1 Peter 3:8-22 Persecution Looms
Sometimes it is easy for us to think that persecution is something of the past, such as being fed to the lions in the Colosseum or perhaps something very far away such as has been happening in Iran or North Korea. Whilst persecution elsewhere is often more brutal than that which we experience, there is real opposition to Christians here in the UK today.
Richard Scott is a GP from Margate. Back in 2010 he asked a patient how his Muslim faith was helping him cope with his illness. When he said that it didn't help him at all, Richard offered to share how his own faith in Christ helped him in hard times. The patient said,“Go for it” and listened patiently as Richard shared his testimony. He then called Richard an idiot!
The patient’s family complained to the General Medical Council and the National Secular Society drove his case to the courts. For 14 years he’s had the charge of professional misconduct over him.
Only recently, in September of 2023 was he let off with a warning!
Glawdys Leger had been a specialist Modern Foreign Languages teacher for 12 years at Bishop Justus School, a Church of England secondary school in Bromley, Kent. She is a Christian. As part of the curriculum she was required to lead discussions on LGBTQI issues. This she did, reluctantly, but sensitivity and carefully. When some Christian students in the class asked her what she personally thought of these issues she explained that as a follower of Jesus she did not believe in transgender ideology. She explained that the Bible teaches that God regards all sex outside of marriage as sinful and that she makes it her aim to live her life for God, as he wants. Despite her exemplary teaching record, all it took was a single complaint from an 11-year old to result in Glawdys being sacked for gross misconduct, even though what she gently expressed was, at the time, the official teaching of the Church of England.
In these cases it doesn’t appear that either Richard or Gladwys were being abrasive or abusive, they were just being openly Christian. Nowadays we are hearing more and more of this kind of oppression, it may just be low-level ridicule, the loss of respect in the office, being sidelined or ‘outed’:
“You don’t still believe that do you?”
However even such low level opposition can still be painful. The question for us is how we should respond to this sort of oppresion. Some of us are naturally tempted to fight back aggressively in the face of opposition. We want to win the argument, and justify our position whatever the cost. We want to keep face, we want to vindicate ourselves! We’re driven to this because being opposed has threatened our sovereignty, our control and so we fight back against the opposition:
“I want to be Lord of how I think.”
Others are tempted to shrink back in the face of opposition. We don’t want to be ridiculed, and so we just keep quiet about our beliefs. We don’t want to lose people’s respect, and so we just keep our faith private. We might tell ourselves we don’t want to be too ‘in your face’ and put people off
but by staying in the closet as a Christian we end up having zero impact on others! We shrink back like this because we fear the repercussions, we fear their threats and so in our hearts, we submit to them, so in practice ‘they are Lord’!
Which position are we most tempted to lean towards?
Fight back? (thinking I am Lord), or Shrink back (thinking they are Lord)?
In this passage from the Bible the apostle Peter gives an alternative approach:
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.” 1 Peter 3:15
The word translated ‘revere’ here is literally ‘consecrate’, ‘make holy’ or ‘set apart’. Peter wants our hearts to be consecrated to living for Christ. We are not to make ourselves Lord - leading us to fight back and nor are we to make them Lord - leading us to shrink back. No, our hearts are to make Christ our Lord and so live as he wants. This passage teaches us what difference that will make.
1. We will repay evil with good
“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” 1 Peter 3:8
At first Peter seems to be just talking about relationships we might find difficult within church
He once again calls for philadelphia - brotherly love. However the language of the following verse makes it clear that he is also talking about our relationships with anyone who might cause trouble for us:
“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9
Eight year olds often get into scraps with other boys at school. Mums will often give this sort of advice:
“Don’t fight back, don’t retaliate. Why don’t you try to be kind to these boys instead?”
The usual response is:
“Mum, you’re not living in the real world! These children will eat me alive if I don’t fight back”
So are Peter’s commands ridiculously unrealistic? Here were these churches being widely slandered and persecuted by the state. Here were Christian slaves being unfairly treated by their masters. Here were Christian wives fearing divorce and destitution from their unbelieving husbands. And here is Peter saying:
“Just be pleasant, don’t fight back.”
The Bible has a lot to say about how Christians are to respond to evil and injustice and this passage is just one example. Sometimes it is right to speak truth to power, to seek justice but sometimes, as Peter says here, it is best to ‘repay evil with good’.
