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, 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 (1 Peter 3:15-16). 

There is only one imperative (i.e. command) in these verses. All the other verbs are simply modifiers that extrapolate the meaning of this one command. The imperative is this: "Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts". The manner of doing this (i.e. the How?) is explained through the modifying adverb and participle:

(1) Always ready to defend the hope to anyone who asks but with gentleness and fear.

(2) Keeping a good conscience so that those who revile your good behavior in Chist might be ashamed.

A famous dictum attributed to Francis of Asisi says, "Preach the gospel always and if necessary, use words". Perhaps this passage of Scripture was in mind when these words were spoken. The shortcoming of the quote is the assumption that the Gospel could ever be preached simply by a godly example without words. 

This passage from Peter does not teach that a godly testimony is a replacement for the preaching of the Gospel but that it supports the preaching of the Gospel because an ungodly testimony would certainly hinder the effectiveness of such preaching.

If you think that you only need to be Christ-honoring in your behavior and not in your speech, you are badly mistaken. Both are necessary and the latter even more so if people are to hear, understand and be saved.

Even when we are around other Christians, we are to both speak and serve. As Peter also writes,

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).

God must be glorified both in our speech and in our service. When we sanctify, that is, set apart, Christ as Lord in our hearts, it means that His Lordship will be manifest through our speech and our behavior, through our spoken testimony as well as our godly behavior. 

Friends, as we thank God for another year that He has graciously granted us to live and look forward to the prospect of a new year, let us renew our commitment to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. Let us renew our dedication to testify of our eternal hope in Christ while living a blameless and humble life, so that there would be no basis for any accusation of hypocrisy. 

For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God (1 Peter 2:19).

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps... 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 2:21,23).

Here's Peter's interpretation and application of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount teaching, "Turn the other cheek":

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:38-42). 

This teaching is so contrary to our normal sense of justice for ourselves and for others. We don't want to turn the other cheek. We want to get even. We don't want to return blessing for harm. We want to harm more and hit harder. A vengeful justice is in our DNA, but Jesus commands us to go against that natural propensity and do just the opposite.

But how? Peter answers, "Conscious of God" (1 Peter 2:19). How did Christ do it? "He entrusted himself to Him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23).

Friends, when we feel slighted by an AT&T Customer Service Agent, when we feel that construction workers are cutting corners in building our new house, when we feel our waiter giving us attitude or poor service, we want justice! To us, that justice means belittling and criticizing the AT&T agent until we get a Supervisor on the line who will give us what we want. That justice means threatening to renig on our construction contract because the workers are not building to the standard we expect. That justice means refusing to tip the unpleasant waitress.

I know some of you may disagree with me here, but may I suggest that when we do things like this, we are not "committing ourselves to our faithful Creator and doing good" (1 Peter 4:19). We are not following in the footsteps of Christ, who did not retaliate when insulted and made no threats when caused to suffer (1 Peter 2:23).

We may argue that we are insuring future justice for others, but God has not called us to correct the world system. He has called us instead to set an example of good amidst suffering. Peter writes,

But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:20-21).

We are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16). This does not mean that we force the world to become some kind of theocracy, but rather that we be an example of what is good and pure and holy, so that the unbelieving world will praise the God whom we serve:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Therefore, friends, the next time you are frustrated with your service provider, your waiter, your construction worker, your landlord, your boss, or whoever else you may encounter in this life, I hope that you will respond with an attitude that is "conscious of God," knowing that we are "foreigners and exiles" here, and that this is not our final home.

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Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear (1 Peter 3:1-6).

Friends, Peter writes this passage specifically to believing women. He encourages women to reorient their priorities, so that they no longer focus on "outward adornment" but rather focus on their "inner self," which for the godly woman is characterized by "a gentle and quiet spirit."

If anyone were to ask me, I would be the first to confess that I would prefer my wife to keep herself outwardly beautiful; however, Peter's point in the context suggests that this is meaningless and vain, for we are merely passing through, and our mission is to bring glory to God and not ourselves. Contrary to those that build great cathedrals and mega-church buildings, God is not glorified in these things. He is glorified in service, humility, sacrifice, and submission. You cannot read Peter's letter without grasping this. This is how believers are to set an example to a pagan world.

When wives focus on inner beauty, they both honor God and their husbands. And Peter even edges in a comment about wives married to unbelieving husbands. God works through the purity and reverence of these women to bring their husbands to faith.

