LESSON SIX

1 Peter 3:8-22

Suffering for Doing Good (3:8-22)

	8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.  10For,
	“Whoever would love life 
	and see good days
   must keep his tongue from evil
	and his lips from deceitful speech.
   11He must turn from evil and do good;
	he must seek peace and pursue it.
   12For the eyes of the Lord are on the
		righteous
	   and his ears are attentive to their 
		prayer,
   but the face of the Lord is against 
		those who do evil.”
	
	13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.  “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”  15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  16But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.  17It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.  18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.  In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.  It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angel, authorities and powers in submission to him.
	V. 8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another—Peter now comes to the heart of his letter.  In order to have victory over suffering (which seems to be the prevailing theme of the book) it will take harmony—getting along with each other as husbands and wives, as workers and masters, as Christians in fellowship.  “Be of one mind living like brothers” (Phillips).
	be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble—Satan would like nothing better than to get Christians (who were being persecuted by the Roman state) to turn on one another in frustration and fear.  So Peter calls for understanding and love.  If Christians “bite and devour one another” (Gal. 5:15) we have worked the devil’s plan because that is what he wants to accomplish (I Peter 5:8).
	V. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing—The last thing that Peter mentions in verse 8 (humility) is what it will take to pull this off.  When someone does us dirty, the old flesh rises up to retaliate.  When a cutting remark comes our way we have to bite our tongue.  But Peter goes beyond just holding our tongue and urges us to go ahead and say something—a blessing!  That really takes grace!
	because to this you were called so that you might inherit a blessing—This is what it’s all about, repaying good for evil, blessing for cursing.  This is the very essence of Christianity (Matt. 5:43-48).
	V. 10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech—Here, and in verses 11 and 12, we have a quotation from Ps. 34:12-16.  This is a timeless admonition to restrain the tongue from speaking evil.
	V. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must see peace and pursue it—Not only are we to watch our tongue but we are to look for opportunities to see peace with our enemies, whoever they may be.  Peace must be made, it doesn’t just happen (Matt. 5:9).
	V. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil—God will help the person who acts righteously but will oppose all evil doers, whether it’s a non-Christian doing evil to a Christian or a Christian returning evil to his enemy.
	V. 13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?—It’s hard to hate someone who has done you nothing but good.  Paul writes, “If your enemy is hungry, fee him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head” (Rom. 12:20).  Now, that’s the way to “get even” with an enemy!
	V. 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed—But suppose you do good and are slandered for doing so?  You can still be blessed (happy).  Jesus said that when we suffer for welldoing (1) it assures us that the kingdom is really ours (Matt. 5:10); (2) it will result in great reward in heaven (Matt. 5:10); and (3) it gives us a sense of identity with the prophets who were also persecuted for welldoing (Matt. 5:12).
	“Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”  —The NIV adds this footnote: “do not fear their threats.”  The Phillips Translation says, “You need neither fear men’s threats nor worry about them.”  This is probably more in keeping with the context.  God’s people are not to fear those who can kill the body (Matt. 10:28).  Paul wrote that Christians are not to live in terror of their adversaries (Phil. 1:28).
	V. 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  —The Williams Translation says, “in your hearts be consecrated to Christ as Lord.”  When Jesus is enshrined on the throne of our hearts as Lord indeed, we will be empowered and enabled to withstand whatever the enemy hurls at us.  The assuring presence of Christ within calms the inner fears that well up inside us when confronted by a crisis.
	Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have—The early Christians often answered questions at the point of a sharp Roman sword!  The abiding presence of Christ gave them great grace to give a courageous answer, even if it meant torture or death.  Hence we find Weymouth’s Translation to be excellent here: “be ready to make your defense.”  The Greek word for “answer” (apologia) means “defense.”  Christians are to be “set for the defense of the gospel” (Phil. 1:17).  How far modern-day Christians have strayed from this concept.  Many aren’t even prepared to answer a simple question from a non-hostile source about salvation or eternal life!  We have the hope of heaven; let’s be ready to answer anyone who asks, for whatever reason!
	But do this with gentleness and respect—Not only are we to know what to say, we are to know how to say it as well!  The first Christians, though treated roughly and ruthlessly, spoke the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).  Truth is too sacred to be put into smart replies or canned remarks.  The Knox Version says, “do it courteously and with due reverence.”
	V. 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ—It seems so unfair to be falsely accused for just being a Christian but that was precisely the lot of the early Christians.  They were the salt of the earth but were treated as though they were vinegar.  Through all these malicious and fallacious charges (see comments on 2:12) they were to keep a clear conscience.  It helps when you know that you are doing what is right.
	may be ashamed of their slander—The example of a Christian practicing his faith under fire may lead to the needed shame on the part of observing oppressors (see Titus 2:8).  One Roman emperor, who had persecuted Christians, begged for their prayers on his deathbed.
	V. 17 It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good then for doing evil00Can suffering ever be a part of God’s will?  Yes.  Even if we didn’t deserve it or were wronged for doing right?  Yes.  What evil men intend for evil, God can use for good (Gen. 50:20).  All things can work for good to the person who loves and serves God (Rom. 8:28).
		V. 18 For Christ died for sins once for all—Christ Himself suffered unfairly at the hands of hardened men but God took their cruelty and turned it into redemption for all mankind, even Christ’s enemies (Rom. 5:6-11).  This He did “once for all” (Heb. 7:27).
