Adorn the Gospel in the Midst of Suffering - Part 1 (1 Peter 2.18-25)

Peter's teaching is about submitting to masters out of reverence for God, not out of fear of the masters themselves. He is instructing slaves to bear the suffering from evil authorities without retaliation, fulfilling their responsibilities with an unblemished conduct and a non-vindictive spirit. Peter also emphasizes the theological basis for this instruction, pointing to Jesus' example of not retaliating when he suffered. The application of this passage extends beyond just slaves to all believers, reminding them to live in a way that adorns the Gospel and shows the excellences of God, even in the face of mistreatment. However, it is important to note that Peter's teaching does not condone or justify the institution of slavery, but rather seeks to improve the situation of slaves within their existing context. Well, this morning we continue our study of the Gospel of Peter. We are going to look at a very interesting passage, a very difficult passage in all honesty. Not difficult to understand, but really difficult to maybe accept it and difficult to put into practice because there is a distance of about 2,000 years between the passage and us that not only makes its application a little difficult, but also really makes us, really, if you think that, yeah, I can do exactly what Peter says as he says it, you are kind of naive. And to be honest, very presumptuous because the situations that you live, no matter how difficult they are, are completely different to the situations, to the Christians to whom Peter was writing. The passage we are going to read this morning, it's a direct address, an injunction to slaves. Some translations actually, because that word slave is so offensive, especially in our context, and rightly so, it should be. Slavery is a wicked thing and we'll look at that, I'll mention that. But some translations, because that word is so offensive, so difficult, they try to soften the text and they write servants. And servant is a legitimate translation, but maybe in English servant it's a little more soft than slave. But Peter is writing not just to any servant who has a freedom, he's writing to slaves who are Christians, who are owned by people as if they are property. And he writes to them. And the things he says, maybe it's not well taken by many people. That's why it's important that we understand what Peter is doing in this passage and what he is not doing. And then we understand the principle and we need to apply it in our lives. First of all, and I will say that in a minute, this passage is not written to you who has a boss and how you are supposed to relate to your boss in the workplace. Sometimes we make that application, and it is a legitimate application, it's one, but it's not the application of this passage. Sometimes when we make this application, we soften the impact of what's actually going on. As I said before, as an employee, you have rights that a slave did not have. So the application is not a one-to-one correspondence. The application actually is broader than just a relationship between a boss, but we will talk about that first. Let us read once again the passage. It is in 1 Peter 2, verse 18-25. In reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth. When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sin in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Let us briefly pray. Dear God, thank You for Your Word. May Your Holy Spirit speak to us at this moment. Amen. This passage is a whole unit from verse 18 to 25. The first part, which is verses 18 to 20, is the actual injunction to slaves. These are slaves owned by people, by their masters, who are Christians. Not only that, unlike Paul, who also writes to slaves in Ephesians, Peter's slaves have wicked, evil masters. Paul's slaves, when you read Paul, Ephesians, and Philemon, apparently their masters are believers. So the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus was more of a brother-in-Christ relationship. That is not the case in relationship to the slaves Peter is writing. Most of their masters are unbelievers, wicked and evil towards them. So it is to them, too, Peter writes, and the commandment, the injunction to them, is found between verses 18 to 20. The second part of this passage, between verses 21 to 24, is the theological basis that Peter gives for the injunctions he has given to his hearers, to his readers, in this case to the slaves. The theological rationale. Why do you have to do this, Peter answers. In light of what doctrine? And he calls upon the unrighteous suffering on the cross of our Lord Jesus. The key of all this discussion is in verse 24. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. That is the commandment, or the verse that encompasses all of these texts. Peter's desire for the slaves is that they live for righteousness. In that sense, then, the principles and the commandments that Peter is going to give is not only applicable for slaves. It is actually Christian principles for every believer, whether you are free or slaves. Remember that this passage begins, or this discussion begins, in verse 9 of chapter 2, where Peter challenges all his hearers, and many of them slave Christians. He tells them that you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession. That is what they are. Even though they are slaves, they are God's special possession. They are beautiful in God's eyes. They have been made a holy, a royal priesthood. They might be slaves physically, but they are servants, priests of the King. A royal priesthood. But why? Why were they made all of this? And this is the key of the entire chapter, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. You