Friends, New Year's Eve, and I pray that those in the Word would remain in the Word. Don't let special days, seasons, or other traditions of men deter you from what is timelessly good and right for you. But remain faithful. And if at any time you are unfaithful, at the moment you realize it, be faithful again. This is the Christian life. 

Have you considered 1 Peter 1:1-2? As Jesus and Paul, so also Peter argues strongly for eternal election in salvation. He calls his believing audience those "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." We have shown previously that God's foreknowledge implies God's foreordination (i.e. predestination), so I will not rehash that analysis here. Peter only affirms here what has been affirmed throughout the Scriptures, that God saves by His sovereign choice.

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Notice also that Peter perhaps more than anyone else emphasizes the new birth, as a result of which we came to believe in the Gospel and were saved:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:22-23).

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:1-3).

Now, the signficance of the new birth, which is by the Holy Spirit, is that it is independent of any kind of human effort. Just as physical birth is not decided by the one born, so also the new birth is by God's decision.

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Consider also 1 Peter 1:4-5 regarding the eternal security of the believer:

[God has begotten us again...] to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

Now, I ask you, is this "inheritance" which is (1) "incorruptible", (2) "undefiled", (3) "does not fade away", (4) "reserved in heaven for you", (5) "kept by the power of God" dependent on YOUR FAITH? After all, after this extensive and compelling list of reasons why a believer is eternally and irrevocably saved, we read "through faith." And then again in verse 7 it speaks of "the genuineness of your faith" and in verse 9 the "end of your faith." Therefore, it must be your free-will-based faith that you are held secure by God, right? It is because you freely believed at one time, even though today you may not believe as strongly as you once did, that you are saved forever, right? And at the end of time, what will be praised, honored and glorified, according to verse 7, is "your faith," right? I am speaking like a fool so that I may demonstrate the foolishness of those that believe in a faith based on their free-will.

It is God who chose you, enabled you, saved you, keeps you, and will perfect you. As Paul asked the Corinthian believers, who were boasting in human leaders, "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). While we speak of "our faith," let us understand that it was a faith that was given to us, or to put it another way, a dead faith that was made alive. As Peter also writes, "you, through Him (Jesus), believe in God" (1 Peter 1:21). And again, "You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit... having been born again" (1 Peter 1:22).

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Notice 1 Peter 2:2, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." If spiritual gifts might be desired in order to serve the common good, the Word of God should be desired for your own good, so that you "may grow." So we also read from Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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Notice also 1 Peter 2:8, which speaks of Jewish unbelievers: "They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed." This is very similar to what Luke writes in Acts 13:48, speaking of the Gentiles who believed:

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 

Just as the Gentiles believed because they had already been "appointed to eternal life," so also the Jewish unbelievers who rejected and crucified Christ were "appointed" to do so. We are meant to understand that the activities of the Jewish leaders were also foreordained by God:

For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done (Acts 4:27-28).

They acted and were responsible in so far as their sinful nature, but God had already ordained that they would do it in just such a way. 

Now, in contrast to their appointment to reject and crucify Christ, Peter writes, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people..." (1 Peter 2:9). Just as the Jewish religious rulers were chosen by God to be the vehicles by which Christ was crucified, so believers have been chosen by God "to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marveloous light... who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (2 Peter 2:9b-10).

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Finally, once again notice the primary audience of 1 Peter: "To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1 Peter 1:1). It is not to Gentiles but to Jews. This is one reason for the frequent Old Testament citations and allusions (e.g. 1 Peter 1:10, 16, 18, 24-25; 2:5-9; 3:10-12, 18-20; 4:8, 11, 18). Also, note also his reference to them as "sojourners and pilgrims" (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11) and his exhortations with respect to their behavior "among the Gentiles" (1 Peter 2:12).

Both Gentile non-believers and Gentile believers may have railed against these Jewish believers for crucifying the Lord Jesus. This gives perspective to Paul's exhortation, when he writes to them, 

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Why would the Gentiles speak of the Jews as evildoers? Certainly they would do so if they behaved wickedly, but perhaps it is also because of their assocation with the people who crucified the Lord. However, if they lived honorably, then, when Christ would come again in glory, these Gentile believers would praise God because the Jews, who once rejected and crucified Christ, had become exemplary followers of Christ.

Can you see how understanding the context, even the audience of a letter, can guide one's understanding of any given passage of Scripture?