Maybe this all sounds a bit unrealistic to us in our situations. How can we not gossip back when someone gossips about us? When someone maligns us or manoeuvres against us unfairly, how can we react similarly? The answer is found in verse 10, where Peter quotes from Psalm 34:
“For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’” 1 Peter 3:10-12
This psalm was written during King David’s own exile. He was on the run from his enemies and was then miraculously delivered from them! In this song he seems to be saying:
God will always listen to the prayers of the person who turns from evil and does good,
God will always rescue the man whose lips are pure,
God will always redeem the righteous.
So we need to know: ‘Will that be true for me in my situation?’
There is a tendency within us to always want to read Scripture as though it’s primarily about us.
A lady was given a ‘Personalised Promise Bible’. In this, every single promise in Scripture had been ever so slightly changed so that instead of the name of the original recipient - eg Abraham – his or her name replaces it. So somewhere in the north of England is a woman called Carol who is expecting a baby and God is promising to make him or her into ‘a nation as numerous as the sand on the seashore’!
Psalm 2 is primarily not about us – it points us forward to the coming of Jesus, who is God’s righteous king who would die on a cross with his hands and feet pierced’ and where ‘not one of his bones were broken.’ At Golgotha:
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” 1 Peter 2:23
As God’s righteous King, Jesus knew he would be saved from death, and brought back to life. This enabled him not to seek his own revenge, because he knew God’s justice was coming. This enabled him to seek the peace of those who persecuted him. This enabled him to bless his enemies…and here we are having been given his Spirit to enable us to live as he did!
Some years ago there was a trend for Christians to wear WWJD wristbands as a way to remember Christ in everyday situations and ask ‘What would Jesus do?’ But perhaps here, Peter would encourage us to ask WDJD - ‘What did Jesus do’?
We can bless our enemies, only because we who were once God’s enemies, have been saved from that old way of living! We can seek peace, only because we’ve been shown peace! We can do good to others, only because good has been done for us! The Spirit of Jesus is now in us!
“. . .to this you were called.” 1 Peter 3:9
Is there anyone in our church that I need to forgive and make peace with? Maybe tomorrow at work there is someone you need to try and love, instead of try to avoid. Maybe this week there is someone we can do good towards, who would never expect it?
2. We can respond to malice with hope
“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 their threats; do not be frightened.’ But in your hearts revere [consecrate] Christ as Lord.” 1 Peter 3:13-15
Once again we might think Peter is being a bit unrealistic. These churches might write back to the apostle::
“Dear Peter, actually, the prospect of being beaten by my master is quite frightening. The prospect of being left destitute by my non-Christian husband does fill me with fear.”
Or,
“Dear Peter, the prospect of being the laughing stock of my school is frightening. The prospect of losing my job does fill me with fear.”
In the 1990s, there was a popular extreme sports brand called “No Fear”. Their adverts would show a blurred picture of a snowboarder jumping off a mountain. ,Those youngsters wanting to identify with that macho vision, would wear the t-shirt. Peter is not advocating a “No Fear” brand of Christianity. He isn’t calling us cowards if we’re afraid or asking us to be blind to the reality of things. Peter’s t-shirt wouldn’t say “No Fear” but rather, “Displace fear with a greater fear”.
Verse 14 is a quotation from Isaiah which reads:
“ . . . do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” Isaiah 8:12-13
Peter slightly amends it, changing the “LORD Almighty” to “the Lord Jesus”.
““Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. “ 1 Peter 3:14-15
Jesus is the one we are to consecrate our hearts to. He is the one who is to rule over us. This means our hearts are not to be ruled by those who might oppose us. Instead we need to constantly tell ourselves: they are not Lord, they do not reign over us. We are free to behave as the Lord asks of us. Once we’ve been freed from fearing them we will be given the boldness to speak words of hope to others about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is, after all, their Lord as well as ours 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 behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16
To share Jesus with others is a major reason God called us to be his people. Peter had written earlier:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
The late great Bible teacher, John Stott was at the Lausanne Conference of Christian leaders from throughout the world. One morning he was having breakfast with a Christian who lived in a country ruled by a very oppressive communist regime. John asked this man whether he was free to talk about the Lord Jesus in his country.
