Suffering for Righteousness' Sake
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep 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 prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
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, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep 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 prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Now let’s remember 1 Peter is writing this letter to the people because of the persecution they were receiving for being Christians. Peter explained how Christians should respond when they suffer because of their beliefs.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Pe). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
But the way Peter talks to them is how we should be to everyone. Let’s break it down. vs 8 he builds them, reminds them of they are. Then in vs.9 he gets on them for what they are doing and then reminds them why they chose the calling of becoming a Christian.
Let’s take a look at our lives with this.
As Christians, when we see a fellow brother or sister in Christ doing something wrong, I should chastise them for what they are doing. I need to speak to them with love. I am going to put my wife on the spot right now.
Everyone knows my wife is a Food Service Manager. When her employees do something against policy, she does 3 things.
Tells them about how good they are doing
Talks to them about the violation and explains where they did wrong
Works with them to find a resolution or plan to not have the violation happen again.
Now let’s look at our Christian Walk.
We approach the brother/sister in love.
We make known of their sin and how it was a sin.
We show them in scripture on how to resolve the sin and work to be accountable with them.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Always be prepared
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
How we say things can have two different meanings.
When you text someone they dont always know the intent behind it right.
English Test.
Commas matter. We have seen the meme on Social Media
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Two different meanings, however, with me talking it sounds the same. But if you read it two different meanings.
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, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 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. 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, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Christ only suffered one for our sins not multiple times. His bloodshed was one time for all sins. He doesnt have to keep coming back and dying each time someone new becomes a Christians.
Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Vs 28 Sums it all up.
Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
He is coming back again not to deal with our sins but to raise us up with HIM.
1 Peter also brought up Baptism
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Baptism is a public profession of our Faith. It shows the world that we were once sinners, but just as Romans says, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. We too might walk in newness of life.
FREE FROM THE SHACKLES
FREE FROM HELL
When we become saved, we need to shout it out from the roof tops. We need to show the world that being a christian is just someone that goes to church on a sunday morning, miss the football game, and then go back home and just sit there. Being a Christian means we are saved. It means we turn away from sin, it means wee don’t let the world get us down because we believe the Jesus is coming back again to take us away from this torment and this suffering, it means we shout it out and excited and we want everyone to know who Jesus is. We SAY GET BEHIND ME SATAN, I AM FOLLOWING MY LORD SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST