The last line of Ps 145:20, which we read before we prayed, states, “All the wicked He will destroy.” That’s an ominous statement.
But let me declare God’s Word to you whose faith is in Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
Far from being identified with the wicked whom God will destroy,
1 Peter 2:9 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…
Peter is written to help us soar in our relationship with Jesus when life is hard. He spends the first two chapters telling us about God’s greatness, how His grace transforms us. And says, God has us here as His spokesmen, as His priests, not only to "proclaim" the good news, but to "live" the good news,
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts , 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
As God’s holy and loved children, we are to proclaim the gospel, and we're to live out the gospel truths in our behavior. Not only for our sake, but for the sake of God’s glory, and to adorn the gospel for those we share it with,
1 Peter 2:12 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.
But what is excellent behavior? It’s not perfection. It’s not avoiding the wrong people, never having a drink, being candy sweet to people. Instead, Peter casts a vision for excellent behavior with a broad statement,
1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution… 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men…
Both "excellent behavior" and "doing right" are linked to submission, i.e., placing oneself under another’s authority voluntarily, not coerced. Act as free men. “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Those who serve Christ as Lord are the freest of people. This is the means of true freedom and to holy living.
1 Peter 2:16 Act as free men, [So, I am free to do whatever I want?] and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use [your freedom] as slaves of God.
It seems counterintuitive but whenever we use our freedom to do whatever we please, we are not free, we are actually slaves of sin. But we are slaves of Christ, and that's why we are free. For Christ bought you with His blood. You belong to Him. This is why you are free from slavery to any other master.
1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought with a price; and do not become slaves of men.
Peter applied this to our relationship with the state, the govt. Today, he applies this same principle to our bosses and to work.
And remember, because our flesh reacts, this is for us to flourish in this life. And because it seems impossible, Christ is with us and we mature into this,
1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, [GK phobos—with all fear, not to your boss (scripture tells us not to fear men; fear, be in awe of God alone). So, by faith, thoughtfully serving Jesus, express a willingly attitude to serve your boss] not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable [and hard to work for]. 19 For this finds favor [lit., this is grace], if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
Just as God relates to us with unmerited favor, He tells us to do the same.
“This is grace” when your job brings sorrows, when a horrible boss treats you unjustly, but by faith you consciously choose to serve Jesus, and you honor your manager, even though she’s a horrible boss; this is grace.
Even if you’re the best employee, but your manager plays favorites and promotes a terrible worker and treats you poorly. Yet you serve Jesus and do a great job. This is grace. This is humility, trusting God with who you are.
We may need to work out past wounds and baggage and and pride. But it starts with being conscious of God at work (19). His presence. Conscious that you serve Him, you work for Him. I like what Paul adds to this point,
Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
Peter and Paul each emphasize that Christ is the Boss to work for. You don’t work for the man, you’re not enslaved to the company. Consciously, relationally, love, serve Jesus at work; work's an opportunity to glorify Him.
If you serve Jesus at work, then you can do whatever a boss asks. For you are under Christ’s love and authority and protection, and He says to submit unless they force you to disobey Him. If it’s illegal or unethical, refuse them. But if the boss doesn’t appreciate you, Jesus does. He’s easy to work for. His yoke is light. If you serve Jesus, your boss’ lack of appreciation won’t affect your performance, worth, joy, or identity.
But this is a conscious act of faith to serve Jesus when your boss is trying to bust your back or break your spirit. It is a conscious act of faith to render service as to the Lord, not men, knowing that He will reward you for it.
If you don’t serve Jesus at work, then your boss is your direct authority, or you’ll just be a slave to your paycheck. But your job is just work. And if work is boring or your boss is a jerk or your coworkers are lazy, if you don’t serve Jesus, you’ll serve your flesh. If you feel ignored, over-worked, disrespected, you will serve sin. Anger. Discontentment. Comparisons. You may resent lazy co-workers. You may not work as hard as before, or do as good of a job. You may not act in love. Your behavior at work won’t be excellent.
