1 PETER 4:12–19
DON’T BE SURPRISED BY THE FIERY TRIAL
Peter has already told his readers that following Christ may make them different from the people around them.
Former friends may be surprised when Christians no longer join them in their former way of life.
Now Peter turns the statement around.
The unbelieving world may be surprised by Christians.
But Christians should not be surprised when faithfulness to Christ brings opposition.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you…”
Peter is preparing Christians for something we might rather avoid:
Following Jesus does not guarantee a trouble-free life.
Sometimes faithfulness to Jesus is precisely what brings trouble.
4:12 — “DO NOT BE SURPRISED”
Peter begins:
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”
Once again Peter calls them:
“Beloved.”
These people are suffering, but suffering does not mean they have ceased to be loved by God.
That is important.
We can easily reason:
If God loves me, why is this happening?
Peter challenges the assumption behind the question.
Something painful happening to a Christian does not necessarily mean something has gone wrong.
Jesus suffered.
Peter has already told them:
“Christ also suffered for you.”
If we follow a suffering Messiah, we should not automatically be shocked when discipleship involves suffering.
WHAT IS THE “FIERY TRIAL”?
Peter calls their experience:
“the fiery trial.”
Fire is often used in Scripture as a picture of testing or judgment.
Peter has already used the picture in chapter 1.
He said the genuineness of their faith was being tested:
“by fire.”
Gold is put into fire to reveal and refine it.
In the same way, difficult circumstances can reveal what our faith is made of.
But Peter does not tell us here exactly what form this “fiery trial” took.
We should therefore be cautious about constructing a detailed persecution scenario that Peter himself does not describe.
The letter clearly shows Christians being insulted, slandered, mistreated, and suffering because of their relationship with Christ.
That is enough for Peter's argument.
4:13 — REJOICE IN SHARING CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS
Peter says something surprising:
“But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings…”
Peter is not telling Christians to enjoy pain.
There is nothing particularly spiritual about enjoying suffering.
The reason for rejoicing is their connection with Christ.
Their suffering for faithfulness identifies them with the One they follow.
And Peter immediately looks toward the future:
“that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
Here again is the pattern running through 1 Peter:
Suffering now.
Glory later.
That was Christ's path.
And Peter tells Christians not to evaluate their entire story from the difficult chapter they happen to be living through today.
Christ's glory will be revealed.
4:14 — INSULTED FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST
Peter continues:
“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed…”
That sounds very much like Jesus' teaching:
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you…”
— Matthew 5:11
But notice Peter's qualification:
“for the name of Christ.”
Not every insult received by a Christian is persecution.
If I am rude, dishonest, arrogant, or needlessly offensive and someone criticizes me, I cannot automatically claim that I am suffering for Jesus.
Peter is speaking specifically about suffering that comes because we belong to Christ.
“THE SPIRIT OF GLORY AND OF GOD RESTS UPON YOU”
Peter explains:
“because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
This may echo Isaiah 11:2, where the Spirit of the LORD rests upon the promised figure from Jesse's line.
There may also be a broader echo of God's presence resting upon His people.
Peter's point is deeply encouraging.
The world may look at these suffering Christians and conclude:
God has abandoned them.
Peter says exactly the opposite.
God's Spirit rests upon them.
Human rejection does not equal divine rejection.
4:15 — NOT ALL SUFFERING IS CHRISTIAN SUFFERING
Peter now gives an important warning:
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.”
The first three are obvious.
Murder.
Theft.
Evildoing.
But the fourth is interesting.
The word translated “meddler” is rare and its exact nuance is debated. It appears to describe someone who improperly interferes in matters that belong to others.
Peter's larger point is unmistakable:
Don't confuse the consequences of bad behavior with suffering for Christ.
A Christian can suffer because he is faithful.
A Christian can also suffer because he behaved foolishly.
Those are not the same thing.
Before claiming persecution, we should sometimes ask:
“Am I suffering because I followed Jesus—or because I handled the situation badly?”
That can be an uncomfortable question.
But Peter makes us ask it.
4:16 — “IF ANYONE SUFFERS AS A CHRISTIAN”
Peter continues:
“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed…”
The word Christian appears only a few times in the New Testament.
Acts 11:26 says:
“In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”
Acts 26:28 records Agrippa using the term.
And here Peter uses it.
The name may sometimes have been spoken contemptuously.
Peter says:
Don't be ashamed of it.
Instead:
“let him glorify God in that name.”
What others intend as an insult can become an opportunity to honor God.
4:17 — “JUDGMENT” BEGINS WITH GOD’S HOUSEHOLD
Now we reach one of the more difficult statements:
“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God…”
What does Peter mean?
At first this might sound as though Peter is saying Christians are about to be condemned.
But that does not fit the surrounding passage.
Peter has just called them blessed and said God's Spirit rests upon them.
The idea of judgment beginning with God's people has Old Testament background.
Ezekiel 9, for example, pictures judgment beginning at God's sanctuary.
Malachi 3 describes the Lord coming to purify His people.
The important point is that belonging to God's household does not mean being exempt from God's searching judgment.
God begins with His own people.
For believers, the trials Peter has been discussing can function as testing and purification.
But then Peter asks:
“and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
That is the sobering contrast.
If God's own people pass through testing, what of those who reject His gospel entirely?