“Oh yes, we are perfectly free,” came the immediate reply, but then he added, “So long as you are willing to be beaten up and imprisoned!”
The freedom Christ gives us overcomes all restrictions. The early apostles knew this.
Some of our workplaces may have rules against propagating political or religious views but God still wants his people to share the gospel with others. It is helpful to see here that Peter assumes that much of our talking about Jesus will be in response to other people’s questions and observations. Perhaps our friends, colleagues and neighbours see that we live differently, and want to know WHY? Maybe they’ve noticed we spend every Sunday with our church family. Maybe they’ve noticed we don’t get drunk at the socials. Maybe they’ve noticed that we don’t live or sleep with our boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe they’ve noticed that we speak honourably of our spouse – WHY?
The best way to get people asking questions of you is to start by asking them questions. This is a great way into getting into a conversation. A missionary in a Muslim country was excited about a way he manages to engage people to start talking about Jesus.
“What is your secret?” he was asked.
“Its a great line,” the missionary continued.
“What is it, please share it with us.
“I go up to someone and put out my hand and say, ‘Hello. My name is George. What is yours?”
Most people deep down know that there are real spiritual values, that there is a purpose in life, that honesty, kindness and integrity matter. Discussing what the source of morality, justice, beauty and purpose are can result in them asking you what you think. Asking what they think is the grand narrative of life and where they think everything is going can open doors. Most of the time, people not only have no answers and no hope which stands even when we have a terminal illness. In contrast we do!
We know that there is a Creator who has placed meaning and beauty in this world.
We know that there is a Lord who has fixed and determined what is right and wrong.
We know that there is a Redeemer who will one day bring perfect justice.
We know this because Christ was raised bodily from the dead - he is our living hope.
Peter continues:
“But in your hearts revere 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 behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16
Verse 15 is not a polite suggestion, but a command: “Always be prepared”! ‘Be Prepared’ is the Boy Scouts motto because you never know when you’ll need the skills they give you. ‘Be prepared’ should be our motto because you never know when you’ll be able to offer this hope to others. If we are not well prepared we certainly won’t be praying for and looking out for opportunities to share the good news with others. How our churches need to think how to prepare their people for this essential task.
Dr. Richard Scott, who faced disciplinary hearings for sharing his faith with patients was asked whether he still looks for opportunities to talk about Jesus. He replied:
(1) The answer is easy! In the last month I have prayed with a man dying of cancer and seen a lady with severe depression beaming with joy, having plucked up the courage to join our current Alpha course in church. Many of the drug addicts we treat are also on Alpha, and one already wants to be baptised.
(2) Another lady in her mid-thirties, close to death from alcoholism, has responded to medical input and prayer from her wider family and can’t wait to come back to church. The list goes on….
(3) Why do I continue? I know who my real boss is - the one before whom I will stand at the final judgement. And it isn’t the General Medical Council”.
Here is someone who has displaced his fear of man with a healthy fear of God. Here is someone whose heart is consecrated to the Lord. We will never put the honour of Christ first in our thinking unless we are persuaded that our security is absolutely bound up with Jesus Christ. If our heart is really consecrated to Christ as our Lord we will be confidently standing with him. Peter writes:
“For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:17
Why is it better to suffer than to shrink back or fight back? Surely it is because Christians have an eternal perspective and do not just have this life as their goal.
What Peter go on to say demonstrates how Jesus thought. At his trial and even when on the cross his greatest desire was to help people think with an eternal perspective. Even after his death he wanted everyone to know that he is the sovereign king of all. In this passage the trajectory of what Peter writes moves from down to up, from suffering to glory:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” 1 Peter 3:18-22
Did you notice the trajectory? It begins as low as it can go - Christ the King suffering, bleeding, dying on a Roman cross but it ends with his glorious resurrection and ascension. The point is obvious, God victoriously vindicated Jesus Christ.
The Gospel
Many have never understood why Jesus died, but here Peter wants us all to be certain:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18
If my left hand represents my life, God has seen all that I have done that is offensive to himself and this can be represented by a book that has recorded all our sin. This book blocks God from me, there is a separation between myself and God. Some try to atone for this sin, to put everything right themselves, by trying to behave well and becoming religious, going to church, a mosque, a synagogue or some other religious community. The Bible is clear that nothing that we do can put us in a right relationship with God. We are still stuck with our sin that separates us from God.