were made these things so that you may declare the excellences of God, which this morning I am calling so that you may adorn the gospel. Make the gospel of Jesus Christ beautiful. Show to the people, whether they are wicked, the beauty of Christ, the beauty of the gospel, the excellences of God. That is why you were made a holy nation. Therefore, Peter says in verse 11, you are foreigners and exiles in this world, and your goal is to live such good lives among the pagans, so that they would glorify God. And you are to do that as a Christian, whether you are a free man or a slave. None of you here are slaves. And that is a good thing. But some of Peter's readers were. And their goal, whether slaves or free, is to live such good lives among the pagans, some of them your masters who are evil, wicked people, so that they would glorify God. So verse 9 and verse 11 give the same goal for Christians. Live in a way that shows God. Live in a way that adorns the gospel. But a Christianity that makes no visible difference simply cannot show God. It cannot adorn the gospel, because it is not true Christianity. If I cannot see righteousness and love and such good lives, well, it doesn't make any difference. Then Peter starts to give some examples of what true Christianity looks like in a hostile world of his day. Last week he showed us what we are supposed to do in order to live as model citizens. Well, today, taking up a very tough situation during his time, and this tough situation is the institution of slavery, the Apostle Peter is going to show us how to fulfill our responsibility in our social relationships, particularly with authorities that are evil. We might not have masters today, but we do have evil authorities. What if you are a servant with an unbelieving master? What if you are a slave with an unbelieving master? Or even a crook, an abusive master? What are you supposed to do? What does radical Christianity look like in a situation like that? We are going to do the best we can to apply this passage to our lives with a reality, and please, I have to say this as a disclaimer, your situation is nothing like the situation of the people Peter is writing. So, let us begin there by not comparing ourselves. But yet, what he writes to them has applications to us. And the application is the answer to this question, what does radical Christianity look like in a situation when you are being mistreated? When you are being abused and persecuted? Especially for your faith, but not necessarily. What does radical Christianity look like? Peter's answer to that question will be the following. In our social relationships, that is, whether it is a relationship with a boss, with a different kind of authority, in our social relationships, we are called to adorn the Gospel. And how are we going to adorn the Gospel? How are we going to show the excellences of God? That is the call, to show the greatness, the goodness, the beauty of God. We are called to do that, to adorn the Gospel. And why did I put adorn the Gospel? I need to explain that, because it might not make sense. For me, the Gospel, that Jesus died on the cross, according to the Scripture, and was buried on the tomb, according to the Scripture, and rose again, according to the Scripture, is the heart of the entire Christian faith, because it embraces the beauty of God in His holiness, and the beauty of God in His love. In the Gospel, when Christ was on the cross, the wrath of God and His holiness was satisfied. And when Jesus rose again from the dead, He overcame death, He acquired our redemption, liberation, salvation. To adorn the Gospel, therefore, means that we exalt those beauties, attributes, truths of the Gospel, that characterize who our God is. A God who is righteous, a God who is holy, a God who is merciful, and gracious, and loving. So, you adorn the Gospel by living out those things, and by showing the excellences, and the beauty, and the greatness of God. So, what is our call? What does radical Christianity look like in a situation where you are being abused by an authority? Peter's answer is, in that social relationship, you are called to adorn the Gospel. How? With an unblemished conduct, and a non-vindictive spirit. A spirit that does not retaliate. That is His call. It is not a call to passivity, of getting the abuses and the beatings. It is a call to non-retaliation, non-vindictiveness. So, we are called to adorn the Gospel with an unblemished conduct, and a non-vindictive spirit. As I said, we need to understand a little bit the context of this passage, before we get into the text itself. There are a few preliminary things that I will say. So, again, I tell you, I will not finish this sermon today. Today, I will preach only point one, and next week we will look at point two. What are some of these preliminary points that we must put them there, so that we don't have any destruction or confusion as to the text? First, without any hesitation, we must state that the institution of slavery is an evil institution, and that although the Scriptures, and the New Testament in particular, have instructions for slaves in their relationship to their masters, the New Testament does not condone its existence. Nowhere in the New Testament, or in the Bible, is said that slavery is good. What we do is, the New Testament writers are writing within their situation, and they are trying to do the best out of that situation. As a matter of fact, one of the main purposes of the instructions directed to both slaves and masters is to improve the lot of slaves in the New Testament, with the hope of ultimately reaching the freedom of slaves. Christian theology is about freedom. The Lord Jesus came to make