(10-12) A quotation from Psalm 34:12-16 demonstrates the blessing that comes to those who turn away from evil and do good.
For
“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
a. Let him turn away from evil and do good: Doing good is often difficult because as a general rule, evil is rewarded immediately and the reward of doing good is often delayed. But the rewards of good are better and far more secure than the rewards of doing evil. God promises this in the passage quoted by Peter.
(13-17) How to handle it when our good is returned with evil.
And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
a. And who is he who will harm you: Though Peter says that Christians should always answer evil with good, he also lived in the real world and he knew that people often repaid good with a response of evil.
i. “Not to be hated by the world; to be loved and flattered and caressed by the world – is one of the most terrible positions in which a Christian can find himself. ‘What bad thing have I done,’ asked the ancient sage, ‘that he should speak well of me?’” (Meyer)
b. If you become followers of what is good: Literally, become followers is “be zealous.” “Some Jews were zealots, boasting their zeal for the Lord or His Law… all Christians should be zealots for that which is good.” (Hart)
c. But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed: Peter reminds us that there is even a blessing for us when we suffer for righteousness’ sake. God will care for us, especially when we suffer unjustly.
i. Jesus spoke of the same attitude: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
d. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled: The presence or possibility of suffering for doing good should not make us shrink back from doing good. Instead we should give a special place (sanctify) to God in our hearts, and always be ready to explain our faith (give a defense), always doing it with a right attitude (meekness and fear).
i. Other manuscripts render sanctify the Lord God in your hearts as, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. “The simple meaning of the injunction is that at the very centre of life there is to be one Lord, and that is Christ… Other lords are not permitted to invade the sanctuary of the heart, and to exercise dominion over us. Our own selfish desires, the opinion of others, worldly wisdom, the pressure of circumstances, these and many other lords command us, and we turn away our simple and complete allegiance to our one Lord.” (Morgan)
ii. We can be ready to give a defense if we have made ourselves ready in knowing the Bible. Peter knew how important it was to give a defense to everyone who asks you. He had to do this in the situations described in Acts 2:14-39, Acts 3:11-26, Acts 4:8-12, and Acts 5:29-32. In each point of testing Peter relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and was able to give a defense.
e. Those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed: Our good conduct, when our good is returned with evil, will prove others wrong in their opinions about us and it will make them ashamed for speaking against our godly lives.
f. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil: None of us want to suffer. But if we must, may it be for doing good and not for doing evil. Sometimes Christians are obnoxious and offensive and are made to suffer for it. They may wish it were persecution for the sake of the gospel, but really it is simply suffering for doing evil.
C. Jesus shows the power of suffering for doing good.
1. (18) Through His godly suffering, Jesus brought us to God.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
a. For Christ also suffered once for sins: Jesus suffered once for sins. There is no longer any sacrifice or atonement that can please God other than what Jesus provided at the cross. Even our own suffering won’t pay for our sins. The price has already been paid.
i. Though Peter used the suffering of Christ as an encouragement and strength to his afflicted readers, we must remember that Peter also set Jesus completely apart from all others in his suffering. Spurgeon recalled the heroic suffering of one godly man: “I remember reading, in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, the story of a man of God, who was bound to a stake to die for Christ; there he was, calm and quiet, till his legs had been burned away, and the bystanders looked to see his helpless body drop from the chains as black as coal, and not a feature could be discerned; but one who was near was greatly surprised to see that poor black carcass open its mouth, and two words came out of it; and what do you suppose they were? ‘Sweet Jesus!’ And then the martyr fell over the chains, and at last life was gone.”
ii. That saint had the sweet presence of Jesus to help him through his horrible suffering; but Jesus did not have the sweet presence of His Father to help Him on the cross. Instead, God the Father treated Him as if He were an enemy, as the target of the righteous wrath of God. In this sense, the suffering of Jesus on the cross was worse than any ever suffered by a martyr; perhaps not worse in the physical pain suffered, but certainly in the spiritual suffering and total experience.
iii. “It is almost as if the apostle said, ‘You have none of you suffered when compared with him;’or, at least, he was the Arch-Sufferer, – the Prince of sufferers, – the Emperor of the realm of agony, – Lord Paramount in sorrow… You know a little about grief, but you do not know much. The hem of grief’s garment is all you ever touch, but Christ wore it as his daily robe. We do but sip of the cup he drank to its bitterest dregs. We feel just a little of the warmth of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace; but he dwelt in the very midst of the fire.” (Spurgeon)
b. The just for the unjust: Jesus is a perfect example of suffering for doing good. He, the just, suffered for all of us who are the unjust – and the purpose of it all was to bring us to God, to restore our broken and dead relationship with Him.
i. Since Jesus did all this to bring us to God, how wrong it is for us to not come to God in fellowship! The ancient Greek word translated “bring” is the same word used for access in Romans 5:2 and Ephesians 2:18. In ancient literature, the word bring was used “of admission to an audience with the Great King.” (Blum)
c. Being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit: Jesus did die in His body but was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. Here, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. It also tells us that the Father raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:4), and it says that Jesus raised Himself from the dead (John 2:18-22). The resurrection was the work of the Triune God.