1Pe 3:13 | KingComments | STEP | . After the promise in the previous verse you might be thinking that nothing can happen to you. That’s how Peter also puts it in . As soon as you make an effort to do good (or: for the Good, that is the Lord Jesus) the Lord will stand beside you. Nevertheless it can happen that while you are doing good and are living righteously, you do not see good days. Sometimes even the reverse seems to be true from what Peter says here, for you see that people who do good are suffering and that people who do evil are doing well. That has to do with the way God reigns the world. The reign of God could best be called an indirect way of reigning. That is in connection with the fact that the Lord Jesus does not openly reign yet, as that will be the case in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then He will directly judge the evil and directly reward the good. As things stand today, you live as a righteous one in the midst of unrighteous people who also are in charge. . It would be a normal thing that the authorities reward the right and punish the wrong. However, more often the opposite happens. You see that in this verse. But that does not mean that your fate depends on what unrighteous people do to you. Your life is in God’s hand to Whom you have entrusted your life. If you look at your circumstances in this way, you know that nothing gets out of hand, but that He is above everything. Then it may seem that you are the loser, but you know that you belong to Him Who is the Victor. That will ultimately become visible. Also with the Lord it seemed like everything went the wrong way, but He has triumphed. It still does not seem to be like that if you look around you, but if by faith you look upward and forward, you know that God ultimately will punish all evil and reward all good. After all, whatever harm men can do to you, it only affect your body anyway( ). Your soul has been bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus and that’s how you became His property that nobody can ever snatch out of His hand ( ). In that sense it is therefore surely true that nothing can happen to you. You can say by faith: ‘If God is for me, who is against me?’ ( ). So it can happen that you suffer because you live righteously in an unrighteous world. The world doesn’t want to see you live in that way, for that confronts it with its own unrighteousness. That’s the reason that it will persecute you. Then you suffer for the sake of righteousness. Do not let yourself be intimidated by God-hating people. They try to scare you, but they themselves are acting out of fear. The world itself is afraid of what is going to happen, although people are outshouting their own fear. They do that by all kinds of arrogant slogans about their own strength, with which they will defend themselves against God. The world has a reason to fear the judgment, you haven’t. You do not need to be confused about the course of events in the world and in your life. . Your rest is not in having control over your life, like the people of the world want to control their life after their own wishes. You see how things are getting out of hand with man. Your rest is in a sanctuary outside this world and that is in Christ ( ). The Lord Christ rules over everything. If you sanctify Him in your heart as Lord, which means if you give Him the all-ruling place, you will be able to fearlessly face life here and now and in the future. With ‘heart’ is meant the center of your existence, the control chamber from which all your motives and deeds originate ( ). After your heart comes your mouth. It is important to confess Him also with your mouth ( ). You not only ought to give account to God, but also to people. They may ask you: ‘Why do you live like that? How come that you allow people to make you suffer like that? Why do you choose to be despised?’ Then you may testify to the hope you have of glory after suffering. That is what the Lord Jesus also did ( ). Just look at Moses. Moses was expecting the reward and therefore chose rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God ( ). In that way you may testify that it is worth it to suffer because you expect the glory that is to come. Giving a defense must happen “with gentleness” and not by threatening in the sense of: ‘My time will surely come.’ Therefore give a defense of that with “reverence” because of your own sinful nature that is still in you. Do not boast on that great future in a way that gives the impression that you own it already and therefore you do not have to care about anything. Therefore the certainty of the hope is not supposed to make you a careless or arrogant Christian. . Therefore, be sure to give your testimony with “a good conscience”, which means, with a conscience that does not blame you for not having pure motives by giving your account. If you give such a defense of the hope that is in you, those who revile you because of your “good behavior in Christ will be put to shame”. They may say whatever they want and they may speak of you as an evildoer, but there will be a moment that they will have to admit to their own disgrace and shame that your life is related to Christ. . That you live in a relationship with Christ must of course be the cause of their reviling of your conduct and not a wrong conduct that you may possibly show. If you suffer, it ought to be by God’s will. You don’t have to seek suffering. But if a situation arises where you clearly see the leading of the Lord to testify of Him, then do so, even if it means bringing reproach upon you. Not each testimony produces suffering. Sometimes you even receive honor for what you say and do. The point is that you should not suffer because of evil things. The only right way to suffer is because of doing good. If Christians suffer, it doesn’t happen without the will of God. When doing good results in suffering, be sure that it does not happen outside the will of God, yes, it is indeed God’s will too. Then it can only be good, for His will for us is always a blessing. . God wants to bring us to Himself. With a view to that, Christ had to suffer once for all. The Lord Jesus has suffered and indeed the heaviest suffering. It was a suffering we never would be able to endure and also never have to endure. It is also a one-time suffering that never has to be repeated. The suffering that He went through for sins has an everlasting effect. Due to what He has suffered, the sins of all who believe in Him have forever been removed and by His sacrifice they all have been made perfect forever ( ). He has taken the place of the unjust. He could take that place because He Himself was the Just. He did not have to suffer for His own sins, for He committed no sin ( ). Therefore He was perfectly suited to endure the sufferings for the sins of others. In this way He opened the way to God for sinners. He was willing to endure this suffering to bring you to God, in His presence, where you would never have been able to come or would have dared to come. The suffering of the Lord Jesus meant to Him to suffer till death. But He did not remain in death, He was made alive again. He could be “put to death in the flesh” because He came in the flesh ( ), meaning that He, Who is the eternal Son, became Man. God sent Him “in the likeness of sinful flesh” ( ). It goes without saying that ‘the flesh’ here indicates ‘the body’ and not the sinful flesh. His appearance on earth in a body has given man the opportunity to kill Him. Man didn’t want Him, Who so perfectly lived for righteousness. But God wanted Him. Due to His perfectly dedicated life to God, God could do nothing else – and it was also the joy of His heart – than make Him alive. He did that by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit ( ). While the world doesn’t see Him anymore and thinks that He is dead, you know Him not according to the flesh ( ), but according to the Spirit, meaning through the Holy Spirit and in a spiritual way. Now read 1 Peter 3:13-18 again. Reflection: How can you suffer for the sake of righteousness?