us free from the bondages of sin. And the Apostle Paul is going to write that in Christ, there is no distinction. No slaves, not free. So that needs to be clear. Second, even though the institution of slavery is an evil institution, slavery in the first century was a bit different than slavery in the 19th century. Sometimes when we read this text, what we have in mind is the slaves before the Civil War, or those things in the U.S. We need to go back a little farther, to the first century, to Roman slavery, not American slavery. There are a few differences. In the first century, a person became a slave, either because they were the children of slaves, or because they were prisoners of war, or because they fell into great debt, and they themselves had to sell themselves into slavery to pay the debt. They were self-willing slaves. That sounds like a contradiction of terms, but they had a debt, and they sold themselves to a person, to pay my debt, I'm going to become a slave, for a period of time, until his debt was paid. That was not the case in the 19th century, in America, where slavery was a racial thing, where one given ethnicity was considered superior to the others. Or, in Rome, slavery was not racial. No one given ethnicity was considered superior or inferior. That doesn't mean, of course, that they didn't consider the slaves inferior, because they did. In the first century, slaves could become managers, overseers, doctors, nurses, teachers, musicians, etc. They could become these things. The Roman law made those provisions. They were normally paid for their services, and could expect, eventually, to purchase their freedom. Now you think, oh, that sounds pretty nice slavery, right? No, slavery is never nice. It's wicked. In spite of all of these benefits, there were still great abuses committed against slaves and their families. So, yes, they are different, but it was a wicked institution, too. We have recorded documents where masters, sometimes, would take the wives of their slaves and commit all sorts of sexual abuses, not just in the 19th century, but in the first century. And yes, even though slaves could acquire their freedom by paying it back, and even though the law made provisions, the system in place made it such that that almost became impossible. Sometimes, the way to gain your freedom was to go and fight in the Roman Coliseum with the lion. And if you survived, well, then there's your freedom. Another important preliminary point that we must make is Peter's teaching about how slaves should behave is derived from his general understanding of how Christians should react to an injustice. He drew no distinction between the reactions of Christians as individuals and as a community. Why do I put this? Because there are some people who are going to criticize Peter. He's pro-slavery. No, he's not. The instruction he's given to slaves is the instruction he would give to any Christians. In fact, he's going to repeat those things to the whites later. And he already told us similar things in regard to the state, and he's going to do that. So, his teaching about how slaves should behave is derived from his general understanding of how Christians should react to injustice. And we'll look at that further when we read chapter 3 and chapter 4. Lastly, Peter's teaching is about retaliation when you are being persecuted, and not about the securing of justice for the oppressed. There's a distinction between the two. Nothing that's said here runs contrary to the expression of Christian love in seeking the rights of the oppressed. But this duty lies outside the horizon of Peter's concern here, and is included in his positive understanding of the Christian task in the world as the doing of good in society. In other words, when Peter is writing to slaves, he's not talking about discussing the topic of are we going to go fight for their liberation. That's not his concern here. But that doesn't mean he's opposed to that. As a matter of fact, if you follow all the calling that we are given as Christians to do, you will very likely do that. Fighting that unrighteousness would be eradicated. But he's not dealing with that. So, those are things that we need to understand. And with that in mind then, let us examine the first injunction. The main injunction that Peter gives, which is the following. Bear the suffering from an evil authority without retaliation. That is really the call in this passage. When Peter writes, he begins, Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters. It's not just bear. It's fulfill your responsibilities. Submit yourselves to your masters. Not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. So that's the call. To bear the suffering from an evil authority without retaliation. You might say, well I never read retaliation, not retaliating anywhere in those verses. Well, that's because we didn't go far enough. Then he's going to give the theological basis with Jesus. And he is going to tell us that when they hurled their insults at him, verse 23, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. So that is the first thing. And the application here is not only to slaves because the principle is given to every Christian. When you suffer under the oppression of a wicked person, what are you to do? Are you to pick up your gun and shoot it? You deserve it. No. Peter says, bear the suffering from the evil authority without retaliation. But there is more to that. How do you do that? Well, first of all, in the midst of unjust treatment, you must fulfill your responsibility out of fear of God. Before you do a lot of things, you need to begin thinking, do I deserve this punishment? Now, I know that's a question that we don't like to hear, but