INTRODUCTION

 

 

Keith Brooks tells us, “One important ‘conclusion’ to the book as a whole is that those who are walking with Christ will be enabled to suffer patiently, joyously and to the glory of God.”[1]

 

It has taken me a long time to understand the role of suffering in both mine and the lives of those around me. The more I understand about the Bible’s “big picture” the more focused I become on the care for and love of those around me who are called upon to suffer - especially if it is for them in service for Christ.

 

We live in a world filled with evil - even many of the animals of the world kill and eat each other. As a young man I was taught that this is the way of the wild world and it was perfectly normal. I remember raising rabbits as a child and trying to rescue baby rabbits as they were being born before their mother ate most of them. That seemed to me to be completely wrong. Then, when I got saved, I began to understand. I was introduced to the Bible and the world of sin. It became more and more evident that the whole world of living animals was also infected with the effects of sin in this world - not just people.

 

I bring this up to remind us all that this is a world that is largely possessed by the evil one and his sin. Suffering is part of the human experience because we live in this world of sin. Then, for the believer, we are introduced to the evil one and his minions who have a focused hatred for those who willingly and freely choose to believe, and have an active faith, in Jesus, the Christ, The Son of Almighty God, who gave His life to free us from this sin. Thus, suffering, for all of God’s earthly creation was introduced with the introduction of sin.

 

Keith Brooks is telling us that when we are In-Christ and focused upon Him in our lives, He will give us glorious patience for the process of dealing with our sufferings. We won’t be free from them until we are free from this world of sin - but He will give us patience and blessings in our times of trial.

 

THE OUTLINE

THE BIG PICTURE (as we whittle down to verse s 10-12)

 

3:10-5:11 - EXHORTATIONS IN VIEW OF CHRISTIAN SUFFERING - “Keep your conscience clear when you suffer for wrong”

3:10-4:19 - Grace Means Suffering

3:10-4:6 - Reasons for Suffering: As Christ died for sins, so Baptism is a sign of our death to sin

3:10-17 - Christ The Comfort In Suffering

3:10-12 - Who Are You [Blessings for Righteousness' sake]

3:10-12 - Who You Are

10 For, (a message to…)

 

“The one

       who desires life,

              to love and

              [to] see good days,

             

       [He, she] Must keep

              his tongue from evil and

              his lips from speaking deceit.”

11

       “He [she] must turn away

              from evil and

       [He [she] must]

              do good;

       He [she] must

              seek peace and

              pursue it.”

 

The ONE here is intended to be “YOU!”

 

Peter’s words here are pretty clear. And those words pertain to all human beings who desire a good life, love, and good days. But to we who believe… this is a mandate - for if we belong to The Lord then we must act like we are His in our everyday lives and ministries.

 

Peter then breaks down his thoughts into four categories.

 

First (10b), we (you) MUST keep our tongues from speaking evil. We do not belong to the evil one or to any part of His evil system or plans. Therefore, we shall not use our tongues and lips to bring forth any type or flavor of evil thought or action. The message is clear and we will repeat it often… “You,” the one who desires life, to love and to see good days,” must not speak any form of evil toward another (or system, or group). Each of us will have to do much research to fully qualify our responses as NOT evil!

 

Second (11a), we (you) MUST turn away from evil. The picture seems to indicate that either you are approaching evil or evil is approaching you. You are to identify the evil as evil and you are to find a righteous path (a different direction) and follow it instead.

 

Third (11b), we (you) MUST do good. This is a little larger than “I am to think good thoughts.” This means that it is your job to reach out with our life and DO good. Be involved with good. Support good. And that means more than going to a Bible study or Sunday School - that’s certainly part of the call - but, get out there and DO good.

 

Fourth (11c), we (you) MUST seek peace and pursue it. Like doing good, seeking peace is a physical endeavor. Seeking out, finding, joining into… peace - that’s the call. Whether that peace is for your life or for others it is the Lord’s call upon you.

 

Each of the four endeavors above are continuous actions: keep, turn, do, and seek. Do them and keep doing them.

