Suffering May Result from Obedience, But Obedience Results in Salvation

Scene 1/ It feels nice to be vindicated; but eternal vindication is far better. 4:4-6

Most, if not all of us, have been in the situation when we know someone else is wrong, but others can’t see it.

We want people to agree with us because we know that we are right.

But they don’t believe us and we might feel rejected, that we don’t count.

Or perhaps we can see a problem but others either can’t or won’t see that it needs to be dealt with.

And when it all goes wrong we have this sense of, “I told you so.”

The most difficult to deal with is when there is a person who is causing harm.

They might be the road block to a better future for a family, a business, a community group, or a church.

But they hold power and influence and they will not budge.

They might give lip service to the issue but in reality nothing will change because they don’t want it to.

On a number of occasions in ministry I have received a phone call or some news that absolutely justified my actions some time before.

And usually it was news that the changes I insisted on had been recognised as bearing fruit.

Sometimes it was news that those who had opposed these changes had been miraculously taken out of the situation.

Now it feels good to be vindicated and I must confess that my ego is temporarily satisfied by such news.

I quite like my own incorrect answer to the idea expressed in 1 Peter 3:13, “Who will want to harm me for being eager to do good?”

No one will harm me because; I know that I am doing good!

But this isn’t the reality is it?

Because 1 Peter 4:4-6 speaks of being slandered as a result of our moral lives.

When it comes to life & especially to faith in Christ, we may not be vindicated in this life.

And for many believers it will not be until Christ returns that their trust in Christ will be recognised as a righteous thing.

But on that day God will vindicate them as he judges everyone, both the living and those who have already died.

And verse 6 tells us that those who have died in faith will be vindicated; they will receive their eternal reward.

Scene 2/ The truth is that we often struggle with feelings of wanting to be recognised as being right and the reason we want to be seen to be right is that we have not understood that suffering may result from obedience.

There is this disconnect between the reality of being a Christian and our expectation of how we should be treated.

We need to understand that as Christians we are aliens in this strange & foreign land called Earth.

The forces of evil will oppose us because we represent Christ.

People will oppose us because they do not want to recognise the Lordship of Christ.

These are simple realities.

Yes many will respond to a life genuinely lived in service of Christ; a life that loves others, serves others as an expression of Christ’s love.

Many will look at us, if we truly are living for Christ, and they will honour how we live.

Some will even become Christians as a result.

But many others will be opposed to what we do because of who we serve.

This is what Christ himself experienced.

1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.” (NLT)

Isaiah, prophesying about Christ, wrote these words in Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53:1–12 NLT

1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. 7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Jesus obeyed his heavenly Father and he suffered for doing what was right.

Philippians 2:6–8 tells us, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (NLT)

Here is the counter intuitive fact about Christianity.

Suffering may result from obedience.

Doing what God asks of us may not look like it has ended well for us.

Think of the example of Noah.

2 Peter 2:7 tells us that Noah proclaimed God’s message of righteousness to his generation.

Hebrews 11:7 supports this, as do ancient Jewish writings.

For 120 years Noah preached.

For 120 years Noah declared that people needed to follow God.

What did Noah get for 120 years of preaching?

Rejection, only his immediate family joined him on the Ark.

Scene 3/ When we understand that suffering may result from obedience, we can also understand that obedience results in salvation and disobedience in judgement.3:18-3:22, 3:14, 4:1, 4:5-6

1 Peter 3:18 to 22 teaches this profound truth.

If we obey, we may suffer.

If we obey, we will receive the promised salvation.

If we disobey we will face judgement.

Fairly straight forward!

Have a look at 1 Peter 3:18 and then 1 Peter 3:22.

1 Peter 3:18 NLT

18 Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

1 Peter 3:22 NLT

22 Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

Two verses which book end the point in between.

Do you see the progression?

In verse 18 Christ suffered, because he obeyed by being the sacrifice for our sins.

Because Christ obeyed we are saved by his death & resurrection.

In verse 22 Christ is seated in the place of honour & all powers accept his authority.