we live in America where the entitlement goes through the ceiling. The entitlement that some people have here is higher than the Empire State Building. And it's like they never do anything wrong. I deserve this, this, this, this, this, that. The first thing we need to wonder is, and yes, no beating, no nothing is justifiable, but hey, just because they were slaves, that doesn't mean that they were all wonderful. Some of them would steal from their masters and would do things that they shouldn't have. So, the first thing before we think about these evil authorities, are you fulfilling your responsibilities? Peter begins this passage by saying, slaves in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters. Basically, obey them, do what you're supposed to do. You have a job, fulfill your job. So, that is the first call. You have to fulfill your responsibilities. But why do you do it? Well, you do it out of fear of God. You don't do it because you are afraid of the master, even if he is terrifying because he is wicked and he might be terrifying. You don't do things. You don't fulfill your responsibility as an employee, as a citizen, as a child, who has parents, or as a person who rents from somebody, whatever. You don't fulfill your responsibility because you are afraid of what this person is going to do. You do it because it's the right thing to do. You do it because you want to please God, because you fear God. That's why you do it. And that is the point. He says, slaves in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters. Now, I have to tell you something. If you are reading the NIV, it looks pretty clear that it says in reverent fear of God. But if you are reading a different translation, it might only say, submit yourselves to your masters in all fear. In other words, Peter does not provide the object of this fear, which creates some ambiguity in the text. So some translators, if you go to the KJV, it might give the impression that you've got to do this in fear to your masters. But because they know that Peter's theology has taught us that you should not fear men but God, they put it in reverence to your masters. Is Peter saying then that those slaves who are Christians should submit to their masters because of fear to them? As I said, at first impression, that may seem to be the meaning of the text. However, when we consider what Peter said in the former verse, remember in verse 17, show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. When we read that passage, it becomes evident that the one the slaves are to fear is God and He alone. As you may remember from our discussion last week, the call for a Christian to respect and honor others was unrestricted. Show respect to everyone, honor everyone. There is no restriction to you honoring and respecting every human being. Why? Because every human being bears the image of God and is worthy of respect and of honor. However, not every human being is worthy of fear. He says, show proper respect to everyone, fear God. He doesn't say fear the emperor. He says, fear God. Whereas, honor is unrestricted, the call to fear God is restricted. That is, they are called to only fear God. In verse 18, Peter does not provide the object of our fear because he has already made it clear that the object is God alone. Yes, slaves are to submit to their masters. They are to fulfill their responsibilities. But they are to do it because of fear of God, not the fear of the masters, even if they are wicked abusers. We submit to our authorities mainly and most importantly because we fear God and because we want to honor Him. Irrespective of whether you like the authority or not. Now, this becomes more clear in the next point where Peter encourages us that in the midst of unjust treatment, he encourages us to be conscious about God. As Peter continues, he says, In reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh or wicked. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. What does that mean? Well, we do not endure sorrow and unjust suffering out of fear of men or even out of our own weaknesses. Those are irrelevant. We bear the suffering because we are conscious of God. That is, we take God into account. God is in our mind. God is the driving force telling us how to behave because you are always conscious of God. You are aware of Him. You want to please Him. You want to honor Him. You want to adorn the gospel. You want to show the excellences of the greatness of God. You are conscious of Him. We look to God and not to our circumstances. God is the unseen factor for the world. They will never understand our behavior when we live to honor God. It doesn't make sense. If we beat Him, why doesn't He retaliate? Why is He joyful? What is wrong with these people? They are conscious of God. The Christian servant answers, my conscience is bound to God. That is why, in your social relationships, you are called to adorn the gospel with an unblemished conduct and a non-vindictive spirit. You are conscious of God. You fear God. You want to honor Him. Peter continues, in the midst of unjust treatment, he tells us to strive to do that which is commendable before God. Right? He continues in verse 20, but how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. I think what Peter means here is that God delights in behavior that reflects under reliance on His grace. When the supports of the world are knocked down. When a Christian, out of conscience toward God, looks to God for strength and courage and hope and peace in a time of suffering and as a result, bears the suffering patiently, God sees it as a tribute to His grace. The gospel is adorned by it. And when that happens, God is pleased. God is pleased because you