1 Peter 3:13-17

1 Peter 3:13-17   Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil (NIV).

   Peter was a Jewish man. I learned in my Interpreting the Bible class at CCU that Hebrew writers often wrote in certain patterns, and this passage has a loose concentric pattern, which is ABCCBA. Doing good; suffering; Christ; hope (which is because of Christ); suffering; doing good.

   Starting off with “A,” Peter is clearly saying to do good. Concerning “B,” Peter is clearly saying that suffering for doing good will have a good result. Now that does not mean that suffering alone is a good thing. Yet this world is fallen, which means there is a general separation from God, and suffering is inevitable for any person following Jesus, the One who suffered the ultimate suffering by taking the sins of all people upon Himself. So we must rely on God to bring us through suffering, and to bring goodness from our suffering.

   Regarding the last verse, we Christians must keep working to distinguish between the suffering we are undergoing which is due to our own sin, as opposed to suffering we are undergoing which is due to being hurt by other people who are in opposition to our Christian convictions and lifestyle. During a period of my life where God was carrying out much transformation in me, I was suffering much for both reasons. I had an anger problem which interfered with my judgment in some serious situations within some friendships. Fortunately God patiently worked on me until I was able to face up to the fact that I had this problem, which was the turning point for me to fully change. Also I was suffering because of my Christian convictions, which involved job trouble and social hardship being in a denomination where there was a big fight at the time concerning whether sex outside of marriage is permissible. I remained steadfast, praise be to God, that God intends for sex to be only for marriage, and that marriage between a man and a woman is sanctified by God as Jesus taught in Matthew 19.

   When I was suffering as a Christian, often such did not seem like a “blessing” on the surface. Yet suffering I experienced because of my Christian convictions was used by God to teach me more and more about Him. The result of knowing God more is that I am more prudent, and able to make better decisions as a Christian. More prudent discernment diminishes suffering, even when someone does something sinful like slander me. I still get hurt by things like slander, however, healing is quick and lessons are learned. Thus, I have suffered much being a disciple of Jesus, yet through that suffering, God has made me a much better person, and things have been getting better for me.

   Thus we get to the pinnacle of “C.” Here in the wake of the three big submission passages, we are presented the ultimate submission. We must submit to Jesus as the Lord. We need Jesus as our Lord to be enabled to do good! We need Jesus as our Lord to persevere when people are slandering us for doing good! We need Jesus as our Lord to maintain hope day by day in this world where there is utter suffering; hope that God is going to bring a good result for those of us under His Lordship.

   Before I was a Christian, my path was so different, void of the problems I have had for simply being a follower of Jesus. Yet I now know that the path I traversed being separated from God was leading to disaster. Following Jesus, being under His Lordship, there have been things that have happened to me, even in the past year, that have been hurtful. Yet God keeps bringing good from it. If you follow Jesus, you will encounter suffering that you would not have otherwise. Yet God will bring good from it.

   Earlier in this commentary I discussed the theology of some early Christians, however I think the greatest value of early Christian writings is their preservation of important Christian history! Clement of Alexandria, who was a Christian teacher between approximately 189 A.D. and 202 A.D., quoted this passage of Scripture in his voluminous writings (1), which is of historical significance since it shows the use of this Epistle by an early Christian. Also, thanks to Tertullian we can know we are receiving God’s messages from an apostle who not only wrote about suffering, but who suffered first hand, even to the point of murder. Both Peter (2) and his wife (3) were murdered in Rome because of their ministry work. They are both in heaven now.

   Just as the Apostles were willing to die for their Lord Jesus, among many others including Peter’s wife, may you and I be willing to live for Jesus.
Hunter Irvine

(1) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (1885; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 2:417.
(2) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (1885; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 3:350.
(3) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 (1885; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 2:541.