An Answer for the Hope
1 Peter 3:15-16
In the midst of a passage about enduring persecution in a godly
manner, Peter makes this statement: "..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; and keep a good
conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile
your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:15-16)
The early disciples of Christ endured unspeakable persecution for the sake of
righteousness but still they had hope and apparently it was obvious to those
around them. Peter admonished them to be able to explain to others the reason
for their hope in a respectful way.
Nearly 2,000 years later the Holy Spirits' words still ring clearly to the
Christian of today.
Let's notice some things about this passage and use them to "grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter
3:18).
First, we should realize that, as believers, we may be asked to explain not only
what we believe, but why we believe it. We start by sanctifying Christ as Lord
in our hearts. This means that He will rule us completely as Master and His will
should be our desire. If Christ is Lord and Master, then we
should have no trouble not only believing His word, but obeying it to the best
of our ability.
This leads to our being ready or prepared to answer questions or accusations for
our belief in Christ. This implies studying diligently the word of God so that
we can have well thought-out, understandable, and accurate replies for the
things people want to know. Armed with a solid understanding of the truth, we
should have no cause to be ashamed. (2 Tim. 2:15)
Notice that Peter says we should be ready to explain the hope that is in us. He
does not tell us to explain a capella singing in worship, our stand on pre-millenialism,
or the handling of the money in the church treasury. These things are important
and we should be able to explain what we believe on these subjects, but they are
not where our hope lies. The Christian's hope lies in the fact that Jesus loved
us enough to offer Himself as a sacrifice to God, then defeated death by His
glorious resurrection from the dead thereby giving us a confident, reassuring
expectation that we, too, will one day rise from our graves to live a never
ending life with Him in the very presence of God!
We share this hope, not by grabbing folks by the collar and yelling "Sinner!" in
their faces, but rather with a gentle, well-reasoned answer from the Scriptures.
Finally, we put what we believe into practice keeping "a good conscience" (1
Peter 3:16) so that others will see that we live like we actually believe what
we say we believe! This means finding real, everyday ways to apply the
principles we find in God's word so that when we are belittled for what we
believe, they will see a person committed to Christ, no matter what the cost.
How ready are you to give an answer for your hope?
By Zeke Flores
From Expository Files 10.4; April 2003