 

Next, Peter moves on to telling us about one of God’s attributes that should frighten us, even as believers, if we are to violate it. Now take a minute to consider what Peter is going to tell us. God will turn His face away from (against) those who do evil. He doesn’t say those who are evil in this case but those who do evil.

 

12a

“For

       the eyes of the Lord

              are toward the righteous, and

       His ears

              attend to their prayer,

 

So let us consider again the four items from verses 10 & 11. If you are one who desires life, a life of love, and good days, a life full of good days… You MUST keep you tongue and lips from evil. You MUST turn away from evil. You MUST do good. You MUST seek peace and pursue it.

 

Have I made you afraid? Verse 12 clarifies a very important truth about all of these statements.

 

For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous… The four “MUSTs” of verses 10 and 11, are RESPONSES you “Must” enlist into your daily lives as a RESPONSE to your heavenly Father’s LOVE FOR YOU - through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice - because you have believed and have faith in Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for you. When you don’t keep these things in your life - His love for you does not end - and He waits for you to bring your failures to Him in prayer - where He will “ATTEND” to them.

 

12b

“But

       the face of the Lord

              is against those who do evil.”

 

There is no such relationship between God the Father and those who are evil. He stands ready to receive the one who turns to His Son for salvation, but until that one does so, God’s face is turned away, turned against those who are and do evil. And just to be clear, when the believer does evil things, thinks evil things, God’s face is against those actions of that person. He may apply great pressure to that believer until he/she turns away from that evil, and He stands ready to receive their prayers of the need of a change in their lives for righteousness sake.

 

 

3:13-22 - EXHORTATION TO SUBMISSION
“The Blessings of The Resurrection”

13 - Who is there to harm you

       if you prove zealous

              for what is good?

 

Focus on the question in light of the overall teaching here, for certainly there can be harm from some while you prove zealous for what is good. Peter will speak to that next - but now, as a child of God, a brother or sister of The Christ, someone indwelt by God’s own Holy Spirit, someone who has the promise of eternal life with the Savior… who is out there to harm you, IF you are proving zealous for what is good.

 

14 - But

       even if you should suffer

              for the sake of righteousness,

              you are blessed. And

              [you] do not fear their intimidation, and

              [you] do not be troubled,

 

The “you” in brackets are direct commands saying that “even if you should suffer - you are not to fear or be troubled by their actions or intimidations. This is another one of Peter’s “tall orders.” But they come from God’s Holy Spirit and are now part of God’s Holy written Word.

Do you love Him, do you trust Him, and most importantly… do you understand that Peter is telling you that you are to act like Jesus acted in His life and suffering… for His love of His Father… in your love of Him, His Father, and His indwelling Holy Spirit as a response for what He has done for you.

 

What We Are To Do

15 -               but

                           sanctify Christ as Lord

                           in your hearts,

                           always being ready

                                  to make a defense

                                  to everyone who asks you

                                  to give an account

                                         for the hope that is in you,

 

It is this last sentence that qualifies the rest of this verse. “For the hope that is in you.” When you stand up for righteousness sake, stand up for good, you are to be prepared to give an account, as a defense, to everyone who asks you… that your righteous actions are on account of Jesus Christ The Lord God who dwells in your heart. This “sanctifies Christ as your Lord,” and brings Him great Glory.

 

How We Are To Do It

16 - yet

       with gentleness and reverence; and

       keep a good conscience so that

              in the thing in which you are slandered,

              those who revile your good behavior in Christ

                     will be put to shame.

 

Your response, your account, to those who “revile” you for doing good… should always be done with gentleness and reverence (Godliness) so that those who have come up against your righteousness… will be put to shame. They may not recognize their shame, but all who are righteous around them will consider them as put to shame - including the Lord.

 

And don’t overlook the three qualities that are set forth here. 1 - Gentleness - a lack of roughness in your words and actions when queried. 2 - Reverence - considering the attributes of our Holy God as the one who you represent at that moment. 2 - Keeping a good conscience - making sure the response to your actions was prepared for “in Christ.”

