1 Peter 3:13-14 - Fear

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right; you are blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’”

Human nature feeds on fear. I found a website that lists 530 known phobias; including:

Octophobia – fear of the figure 8
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper
Euphobia - Fear of hearing good news
Gallophobia or Galiophobia - Fear of France or French culture (insert joke here)
Kathisophobia - Fear of sitting down
Genuphobia - Fear of knees

Fear of knees? Really? We fear lots of silly things. But there are also some legitimately frightening things in this world: death, cancer, terrorists, natural disasters, loneliness, rejection, and the future to name a few. Our world can be a hard place with many things to terrify us.

But God says, “Do not be afraid!” As a matter of fact, that phrase is used 65 times in the bible – and just so you know, it is a command, not a suggestion. With all the fear-worthy things in this world, how can God tell us not to fear? I’ll let Matthew 10:28 answer that question for us:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Nothing on earth can harm our eternal soul – so why fear it? What if I die in a drive-by-shooting? Your spirit leaves this temporary shelter and resides in perfection with Christ for eternity. What if I get a debilitating illness? You receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit and when your troubled existence on earth is over, you reside in perfection with Christ for eternity. Do you see a trend here? If you are a follower of Christ – all stories end with, “perfection in Christ for eternity”.

This focus on eternity doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about our struggles on earth. Jesus spent much of His ministry healing people, the bible calls us to care for the widow, the orphan, and the infirm, and He provides the Holy Spirit to minister to us. God cares deeply for our lives in the present, but He never loses sight that our life on earth is very, very temporary and eternity is…well…eternal.

As Paul says in Romans 8:18, “I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Paul’s point is not that our present sufferings are inconsequential – but the glories of God are so much greater than our suffering that there is no comparison. I challenge you to contemplate that truth for a few minutes – it will bring you an amazing hope!

God is the only person, place, or thing we should fear because He is the only one who can destroy both body and soul. God is God, He is Almighty, and He is able to do absolutely anything. The other side of the coin is His character: love, justice, and righteousness. We would be stupid not to fear His ability to destroy our body and soul, but knowing His character transforms that fear into loving, respectful awe.

So…what are you afraid of? God says there is no reason to fear – not because the thing isn’t scary – but because He is more powerful than the object of your fear. When we fear earthly things, we tell God that those things are more powerful than He is; the things we fear control us. Do you want to be controlled by a healthy, righteous fear of God or by your fear of knees?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” – Proverbs 9:10

“The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: Do not call conspiracy everything these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread…” – Isaiah 8:12-13 (This is the passage that Peter quotes in verse 14)

1 Peter 3:9-12 - Righteous

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

(10) For, whoever would love life
and see good days
Must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
(11) He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
(12) For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Sometimes the bible is very complicated and difficult to understand. This passage is not one of those times. Do you want a blessing in your life? Then do not repay evil with evil or insult for insult – give a blessing instead. Pretty simple…

This promise reminds me of the passage in Matthew 6:14-15 that says you will be forgiven if you forgive others. And the passage in Matthew 7:2 that says you will be judged by the same measure you use to judge others (yikes!). If you forgive and bless, you will be forgiven and blessed. If you repay evil with evil, refuse to forgive, and judge others…not so much.

Keeping with the straightforward nature of this passage: Do you love life and want to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. As Christians, we often think living a faithful life is not doing bad things – which is very true. But it is only part of the truth. Doing the good that God has called us to do is every bit as important. Staying away from bad and doing good are like the opposite sides of a coin – you must have both.

I love the picture painted in verse 12 – which is actually part of Psalm 34:12-16. I imagine God sitting across from me (today we are sitting in a couple of easy chairs in front of a cozy fire – yes, it’s snowing again). As we talk, He looks directly at me with his full attention and He is leaning forward listening intently to what I have to say. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and he is attentive to their prayers.” When you are righteous, you have God’s full attention.

Unfortunately, I don’t consider myself very righteous. I may look pretty good on the outside (and I DO look good!), but I know the real me. I know my pride, my selfishness, my cowardice, my lack of faith, and dozens of other unrighteous things. Knowledge of self prohibits me from accepting the name “righteous”.

While that paragraph is true, there is another truth that supersedes it. A little truth that I often forget: all that unrighteousness was crucified with Christ. I am no longer defined by my sin and faults; I am defined by the Spirit of God who lives in me. When God looks at me, he doesn’t see my sinfulness; He sees the perfect righteousness of Christ. I am righteous because Christ is righteous.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4

“…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” – Philippians 3:9

Followers of Christ are new creations. Do you get that? You are not what you were. The old has passed; the new has come. If you follow Christ, you are the righteousness of God – right now. Salvation is a free gift; we can only accept it by faith in Christ. Righteousness is the exact same way.

So how does that affect your life today? One, it should cause you to drop to your knees and praise God for His mercy and goodness. Two, you should meditate on that truth and allow it to replace the lie that God is angry with you or thinks you are bad. And three, accept on faith the truth of this passage – you ARE righteous!

Now, go into the world and live like it…

1 Peter 3:8 - In Summary

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”

This verse reminds me of Paul’s instructions for marriage in Galatians. Paul kicked off his discussion with the overarching instruction of “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21) Peter waits till the end till to give a similar thought. Let’s hit them one at a time.

- “Live in harmony…” Everyone means everyone – that means that as far as it depends on you, you should live in harmony with everyone you meet. Which means there is no room in the life of a Christian to hold grudges. Living in harmony means having “a like mind” when it comes to your faith and striving for the same goals – i.e., the glory of God and furtherance of his kingdom. A husband and wife should be on the same page, especially spiritually.

- “Be sympathetic…” We are called to live outside ourselves, or in other words, to get over ourselves. You cannot sympathize with others if you are focused continually on yourself. Peter calls us to move beyond self-interest and to care about the feelings of others. A husband and wife should look to the feelings of their spouse over their own feelings.

- “Love as brothers…” This does not mean that you should love as childhood brothers – beating and tattling on each other. Brothers and sisters are part of your life forever. They are around in tough times and in good times. If they need something, you help. If you need something, they help. You share a common history and blood relationship – as we do with other Christians. A husband and wife should love one another with the consistent love of a sibling or a close friend.

- “Be compassionate…” Sympathy calls us to feel for other people. Compassion takes it a step further and calls us to act on that sympathy. You must be in tune with other people to know when and how to act compassionately. A husband and wife should be “actively sympathetic” towards one another.

- “Be humble…” Consider others more important than yourself. I believe that we can act humble, and do humble acts, but it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to create a humble heart. It is something we can ask for. But just so you know, God doesn’t zap you and all of a sudden you are humble; He works humility in you by giving you opportunities to be humble. In my opinion, marriage is the most fertile ground for humility to grow – well, the second most fertile behind parenthood. A husband and wife should serve one another with humility.

Imagine the type of marriage you would have if you and your spouse treated one another with sympathy, love, compassion, humility, and lived together in harmony. Wouldn’t that be an awesome life! That is what God has in mind for marriage – and He gives you the ability to have that sort of marriage – and other relationships – through the power of the Holy Spirit. Seriously!