Fearless Hope, Fruitful Zeal

Our text this morning is 1 Peter 3:13–17,

“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.”

-1 Peter 3:13–17

You may remember from what we’ve covered already in the letter, but Peter is writing to Christians living in Asia Minor in the early 60s AD. In these first few decades after the coming of Christ, these are churches and households of faith that are the very first seeds of the Church planted in hostile ground.

This is a culture that is foreign to the gospel. It hasn’t yet been shaped by it, leavened by it. The seeds are barely taking root and putting out their first shoots. It is a time where our brothers and sisters must have felt exceedingly vulnerable.

In some ways, we are similarly postured, right? The ground and soil of Utah’s culture has been shaped in some very powerful and very fundamental ways by the worship of the false god, false Christ, and false gospel of the Mormon Church.

The true Church is, in many ways, still in its seed stage here, isn’t it? In the history of the state, the true Church has never been more than a small undercurrent, counterculture. And so we can identify with our brothers and sisters who first received this letter in some ways that Christians in other places—places where Christianity has been for periods the dominant cultural force—may not be able to. They and we are not welcome in many circles of our community.

Into that differentness, that peculiarity, that feeling of danger and risk, Peter speaks four distinct words of exhortation to us in this section:

1. Bet your life on the blessing of God (13–14a). When opposition and difficulty comes, it’s easy to turn inward in self-protection rather than pressing the shape of the gospel—the giving away of self, crucifying the self for others.

And rather than that, Peter would have us bet everything on the blessing of God, to be zealous for the good of a gospel-shaped life. To press the suffering and subsequent glories of Christ into every crack and crevice and corner of your life, betting everything on the resurrecting blessing of God in Christ.

2. Don’t fear the opposition of the unrighteous (14b–15a). Do not fear those who would persecute you, revile you, hate you, and slander you. Fear and honor Christ the Lord as holy, trusting in his triumph over the world.

3. Be ready to defend your gospel-folly (15b). As the Lord presents the gospel to the world through our lives—a gospel that is folly to a perishing world—they are going to ask, “Why on earth would you do that? Live like that? Make decisions like that?” And Peter would have us ready to give a defense of the hope that makes what is folly to the world the very wisdom of God.

4. Live like your enemies are watching (16–17). Nothing undermines a Christian defense of gospel folly like wicked Christians. Full stop. Live in such a way that even if your enemies could watch you around the clock, they would be put to shame when they slanderously accuse you of evil.

Let’s begin with that first exhortation, to bet your life on the blessing of God.