Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 1 Peter 4:12 - 4:12

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 1 Peter 4:12 - 4:12


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12 ff. Having described two of the results of Christ’s sufferings in the flesh as being applicable also to His members, viz. (a) the termination of sin, (b) a life of service in the spirit, St Peter now begins the concluding section of his epistle with the third characteristic of suffering, that it is the process by which Christ’s members are brought to glory as He was. This thought was introduced by the concluding words of the last section.

12 Sufferings are not to be regarded with surprise, as though some strange mischance was interrupting or thwarting God’s loving purpose. Rather they are coming to pass in the orderly fulfilment of that purpose. They are a refining process (cf. 1Pe 1:7), a trial by fire intended to test the genuineness of Christians. 13 In proportion as they have a personal share in the sufferings of the Christ they should rejoice, as a preliminary to the exultant joy which will be theirs when the glory of Christ, as the Head of manhood made perfect in Him, is revealed.

14 It is a happy thing to be reproached in the name of Christ, as belonging to Him. Suffering is the distinctive characteristic of glory under present conditions. Those who bear the reproach of His Name are, as it were, the House of God, the Sanctuary (cf. 1Pe 2:5) on which the Shekinah and the Spirit of God are resting. 15 But care must be taken that it really is Christ’s reproach which they bear. To suffer for some crime or for unwarranted interference in the affairs of others would only be a disgrace. 16 But to suffer as “a Christian” is no disgrace. Rather it is a title by which they may glorify God.

(In announcing the coming judgment upon Israel Ezekiel described “the end as come” (Eze 7:2) and the judgment as beginning “at the sanctuary” (Eze 9:6), cf. Malachi 3, where “the refining fire purifies the sons of Levi first before judgment descends upon sinners.”)

17 So now “the time is come that judgment should begin with the house of God.” If its initial stages, as it affects Christians, are thus painful, how far more terrible will its final stage be for those who disobey the good news of God. 18 If the righteous can only be saved thus hardly, where will the ungodly and sinners appear?

19 Those, then, who suffer according to the will of God (and not for disobedience to that will) should commit their souls (or lives) into His keeping as a faithful creator who can be trusted not to deal untruly with His own handiwork. This they must do not merely by passive submission but by active obedience in doing what is good.