1 peter 3:8-12

1 Peter 3:8–12 KJV (WS)

8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Introduction

We have been addressing human relationships over the last few weeks.

Even though Peter is addressing a persecuted community of believers they were not free to throw out ethical living.

He has covered ethical behavior towards government, ethical behavior at work, and ethical behavior at home.

Now he broadens his focus.

These directions are addressed to all members of the Christian community.

Regardless of your place in society, these lists are for you.

All of us will have to match our current guiding principles with the ones that Peter shares while writing under inspiration.

We will have to let go of some things that are culturally acceptable if we are going to live a truly Christian ethic.

“Finally” means that Peter considers this to be the end of a section of the letter.

It means “to sum up what I’ve been discussing.

How to treat each other. vs 8

The first tenet in this Christian code of ethics is that we should all be of one mind.

Have you ever tried to get a large group of people to agree on where they want to eat?

It’s hard.

This person wants Mexican, this person wants Italian.

This person doesn’t like this restaurant.

It’s hard because people are rarely of the same mind when it comes to eating.

This idea of being one mind means that we all savor the same thing.

We may not all order the same thing off the menu, but we should at least be able to agree on the restaurant.

Peter wants Christians to live in unity and harmony with each other.

Unity does not mean conformity, it means cooperation.

We don’t have to be all the same, in fact we probably definitely shouldn’t be.

But we should agree on our primary mission.

Glorify God and Evangelize the World.

Like an orchestra when all instruments are in tune and all musicians are following the conductor.

When Christians are of one mind, great things happen.

We’ve seen that at our church.

Secondly, Peter commends the tenet of having compassion.

The word translated “compassion” is the greek word “Sumpathes”

This should sound familiar because it is the word from which we get our word, “Sympathy”.

Having compassion or having sympathy means that we are to be ready and willing to suffer together.

Christians must bear other christians burdens.

On any given day that are a number of people who are hurting and need our sympathy.

The people of God should always be ready to share their needs and hurts with each other.

It is not the pastor’s job to shoulder everyone’s burdens.

It is his job to cultivate the right atmosphere and provide opportunities to share burdens with each other.

Sunday School, church fellowships, and men’s and women’s activities fill this need.

I feel sorry for the people who think coming on Sunday morning only is going to give them the christian community experience that they are looking for.

The third tenet that Peter promotes is that we are to love as brethren.

Peter has talked about this theme already in this letter.

When we see the Bible talking about love among the brethren, we know we are talking about “Philadelphos”

The whole of human relationships is love.

Don’t let it drop from your mind.

The commands of 1 Corinthians 13 are given to dictate our relationships with our fellow believers.

It’s not just about marriage.

Next, Peter says that Christians should be pitiful.

Broken hearted over things that break the heart of the Lord.

Pity was not a trait that was honored in Rome.

Roman culture mocked pity, Christian culture honored it.

The root word for pitiful meant that your bowels are in good condition.

In other words, things were moved when they were supposed to be moved.

Pitiful means that we are moved when we are supposed to be moved.

Finally, we are to be courteous

This is an easy one to understand.

It just means to be friendly-minded.

This first list is how we are supposed to treat each other.

The second list is harder.

How to treat your enemies. vs 9

The recipients of this letter were already facing personal persecution.

People would mock them, families would disown them, and employers would fire them.

Soon they would be facing official persecution.

They will be arrested, fined, and even executed for their faith.

Peter knows that believers will need to be equipped to deal with more than just the relationships that are good.

This part of the list deals with non-retaliation.

One author said that there are three different planes of human relationship.

There are those that reward good treatment with evil treatment.

This is satanic.

Most reward good with good and evil with evil.

This is human.

The Christian is expected, commanded by God to reward evil treatment with good treatment.

This is divine.

Peter says it this way.

Render not evil for evil.

Render means give back in turn.

This is human nature.

Christians are expected to respond differently.

We are expected to operate on the basis of mercy because this is the way that God deals with us.

Rather than render evil for evil, Christians should be on the offensive bringing blessings to other, especially to those who do evil to us.

When we bless others, we also bless ourselves.

What does it mean, really, to bless others?

Blessing is eulogountes.

Within this word we see two words we are familiar with.

Eu - good

Logos - words

Blessing others means talking good about others.

As we will see in a moment, Christians should have no guile in their words.

This means our actions must back up our words.

Therefore, blessings and good is not just spoken, it is done.

This goes against our natural inclinations.

We can understand that this what God expects of us as Christians.

We don’t just obey these commands out of duty and obligation.

Peter tells us that there are personal benefits to acting in love to the brethren and with mercy to our enemies

Benefits of following these directions. vss 10-12

Peter offers this code to those that will love life and enjoy good days.

Who doesn’t want that???

Loving life is an attitude of faith that sees the best in every situation.

Some people just endure life.

Others try to escape life.

Very few actually enjoy Life

A good life does not mean a life devoid of problems.

It does refer to a life that sees God work through problems.

It’s a life where God is present and at work.

The first step to a good life is found by mastering the tongue.

You can have a better life if you will control your words.

Peter knew this better than most.

The tongue is a dangerous instrument.

We think that we should be quick tongued if we want to have a good life.

Peter says we should instead refrain from using our tongue

Refrain is from the greek word pausato.

Make to cease.

It is better to keep quiet than to speak words of guile, or deceit.

Next we are to avoid evil and pursue good and peace.

Eschew means avoid

If you seek trouble you will find it.

If you seek peace you will find it.

If having a truly good life is not enough to motivate us enough to make some changes to our behavior, then maybe the effect on our relationship with God will.

If we endeavor to live righteously, we will find a greater realization of God’s presence in our lives.

He will watch over us.

He will hear our prayers.

The Bible is clear on the matter that sins will hinder our communication with God.

I care about my prayers being heard.

I need God to hear me when I pray for others.

If we ignore these commands, then God will set his face against us.

I am a Christian, God loves me, he wouldn’t do this to me.

God loves you too much to allow you to live a life of wickedness, bitterness, and hypocrisy.

If we reject the ethics that God has laid out for us, we can expect to receive some form of discipline and chastening to get us back in line with God’s will.

Since this is the summarization of this section, I can assume that this refers to the previous sections on government, work life, and home life.

Application

Peter is trying to help us see that the Christian life is not a set it and forget it situation.

It is a growth situation.

A remodeling situation.

An exercising situation.

In other words we are on a journey, a path forward.

We are developing holiness in our life according to Jesus’ example of holiness.

God cares about how we live.

His concern is out of love for us.

He knows what works best and wants us to love life and have good days.

That can’t happen if we are left to do things our own way.

Conclusion

God has given us clear directions on how we are to relate to each other.

The question is now, will we follow his directions?

Or, will we keep doing what we think is best?