are not suffering as a criminal who deserves that. You are suffering as Christ did. The Lord who knew no sin was made sin for us. And that is why Paul will say that he has been gifted to us not only to believe in Jesus, but to suffer for Him. It is a privilege. It is a gift to follow the footsteps of our Lord. But this passage, when he talks about Christ, is more than just the example that Jesus gave us because the theology behind that is going to have to do with our salvation and with accomplishing our righteousness. But that is for next week, so don't miss the next episode next week. So here, Peter is telling them to strive to do that which is commendable before God. And lastly, in the midst of suffering, you must remember that you were called to endure suffering without retaliation. Peter begins verse 21 with these words, To this you were called. Now when in this verse Peter says that you were called to this, he is not saying that you were called to suffer. That is the first impression. The impression is that you were called to suffer. Yes, our call to Jesus involves suffering. But we are not called to suffering as if we are masochists and we enjoy the beating. You know, sometimes when people read this passage, they misunderstand like Peter is calling them to suffer. No, if they had a way of escape, I'm sure Peter would have been encouraging them to find some deliverance. Sometimes people romanticize persecution. We don't need to romanticize abuse, suffering and all of those things. The point is, you were called to follow Jesus no matter the circumstance. And how do you do when situations are terrible? That is the call here. He is not saying that you were called to suffer even though we may all experience suffering. The call here is actually to be a Christian. It's a call to how we face persecution. Yes, we must be prepared to face persecution for our faith. God in His sovereignty will at times allow us to suffer and to be persecuted to help us in our growth. Our call, however, is not to persecution or to suffering. Our call is to endurance, to endure persecution without retaliation. Our call is not to vengeance, not to retaliation. That's our call. Our call is to endurance in faith, hoping in the One who judges righteously because one day they will get what they deserve if they don't believe. That's why He says, to these you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in His mouth. When the heralders insulted Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. Our call is to non-retaliation when we are wrong. That doesn't mean that you don't appeal to the laws that might be in place to bring justice. But that is not... Justice is not for you as a believer to take upon Him. You make use of the systems that God has allowed. Remember, we studied last week that God has placed the authorities to punish the evil and to reward those who are good. Yes, the institutions can get corrupt and we've talked about that last week. But if we can, we appeal to the laws that are in place. But our call is to non-retaliation when we are wrong. Our call is to love our enemies. Your call as a Christian, the Lord Jesus would say in Luke, is to bless those who curse you and to pray for those who mistreat you. It is a call to be a disciple of Jesus. It is a call to follow Him. This is the way how we adorn the Gospel. When you retaliate in vengeance, I'm going to give you what you deserve. Nobody is enjoying and seeing the excellences of God. That's not adorning the Gospel. That's showing your fallingness. That is one of the reasons why I admire Martin Luther King. He went to the streets not with swords, not with guns, but with faith and with a dream that was born out of his deep faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to follow Jesus, to be a disciple. This is the way we adorn the Gospel by patiently enduring persecution and suffering without taking revenge or retaliation. And that applies to your situation at work, to your situation at home, to your situation with your neighbors, whatever the situation is. In our social relationships, we are called to adorn the Gospel with an unblemished conduct. Do you deserve what you are suffering? Oh, there is nothing to praise about that. You should probably get your time if you have done the wicked deed. But if you are suffering because of your faith, you are suffering even though you are doing good. God finds Savior and you are adorning the Gospel by portraying an unblemished conduct and a non-vindictive spirit because Christ did that. And that's my second point. Christ bore the suffering from evil authorities while trusting God. But we will look at that next week. Thank you. Let's bow and pray. Father, we thank you for this day, for your Word, and the opportunity you give us to honor you. You are a holy God. We are sinners. But we are called to be holy, to be righteous, to be unblemished, to be non-vindictive. Help us, Lord, to show that same humility, endurance, and patience that the Lord Jesus showed. Help us to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who mistreat us. Help us to be radical Christians, not passive Christians. Lord, this call to non-vindictiveness and non-retaliation is not a call to passivity. It is a call to actively showing righteousness and bringing to shame those who are unrighteous by the righteous way we live. Help us to be active in this manner, Lord. And may the evils of this world be done. We know they will come to an end when the Lord Jesus comes and He brings every knee down to His feet. We pray that in the meantime, we will strive to show the kind of righteousness that Jesus did, to adorn the Gospel, to show the excellences of God. We pray in the name of our Lord. Amen.