The Book of 1 Peter

Word Study

"stewards," Greek oikonomos (οἰκονόμος). The word joins oikos, "house," with nomos, "law" or "management"; it means a household manager, a steward entrusted with his master's goods to administer for the master's benefit. "As good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Peter calls every believer a steward. Whatever "gift" we have "received", ability to speak, to serve, to show hospitality, is not our own possession to spend on ourselves, but our Master's property entrusted to us to "minister the same one to another." A steward does not own the estate; he manages it faithfully for the owner, and one day gives account. So our gifts, time, and resources are God's grace placed in our hands to be used for others and for His glory. And Peter calls that grace "manifold", literally many-colored, varied; God's grace comes in countless forms, distributed differently to each believer, so that together, as each steward uses his portion, the whole varied grace of God is displayed in the church. The goal is stated plainly: "that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ." A faithful oikonomos seeks not his own credit but his Master's glory. So we are to see every ability and blessing as entrusted grace, to be managed generously for others, so that in all things God is glorified through Jesus Christ.

Explanation

Since Christ suffered, believers are to "arm" themselves with the same mind, done "with sin," living now "to the will of God" rather than former lusts — though the world thinks it "strange" and speaks evil. "The end of all things is at hand," so be "sober, and watch unto prayer." Above all, "have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins," practicing hospitality "without grudging." And every believer is a steward: "as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another," speaking and serving by God's ability, "that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ."

One verse here is easily misread: "for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead" (v. 6). It does not teach that the gospel is preached to people after they have died, giving the lost a second chance -- that would overturn Peter's own warning that men must "give account" to the Judge of "the quick and the dead." The "dead" are those who heard and believed the gospel while they were alive and have since died. Peter's point answers the sneer of the persecutors: such believers may be "judged according to men in the flesh" -- condemned, even put to death, by human courts -- yet they "live according to God in the spirit," alive for evermore with Him. The gospel was preached to them in life precisely so that, though men kill the body, they might live in God's sight. Far from offering hope to the impenitent dead, the verse steadies the living: the world may slay the body, but the believer who heard and obeyed the gospel lives on with God.

Gospel Focus

Peter calls believers to take up the mind of the suffering Christ: "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind." Suffering, willingly borne for God, is a weapon against sin, for "he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin", the one who has resolved to suffer rather than sin has broken with sin's rule, choosing to live "no longer... to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." Peter draws a bright line between past and present: "the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles," the old life of "lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings," and idolatry. That is enough; that season is over. Now the world finds it "strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot," and so they slander believers. But Peter reminds us that all such accusers "shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead", to God, the Judge of the living and the dead. The verdict is His, not theirs. Then Peter sounds an urgent note: "the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." Because Christ's return draws near, we live clear-headed and prayerful. And "above all things," love: "have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." Fervent, stretched-out love bears with and forgives the many faults among believers, covering rather than exposing. Such love shows itself in "hospitality one to another without grudging," and in the faithful use of gifts: "as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Every believer is a steward of God's varied grace, whether the gift is speaking, "as the oracles of God," or serving, "as of the ability which God giveth." And the aim of it all is one: "that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." So the changed life turns from the old ways to the will of God, loves fervently, and pours out its gifts in service, all so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong praise and dominion forever.

Word Study

"a Christian," Greek Christianos (Χριστιανός). The word means a follower of Christ, one belonging to Christ; it joins the name "Christ" with an ending meaning "belonging to the party of." "If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." This is one of only three places the word "Christian" appears in the New Testament (with Acts 11:26, where "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch," and Acts 26:28). The name was likely coined by outsiders, perhaps even as a mockery, "those Christ-people", but Peter takes it up and turns it into a badge of honor. To suffer "as a Christian," simply for belonging to Christ and bearing His name, is nothing to be "ashamed" of; rather, it is cause "to glorify God." Peter has just said, "if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye." The name of Christ, which the world reviles, is the very name in which the believer glories. To be identified with Christ, to carry His name, even at the cost of suffering, is the believer's honor, for it means we belong to Him. So Christianos reminds us that our deepest identity is bound up in the name of Christ: we are His, called by His name, and if that name brings us suffering, we do not hide it in shame but wear it with joy, glorifying God that we are counted worthy to bear the name of our Lord.

Explanation

Peter braces his readers for "the fiery trial," telling them not to "think it strange," as though something unheard-of had happened. Suffering for Christ is cause for joy: "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings," for to be "reproached for the name of Christ" is to have "the spirit of glory and of God" resting on you. Let none suffer as a wrongdoer, "yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed." For "judgment must begin at the house of God"; the righteous are scarcely saved. So the suffering are to "commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

Gospel Focus

Peter now prepares believers for intense persecution, "the fiery trial." He gives three surprising perspectives on suffering for Christ. First, do not be shocked by it: "think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." Suffering for the faith is normal, not abnormal, in this world. Second, rejoice in it: "rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." To suffer for Christ is to share His sufferings, and those who share His sufferings will share His glory; present pain is the pathway to future joy. And even now, "if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you." A special presence of God's Spirit rests on those who suffer for the name. Third, suffer for the right reason: "let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief... or as a busybody"; there is no honor in suffering for wrongdoing. "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." To suffer simply for bearing the name of Christ is no shame but a glory to God. Peter then sets suffering in the light of God's judgment: "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." God purifies His own people first through trial; but if the righteous pass through such refining fire, "if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" If the saved are refined by suffering, the judgment awaiting the ungodly is far more fearful. So the chapter ends with a beautiful charge: "let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." In suffering, the believer entrusts his very soul to God, still doing good, resting in God as a "faithful Creator", the One who made us, who is utterly faithful, and who can be trusted to keep what we commit to Him. So under the fiercest trial we do not despair or retaliate; we rejoice to share Christ's sufferings, glorify God in bearing His name, and commit our souls to the faithful Creator who holds us safe.