‏ 1 Peter 3:13

Suffer For Righteousness

1Pet 3:13. After the promise in the previous verse you might be thinking that nothing can happen to you. That’s how Peter also puts it in 1Pet 3:13. As soon as you make an effort to do good (or: for the Good, that is the Lord Jesus) the Lord will stand beside you. Nevertheless it can happen that while you are doing good and are living righteously, you do not see good days. Sometimes even the reverse seems to be true from what Peter says here, for you see that people who do good are suffering and that people who do evil are doing well. That has to do with the way God reigns the world.

The reign of God could best be called an indirect way of reigning. That is in connection with the fact that the Lord Jesus does not openly reign yet, as that will be the case in the millennial kingdom of peace. Then He will directly judge the evil and directly reward the good. As things stand today, you live as a righteous one in the midst of unrighteous people who also are in charge.

1Pet 3:14. It would be a normal thing that the authorities reward the right and punish the wrong. However, more often the opposite happens. You see that in this verse. But that does not mean that your fate depends on what unrighteous people do to you. Your life is in God’s hand to Whom you have entrusted your life. If you look at your circumstances in this way, you know that nothing gets out of hand, but that He is above everything.

Then it may seem that you are the loser, but you know that you belong to Him Who is the Victor. That will ultimately become visible. Also with the Lord it seemed like everything went the wrong way, but He has triumphed. It still does not seem to be like that if you look around you, but if by faith you look upward and forward, you know that God ultimately will punish all evil and reward all good.

After all, whatever harm men can do to you, it only affect your body anyway(Mt 10:28). Your soul has been bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus and that’s how you became His property that nobody can ever snatch out of His hand (Jn 10:28-29). In that sense it is therefore surely true that nothing can happen to you. You can say by faith: ‘If God is for me, who is against me?’ (Rom 8:31).

So it can happen that you suffer because you live righteously in an unrighteous world. The world doesn’t want to see you live in that way, for that confronts it with its own unrighteousness. That’s the reason that it will persecute you. Then you suffer for the sake of righteousness. Do not let yourself be intimidated by God-hating people. They try to scare you, but they themselves are acting out of fear.

The world itself is afraid of what is going to happen, although people are outshouting their own fear. They do that by all kinds of arrogant slogans about their own strength, with which they will defend themselves against God. The world has a reason to fear the judgment, you haven’t. You do not need to be confused about the course of events in the world and in your life.

