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Peter draws on early and pre-Christian ethical traditions and shapes them for application to his readers' situation. These traditions stress the theme of submission to constituted authority as the fundamental way of ordering life (cf. Eph 5:22-6:9; Col 3:18-4:1; 1Ti 2-6; Tit 2-3). Christians will do good, says Peter, by means of their submission to the authority structures and social realities around them (2:13, 18; 3:1, 5; 5:5). It is important to observe, however, that the primary call of Christians is to good conduct, which is shaped always by reference to God’s will and the impact of grace on their lives. Therefore, the call to submit is a strategy for implementing good conduct in the world but is not an absolute call. If instances arise (as they did for Peter’s readers) where doing good conflicts with submission, the former takes precedence over the latter.
As agents of good in the world, Christians should be subordinate to the worldly structures of authority. They are subordinate out of supreme respect for the Lord, who stands above all authority and whose interests all authority is meant to serve. In addition, through their submission they will be doing what is good as well as silencing the slanderous and ignorant charges of people against them. Such submission, Peter asserts, is the will of God for his readers (2:15).
If Christian submission expresses obedience to God, then Christians submit not as servants of Caesar but of God. In reality, they are free with respect to Caesar and slaves with respect to God (2:16). It is Christians' appropriate service to God that should compel them to reject all forms of evil and to do what is good by submitting to civil authority. Peter concludes by summarizing the unique relationships that shape all Christian conduct. While they hold all persons in honor, including the king (Caesar), they hold each other in love as they serve God in reverential fear (2:17).