Respecting authority

1 Peter 2:13, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake whether to the king as supreme.”

That verse has been controversial throughout the ages of the church. How do you respect the king when that king is sinning against God? Sure it is easy to respect the king (or queen) when you have someone like Queen Victoria of England on the throne but what about when you have a Mary, Queen of Scotts? Well, first we need to define some terms:  submit, ordinance, and supreme.

First submit: To allow one’s self to be subjected. Ok, be humble. Well, not exactly. To be humble means to be meek, not proud. To be subjected goes much further and deeper.  Humility is putting yourself under someone. To be subjected is them placing themselves in authority over you.

Second ordinance: A statue of regulation especially from the government. That is pretty easy to understand what that means. The government sets in order laws which we, the people, are obligated to obey.

Third supreme: Highest in power, authority, or rank. Again that is easy to understand. Someone is highest in authority, above all else. This is the key to understanding this passage, as I will explain in a moment.

Ok, now that we understand our terms, how do we piece the together to understand this passage?  Let’s replace the words submit, ordinance, and supreme in the passage with “be subjected”, “regulation”, and “highest in authority”. (This is not to be mistaken for actual Scripture. This is done to understand that verse and is not a legitimate translation.)

                Here it is, “therefore be subjected to every regulation of man’s for the Lord’s sake whether to the king as highest in authority.”  Still means pretty much the same doesn’t it? But notice the words “king as highest in authority”.  Is the king the highest in authority? God is the highest in power, authority, and rank.  So God has placed the king over us for us to obey but when God’s Word and the king’s will clash we have to remember who is really supreme.

                 Ok, but we don’t have a king, we have an elected president.  The same thing goes for him and kings. When the president and God collide (i.e. signing a bill that funds abortion which is legalized murder) God is still supreme and we must obey Him above any other authority.