Peter stated the general principle that Christians are to live holy lives as aliens and strangers on this earth. We are not permanent residents here but are pilgrims journeying toward heaven. It would have been easy for his readers to conclude that we therefore have no civic responsibility here on earth. Perhaps they would have concluded that they could disregard and disobey human government, since they were citizens of heaven, not of this earth. So, Peter anticipates and counters this wrong conclusion by showing how Christian citizens must live.