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1 Peter 3:15
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Suffering for Right and Wrong

13 aAnd who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  
14 aBut even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. b“And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”  
15 But1 sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always abe ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the bhope that is in you, with meekness and fear;  
16 ahaving a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.  
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Christ’s Suffering and Ours

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring1 us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,  
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient,1 when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.  
21 aThere is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism b(not the removal of the filth of the flesh, cbut the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  
22 who has gone into heaven and ais at the right hand of God, bangels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. 
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
<< 1 Peter 3:14   1 Peter 3:16 >>


1 Peter 3:15

sanctify—hallow; honor as holy, enshrining Him in your hearts. So in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9. God's holiness is thus glorified in our hearts as the dwelling-place of His Spirit.

the Lord God—The oldest manuscripts read "Christ." Translate, "Sanctify Christ as Lord."

and—Greek, "but," or "moreover." Besides this inward sanctification of God in the heart, be also ready always to give, etc.

answer—an apologetic answer defending your faith.

to every man that asketh you—The last words limit the universality of the "always"; not to a roller, but to everyone among the heathen who inquires honestly.

a reason—a reasonable account. This refutes Rome's dogma, "I believe it, because the Church believes it." Credulity is believing without evidence; faith is believing on evidence. There is no repose for reason itself but in faith. This verse does not impose an obligation to bring forward a learned proof and logical defense of revelation. But as believers deny themselves, crucify the world, and brave persecution, they must be buoyed up by some strong "hope"; men of the world, having no such hope themselves, are moved by curiosity to ask the secret of this hope; the believer must be ready to give an experimental account "how this hope arose in him, what it contains, and on what it rests" [STEIGER].

with—The oldest manuscripts read, "but with." Be ready, but with "meekness." Not pertly and arrogantly.

meekness— (I Peter 3:4). The most effective way; not self-sufficient impetuosity.

fear—due respect towards man, and reverence towards God, remembering His cause does not need man's hot temper to uphold it.




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 1 Peter 3:15:

Song of Solomon 5:10
Colossians 4:6
Hebrews 10:23
1 Peter 1:3
1 Peter 2:12
1 Peter 3:6
1 Peter 3:14
1 Peter 5:6

 

<< 1 Peter 3:14   1 Peter 3:16 >>

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