A Bible Study for Our Country

This week, the United States of America celebrates Independence Day on the 4^th of July, a national holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.  My three favorite ways to celebrate this holiday are with friends, flags, and fireworks!

While homeschooling our children, we studied the history of the founding of our nation.  We compared our country’s development with other human governments throughout the history of the world, and contrasted these with God’s perspective on government from the Bible.  Here are a few things to think about before we fire up the barbeque, jump in the swimming pool, or set out the lawn chairs to view the sparkling night sky.

God’s Instructions in 1 Peter 2 for How to Live Under Human Government

1. Christians are citizens of heaven, so we don’t put our hope in human institutions.  1 Peter 2:9-11 reads, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”
2. Christians should behave with excellence to glorify God.  Verse 12 reads, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”
3. Christians should submit to government which is to praise right and punish evil. Verses 13-16 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
4. Christians build relationships with people because they fear God.  The different relationships are described in verse 17: “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

Please take a few minutes to prayerfully consider if you are living like a Christian by putting your hope in heaven, behaving with excellence to glorify God, submitting to your government, and building relationships with the people who live around you.  Thank God for the privileges you enjoy in your home, your church, your neighborhood, and in your country.  And please join me in prayer this week for our national and local leaders as well as the civil servants who do the task of protecting the good and punishing the wicked.