1 Peter 3:13-22 - Witnesses with a Good Conscience

Introduction

Tim Keller was the longtime preaching pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. He died a couple of years ago, after a terrible diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, which he battled for about 3 years. During his life and after his death, Keller was and is a Christian leader who provokes mixed responses.

Keller was a champion of a particular kind of Christian engagement with American culture. Pastoring in Manhattan, a lot of his congregation had a very liberal background (culturally and politically). Every culture has its challenges, and Keller aimed to meet well-educated and left-leaning sinners where they are.

I’m not sure who coined the term, but Keller’s method of evangelism and Christian witness was what he and others have called “winsome.” He tried to make himself and his teaching winsome or charitable or likable to non-Christians. Keller did not embrace the “seeker friendly” methods of people like Rick Warren or Bill Hybels or Joel Osteen. No, Keller actually preached and taught a gospel that would be recognizable to Christians throughout the centuries.

However, Keller did embody (and he encouraged others to practice) a winsome witness for Christ in the world. And there was a season of American life when such an approach seemed to be effective. Keller (and others like him) did seem to earn some respect and credibility with cultural elites, and Keller’s way of talking and writing was indeed attractive (at times) to many non-Christians.

From my perspective, that season of American life was short-lived and it is now over. “Winsome” Christians may still write New York Times columns and show up in interviews with mainstream journalists, but most cultural, academic, and political elites today have nothing but contempt for traditional biblical ethics. Even the most charitable efforts to say basic Christian stuff (about marriage, or gender, or abortion)… to speak of traditional biblical ethics with the biggest smile and the warmest tone of voice is still likely to earn you rank hostility from those leading American culture today.

If you live a consistent Christian life (turning away from sin and striving for righteousness), and if you say out loud what Christians believe about sin and righteousness, then you are going to face opposition… you are going to experience some level of pushback or hardship… maybe a snarky comment on social media or maybe an unfriendly exchange at the office… maybe the loss of a friend or maybe the loss of a job.

In some cases, hostile non-Christians will eagerly take you to court in an effort to destroy your livelihood or force you to get in line – think about the now-famous cake-baker (who has been sued more than once for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual couple) or the new Colorado law which makes it a crime to publicly “misgender” someone.

In America, Christians are not experiencing the type of violent persecution that will cost you your life, but other costs are quite real and painful. In fact, the cost of faithful Christian living has caused many Christians in America to be quiet, to keep their head down… and in some cases, “Christians” have decided that historic and faithful Christianity is just not worth it.

Friends, our passage today speaks directly into our cultural moment.

As we’ve been studying our way through this first letter from the Apostle Peter to ancient Christians scattered about the Roman world, we’ve considered the dual realities that Christians are BOTH blessed and beloved of God AND Christians are often derided and persecuted by non-Christians.

How are Christians to remain faithful in such a situation?

How can Christians maintain hope and joy, while at the same time enduring suffering of various kinds for simply being faithful witnesses for Christ?

How are Christians to bear witness of Christ to those who hate them?

This is the subject of our passage today. Peter aims here to help Christians consider who deserves greater fear and how to live as faithful witnesses without fear of those who may actively oppose Christ and His people.

May God help us to fear God above all else… and may He help us to grow in faithfulness as we bear witness to Christ in the world.

Scripture Reading

1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV)

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.

Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Main Idea:

Having a good conscience before God and men, Christians are to bear witness to Christ in the world without fear, even as they suffer.

Sermon

1. The Question (v13-14)

The odd question Peter asks: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for [or “eager for” (NIV84) or “devoted to” (NET)] what is good?” (v13).

The ironic answer: Anyone (with power over me) opposed to what is good!

Peter was not promising NO HARM for Christians.

Peter’s whole letter assumes and warns of harmful persecution!

Christians are “exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1).

Unbelievers will “speak against you as evildoers” (1 Pet. 2:12).

Christians will “do good and suffer for it” (1 Pet. 2:20).

Right here in our passage this morning, Peter says that Christians will “suffer for righteousness’ sake” (v14).

Peter was not downplaying the real PAIN of hardships and sorrows.

Peter speaks honestly about them.

