“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”
Verse 14 gives us the setting for the text: “But and if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are you: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” When Peter wrote this, suffering was not something that Christians might have to deal with. It could be downright fatal to be a Christian in those days. He also counseled them not to be afraid of those who would terrify them because of their beliefs. It is getting so in our day that we have to deal with this in a way, and it will only get worse. In our text, Peter tells them, and us, how to handle the situation. It was good advice for Peter’s original recipients and it is good advice for us as well. First, Peter advised them to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” NIV translates it: “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord…” The idea is to that if you want to be ready to face the challenges of the world give your whole heart to Jesus and make Him Lord. Living the Christian faith is always concerned with our hearts. That is why we are warned in Proverbs 4:23 to: "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” We have Jeremiah’s take on this for his day in Jeremiah 29:13: “And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.” Throughout the Bible we are reminded that the Lord wants our whole heart. Peter also reminded them that they should make Jesus the Lord of their lives. If we are not one hundred percent in Jesus’ corner, we will not be ready to confront the issues of the Christian faith. Second, Peter advised them to be ready to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” This means that as we confront the world with the gospel, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it. It is for sure that we will not be good defenders of the gospel if we do not know the Bible. Christians need to spend time in the Bible, at the expense of every other book in their lives if they want to be effective witnesses for Jesus. Christians cannot have a radiant and compelling witness for Jesus if we do not read and study His word. Do you know why Jehovah’s Witnesses can claim to gain many converts from various mainline churches? It is because people do not know what they believe, and someone who has memorized a spiel from the teachings of a heretic, can twist them around their little fingers. We need to know the Bible and we need to know what we believe about the Bible. What are we defending? We are defending “the hope that is in (us).” Our hope is Christ and our hope is in Christ. We are not defending our denomination’s reputation, nor are we defending our church’s reputation. We are defending the hope that we have in Christ. Christ is our hope, He is the hope of the world, and He is the hope of the people that we encounter with the gospel. Third, Peter advised them as to how they were to “give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” The NIV translates this as: “with gentleness and respect.” In other words, we are not to defend our faith in an arrogant, know-it-all attitude. We are not to be accusative of the people to whom we are talking. We are not to argue with them about what they believe. I am at a point in my life that if I am trying to tell someone about Jesus and they want to argue, I don’t go any further. We cannot argue people into the kingdom of God. I would add that we cannot talk people into the kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit that convinces them, we are the witnesses, and the Holy Spirit is the convincer. This is good advice and we need to take it seriously. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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