In the Old Testament and in many ancient communities people all understand this state of affairs and they offer animal sacrifices. These animal sacrifices are a picture of the only hope mankind can have. We all need a Saviour outside of ourselves. Obviously an animal cannot atone for my sin, this is a picture of what God himself was going to do. He was going to enter his own world as a human being and himself take on himself the sin of all who are willing to come to him on his terms. That is called repentance. Repentance is much more that feeling sorry for the wrongs I have done, it is a turning away from living for myself and turning to have the Lord God who has revealed himself as Jesus, becoming my Lord.
Now let my right hand represent the Lord Jesus. He did not have a book of his own sin to carry – he was the sinless Son of God. When he died he became separated from his Father because on that cross he took responsibility for my sin. Peter has told us earlier:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
When a person becomes a Christian the load I carry, the sins represented by the book is transferred to Jesus. He became sin for each of us.
This magnificent truth needs to sink into the depths of our understanding - Jesus Christ suffered for me! But he was also raised and vindicated for us also! He now reigns and Jesus wants everyone to know this. His Spirit is a proclaiming Spirit. Noah had that same proclaiming Spirit and preached to people in his day that they must repent or face God’s eternal judgment. Anyone in any generation who rejects God’s claim to being Lord of his universe and Lord of each of us will eventually face God’s judgment. How foolish it is to live for today and forfeit an eternal future that the grace of God longs to share with us. Jonah came to realise this after he refused to proclaim God’s message to the Ninevites. He then came to his senses realising:
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” Jonah 2:8
Eternal salvation will only be given to those who truly turn to Christ to live a new life with and for him. Baptism is a sign that we are aligning ourselves with Jesus. He died to take our sin and we are associating ourselves with him as we go down under the water. He then rose to glory and because we are in him we also will be raised to live a new sort of life. It is because of this commitment that he saves us. No-one must ever muddle church membership and all its rites with the new beginning, the new birth, that God gives us when we turn to Christ. All Christians have died to the old life and are now Christ’s representatives on earth. Peter refers to Noah’s ark as is rides above the waters of destruction and says this is a picture of Christians being saved. There will not be that many!
“In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience towards God. “ 1 Peter 3:20-21
Our pledge to christ is repentance. Baptism saves us because it is a public proclamation of our new relationship with Christ. Without having that relationship the rite of baptism cannot save us.
Peter finishes us by telling us who Jesus is and by reminding us where he is now. We can only be saved because of who he is.
“It (baptism) saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” 1 Peter 3 21-22
Again, the trajectory is first down but then up. The story ends with all spiritual powers in submission to the Jesus, God’s Christ, his eternal King. No wonder it is better to suffer for doing good, it is better to be opposed for being godly because Christ has been victoriously vindicated.
But we’re missing a step in logic - how does Christ’s victory benefit us?
An advertisement for a small camera that can record active sports, such as ‘bungee jumping’, used to read:
“Leap boldly and bring back the story.”
A video showed a father in Brazil who went ‘bungee jumping’ with his three year old girl strapped to his chest. She is remarkably calm because she’d seen her dad do it before. She knew she would go down and then back up!
That’s exactly what Jesus did - going down into death and then up to resurrection and glory.
God has now given us a trustworthy record and he calls each one of us to become his followers and to trust him in the ups and downs of life. If we are trusting in Christ, baptised into him, we are stuck to him. Where Jesus goes, we go - he was victoriously vindicated and so will we be!
It really is better to suffer for doing what is good to speak about Christ and risk upsetting people.
It is better to take persecution on the chin. It is better to bless those who might curse us and turn the other cheek because we will be vindicated. We will be victorious on the day our Lord returns to judge all people, the living and the dead.
Those who oppose him and his people now will one day have to accept that he is Lord of all but then it will be too late. We must all ask ourselves who is really Lord of our lives. Is it me and my interests or is it the Lord Jesus?
We all have to decide, is my priority to live for myself in the here and now or for him and the there and then. Not making this decision means in practice to say “It’s the here and now for me’
BVP
Based on a talk given by Andy Palmer at Christ Church Balham