But this is grace, when consciously serving Christ, you patiently endure unfair, discriminatory, undeserved suffering. And this finds favor with God,
1 Peter 2:20 For what credit is thereif, when you sinand are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Or this is grace with God. This is grace lived out in our own lives.
We sometimes think that because we are under grace, everything we do pleases God. That's not the case. Our faith pleases Him. Trusting Jesus pleases Him. His blood atonement, the righteousness of Christ that we wear pleases God. But not everything we do is pleasing.
Yet when we serve Jesus and do the right thing and we suffer for it but by His grace we endure it, this finds great favor with God—and great rewards.
Matthew 25:21 His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
If we learn to serve Christ at work, our job takes on eternal significance.
And work becomes an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace and the power of the gospel to a world that needs Jesus. Work becomes a place where Christ is more important to us. His authority more valuable. And your job becomes a holy calling,
1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps: 22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being reviled [hated], He did not revile in return; while suffering [unfairly, severely], He uttered no threats, but He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed [saved]. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
Especially if work is hard, this is the One who calls us to follow His example. He knows sorrow. He understands hatred and unjust suffering. When He tells us to voluntarily submit ourselves to horrible bosses, we need to challenge our arguments against this, and believe He has our best in mind. He who loves us. He’s the Shepherd and the Guardian of our souls.
Peter isn’t the only one to say this. A young pastor was taught,
1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slavesare to regard their own masters [kurios] as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine [our faith in Christ] will not be spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.
Another pastor in Crete was taught to,
Titus 2:9 Urge slaves to be subject to their own mastersin everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith SO THAT they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. [And then the apostle launches into a very familiar passage related to this:] 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 [As hard as this is for people then and now] These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
We may need to deal with our own baggage, past wounds, current relationships at work. And our own pride…
The biggest thing is to love Jesus and serve Him at work. To value being His slave, bought and owned by Him. Belonging to Him. Serving Him. To learn the freedom that comes with this. And to serve Jesus only at work.
The Christian and Horrible Bosses
To watch this sermon check out our Youtube channel.
The last line of Ps 145:20, which we read before we prayed, states, “All the wicked He will destroy.” That’s an ominous statement.
But let me declare God’s Word to you whose faith is in Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
Far from being identified with the wicked whom God will destroy,
1 Peter 2:9 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…
Peter is written to help us soar in our relationship with Jesus when life is hard. He spends the first two chapters telling us about God’s greatness, how His grace transforms us. And says, God has us here as His spokesmen, as His priests, not only to "proclaim" the good news, but to "live" the good news,
1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts , 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
As God’s holy and loved children, we are to proclaim the gospel, and we're to live out the gospel truths in our behavior. Not only for our sake, but for the sake of God’s glory, and to adorn the gospel for those we share it with,
1 Peter 2:12 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.
But what is excellent behavior? It’s not perfection. It’s not avoiding the wrong people, never having a drink, being candy sweet to people. Instead, Peter casts a vision for excellent behavior with a broad statement,
1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution… 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men…
Both "excellent behavior" and "doing right" are linked to submission, i.e., placing oneself under another’s authority voluntarily, not coerced. Act as free men. “He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Those who serve Christ as Lord are the freest of people. This is the means of true freedom and to holy living.
1 Peter 2:16 Act as free men, [So, I am free to do whatever I want?] and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use [your freedom] as slaves of God.
It seems counterintuitive but whenever we use our freedom to do whatever we please, we are not free, we are actually slaves of sin. But we are slaves of Christ, and that's why we are free. For Christ bought you with His blood. You belong to Him. This is why you are free from slavery to any other master.
1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought with a price; and do not become slaves of men.
Peter applied this to our relationship with the state, the govt. Today, he applies this same principle to our bosses and to work.