Christians are “grieved by various trials” (1 Pet. 1:6).

They will “endure sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Pet. 2:19).

Christians will endure such hardship and pain that their “faith” will be “tested” by it (1 Pet. 1:7).

The whole aim of our passage this morning is to comfort and to motivate Christians to endure their hardship faithfully.

Peter was reminding Christians about who deserves their ultimate FEAR.

We will note this again near the end of my sermon, but let’s go ahead and see it here at the beginning too… it is the major theme of this passage.

Peter commands Christians to “Have no fear of them [i.e., those who persecute or cause pain to Christians for doing good]… Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ as holy” (v14-15).

This seems to be a paraphrase of Isaiah 8:13 and a NT application of it.

“The LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13).

The prophet Isaiah was commissioned to speak the word of the Lord to God’s OT people as they suffered greatly from the onslaught of pagan kings and nations.

Isaiah’s call there (in ch. 8) was especially to those faithful believers in Judah who would suffer alongside their rebellious countrymen.

Isaiah’s point (i.e., God’s point through Isaiah) was that the suffering would be severe, but that God would eventually deliver His people…

Therefore, they should patiently endure and trust in or fear the Lord.

Jesus said stuff like this during His earthly ministry too.

Jesus said to His disciples (in Matt. 10:16-33): “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles… you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved… And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father… Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:16-33).

“Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”

Only those whose power is limited to this world.

But God is on the side of His people, and He will vindicate in the end.

2. The God Who Saves (v18-20)

Peter (in this passage) reminds Christians of two major occasions when God demonstrated His patience in bringing judgment and His ability to save or rescue His people – (1) the Flood and (2) the Cross.

The FLOOD

God’s patience in judgment:

Peter said, “God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared” (v20).

God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence [and “corrupt”] through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:11-13).

We don’t know exactly how long God gave Noah to build the ark, but it took years (at least)… maybe near a century (Gen. 5:32, 7:6).

God’s ability to save or rescue His people:

Peter reminded his reader, “eight persons were brought safely through water,” finding salvation in the ark (v20).

In Genesis, we are told, “The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth… the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole of heaven were covered… And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures… and all mankind… [God] blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground… Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark” (Gen. 7:17-24).

God knows how to save His people!

The CROSS

God’s patience in judgment:

When Peter wrote this letter to Christians in the ancient hostile world, the gospel they believed included both promises of rescue and warnings of judgment… just as it does today.

But God’s judgment had not come yet.

In his second letter, Peter says that “scoffers” will say, “Where is the promise of [Christ’s] coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4).

And Peter warned, “the world that existed [long ago in Noah’s day] was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word [of judgment from God] the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:6-7).

God remains patient through to this very day… His final judgment has still not yet come.

And yet, not all who heard of that coming day were fearful.

God’s ability to save or rescue His people:

In his second letter, Peter went on to say that there are some people who are “waiting for and hastening the coming day of God” because they are anticipating a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13).

Just as God had rescued Noah and preserved him through the worldwide judgment that fell on all sinners back then, God has provided an ark for the rescue of His people through the midst of the judgment that is to come – namely Jesus Christ!

Peter said it here (in v18), “Christ… suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteousness, that he [Christ] might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

And that same Christ who suffered and died is now “resurrected” (v21). He “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,” where all things – “angels, authorities, and powers” – have “been subjected to him” (v22).

It is from that place of supreme cosmic authority that Jesus is “interceding” for His people (Romans 8:34).

This is why the Apostle Paul argued, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? …Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:31-37).

The POINT is – God is patient in judgment, and He is sure to save His people.

Friend, if you are taking comfort in the fact that God has not yet judged you in your sin, then do not be fooled!

God is patient in judgment, but He will most certainly judge!

My only hope and yours is that, on the day of God’s righteous judgment, we might be found in Christ… covered by Christ… safe in Christ, even as the fiery storm of God’s judgment rages.

If you are not right now turning from your sin and trusting in Christ’s suffering in your place, then don’t wait another minute!

Brothers and sisters (for those of us who are repenting and believing), we can take great comfort in the fact that God is able to save His people!

