First Epistle of Peter
SANCTIFY CHRIST AS LORD IN YOUR HEARTS
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
This verse is a continuation of the exhortation to saints who are suffering for righteousness sake. If there is to be no fear of their terror and no agitation in the mind, the Lord Jesus must be enthroned in the heart. If He is ruling our lives nothing will daunt us.
"sanctify the Lord"
Most translators agree that "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" would be better written, "Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts". The American Revised, among others, puts it this way. There is little doubt this is what Peter meant. This is his way of saying that Christ is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. He is quoting from Isaiah 8:13 where we read, "Sanctify the Lord of hosts" or "Jehovah of hosts". When, without a word of explanation, he puts in Christ instead of
Jehovah, he is inferring that his readers understood that Christ was Jehovah. Thus, without qualification, Peter proclaims the deity of Christ.
"sanctify"
The word "sanctify" means "set apart". We are to set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts. In other words, we are to give Him a special place there. One has put it this way, "Enshrine him in your hearts". Also, "Enthrone him in your hearts". He should not only have a special place, but the whole place.
"sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts"
He is to be set apart as Lord. This is more than just Savior. Many want Him as Savior, but he must also be Lord, not only on the lips, but in the heart. Some want Christ merely to escape Hell. But He should be Lord of our life. A lord is one who is to implicitly obeyed. "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?" (Luke 6:46). We should not only obey, but we should reverence and worship Him with a true heart. "He is thy Lord, and worship thou him" (Ps. 45:11).
"in your hearts"
Christianity is a heart religion. There must be a change in heart before one can truly be a Christian. All other religions demand no more than a mental agreement. This is also true of some denominations. They do not demand a true conversion to the Lord – a new birth from the Lord. They have a set of creeds or by-laws and if mental assent is given to these, then one is welcome into membership and supposedly are fit for heaven. Consequently, these denominations are full of unsaved people who fully expect to be in heaven. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:10).
"be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you"
This is in addition to having Christ enthroned in the heart. We should always be ready to give an reason for the hope within us. The Greeks were great ones for asking and answering questions. We see this in connection with Paul in Athens on Mars Hill. "And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, it?" (Acts 17:19). Then in the 21st verse we read, "For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing". Paul made good use of this opening presented to him. Are we mentally alert to opportunities that come to us to speak a good word for Christ and our hope of eternal salvation? Some Christians never say a word to anyone, even though doors may be wide open. Let us be willing to take advantage of opportunities and as a result be used of the Lord to win souls to Christ.
Today Christianity has many assailants. Atheism is a real enemy, but there are worse – Modernism and other cults openly denying the fundamentals of the Word of God. Many are needed to answer their soul-destroying errors. If an atheist would ask of us a reason for our hope in Christ, could we give him a good answer?
Peter shamefully denied His Lord three times. Maybe he was thinking of this as he wrote this verse. He did not want his readers to do as he had done. Perhaps some of us act as shamefully as he. Do we sometimes deny our Lord to business associates? And, when someone belittles Christ in front of us or runs down the Holy Word of God, do we speak a word of protest?
"a reason of the hope that is in you"
If we are really different from the worldlings about us and manifest a Christ-like life in every way, they will eventually inquire about it. If they see us suffering quietly for Christ's sake, their curiosity will no doubt be aroused and they might ask the reason for it. When they see this difference between a Christian life and themselves, be ready for them to make honest inquiry about the reason for it.
Another word about our hope; Peter speaks of it many times. Some have even called his letters "Epistles of the Living Hope". A Christian's hopes are not in or of this world. They are in Christ and His coming again. Hope is never uncertainty in the Scriptures. It is joyful expectancy.
The Lord is coming one of these days and we should be looking for His coming with joyful anticipation. That will be a great day for the people of God. Titus 2:13 should be translated, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Sad to say, some who professes to be a Christian seem to have little or no desire to have the Lord
Jesus Christ actually come. A lady once said, "I do not think He will come for millions of years yet. The Bible says that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day." Evidently she was not looking for His coming.
"with meekness and fear"
When we do make a reply to one it is not to be done in an arrogant or domineering way, but gently and kindly. We should never answer in a spirit of anger. We must be like our Lord Jesus. He was meek and lowly in heart. The word "fear" does not mean to be afraid of them, but that we should answer with reverence. There should be no levity or lightness in our reply. We should show respect for man and God.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:16 (KJV)
This verse is similar to verses 12 and 15 in chapter two.