1Pet 3:15. Your rest is not in having control over your life, like the people of the world want to control their life after their own wishes. You see how things are getting out of hand with man. Your rest is in a sanctuary outside this world and that is in Christ (Isa 8:12-13). The Lord Christ rules over everything. If you sanctify Him in your heart as Lord, which means if you give Him the all-ruling place, you will be able to fearlessly face life here and now and in the future. With ‘heart’ is meant the center of your existence, the control chamber from which all your motives and deeds originate (Pro 4:23).

After your heart comes your mouth. It is important to confess Him also with your mouth (Rom 10:9-10). You not only ought to give account to God, but also to people. They may ask you: ‘Why do you live like that? How come that you allow people to make you suffer like that? Why do you choose to be despised?’ Then you may testify to the hope you have of glory after suffering. That is what the Lord Jesus also did (Lk 24:26). Just look at Moses. Moses was expecting the reward and therefore chose rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God (Heb 11:24-26). In that way you may testify that it is worth it to suffer because you expect the glory that is to come.

Giving a defense must happen “with gentleness” and not by threatening in the sense of: ‘My time will surely come.’ Therefore give a defense of that with “reverence” because of your own sinful nature that is still in you. Do not boast on that great future in a way that gives the impression that you own it already and therefore you do not have to care about anything. Therefore the certainty of the hope is not supposed to make you a careless or arrogant Christian.

1Pet 3:16. Therefore, be sure to give your testimony with “a good conscience”, which means, with a conscience that does not blame you for not having pure motives by giving your account. If you give such a defense of the hope that is in you, those who revile you because of your “good behavior in Christ will be put to shame”. They may say whatever they want and they may speak of you as an evildoer, but there will be a moment that they will have to admit to their own disgrace and shame that your life is related to Christ.

1Pet 3:17. That you live in a relationship with Christ must of course be the cause of their reviling of your conduct and not a wrong conduct that you may possibly show. If you suffer, it ought to be by God’s will. You don’t have to seek suffering. But if a situation arises where you clearly see the leading of the Lord to testify of Him, then do so, even if it means bringing reproach upon you.

Not each testimony produces suffering. Sometimes you even receive honor for what you say and do. The point is that you should not suffer because of evil things. The only right way to suffer is because of doing good. If Christians suffer, it doesn’t happen without the will of God. When doing good results in suffering, be sure that it does not happen outside the will of God, yes, it is indeed God’s will too. Then it can only be good, for His will for us is always a blessing.

1Pet 3:18. God wants to bring us to Himself. With a view to that, Christ had to suffer once for all. The Lord Jesus has suffered and indeed the heaviest suffering. It was a suffering we never would be able to endure and also never have to endure. It is also a one-time suffering that never has to be repeated. The suffering that He went through for sins has an everlasting effect. Due to what He has suffered, the sins of all who believe in Him have forever been removed and by His sacrifice they all have been made perfect forever (Heb 10:14).

He has taken the place of the unjust. He could take that place because He Himself was the Just. He did not have to suffer for His own sins, for He committed no sin (1Pet 2:22). Therefore He was perfectly suited to endure the sufferings for the sins of others. In this way He opened the way to God for sinners. He was willing to endure this suffering to bring you to God, in His presence, where you would never have been able to come or would have dared to come.

The suffering of the Lord Jesus meant to Him to suffer till death. But He did not remain in death, He was made alive again. He could be “put to death in the flesh” because He came in the flesh (1Jn 4:2), meaning that He, Who is the eternal Son, became Man. God sent Him “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom 8:3). It goes without saying that ‘the flesh’ here indicates ‘the body’ and not the sinful flesh. His appearance on earth in a body has given man the opportunity to kill Him. Man didn’t want Him, Who so perfectly lived for righteousness.

But God wanted Him. Due to His perfectly dedicated life to God, God could do nothing else – and it was also the joy of His heart – than make Him alive. He did that by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit (Rom 1:4). While the world doesn’t see Him anymore and thinks that He is dead, you know Him not according to the flesh (2Cor 5:16), but according to the Spirit, meaning through the Holy Spirit and in a spiritual way.

Now read 1 Peter 3:13-18 again.

Reflection: How can you suffer for the sake of righteousness?