GOD’S HOUSEHOLD
There is another detail worth noticing.
Peter has already called Christians:
“a spiritual house.”
Now he calls them:
“the household of God.”
Again, God's house is not primarily a physical building.
Peter is talking about people.
The church is God's household.
That makes judgment beginning with God's “house” particularly significant.
God is concerned with the character and faithfulness of His own people.
4:18 — “IF THE RIGHTEOUS IS SCARCELY SAVED…”
Peter quotes Proverbs 11:31 from the Greek Old Testament:
“If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
The word “scarcely” can be misleading to modern ears.
It can sound as though God barely manages to save Christians:
“Whew! We almost lost that one!”
That is not Peter's point.
The idea is that the righteous are saved through difficulty.
Their road involves testing, suffering, perseverance, and dependence upon God.
Peter has spent the entire letter describing precisely that kind of life.
Salvation is not presented as effortless discipleship.
But difficulty does not mean God has lost control.
Remember what Peter said in chapter 1:
They are “by God's power being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed.”
God guards.
They continue in faith.
Peter holds those truths together.
WHAT ABOUT THE UNGODLY?
Peter asks:
“what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
He does not answer because the question itself supplies the force.
If God's people take His holiness seriously, those who reject Him should certainly not assume judgment is unimportant.
Peter's purpose is not to encourage Christians to look smugly at unbelievers.
His purpose is to encourage suffering Christians to remain faithful.
God sees.
God judges justly.
Therefore:
Don't abandon Christ because following Him becomes difficult.
4:19 — THE VERSE THAT BRINGS IT ALL TOGETHER
Peter concludes:
“Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”
That may be the most important sentence in the whole section.
Peter gives suffering Christians three things to do.
SUFFER WITHOUT ABANDONING GOD
Peter speaks of those who suffer:
“according to God's will.”
This does not mean every evil act committed against a Christian is something God approves.
Peter has already condemned evildoing.
Rather, there are circumstances in which faithfulness to God's will results in suffering, and God may permit His people to pass through it.
ENTRUST YOURSELF TO GOD
Peter says:
“entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.”
That sounds very much like what Peter said about Jesus:
“When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”
Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father.
Now Christians are told to do the same.
And notice Peter's description:
“a faithful Creator.”
The God who created us can be trusted with us.
KEEP DOING GOOD
Peter finishes:
“while doing good.”
That may be the hardest part.
When someone mistreats us, we want to retaliate.
When doing right causes suffering, we may want to stop doing right.
Peter says:
Keep doing good.
Don't allow another person's evil to determine your character.
Don't let suffering decide who you become.
JUDGMENT BEGINS WITH US
There is something here worth thinking about.
It is easy for Christians to talk about what is wrong with the world.
Peter begins somewhere else.
“Judgment [begins] at the household of God.”
Before asking what is wrong with everyone outside the church, perhaps God's people should ask:
What needs to change in us?
Are we living holy lives?
Are we loving one another?
Are we controlling our tongues?
Are we serving rather than demanding to be served?
Are we treating others honorably?
Are we following Jesus when following Him costs us something?
Peter's letter gives Christians plenty to examine before we begin examining everybody else.
THE BIG PICTURE
Peter does not promise Christians an easy life.
He promises them something better:
God has not abandoned them.
When suffering comes because we belong to Christ:
Don't be surprised.
Don't be ashamed.
Don't retaliate with evil.
Don't assume suffering means God has rejected you.
Don't confuse suffering for wrongdoing with suffering for Christ.
Instead:
Rejoice that you belong to Christ.
Remember that God's Spirit rests upon His people.
Entrust yourself to your faithful Creator.
Keep doing good.
The question is not whether Christians will always escape suffering.
The question is:
Whom will we trust when suffering comes?
Peter's answer is:
“Entrust [yourself] to a faithful Creator while doing good.”
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT
Why should Christians not be surprised when faithfulness to Christ brings opposition?
What does Peter mean by calling suffering a “fiery trial”?
How can a Christian rejoice while genuinely suffering?
What is the difference between suffering for the name of Christ and suffering because of our own wrongdoing?
Why does Peter include something as seemingly ordinary as meddling alongside more obvious sins?
What did the name “Christian” mean to Peter's first readers, and why should they not be ashamed of it?
What does Peter mean when he says judgment begins with “the household of God”?
Does “the righteous is scarcely saved” mean God barely manages to save His people? What does the context suggest?
How does 4:19 resemble Peter's description of Jesus in 2:23?
What does it look like practically to entrust ourselves to God while continuing to do good?
Before Christians criticize the world around us, what questions does this passage suggest we should ask about ourselves?
NEXT STUDY
1 PETER 5:1–7 — HOW SHOULD SHEPHERDS LEAD GOD’S PEOPLE?
Peter now turns directly to the elders.
And his language is important:
“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight…”
Here Peter places three important New Testament leadership ideas together:
elder,
shepherd,
overseer.
Are these three different church offices—or three descriptions of the work of the same men?
Peter also tells leaders how not to lead:
Not under compulsion.
Not for shameful gain.
Not by “domineering over those in your charge.”
Then he points beyond every human leader to:
“the chief Shepherd.”
And finally Peter turns to everyone:
“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another.”
That next section will be especially useful for our earlier studies of how church leadership developed, because this time we can start with Peter's own description of leadership before looking at what happened later in church history.
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