"a good conscience"
It is necessary to have a good conscience before God and man if we are going to give an answer to every man that asks us a reason of the hope that is within us. What is a good conscience? It is certain knowledge that what you have done is right and well pleasing to God. With such a conscience you need fear neither man nor the devil and you can speak freely of what you have in Christ. When you have a good conscience, your mind is free of bother or worry.
High talking does not produce a good conscience, but high living does. Some try to witness for Christ without this high living and it accomplishes nothing. In the first place the Lord does not approve and next, the world will not heed. They will say "that man is a hypocrite. He talks nice, but his actions are different." Even Christians will not listen to one who does not live right. Profession without practice bears absolutely no weight. With a bad conscience one cannot face man and the devil will just sneer. It is nice to be like the apostle Paul. He said, "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men" (Acts 24:16). Paul did his utmost to conduct himself in such a way that nothing he ever did would bother his conscience Godward or manward and so should we.
"that whereas they speak evil of you as evil doers"
This should be simple, "that whereas ye are spoken against". This can happen to anyone who makes a firm stand for the Lord. Nominal Christians have no trouble along this line. They profess to be Christians, but outwardly there is little difference from those of the world. They do not condemn sin either by lip or life. They may not go all the way with the worst, but for the most part they are little different from those who make no profession. We could almost wish it was like it was in Peter's day. Either a man was a Christian or he wasn't. To profess Christianity in those days was serious business and might mean dire persecution, so they made no profession unless they were true believers in Jesus Christ. A true Christian intrudes many unwelcome facts to the attention of the unsaved and so causes bitterness.
"they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ"
The word "conversation" here means "behavior" as we noted before. The expression "falsely accuse" is strong in the Greek. It means in actions as well as words; to "despitefully use you" with the sense of insulting.
If under such treatment we can still act calmly with no show of ill will and rather do them good and pray for them, then it’s possible they will be ashamed of themselves. In fact, some have actually turned to Christ and been born again as a direct result of witnessing the calm reactions of a true Christian. However, because of their pricked conscience together with a stubborn will, some may hate worse and despitefully use us even more than before.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:17 (KJV)
"For it is better"
God's way is always the best way. It may not always seem so, but it is. A college professor once said that he felt we could not practice what Christ preached in the Sermon on the Mount. He further said it simply will not work in this age; it may be all right for a very few, but not for all and most everyone fails regarding Matthew 5:39-44, "But I say unto you that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also," etc.
However, this is the better way for now as well as any other age. Verse 44 agrees with our verse in 1 Peter: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." For a truth, it is better to suffer for well-doing, rather than evil doing. Some may say, "I could bear it more easily if I deserved it." But a Christian should never do evil and should never suffer for it.
"if the will of God be so"
One might ask, "Is it ever the will of God that I suffer for well doing?" Yes, it might be. There are two aspects to the will of God – His direct and permissive will. Some try to blame God for Adam's sin. God knew Adam would sin and permitted him to sin, but did not compel him to do so. This was also true of Judas and his betrayal of Christ.
It is true of many things today. An old soldier once said that during World War II, a young man in a Servicemen's Center on one of the Pacific Islands where the fighting had ended, said to him, "If there is a God in heaven, why doesn't He stop this terrible war and end all these deaths?" The old soldier said he told him, "Why should He? He did not start it, did He?" In other words, it was man's hatred, greed and many other wrongs that brought on that war. God just permitted man's folly to run its course.
So, the Lord could of course prevent a Christian being persecuted by wicked men in the world, but He does not. This is His permissive will. He lets the Christian suffer for well doing, that the world may see how a true Christian acts at such a time. And for the persecuted the Lord will bring about blessing, either in this world or in eternity.
It must have been hard to stand the ridicule of puny man, to have them smite Him on the face, to whip His back with the scourge and even to spit in His face, but Christ stood it without a whimper. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory. If we suffer for Him, He will give us glory, too. Many in the early church thought it a great honor to die for Christ, feeling that they would receive a special martyr's crown. And who would dare say that they would not. Remember that if we suffer for our own sins there will be no glory.