Here is judgement.

The same concept can also be seen in 1 Peter 4:1 & 4-6.

And in a very different way Peter teaches the same idea in 1 Peter 3:19-21.

Now before I explain what these few verse probably mean, I want you to understand that there are some passages in the Bible which can be understood in a number of different ways.

This is one of them.

The main problem that we encounter is that we are not exactly sure who Peter is referring to when he wrote the words “spirits in prison in verse 19.

It could refer to human spirits, angels or demons

And because of this problem how we interpret these verses can have up to 5 different options.

So let me mention the 5 different options before we see how these few verses speak of obedience, suffering, salvation & judgement.

Show slide on 1 Peter 3:19 and 5 views

For a whole range of technical exegetical reasons it is best to understand verses 19-20 as referring to either;

Show slide on 1 Peter 3:19 and 5 views part 2

Christ preaching through Noah to the people before the flood.

These people rejected the message and were destroyed in the flood so are now spirits imprisoned in Hades.

Or Christ declaring his victory on the cross to fallen angels; beings who are imprisoned because of their evil rebellion against God.

This view interprets the Son’s of God in Genesis 6 as fallen angels who has relations with human women and so bear some responsibility for the flood which judged the earth. (Gen. 6:1–4; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6).

The timing of this declaration of victory is sometime after the resurrection, or even after Christ’s ascension. [1]

Because I have never been convinced by the view that the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6 refers to fallen angels but simply to the human descendents of Abel who initially walked with God but increasingly rejected God’s standards.

I believe this reference is to the human generation who rejected the message of Christ spoken by Noah.

So here is how verses 19 to 21 show us that suffering may result from obedience, obedience results in salvation and disobedience results in judgement.

Verse 19 & 20 demonstrate that those who rejected Noah’s preaching, who poured ridicule and scorn on Noah were destroyed by the flood which washed over the whole earth.

The water of the flood was a judgement which washed over the earth cleansing it from sin.

Noah and his family by building the ark were saved by their faith in God as they travelled through the water of judgement.

William MacDonald, the author of Believer’s Bible Commentary expresses it this way. “The ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The flood of water depicts the judgment of God. The ark was the only way of salvation. When the flood came, only those who were inside were saved; all those on the outside perished. So Christ is the only way of salvation; those who are in Christ are as saved as God Himself can make them. Those on the outside could not be more lost.”[2]

This idea is continued in verse 21 which speaks of Baptism.

We are not saved by the act of Baptism; it symbolizes what has happened to us.

Just as the waters of the flood were a judgment so as we go under the water we symbolize the death that comes from sin.

And just as God carried Noah and his family through the waters of the flood, the waters of judgment, so we symbolize that it is Christ who has saved us, that we share in the victory of his resurrection as we come up out of the water.

It is through the suffering of Christ’s obedience that we receive the salvation which comes when we obey and escape the judgement that would come from disobedience.

When we understand this principle that suffering may result from obedience; that obedience results in salvation and disobedience in judgement.

Scene 4/ Then we can rejoice in the opportunity to bear witness to Christ through testimony & purity. 3:15-17, 4:2-3

Have you seen the amazing stories of Christians who have a triumphal attitude over great suffering?

I am not talking about the stories where they lost everything and God gave everything back to them like Job in the Old Testament.

I am talking about believers who have a profound trust in God even in the midst of their suffering.

They might be a persecuted Christian who suffers greatly and alone.

They may be in great physical and emotional distress, but they hang onto faith in Christ.

I think of Alfa who is 92 years old and lives in Sengegal. Most people in his village have converted to Christianity from Islam.

In 2015 fire swept through the village killing three people and destroying the church, homes, food and livestock.

Neighbouring Muslim villages refused to help with even basic supplies; they said the fire was God’s judgement and that they could have food if they converted to Islam.

Alfa and the other Christians stood firm, trusting that God would provide.

They believe the words of 1 Peter 4:1-6

1 Peter 4:1–6 NLT

1 So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. 4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

[1] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2272). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [2] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2273). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.