FIRST PETER 3:16

The Bible says in First Peter 3:16, “Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” This verse is on the subject of believers having a good testimony in this world. In order to be a good witness for Christ, there must be some important differences between the believer and the unbeliever. The unbeliever will be an accuser. The unbeliever will accuse the believer because the unbeliever is under the power of darkness, and the devil is called “the accuser of the brethren.” God forgives the believer. The devil opposes the work of God and the will of God, so the devil accuses the brethren, and he uses unbelievers when he can to that work of accusation.

First Peter 3:16 is a verse that shows the contrast in speech between believers and unbelievers, or at least what should be a contrast. In First Peter 3:15 believers are told to give an answer concerning the hope that is in them “with meekness and fear.” The word “meekness” means gentleness or kindness. To be meek does not mean to be weak. It means to not put forth your will. The opposite of being meek is being willful. The Christian is supposed to be emptied of his own will and surrendered to God’s will in everything that the Christian does, especially including any conversations that the Christian might have with an unbeliever regarding the eternal destiny of that unbeliever. That is one of the reasons that believers should never argue with unbelievers about spiritual truths. We do not argue. We present the truth, and we present it with kindness and politeness and “meekness.”

It is interesting to note from First Peter 3:15 that we are also supposed to present the truth with “fear.” In First Peter 3:14 we were told not to fear. It said, “and be not afraid of their terror.” That means literally “and be not afraid of their fear,” that is, the fear that they would like to cause. The same word for “fear” is used in both verses. There are certain things that Christians should not fear such as persecution, but there are certain other things that a Christian should fear. A Christian should fear saying the wrong thing in the wrong way to an unbeliever. Their eternal destiny may be at stake, and there is nothing more important than where their soul will end up. What a sad day it will be at the judgment should some Christians find out the terrible effect that resulted from them having used the wrong words in speaking to others, and then to find out how different things would have been if only they had feared what they should have feared.

First Peter 3:16 says to followers of Jesus, “Having a good conscience.” It is very important to have a good conscience if you are going to live by faith. You have to know that there is nothing between you and the Savior. If there is anything, then confess your sins. This is a key point in walking continually in fellowship with Christ. He is holy and we are sinful. We must confess our sins in order to walk with Him. How often do we confess our sins: as often as is necessary. For most of us, this will be very often.

In order to have a good conscience you must understand your conscience. The word “conscience” means literally “to know oneself together with.” Someone might ask, “To know myself together with what?” It means to know yourself together with your knowledge of a standard of right and wrong. Make sure that your knowledge of a standard of right and wrong is as good as it can be: study the Bible. Of course, to study the Bible is a life-long pursuit; which is why the Christian life should be a process of constantly growing. No one is perfect. No one has arrived. No one is what they should be. As we continue to read and to think about the Word of God, it becomes an important part of the process of self-examination. Does your mind, and heart, and actions line up with your knowledge of the Word of God? If not, you need to repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness. First Peter 3:16 is emphasizing the fact that we need to make sure that we have a good conscience in regards to how we have responded to those who have mistreated us. It is a sin for believers to respond the way the rest of the world responds. We must follow the example of Jesus.

In the plan of God there will be suffering. God does His work by using the suffering of His children in order to touch the hearts of the unbelievers. That is exactly what the rest of First Peter 3:16 says: ”they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.” In order for a person to come to Christ, that person must be convicted of sin and see the need to be forgiven of his sins. One of the areas where human beings sin often and easily is in regards to how we treat others. The greatest sinners are often the ones who most easily see their need of Christ. That is exactly what happened in the case of the Apostle Paul. Before Paul came to faith in Christ, Paul’s greatest sins had to do with the persecution of Christians. Paul was at the death of Stephen consenting to his death. Paul pursued decent, humble believers and had them thrown into prison for no other reason than the fact that they believed in Jesus. It says about Stephen and Paul (Saul) in Acts 7:58-60, “And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” The next time that we see Paul in the book of Acts, he himself is becoming a believer in Jesus. It may very well be at the judgment, that Stephen will share in the rewards that will be given out for all of the things that were accomplished in the life of the Apostle Paul in the spread of the gospel of Christ. It may very well be that all of these good things only happened because a believer was willing to suffer without striking back…just like Jesus did.

Sometimes it is God’s will for you to suffer. First Peter 1:17 says, “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” There are only two reasons that you might suffer. You might suffer because you deserve to suffer, and your suffering is a consequence of your sins. You also might suffer because you do not deserve to suffer. Bad things happen to good people. Which suffering do you want? Which suffering is God’s will? If there is such a thing as good suffering, then make sure that the only suffering that you have in your life is the suffering that you do not deserve. That is what this verse is saying. You live by faith by trusting in the Lord Jesus to bring an outcome that He determines. When you take things into your own hands to end the suffering your way, you miss out on the blessing. You miss out on God’s will. You start things in the wrong direction, and then where do they stop? They stop with you having suffered for evil doing. It would have been much better had you done things according to God’s will and been willing to suffer for well doing.

First Peter 3:18 reminds us one more time of the example of Christ. It says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” The greatest event of the life of Christ was His death. He suffered and died, but His suffering and death had such wonderful consequences for the human race. Jesus had to suffer for sins, or there would be no hope for the rest of us. Because Jesus suffered, His believers will also be called upon to suffer. But just as we see good results from the suffering of Christ, there will also be good results from whatever God gives each of us to suffer.

First Peter 3:18 reminds us of a couple of very good things that Jesus did for us when He suffered for sins. Notice the word “once.” That is a very important word for the human race. Jesus suffered once for sins. His suffering was a complete and final suffering. It was once for all. Hanging on the cross, He shouted for all eternity, “It is finished.” He finished what He set out to do. He suffered once for all mankind for all sins. No one else must now suffer for sin. Come to Christ and find a complete and eternal forgiveness. If you do, you will never suffer for your sins. This is true because God added the word “once” to this verse “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins.” If you are a believer in Jesus and walking in fellowship with Jesus, do not ever interpret the sufferings that come your way as if they are sufferings for your sins. That cannot be. There must be some other reason for the sufferings. The sufferings must be the will of God, and if so; there will eventually be a good result to them, if you stay in the will of God. Because of the sufferings, the testimony of Christ will go forth. Because of the sufferings, you will see people and places that you otherwise would not have seen, and this change will be God’s will. The final results of these sufferings may not be known for a long time, but when they are known the name of Christ will be glorified. The Bible says in James 5:10-11, “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.”

The last phrase of First Peter 3:18 says about Jesus that He was “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” The word “quickened” means “made alive.” After death came life. Life always follows death for those who are aligned with Jesus. Do not miss the importance of the Spirit who is mentioned in this verse. The physical body of Christ died, but the Spirit gave life. We see the importance of the Spirit because He gives eternal life in contrast to the human life which always ends in death. Remember when Jesus said, “You must be born again. That which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of Spirit is spirit.”

The spiritual life, which is eternal, is given by the Holy Spirit. This means many things. One thing that it means is that the spirit is more important than the flesh. Those who live to the flesh will of the flesh reap destruction, but those who live to the spirit will reap eternal things. This also means that the power comes from the Spirit. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” The teaching is this: spiritual life starts by the Spirit, spiritual power comes by the Spirit, and the power of the Spirit is enhanced by suffering. If someone has no power, it may be because they have not suffered enough in the will of God; or perhaps they have not responded to their sufferings the Biblical way: by trusting in the Lord.

Because of the teaching of the preceding verse, the emphasis of First Peter 3:19 is that Jesus accomplished certain things because He had the power of the Spirit. It says, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” Jesus was put to death, He was made alive by the Spirit, and then He went in the power of the Spirit and preached. Many times you will find people expressing strong opinions around the question of who exactly heard this preaching of Jesus. But that is not the important point of this verse. The important point is that the preaching that Jesus did was in the power of the Spirit, and that did not happen until He died in the flesh. That symbolized an important truth. We must die to the flesh, or we will not have the power of the Spirit. Some of the sufferings that come our way are opportunities to die to the flesh, and then to be empowered by the Spirit. How often we lose our opportunities. When we react to our sufferings with the arm of the flesh, we lose the power of the Spirit. Every believer has the Spirit, but every believer does not have the same amount of power. How will you get the power? Do what Jesus did: accept the sufferings that the will of God brings your way, and react to those sufferings with faith towards God and mercy towards man. Only when you have the power of the Spirit will you be able to go where He leads you and do the work that he has for you to do in the spread of the gospel.

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