Context No. 3275 of 4322 · 1 Peter

1 Peter 3:13-22: in context

13Now who will harm you if you become imitators of that which is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” 15But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear, 16having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ. 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing what is right than for doing evil. 18Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, 19in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20who before were disobedient when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

Peter writes to believers who are being spoken against for their faith. Do not fear what they fear, he says; instead, honor Christ as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and respect. And he grounds it all in Christ, who suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.

The Christian is to be a person visibly marked by hope, hope that others notice and ask about, and to be prepared to explain it, not with argument or defensiveness but with humility and a clear conscience. The ground of that hope is spelled out: Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. Our hope rests not on our own goodness but on his finished work, which is why even suffering for doing right cannot shake it. A life of steady hope, gently explained, is itself a witness that draws the question out of others.

Is my life marked by a hope others can see and ask about, and am I ready to explain it with gentleness, resting on what Christ has done rather than on myself?

Sources

1 Peter 3:15: "Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear."
1 Peter 3:18: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God."
1 Peter 3:17: "For it is better... that you suffer for doing what is right than for doing evil."