What Does It Mean to Live Under Authority? A Study of 1 Peter 2:13-25

The short answer: 1 Peter 2 teaches submission for the Lord's sake. True freedom requires the right King. Gospel obedience flows from a changed heart. Christ models gracious suffering for believers. His wounds bring healing to sinners. Living under authority is gospel strength.

This article is adapted from the sermon, Living Under Authority, preached by Dr. Rob Wilton at Southbridge Fellowship on Sunday, June 21, 2026.

1. The Surprising Starting Point of Strength

Most people assume strength means being in charge. Peter starts somewhere unexpected. He opens with how believers live under authority, not how they wield it. The strength of a godly person is not found in how much authority he holds, but in how faithfully he lives under the authority of God.

If that idea sounds backward, it is worth sitting with, because it reframes everything from leadership to fatherhood. We unpack the fatherhood side of it in what makes a godly father.

2. Submit for the Lord's Sake (1 Peter 2:13-15)

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority." (1 Peter 2:13-15) Peter wrote these words to Christians living under Roman rule, a government that would later blame a fire on believers and unleash persecution. He still says submit, not because leaders are always right, but for the Lord's sake. The "what" of obedience is never executed without first focusing on the "who."

Upward, inward, outward

Submission follows an order. We go upward to God first. He works inward, touching and changing the heart. Only then do we move outward into action. Many people react outward first, in the flesh. God often has to work in us before He works through us.

This is also why biblical submission is not weakness but a quiet kind of strength.

3. When Authority Asks Us to Disobey God (Acts 4)

We submit to earthly authority until it commands us to disobey our heavenly authority. In Acts 4, Peter and John are arrested for healing a crippled man and proclaiming Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter has already gone upward and inward, so what comes out is not him but God. When ordered to stop speaking about Jesus, they reply that they cannot stop proclaiming what they have seen and heard.|

4. The Freedom Hidden Inside Submission (1 Peter 2:16)

"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Live as God's servants." (1 Peter 2:16). We are free and yet servants. The world's freedom answers only to itself. The gospel's freedom dies to self and is set free from sin, death, and hell.

5. How Is This Even Possible? (1 peter 2:21-25)

The answer is not willpower. Christ suffered for us, leaving an example, and He bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. (1 Peter 2:21-25) The gospel is not "you can and you will." It is "you cannot, but Jesus did, and because He did, now you can."

Watch and Keep Reading

Watch or listen to the full sermon, Living Under Authority, preached by Dr. Rob Wilton at Southbridge Fellowship on Sunday, June 21, 2026.

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Southbridge Fellowship is a non-denominational church in North Raleigh that gathers every Sunday for genuine community, engaging worship, and biblical + practical teaching that connects to real life.

We are located at 12621 Strickland Rd., Raleigh, NC 27613. Plan your visit: