Boldness to Stand

Today is a bit of a part two to last week’s sermon. We are talking about boldness. We live in hard times and we look to Christ for hope in hard times. Last time we talked about having boldness being rooted in our fear of God and fear of God giving us boldness to share our story, endure slander, and stand on our convictions.

Peter continues on this topic by calling his audience to look to Christ as their example. Both chapter two and three end in a similar way. In chapter two, Christ is the example for modeling excellence amidst hostility. In chapter three, he is the example of boldness to stand on our convictions.

Because Christ is our perfect example of boldness, we should look to him to inform our actions.

In the passage we will be looking at today, there are three things to encourage us in our boldness for Christ.

Jesus is the model for suffering for righteousness.

If you can recall the theme of previous sermons, there is a call to excellence in conduct in the face of severe opposition. These churches were living among unfavorable conditions. They did not find favor with the government. The Romans were led to believe that Christians were a cult, an offshoot of Judaism. The government was led to believe they stirred up trouble everywhere they went, so the government developed a hostile view toward Christians. How do you go about changing a government’s mind? By showing them what you are all about by living it. The same applies to a servant’s relationship to his master, and a wife’s relationship to her husband.

Even in all of our modeling excellent behavior, there will be resistance. The gospel is a hostile message. It reveals we are not the kings and queens of our own kingdoms. It reveals there is a righteous judge who will call us to account and use his perfect standard as the measure. It reveals we are not as good as we would like to think we are. So by being salt and light in the real world, the Holy Spirit uses our conduct to present a righteous standard to others that begins working on conviction.

In the previous section, Peter called his readers not to fear those who might seek to intimidate or harm us. Rather, our fear of God, that is our respect for his power, position, and authority, should outweigh the fears we might have of any human opposition. We know we will be slandered, but we ought to remember that Jesus was persecuted first, and we shouldn’t expect to be treated any better than our master.

Peter then turns to the example of Christ.

1 Peter 3:18 NASB95

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

This is our blessed hope. It is a succinct explanation of the gospel. The just, who did not sin, took the place of those who did.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The Bible teaches Jesus committed no sin. He kept the law of God without error. Because this is true, he became our substitute. He did so for the purpose of reconciling us to God.

Our mission statement is helping people find forever family through Christ-centered relationships. We based that off Gal. 4:4-5

Galatians 4:4–5 NASB95

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

It is to that end that we endure suffering for righteousness. There is an innate sense that things in the world are broken. But if it is broken, that means there is also a design, a way in which things are supposed to function. The thing that is missing in every human being is a relationship with our Father, but not our earthly one. There is a spiritual vacuum in our inner selves that we try to fill with everything else. For the world to accept Christ as the solution, we have to first admit that our way isn’t working, and the world doesn’t want to relinquish control.

Jesus took the truth to his own people and he was crucified. The church begins and the cultures surrounding them were not overjoyed at their presence. The church was born out of adversity and it has endured through adversity, and it will always remain on the face of the earth. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. We have already won!

May we look to Christ as our example for suffering for the sake of righteousness. Whatever I endure, Jesus endured more. Whatever people say about me, they have said worse about Christ. But I anchor my hope on the fact that one day the true king of the earth will return and establish his kingdom. I will be a part of that kingdom. If he returns before I die, I’ll just change assignments. If I die before he comes, I do so with the assurance that I will be raised to life when he comes. Either way, confidence in Christ’s return and in the resurrection should give us the boldness to suffer for righteousness just as Jesus did if that be God’s will.

Jesus is our model for proclaiming the gospel.

We get into some difficult interpretive issues here, but I don’t want to miss the forest for the trees. We want to keep our eyes on the point Peter is making rather than get lost in the details or in speculations. Peter turns his audience back the the story of Noah.

1 Peter 3:19–20 NASB95

in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

There are some interpretive challenges here. Who are these spirits in prison? When exactly did Jesus go preach to them? Why did he go preach to them? How exactly are these spirits connected to the time of Noah? I’m afraid you are not going to get the answers to all those questions. Some believe the spirits are fallen angels who rebelled against God and connecting them with the sons of God in Genesis 6. Some argue that the spirits are the human beings who perished in the flood. Some argue that Peter is pointing to a time where Christ himself was preaching through Noah as the ark was being constructed. Some think this refers to a descent into a spiritual prison that we currently call Hell in the days between his death and resurrection. These are important things to think about, but I don’t want to miss the point in an attempt to do so.

I am inclined to believe this refers to fallen angels from the time of Noah and that this takes place in the days between Jesus’ death and resurrection. I am inclined to believe he stood before these beings to proclaim victory and say, “I got the keys. You lose. And your friends are going to join you.” We have no idea what Jesus said. But we can get an idea of what he might have said by looking at what he said while he was here.

Jesus had a singular message: repent and believe the gospel. The message is simple. You are in trouble. I know the way to safety. Do you want in?

Here’s what I want you to see: the church at the time of this letter was in a similar position as Noah was in his day. How many people went into the ark? How long did it take to build it? What was Noah doing while building it? 2 Peter 2:5 seems to indicate that Noah was preaching and calling people to repent, which may have included an invitation to join him on the ark. Did it work? Only eight went in.

Here’s what strikes me about the days of Noah. Nobody was sympathetic to his cause. The audience Peter is writing to is finding no sympathy for their cause. That’s the parallel I think Peter is drawing here. Just like Noah preached his face off to an entire world that didn’t respond, we should not be discouraged when we see what seems like very little response to the gospel. Noah didn’t win a single person. Jesus got 120. The church has multiplied like crazy over 2000 years, but we today find ourselves in less favorable circumstances than when I was a kid. Yet as difficult as our situation is, it is nothing compared to the early church. Rather than worry about how difficult it is, may we in the midst of difficulty commit to telling the story of Jesus and what he has done for us. Learn how Jesus spoke about himself.

We meet every Wednesday night right now to train ourselves to have better conversations with people who don’t know Christ. We are training for gardening. We are using a book called Tactics by Greg Koukl to teach us how to use strategic questions for driving a conversation toward the gospel. If you want to be better equipped to move conversations in that direction, come join us.

Baptism is our certification of citizenship.

Next, Peter draws a parallel between the days of Noah and baptism. But now we get to another interpretive challenge. Look at what he says,

1 Peter 3:21–22 NASB95

Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Wait. Baptism now saves you? Now I’m as Baptist as can be, but my Bible also says we are saved by grace through faith. At least that’s what Eph. 2:8-9 says.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB95

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If we isolate verse twenty-one, we can make a case that one must be baptized to be saved. But every good student of scripture knows that we must examine what all of scripture has to say about a subject before drawing a conclusion based on a single verse.

First, we should realize that Peter is referring to water baptism. There are two things meant by baptism in the New Testament. The first is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we understand to be the moment one places his faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in him. This is instantaneous and this seals one for the day of redemption. Secondly, there is water baptism, which usually follows closely behind one’s reception of the Holy Spirit. In the early church, these two baptisms were closer together if not immediately following one another. In Peter’s mind, baptism by water was the next step after one’s baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:25-40).

We like to describe baptism as an outward expression of an inward reality. When you come to place your trust in Jesus, a transference occurs. You have exchanged your unrighteousness for Christ’s righteousness. The Holy Spirit is given to you as a sign of the covenant you have entered into. This is not a visible occurence. We don’t see this take place. You can’t open someone up and say, “Oh look! There’s the Holy Spirit!” So water baptism becomes the outward symbol meant to represent the inward reality.

Let me ask you this. How do you prove you are a citizen of the United States? Usually a birth certificate or a passport, and maybe a social security number will suffice. These documents provide validity to your claim of citizenship in this country. Just like your birth certificate doesn’t birth you, your birth certificate certifies that you have been birthed! So baptism is sort of like issuing a birth certificate in recognition of your new birth and certifying that you in fact belong to the kingdom of God.

Baptism in the early church was often a burn the ships moment. The people submitting themselves to water baptism were making a bold statement. They were making the claim that they have switched their allegiance from a kingdom of darkness controlled by the Devil to the kingdom of righteousness ruled by Christ. There is the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of Christ. There is no third option. We would probably get along with the rest of the world if we would just say that Jesus is one of many options, just another path up the same mountain. But that isn’t what the Bible teaches. If the Bible is false, Christianity is not just another path up the same mountain. It is a path to nowhere. But if the Bible is true, it is the only path up the mountain because it claims exclusivity. If the Bible is true, no other God exists and no other religion is true. This is the statement these people were making when they would submit themselves to the waters of baptism, a public event proclaiming their new allegiance.

Conclusion

We used to live in a culture more favorable to the gospel of Christ. Those days are gone. Our culture, even when willing to acknowledge God, is insistent in creating a God in their own image, a God who always agrees with their decisions, who always loves and never condemns. But this leads to an inconsistent standard and a warped understanding of the character of God. We ought to get our understanding of God from what he has already chosen to say about himself.

We must look to Jesus as the model for suffering for righteousness because nobody did it better. There is no one better to model our proclamation of the gospel after because it is his gospel in the first place. We must have the boldness to stand because it is the only option for salvation. There is only one name by which we are saved and it is the name of Jesus.

Have you been baptized? Have you been issued your spiritual birth certificate? You may have asked for forgiveness of your sin and received the Holy Spirit, but have you submitted yourself to the waters of baptism to certify that you are a part of the kingdom of God? Is that a commitment you need to make today?

Have we been shy of being bold for Jesus because we are afraid of the suffering that might come our way if we do? Jesus said we should count the cost of discipleship. Following Jesus costs us. The reality is the momentary slander you might face because people disagree with you is nothing compared to the suffering our Lord endured to purchase our pardon. Maybe you need to spend time this morning repenting of your reluctance to represent him when you should. Ask him to help you take the steps to increase your boldness. The good news is I can help with that but it will cost you an hour to an hour and a half of your time on a Wednesday night.