Whatever hardship or trial we might be facing, (as we sang a bit ago) deeper still then goes our anchor and our trials will soon give way to glory.

God is patient in bringing about His judgment against sinners, but He will not wait forever – He is the God who saves, and He will most certainly save His people… both from the wrath to come and also from the hostilities of sinners who persecute them now.

3. What’s Baptism Got to Do With It? (v21-22)

There is a curious reference to BAPTISM here, and some have caused quite a bit of confusion by citing v21 and making various claims about what baptism is and what it does. In the context of our passage, however, Peter’s reference to BAPTISM is completely understandable, and it’s informative for us today.

Does baptism save?

Well, Peter does say “Baptism… now saves you…” (v21).

Roman Catholic Church:

The official teaching: FAITH + SACRAMENTS = SALVATION

“Baptism is necessary for salvation…”

“By baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin…”

“Justification is conferred [or bestowed] in baptism…”

Church of Christ:

In my experience with Church of Christ folks…

They are largely unaware of the Protestant-Catholic divide.

They (often) don’t speak with precision on this question.

They sometimes agree with historic Protestants (which is to disagree with historic Church of Christ teaching).

They sometimes hold their historic ground, and they claim (like the RCC) that Baptism is necessary for salvation.

Historic Baptists:

Peter says here, “Baptism, which corresponds to this [i.e., God bringing Noah and his family “safely through water”], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Peter 3:21).

This word translated “appeal” in the ESV carries the concept of a “request” or possibly a “pledge” or “promise”

While there is good reason to emphasize the promise of God in baptism – all those who take refuge in Christ are saved, and this one is now in Christ – Peter emphasizes here the promise or the appeal of the one being baptized.

Baptists have always made a big deal of the conscious belief and trust of the one being baptized.

Baptism is one of the two signs of the New Covenant in Christ, and it is the initiating sign – it is the front door of membership into Christ’s visible body.

To be baptized is to publicly “pledge” oneself to be Christ’s disciple, and it is also an “appeal” or a “request” to God for the forgiveness of sins.

To put it plainly, simple belief or faith in Christ alone is what justifies the sinner before God, and baptism is where the sinner’s faith is initially made visible.

Jesus, and Jesus alone, does the saving, but baptism is where salvation begins to be visible on the outside.

This, then, is why Peter points Christians back to their baptism here.

Christ died and was raised, “that he might bring us [repenting and believing sinners] to God” (v18).

Christ “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous” (v18).

Those who turn from their sin and believe in Christ publicly “appeal” to God (in baptism) for a “good conscience” or forgiveness of sins (v21).

“Like Noah walked into the ark, you (Christian) have walked into Christ, and the water of God’s judgment has washed over you without causing you any harm.”

Baptism is a picture of what has happened in Jesus Christ and of what will happen on the last day!

Like Noah was “brought safely through water” by trusting in God’s promise to save and by taking shelter in the “ark” (v20),

those who trust in God’s promise to save, taking shelter (by faith) in Jesus Christ, are brought safely through water (in Baptism) and will be brought safely through death itself (the ultimate symbol of God’s curse and judgment)…

because the same Jesus who was resurrected from the dead “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (v22)…

and that Jesus has promised to “bring… to God” all who turn from their sin and trust in Him (v18; cf. John 3:36, 8:51, 11:25-26).

Peter’s question (v13) may make better sense now: “who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”

In or by baptism, believing Christians graciously receive a “good conscience” from God – they are forgiven of their sins in a public fashion (v21).

Accusations may come, but the Christian’s conscience is clear, because God has made it so.

And in or by living faithfully – by “keeping their conduct… honorable” (1 Peter 2:12) – believing Christians continue to have a “good conscience” before men (v16).

Once again, accusations may come, but the Christian’s conscience is clear, because he/she lives faithfully before Christ.

This is the position Peter is describing for most of our passage this morning, and this is the position from which Peter commands Christians to bear witness to Christ in the world.

Having a good conscience before God and men (without fear of those who actually mean them harm), Christians are to bear witness to Christ even as they “suffer for righteousness’ sake” (v14).