And remember, because our flesh reacts, this is for us to flourish in this life. And because it seems impossible, Christ is with us and we mature into this,
1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, [GK phobos—with all fear, not to your boss (scripture tells us not to fear men; fear, be in awe of God alone). So, by faith, thoughtfully serving Jesus, express a willingly attitude to serve your boss] not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable [and hard to work for]. 19 For this finds favor [lit., this is grace], if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
Just as God relates to us with unmerited favor, He tells us to do the same.
“This is grace” when your job brings sorrows, when a horrible boss treats you unjustly, but by faith you consciously choose to serve Jesus, and you honor your manager, even though she’s a horrible boss; this is grace.
Even if you’re the best employee, but your manager plays favorites and promotes a terrible worker and treats you poorly. Yet you serve Jesus and do a great job. This is grace. This is humility, trusting God with who you are.
We may need to work out past wounds and baggage and and pride. But it starts with being conscious of God at work (19). His presence. Conscious that you serve Him, you work for Him. I like what Paul adds to this point,
Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
Peter and Paul each emphasize that Christ is the Boss to work for. You don’t work for the man, you’re not enslaved to the company. Consciously, relationally, love, serve Jesus at work; work's an opportunity to glorify Him.
If you serve Jesus at work, then you can do whatever a boss asks. For you are under Christ’s love and authority and protection, and He says to submit unless they force you to disobey Him. If it’s illegal or unethical, refuse them. But if the boss doesn’t appreciate you, Jesus does. He’s easy to work for. His yoke is light. If you serve Jesus, your boss’ lack of appreciation won’t affect your performance, worth, joy, or identity.
But this is a conscious act of faith to serve Jesus when your boss is trying to bust your back or break your spirit. It is a conscious act of faith to render service as to the Lord, not men, knowing that He will reward you for it.
If you don’t serve Jesus at work, then your boss is your direct authority, or you’ll just be a slave to your paycheck. But your job is just work. And if work is boring or your boss is a jerk or your coworkers are lazy, if you don’t serve Jesus, you’ll serve your flesh. If you feel ignored, over-worked, disrespected, you will serve sin. Anger. Discontentment. Comparisons. You may resent lazy co-workers. You may not work as hard as before, or do as good of a job. You may not act in love. Your behavior at work won’t be excellent.
But this is grace, when consciously serving Christ, you patiently endure unfair, discriminatory, undeserved suffering. And this finds favor with God,
1 Peter 2:20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Or this is grace with God. This is grace lived out in our own lives.
We sometimes think that because we are under grace, everything we do pleases God. That's not the case. Our faith pleases Him. Trusting Jesus pleases Him. His blood atonement, the righteousness of Christ that we wear pleases God. But not everything we do is pleasing.
Yet when we serve Jesus and do the right thing and we suffer for it but by His grace we endure it, this finds great favor with God—and great rewards.
Matthew 25:21 His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
If we learn to serve Christ at work, our job takes on eternal significance.
And work becomes an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace and the power of the gospel to a world that needs Jesus. Work becomes a place where Christ is more important to us. His authority more valuable. And your job becomes a holy calling,
1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps: 22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being reviled [hated], He did not revile in return; while suffering [unfairly, severely], He uttered no threats, but He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed [saved]. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
Especially if work is hard, this is the One who calls us to follow His example. He knows sorrow. He understands hatred and unjust suffering. When He tells us to voluntarily submit ourselves to horrible bosses, we need to challenge our arguments against this, and believe He has our best in mind. He who loves us. He’s the Shepherd and the Guardian of our souls.
Peter isn’t the only one to say this. A young pastor was taught,
1 Timothy 6:1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters [kurios] as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine [our faith in Christ] will not be spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.
Another pastor in Crete was taught to,
Titus 2:9 Urge slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith SO THAT they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. [And then the apostle launches into a very familiar passage related to this:] 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 [As hard as this is for people then and now] These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
We may need to deal with our own baggage, past wounds, current relationships at work. And our own pride…
The biggest thing is to love Jesus and serve Him at work. To value being His slave, bought and owned by Him. Belonging to Him. Serving Him. To learn the freedom that comes with this. And to serve Jesus only at work.