 

17 - The Better Purpose - from your God’s Viewpoint

For it is better,

       if God should will it so,

       that you suffer

              for doing what is right

              rather than for doing what is wrong.

 

Very clearly stated, that IF God should will it so that you should suffer for some action… it is overall better that your suffering is because of doing something righteous… rather than for wrong or evil.

 

God may will it for His will to be accomplished - but it is up to you to have the proper response regardless of if you are suffering for good or evil.

 

 

3:18-22 The Importance of the image of Baptism

 

Peter now brings this chapter to a close by showing a cross-the-timeline-of-the-Bible illustration concerning those who are “Saved.”

 

The One who brings salvation to mankind.

Through our lessons we have found that the God of the Universe has chosen mankind as having a very specific purpose: To become the Children of God and the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus, the begotten Son of God - for all of eternity. He has done this not for our purposes, but for His.

 

I brought up Jesus as being the “begotten Son of God,” because the 2^nd person of the Trinity of God became human flesh through birth on this planet. He became flesh in order to die in our place for the punishment of our sins.

 

18a - For

       Christ also died

              for sins once for all,

              the just for the unjust,

 

Here the chapter is summarized, and we should see that the previous last few verses all point to verse 18. We who are saved are to live our lives in such a manner that life and death is momentary and that our lives should reflect what Christ has done for us.

 

 

18b - so that [burial]

       He

              might bring us to God,

              having been put to death in the flesh,

but [resurrection]

       [He being]

              made alive in the spirit;

 

This is what He has done for us. The Son of God came to earth and was begotten as a human was put to death as a human that “He might bring us to God.” Because He was the “perfect servant” of His heavenly Father, He was resurrected back to life (made alive in the spirit) as a fitting reward for His perfect journey from life to death.

 

19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,

 

There are so many complicated theories of what happened in this verse. I follow along with Arno C. Gaebelein[2], whom I deeply appreciate his teachings across the bible. As he sees the proper translation of this text as being “alive in the spirit” refers to His spiritual presence in Noah as he preached the necessary revelation of God’s will and requirements before his climbing aboard the Ark and leaving unbelievers behind. “The spirit who quickened the body of Christ was the same spirit who preached to the generation of unbelievers in the days of Noah. The time of the preaching then was not between Christ’s physical death and His physical resurrection, but in the days of Noah. It would seem that all other explanations of this verse lead to really awful un-biblical “stories,” one of them is the Roman Catholic non-biblical teaching of purgatory.

 

So, in the time of the scriptures that ended with Noah and the Ark (Adam to Noah) there was faith in God according to God’s requirements of His revelation of Himself, but by the end of that period of time there were only 8 persons rescued from amongst all of humanity. And those of unbelief are still in Hades awaiting resurrection and final judgment at the end of the Millennium.

 

20 - who

       once were disobedient,

              when the patience of God

                     kept waiting in the days of Noah,

                     during the construction of the ark,

 

              in which a few, that is, eight persons,

                     were brought safely through the water.

 

The important moment here is in the last sentence. The “saved” 8 persons brought into the Ark were safely brought through THE WATER: The flood - and delivered to safety on dry ground - through the preaching of the good news (the then revelation of God as [the Spirit of Christ] to His requirements) (voluntary and willing faith).

 

The teaching of the Scriptures is that all those who were accepted by God as righteous would be “saved” by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross - centuries later. It was granted to them through the all knowing foreknowledge of Almighty God.

 

21 - Corresponding to that,

       baptism now saves you

              —not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but

              [as] an appeal to God for a good conscience—

              through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22

                     who is at the right hand of God,

                           having gone into heaven,

                           after angels and authorities and powers                                         had been subjected to Him.

 

This last verse is an accumulation of attributes of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, The Father’s perfect [servant] Son who was voluntarily willing to give up His life at the request of His Father so that voluntary and willing believers could be saved for The Father’s purposes (as family - children of God - Holy High Priests) for all of eternity. That is your Savior, Jesus.