4. The Commands to Bear Witness (v14-17)

There are at least a few confusing features about our passage this morning, and we could spend a whole lot of time delving into more questions about “baptism,” about the “spirits in prison,” or about what Peter might mean by saying that Jesus “went and proclaimed” something to those imprisoned spirits.

Every aspect of Scripture is worth our time, but it is good for us to work hard to understand the main things before we start a deeper study of the other stuff. The good news is that the main things are the plain things – they are usually quite clear.

Let’s spend the last brief bit of our time this morning on the clearest and central section of our passage.

Verses 14-17 include three commands and one principle, and all of these together answer Peter’s odd question in v13 – “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”

The principle:

“It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (v17).

In other words, God’s will unfolds in our lives in both good and bad circumstances, and if we are suffering for doing good, then we should understand that (in some sense) God has intended it for us.

If we do evil – if we sin, if we rebel against God’s commands, if we speak and act in ways that violate God’s rules – then we are to blame for our consequences.

But if we do good – if we live righteously, if we aim for holiness, if we love God and love others in our thoughts, words, and deeds – then any hardship we suffer as a result is simultaneously the fault of sinful people and the design of our loving heavenly Father.

Jesus said – “temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” (Luke 17:1).

In other words, God is sovereign even over this wicked world, but God is not to blame for the wickedness men do.

The principle for Christians here is that no sorrow or grief comes upon us that does not come from the wise and loving hand of our heavenly Father.

John Calvin suffered the death of his only son soon after he was born, and Calvin wrote this to a friend: “The Lord has certainly inflicted a severe and bitter wound in the death of our infant son. But he is himself a Father, and knows best what is good for his children.”

This sort of suffering is not persecution from unbelievers, but it does illustrate the Christian principle that God is sovereign over both the good and the bad… and we can trust (especially when we don’t understand) that God is both good and wise.

God has not promised that we shall escape suffering, but He has promised that we shall never suffer the slightest pain that is outside of His fatherly care and His sovereign plan.

Command 1: “Have no fear of them [i.e., those who cause you to suffer for righteousness’ sake], nor be troubled…” (v14b)

This is similar to the way Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 14.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also… And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever… I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:1-20).

Brothers and sisters, we can face any persecution the world may throw at us without fear, because we know that Christ is with us, He has made us His own, and He will bring us safely home in His good time.

Command 2: “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” (14b-15a).

Again, this is similar to what Jesus taught His disciples during His earthly ministry in Matthew 10.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles… you will be hated by all for my name’s sake… If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household… And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell… So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:16-33).

Brothers and sisters, we may live in a world full of harsh unbelievers who are dead set against Christ and His people, but our fear is not for them. We fear God, and we honor Christ; and God will vindicate in the end.

Command 3: “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (v15-16).

Here, then, is the purpose (at least one purpose) for our suffering as faithful Christians in the world – we are to bear witness to Christ!

Peter says we ought to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (v15).

This is where we get the concept of apologetics – making a reasonable defense or offering a reasonable explanation for why we believe what we do about Christ, about the gospel, about the hope that God has given us.

We must do this “with gentleness and respect,” not with weapons or cruelty.

And we must do this with “a good conscience,” living as faithfully and consistently as we may as servants of Christ in the world.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, we do not need any affirmation from unbelievers in this world. We do not need kind words or emotional support from those who reject Christ or those who despise Christian belief and behavior.

As a matter of fact, we can endure their insults, their contempt, their accusations, and even their abuses. Whatever they may say of us and whatever schemes they may employ against us, we know that God has declared us forgiven and righteous because of Christ, we know that God is in charge of whatsoever comes to pass, and we also know that our own lives are full of genuine good.

Rather than being “winsome” to non-Christians, I think the call here is to be so confident and faithful that we shame those who oppose us, that we shame those who falsely accuse us, that we shame those who mean us harm.

We are not perfect, of course, but we are zealous for doing good, we are eager to speak the truth, and we are ready and willing to explain why we believe what we believe… Or at least we ought to be…

Having a good conscience before God and men, Christians are to bear witness to Christ in the world without fear, even as they suffer.

May God grant us good or clear consciences today… may He help us to bear witness to Christ in the world around us… and may He make us resilient and faithful so that we may persevere… until Christ comes.