored in Jesus will ultimately produce a life that is anchored in submission to His Word. Jesus submitted Himself completely to the Father’s will. We see it in how He lived, and we see it most clearly in the moments before His crucifixion when He prayed, “Not my will but your will be done.” He stood before an unfair trial under an unjust ruler, and His submission led Him to the cross so that His grace could be poured out on you and me.

It is because of the submission of Jesus that He now enters the life of the believer and lives through the believer so that we can live a life of submission to Him. Peter is ultimately saying that your life anchored in Christ is going to model the submission of Jesus. Instead of wandering, submit yourself to the Shepherd who cares for you and loves you.

You were called to it. But have you answered the call and submitted yourself fully to Christ?

If there is one thing I am convinced of, it is that the health of a church is directly tied to the prayer life of its people. Everything we do as a body of believers flows out of time spent on our knees before the Lord.

James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” That is not just a nice verse to put on a coffee mug. That is a promise from God that when His people pray, things happen. Lives change. Marriages are restored. Hearts are softened. Burdens are lifted. Direction is given. The enemy is pushed back. Prayer is the Christ-given engine that moves the mission of God forward, and I do not want any of us to take it for granted.

I know life is busy. I know there are a hundred things competing for your time. But I am asking you to prioritize this. Come be with your church family. Come bring your burdens, your praise, your requests, and your heart before the Father alongside brothers and sisters who love you and who are fighting the same fight. There is something that happens when we pray together that simply cannot be replicated alone. We need you there, and you need to be there. Come join us.

If you could ask Jesus anything, what would you ask Him? One of the disciples watched Jesus pray and then made a request that changed everything. He did not ask Jesus to teach them to preach. He did not ask Jesus to teach them to lead. He asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

That is where we will be this Sunday, Luke 11:1-13. Jesus does not just tell His disciples that prayer matters. He shows them how to pray and why to keep going! If you have ever felt like your prayers were hitting the ceiling, this message is for you. If you have ever wondered whether God is really listening, this text will anchor you. If your prayer life has grown cold or you are just learning how to pray for the first time, this message is for you! Do not miss this. Bring your family. Bring a friend. Make a call to invite someone. Come ready to be taught by Jesus how to approach the throne of God with confidence and boldness.

See you Sunday!

You are loved and prayed for!

Michael Gossett