1 Peter 4:12–19

Explore the Bible 
Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, University of Mobile

LIVING IN FAITH

1 Peter 4:12–19

We Have the Spirit (12–14)
Every Christian who lives a godly life can expect to face opposition and hardship. On the job, in school, in the neighborhood, perhaps even in the family, there are people who resist the truth and oppose the gospel. No matter what a believer may say or do there are people who will find fault and criticize.

 Peter warned the believers about the persecution they were going to encounter as they faithfully lived for Jesus. If they were caught off guard at the suffering that occurred, they may have been overwhelmed, concluding that God did not love them. An advance warning of suffering helped prepare the young Christians to expect difficulty so that their faith would not be threatened.

As we faithfully introduce others to Jesus there will be some people who will mock, sneer and even threaten us. We should not be surprised. Rather, we should rejoice that we are able to share Christ’s sufferings because of our allegiance to Jesus. Believers imitate Jesus in their sufferings. Jesus suffered to secure salvation for sinners. Christians should be willing to suffer to spread the message of salvation to sinners. When the apostles had been beaten for proclaiming Christ, they went “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41). Peter encouraged hurting believers by reminding them that if they suffered for the name of Christ, the Holy Spirit was at work in them. The Spirit of glory Himself was blessing them. They may have been insulted by human beings, but they were blessed by God Himself.

God Can Be Glorified (15–16)
Christians should not seek suffering of any kind. Certainly believers should not live in such a way as to invite suffering by committing sins. Christians should not murder, steal, do wrong in any form or meddle in other people’s business. Believers should even refrain from acting tactlessly and without social graces. The call to renounce shame focused on actions that were shameful. Specifically, professing Christians would act shamefully by denying Jesus before unbelievers or by failing to persevere in the faith. By way of contrast believers glorify God by confessing and praising His name publicly. They glorify God in the name “Christian” by enduring such suffering with joy, pleased that they are privileged to suffer because of their allegiance to Jesus Christ.  

Our Salvation Is Secure (17–18)
While God’s household was the temple in the Old Testament, Peter conceived of the Church, God’s people, as His temple. Peter had already identified the Church as God’s priesthood, His chosen people and His holy nation, so that blessings belonging to Israel now belong to the Church (2:9). The judgment that Peter described as beginning with God’s people purifies those who truly belong to God, and that purification comes through suffering. Peter argued from the lesser to the greater. If even people who are being saved are purified and judged by suffering, then the “outcome” or result of those who reject the gospel will surely be a greater judgment. Unbelievers do not obey the gospel of God. They refuse to repent and trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  

In verse 18 Peter was not saying that the righteous are scarcely saved, as if they were almost consigned to destruction. What he meant was that the righteous are saved “with difficulty.” Believers are saved in the midst of suffering. God saves His people by refining and purifying them through suffering. The point is that if the godly are saved through the purification of suffering, then the judgment of the “ungodly and sinner” must be horrible indeed.

God Is Faithful and Powerful (19)
Christians suffer in accord with the will of God, for He rules over everything that happens to them. As the sovereign Creator, God also is loving and faithful; therefore, believers should entrust their lives to Him just as Jesus did when He suffered. Such trust manifests itself in doing what is good.