COMMITMENT OF A CHRISTIAN (1Peter 3:13-17)
by: Bro. Kevin Lee De Guzman
Growing up in a Christian family, I experienced persecution first hand during primaryschool for having a “weird” religion and in the church for being an“irresponsible” pastor’s kid. I was bullied at school for not having the RomanCatholic belief like everyone else. My classmates were making fun of me fordoing extreme worship of the Lord. For them raising your hands and singingloudly for God is extreme worship. On the other hand, church elders frown everytime they see me not lifting my hands high enough or singing loud enough duringpraise and worship.
Christ Himself was persecuted for bringing the good news. From then, all of His followers, from His disciples up to the present Christians have been experiencing the same. During Peter and Paul’s time, the persecutors were a bit harsh compared to present day persecutors. Thank God that nowadays; we don’thave to risk being fed to lions or being burned alive when we proclaim our faith in Christ. Although the experience may vary in ways and severity, the point is that every Christian has experienced persecution.
Commitment of a Christian is a theme that covers a wide span of topics, but we would befocusing on the areas of enduring and defending our faith. The first epistle o fSt. Peter was written during the reign of Roman Empire, the time when Jewish Christians were being brutally tortured and killed for believing in Christ.
A life that is committed to Christ involves three things:
1. A life that is committed to Christ involvessuffering for the right cause.
1 Peter 3:13-17 NKJV
13 And who is he who will harmyou if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if youshould suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid oftheir threats, nor be troubled.
Peter tells them “There is a great possibility that you will suffer- but even if youshould suffer- for righteousness sake- you are blessed.” Because we arefollowers of Christ we are protected from harm, but because suffering isinevitable, as long as we are in righteousness, we are blessed.
We are living in an era where we can freely embrace and proclaim our faith inChrist unlike centuries ago when Christians have to suffer severely, even to the point of losing their lives. Even so, suffering to the extent that your life is taken away from you does not take away the blessedness but evenpromotes it. It only justifies God’s comfort to those who follows Him. A good example was the peace that was exhorted by Christians while being burned alive.Instead of anguish and horrific screams, which the Romans were expecting, they heard songs of praises for the Lord.
We should always remember that suffering does not make you a martyr, but the causeof which you die does. Being born in this era, we need not have to endure as much as the Christians in Peter or Paul’s time did. Many Christians of today have become soft and weak not because of lack of suffering but because some of us forgot the reason for such instances.
2. A life that is committed to Christ puts Him in His rightful place.
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,
“Sanctify”coming from the Greek word Hagiasate whichmeans “separate from a profane to a sacred purpose.” Heart from the Greek wordKardia which means “the seat of emotional and intellectual life.” Sanctifyingthe Lord in our heart means giving Him His rightful place in our lives. Ouractions, emotions, the way we think will all be based on His’. In medicine, the heart sustains life in anindividual. It pumps blood so that the oxygen and nourishment will reach everyinch of our body. Putting Him in our heart means letting Him in, in every inchor aspect of our life.
3. A life that is committed to Christ is always ready to make a defense for theright reason at the right time to the right person.
…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you asevildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
“Be ready” which in its original Greek word means being fit. Like being fit for the job. Like aword class body builder, one must continue with rigorous training to maintain his physique. Without continues training, the once perfect sculptured body will fade and shrink. As Christians, our commitment doesn’t end after we receive salvation. It marks the beginning of a lifetime commitment of learning. Theresponsibility of spreading the word of God or defend our faith are not just for specialists and pastors, but for the church.
“To make a defense” is not synonymous to “to make a debate.” We should be able todetermine the right time and the right person to answer to. Giving the rightanswer at the right time to the wrong person is still wrong. To whom we should answer?We should answer to those people who are asking or intrigued by the hope thatthey see in us. This living hope attracts persecutors as well as confronters.Let’s ask ourselves, “Do the people around me see this hope that I have?” Is there any hope to begin with? Or is it hopelessness that they see, being bornagain in Christ means we have died to our old lives and thus we have a new living hope.
“Reason”-from the Greek word logos, where we get the English word logic. This onlymeans that the word of God has a logical explanation and it is not impossible to understand. When we answer to those who question our faith we ought to this with meekness. We are not to use highfaluting words to make ourselves sound wiser. Remember that our intention is to explain it as simple as possible andnot complicate things. Good news that is not explained is not only isn’t good, it isn’t even news. It is not our intellector intelligence that would put these people to shame but our good conduct in Christ. We may know the truth, but no one will listen to this truth unless you deliver it with kindness.
Conclusion:
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Suffering is inevitable. But still we have a choice; to suffer for righteousness or; to suffer for evildoing. Peter tells us that suffering for the sake of righteousness is always better because with it comes the Lord’s blessing.
Reference: Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Tellingthe Truth by D.A. Carson, Apologetics, Oxford University
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