1 Peter 2:18-25

Rachel Workman: 18 You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. If I'm honest with you all (and I think we should always be honest here) these verses hit me wrong. My first thought was Lord why would you allow the people you love to be controlled by someone cruel and tell them to just endure it. Father, do you not see these young girls that are sold into human trafficking? How are they to just endure being raped day after day? Then I read it again and again and these words stand out. For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. Peter is instructing about submission to authority in the context of suffering for the sake of godly conduct. In other words Peter was instructing us to not allow ourselves to sin due to our circumstances.  How easily I forget that this is Satan’s world.

The term Peter uses in our text is not restricted only to slaves nor is this the usual word for slaves. It is a much less common word which may refer to a broader group. Not only slaves are addressed but servants as well and these words still apply to us.

Our Lord and His apostles consistently taught that every Christian is Christ’s slave. Therefore, we are going to be treated unfairly.

And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

“And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:44).

[Act] as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but [use it] as bondslaves of God (1 Peter 2:16; see also Romans 1:1; 6:12-23).


21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

22 He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
    who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
    the Guardian of your souls. The Guardian of my soul. I like that verse. I love that we can now be dead to sin, that we are healed from sin and that my Shepherd is keeping me in the sheepfold. I am blessed that my God loves me more than I am capable of. That he continues to show and speak to me about his word and through his word. Even when my pride shows its ugly face.

____________________________________________________________

John Burnett:  ¹⁸ Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are ^[a]unreasonable. ¹⁹ For this finds ^[b]favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds ^[c]favor with God.  So if we are treated harshly for doing right or wrong,  we find favor with God based on if we endure it with patience or not.  This is one of the hardest things for people to do.  Endure injustice for doing what is right.  Joseph is the perfect example of this when he was thrown into prison because he did not sleep with Potifer’s wife.

Christ Is Our Example

²¹ For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, ²² who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ^23 [d]and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself ^[e]bore our sins in His body on the ^[f]cross, so that we might die to ^[g]sin and live to righteousness; for by His ^[h]wounds you were healed. ²⁵ For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and ^[i]Guardian of your souls.  This passage speaks for itself and is one of the most poetic versions of the gospel.  It is also one of the most misused.  For by His wounds you were healed is used by the word of faith false teachers to convince people that he wants you to be healthy and wealthy in this lifetime.  Such an evil misinterpretation of that phrase.  We are healed of our sin condition.  Our body will be healed but only when we die and go to be with him and get our new glorified body.

____________________________________________________________

Krista Cook:  ¹⁸ You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect.^[j] Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. ¹⁹ For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. ²⁰ Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.

- we can rejoice in our tribulations if they come because we are living right

²¹ For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered^[k] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

- these are pretty powerful words!  Are you following Him with your whole heart?

²² He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.^[l]
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
²⁴ He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.
²⁵ Once you were like sheep
    who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
    the Guardian of your souls.

- what an example for us to live up to!  He has done and continues to do so much for us.

____________________________________________________________

Mike Grimm:  ¹⁸ You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. When someone behaves badly to another person, it is natural to be bad in return. Christians have to be different, even if it is hard. In Matthew 5:44-47 Jesus tells those who follow him to love their enemies. Christians trust God because they know that he will judge all people in a fair way (chapter 1:17).

¹⁹ For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. ²⁰ Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. God does not make people suffer. It is wrong to punish someone who does what is right. Sometimes it is unfair when Christians suffer. Yet, God wants them to trust him. God blesses those who obey him.

²¹ For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. Jesus did nothing wrong, yet he suffered. ‘A model for you to copy’ describes the way that a person learned to write. He copied the teacher’s writing. Christians learn how to behave when they copy what Jesus did.

²² He never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone. This is another Old Testament prophecy about Jesus.

²³ He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly. This is how Jesus behaved (Matthew 27:13-14). Christians must follow his example.

²⁴ He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed.
²⁵ Once you were like sheep
    who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
    the Guardian of your souls.

Verses 24 and 25 use words from Isaiah 53:5-6, where they are a prophecy about Jesus Christ. Verse 24 is a simple way to explain salvation. Sin is everything that people have done wrong against God or other people. Romans 6:23 says that the punishment for sin is death. People deserve to die, because they have sinned. Jesus himself never sinned. Jesus carried the sins of every person, when he died on the cross. Jesus accepted the punishment for these sins. Jesus died instead of us. When anyone confesses that he or she has sinned, Jesus forgives them. He makes them new. Their spirit was dead, but now it is alive. They will live for ever. Now they can go on to live a holy life. Jesus can heal a person’s body and give life to their spirit.

‘You were like sheep that had lost their way’. Sheep wander over hills and fields. They are looking for grass to eat. Sheep often get lost and the shepherd has to search for them. Before people become Christians, they are like sheep that are lost. They do not know how to live a good life. When people ‘come back to the Shepherd’, it means that they are now going to follow Jesus Christ. He cares for them, because he is the good shepherd (see John 10:14-15).