“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.”
1 Peter 2:20 (NIV)
This is instruction for slaves from a man who knew what a beating felt like. I have been beaten a few times as a schoolboy, lost some fights, even been surrounded by a group knocked to the ground and kicked into a ditch. But never as a man, and never by someone in authority over me. But Peter has been beaten as a man and by people in authority over him, and yet his view expressed in 1 Peter 2 is barely acceptable in our society today. His view is that every authority is God given, and that we submit for the sake of our Lord. He doesn’t point us to himself- he points us to Christ who is our example. It is wonderful to be able to point out that the authorities we live under in Ontario have abolished slavery due to the influence of the gospel (especially Galatians 3:28) on our laws and society and therefore if you are subject to violence by someone in authority over you, I urge you to report them to the authorities in Ontario and they will protect you and free you. The changes I have seen in Ontario in my 50 years tell me that we are running away from the gospel’s influence rapidly, and that tells me slavery will become a part of our land as it is in cultures all around the world today. When our authorities turn on Christians like they do in other parts of the world, will we look to Christ, suffer for His sake, and be commended by Him?
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