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First Peter, part 14

1 Peter 3:13-17 says,

¹³ Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, ¹⁵ but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; ¹⁶ and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. ¹⁷ For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

This paragraph continues Peter’s theme: how believers are to live when facing hostility. It builds directly on Psalm 34:10–12 and now applies it to suffering for righteousness. Peter begins with a general principle. Normally, those who do good are not persecuted. Righteous conduct tends to disarm hostility. This echoes Proverbs 16:7,

⁷ When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

However, in verse 14 Peter immediately acknowledges that this is not always the case. Here Peter introduces a paradox. Doing good usually prevents harm, but if suffering does come, it becomes a blessing. This clearly echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:10-12,

¹⁰ Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sanctifying Christ

Peter quotes Isaiah 8:12-14, where God responded to the slander of the people against the prophet,

¹² … And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. ¹³ It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy [or “sanctify”]. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. ¹⁴ Then He shall become a sanctuary….

The issue is fear of men vs. fear of God. Those who fear God rather than men sanctify, hallow, or set apart (distinguish) the Lord of hosts by making Him their top priority. Whereas Isaiah 8:13 says, “It is the Lord of hosts (Yahweh of hosts) whom you should regard as holy,” 1 Peter 3:15 reads, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.”

In the Greek Septuagint (LXX), Isaiah 8:13 reads, “Sanctify the Lord Himself,” and Peter draws from this exact phrasing. In both cases, “sanctify” is from the Greek word ἁγιάσατε(hagiasate). But Peter makes one profound change: He replaces “the LORD (Yahweh)” with “Christ as Lord.” This is a strong Christological statement—identifying Christ with Yahweh.

Sanctuary or Stone of Stumbling?

Isaiah 8:14, 15 says,

¹⁴ Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a share and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Many will stumble over them, then they will fall and be broken; they will even be snared and caught.

Isaiah’s logic is this: Those who sanctify Yahweh find Him to be a sanctuary (refuge, place of safety). If not, He becomes a stumbling stone.

Peter has already quoted Isaiah 8:14 earlier in 1 Peter 2:8, in regard to “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” He says that this “stone” is Christ Himself, whereas Isaiah had applied it to “Yahweh of hosts.” The connection is made clearer in Isaiah 12:2, 3 which reads (literally),

² Behold, God is my Yeshua, I will trust and not be afraid; for Yah Yahweh is my strength and song, and He has become my Yeshua. ³ Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs [or wells] of Yeshua.

Because Yeshua is Jesus’ Hebrew name, and because the name means “salvation,” the New Testament often refers to “salvation” as a synonym of “Jesus” Himself. We see this in Simeon’s statement of faith when the baby Jesus was presented to God in the temple on the eighth day. In Luke 2:29, 30 he took the baby in his arms and prayed,

²⁹ Now, Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; ³⁰ for my eyes have seen Your salvation.

Jesus Himself understood that Isaiah’s prophecy applied to Him, for we read in John 7:37, 38,

³⁷ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus did not quote Isaiah 12:3 directly but referred to “the Scripture” in general, which often alluded to the “water” theme. John 7:38 reflects a shift from receiving salvation to becoming a vessel of the Spirit. He becomes the well, the source of the water of the Spirit, indwelling those who receive Him.

Such believers, having become vessels of water from an endless supply of divine revelation, should be ready with answers when people inquire about their relationship with God.

New Creatures

1 Peter 3:18 says,

¹⁸ For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

This begins one of the most profound—and debated—passages in the New Testament. Peter now grounds the believer’s suffering in Christ’s own suffering, death, and victory. Christ was “put to death in the flesh,” but raised to life “in the spirit.” Paul made a similar statement in his explanation of the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15:44-46,

⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

Again, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:15-17,

¹⁵ and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. ¹⁶ Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The resurrection does not bring the “natural” (soulish) man back to life. What is raised is not the old man, but the new spiritual man that was begotten by God. Paul defines this spiritual man as “a new creature.” Christ Himself was changed by resurrection. From then on, in fact, no one seemed to recognize Him until He did something or said something that identified Him as Jesus. For this reason, though we read of Jesus’s life in the gospels, we must also recognize that He is no longer “Christ according to the flesh.”

Neither is anyone who has been begotten by God. The past life has died and received burial. We now ought to relate to new creatures with new identities no longer tied to Adam, the original man of sin. Our true identity is no longer in the soul that descends from Adam. It is the spiritual man residing in our spirit.

The other major statement in 1 Peter 3:18 is “Christ also died for sins once for all.” This is repeated in Hebrews 10:10, and Paul also affirms this in Romans 6:10,

¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Paul had just affirmed in Romans 5:17-19 that Christ died once for all of humanity, based on His love for creation (Romans 5:8-10). Just as “all” died because of Adam’s sin, so also “all” are made alive because of Christ’s righteous act (1 Corinthians 15:22). Nonetheless, not all will be made alive at the same time; neither will all receive the reward of immortality at the same time. Paul says, “but each in his own order (tagma, “squadron”). There will be two resurrections (Revelation 20:4, 12) and a final Jubilee that brings “all things” under the feet of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:27.