In 1 Peter 4:3 we read,

For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

Remember, these Jews were living in Gentile territories. Many of them may have embraced Gentile lifestyles. This is why Peter speaks of them "doing the will of the Gentiles." Peter exhorts them to come out from this kind of lifestyle. 

As a final point, some have tried to say that the Jews have lost their identity once they became one body in Christ, so that references to Jews and Israel are really metaphorical references to the Church. One of the primary texts they use to prove this is 1 Peter 2:9-10, where Peter writes, 

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Proponents of the view argue that this designation, which was uniquely for the Jews, is now being applied to the Church; therefore, the Church has become the new Israel. While this interpretation may be possible, recognizing that Peter is writing to Jews may take away the validity of such an interpretation. If Peter is writing to Jewish believers, the designation "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood..." is nothing unique, for this has always been the designation for the Jews.

Peter may be reiterating it in this context to distinguish the Jews that rejected and crucified Christ from those who believed in Him. Paul would do much the same in the Book of Romans, where he writes:

For they are not all Israel who areof Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son" (Romans 9:6-9).

Perhaps the hardest verse to reconcile with this perspective is 1 Peter 2:10, where we read, 

"... who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy."

This is how Paul refered to Gentiles, not to Jews in passages like Ephesians 2:12-13. In that text, Paul spoke of the Gentiles as being "strangers and foreigners" among the Jews. Now, it appears Peter is using these same expressions to refer to the believing Jews, such that, as Paul saw the Gentiles as "not a people" and become "the people of God," so Peter sees these post-crucifixion Jewish believers, who as a jewish nation was rejected by God, as now accepted as "the people of God" in Christ. Therefore, we must not automatically assume that Peter's reference and meaning must be precisely the same as Paul's. They are writing to different groups. As discussed in a previous comment, Paul was writing to Gentiles in his epistle to the Ephesians, while Peter is writing to the Jews dispersed throughout Asia Minor. 

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I argued in my comments on 1 & 2 Timothy and elsewhere that one must not automatically assume that references to "elders" are references to the office of an Elder, as we understand it today, or that elders and Overseers (some "bishops") are the same thing in the Scriptures. 1 Peter 5:1-5 is another text, where "elder" is treated as an office. However, if you read this passage carefully, you will see that such is not the case.

Notice that "elders" and "overseers" are used independently of one another. In 1 Peter 5:2 Peter speaks of the elders, himself included, as "serving as overseers." Therefore, these are not necessarily the same thing. Overseers are seen as a subset of elders. We have argued before that "elder" simply means "older man" (1 Timothy 5:1) and should probably be translated throughout as such, so that there is no confusion. Here too, the context suggests that this is how "elder" should be interpreted, for in 1 Timothy 5:5 Peter speaks of "younger people," such that younger people are exhorted to submit to the older men. Why not just say that the whole church should submit to "elders" if it is simply a designation of the office of an Overseer? No, Peter is speaking of "elders" simply as "older men" here, of which he was one by this time. 

Nevertheless, the "older men" in general are exhorted to voluntarily serve in some capacity as overseers, especially in the role of setting an example for the church (1 Peter 5:3). This would be appropriate in view of their age and experience. Furthermore, even with respect to the office of an Overseer, such a person was expected to not be a "novice" and perhaps even to be old enough to have managed a family (1 Timothy 3:6). Therefore, it is best to understand references to "elders" as references to "older men" in general rather than as a designation of an ecclesiastical office.

Friends,

I want to encourage you to visit our new Daily QT website. It can be found at dailyqt.org. If you are receiving this email, you are already registered and need only to log in here. If you have forgotten your password, you will see an option to have it emailed to you. This site was designed to encourage you and every believer God allows me to reach to gain the most valuable discipline of all, namely, daily Bible reading. May we be "like newborn babies, longing for the pure milk of the word, so that by it we may grow in respect to salvation" (1 Peter 2:2). I encourage you to actively use the site and encourage others to do so. It follows our annual Bible reading schedule, which begins a new cycle on January 10. As this site has just launched, I appreciate any and every feedback that you would be so kind as to give.

Just a brief word on our reading today. What a wonderful book (1 Peter) this is to close out 2010 and bring in the new year! Consider these few words of counsel:

1. Be sure to bless God for the living, eternal and heavenly hope of salvation that He has given to you.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is impreishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).

2. Resolve  that, completely trusting God's grace alone, you will make every effort to live in holy obedience to Christ.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16).

3. Employ the opportunities given you by God's grace to serve one another and to bring honor to His Name.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.(1 Peter 4:10-11).