	the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God—By human standards this doesn’t seem fair.  But it resulted in tremendous good—redemption for ruined man.  Christ’s atonement on the cross makes us right with God (II Cor. 5:21).
	He was put to death in the body—Jesus paid the ultimate price—death.  That may also be the price we will have to pay: not dying as a Savior but perhaps as a martyr (such as Stephen, Acts 7:60, or James, Acts 12:2).
	but made alive by the Spirit—Death could not hold its prey.  On the day of Pentecost Peter said it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Jesus (Acts 2:24).  He was raised to life by the power of the Spirit.  The same can (and will ) happen to us, no matter what men may do to the body.  “He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power.  Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you” (II Cor. 13:4).
	V. 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison—William Barclay says this is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament.  There are two major views.  One is that it was actually Noah who preached to these people who were still alive in his day.  Noah preached to them through the Spirit of Christ (Gen. 6:3).  The other view is that after his bodily death on the cross Christ, in the spirit, went to the place where the spirits of men are held in prison awaiting the resurrection and judgement and preached unto them.  That Christ’s spirit went to Hades after his death cannot be denied (Acts 2:27; Rom. 10:7; Eph. 4:9, 10).  Hades had two compartments: Paradise and Tartarus.  Jesus told the repentant thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).  It is not inconceivable that Jesus preached to the spirits confined in Tartarus from his vantage point in paradise.  Abraham spoke to those in Tartarus from Paradise (Luke 16:25-31).
	What did Christ preach?  The text does not say.  But it would seem more in keeping with the overall theme of the Bible that his message was one of vindication rather than invitation.  Christ was “vindicated in the Spirit” (I Tim. 3:16, NASB).
	Why did he preach?  The passage yields no clues.  What was the hearers’ reaction, the results of the unusual post-death, pre-resurrection ministry of Christ?  We simply do not know and conjecture would be just that—pure guesswork on our part, better left unsaid.  I do concur with B.W. Johnson who said that the view of Christ preaching through Noah “furnishes fewer theological difficulties” while the view that Christ preached in the spirit to the spirits in prison “seems more in harmony with the context.”
	V. 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built—God waited patiently, not for the ark to be built, but for rebellious man to hearken to the preaching of Noah (II Peter 2:5; 3:9).  The reason their spirits were in prison was due to their disobedience, their rejection of Noah’s message.  Although God wants all men to be saved, He will punish those who disobey His Word (II Thess. 1:8).
	In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water—The majority chose to disbelieve but “By faith Noah...in holy fear built an ark to save his family” (Heb. 11:7).  Only Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives escaped the great deluge (Gen. 7:13).  Water, the agent that God used to wipe out sin, also became the means of their salvation.  In the boat they had built by faith, they were carried to safety.
	V. 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—The great Noachin flood that saved the faithful few who took God at His Word “foreshadowed” (20th Century New Testament) the act of baptism.  Baptism, when it is connected with faith, saves.  Noah did more than say, “I believe God.”  He “moved with fear,” built the ark, got into it when God said to and stayed there until God told him to come out.  The faith that saves is the faith that obeys.  Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).  The disobedient in Noah’s time chose to not believe God’s message and as a result they perished.  Those who believed God and acted on their faith were saved.  Baptism is for believers who are willing to go all the way for God.  The Phillips Translation says, “that water was a kind of prophetic parable of the water of baptism which now saves you.”
	not the removal of dirt from the body—Baptism is not some kind of ritual washing to cleanse oneself physically (like the priests who “lavered” themselves before entering the holy place).
	but the pledge of a good conscience toward God—The RSV “an appeal to God for clear conscience.”  God rewards faith (Heb. 11:6) but faith is not complete until we demonstrate it by obedience (Matt. 7:21).  When our sins are washed away in baptism (Acts 22:16) we can have a conscience clear of sin and guilt.  Once baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27) we are in Christ.  In Christ we are complete (Col. 2:10) and can stand before God unafraid, unashamed, uncondemned (Rom. 8:1).
	It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ—For the second time Peter states that baptism saves us.  Notice that he does not say baptism per se saves.  That would be “baptismal regeneration,” an unfounded and unfair charge often cast at those who preach “baptism for the remission of sins.”  Baptism saves when the one being immersed truly believes with all his heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Acts 8:37) and that “He was delivered for our sins and raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 6:4).  To deny the necessity of baptism is to belittle the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
	V. 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—It must have been a great comfort to Stephen to see Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56).  Jesus is in heaven to intercede on behalf of the saints (Heb. 7:25).  He will return from heaven some day to claim those who follow Him (John 14:1-3).
	with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him—When God raised Jesus from the dead He seated Him at His right hand, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21).  His authority is not just in heaven but in the church as well.  “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Eph. 1:22).  Truly, Christ has all authority “in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18).  If angels hasten to do His bidding in heaven (Matt. 6:10) then men should be equally prompt to do His will on earth.

Study Questions

1.	What qualities does Peter call for to produce harmony in the church?

2.	How should we repay evil or insults?  Why?

3.	What will prolong and enhance life?

4.	What should be the Christian response to suffering for doing what is right?

5.	How will placing Christ as Lord in our hearts prepare us to answer questions about our faith?

6.	What attitudes should we have when sharing our faith with others?

7.	What is your view of Christ preaching to the spirits in prison?
8.	In what way is the water of Noah’s flood symbolic of baptism?

9.	How does baptism save us “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

10.	Who is now subject to Christ?