1 Peter 3:15 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Peter 3:15

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‘Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts’ – what does it mean? It is the same word that is translated in the Lord's Prayer, ‘Hallowed be thy name.’ Set up apart, often translated make holy. But you can't make God holy; he is eternally, infinitely, perfectly holy. What is meant is acknowledge this, recognise this, understand this. Credit him with his holiness and perfection. Any modern version will render this rather differently, and say something along the lines of ‘Sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts’, because they are following poorer, less reliable, textual readings. Who is meant? Is it God, the Trinity, generally that we are to esteem in our hearts, or is it Christ? The context provided by the preceding verse is troubles, and the following words are about witness, so it is necessary to credit the Lord and reflect upon who he is and his attributes whether we are in trouble or whether positively we are witnessing. Peter is quoting Isaiah 8:13: ‘Sanctify the LORD of hosts [Jehovah Sabaoth] himself’, and that enriches the text for us. The modern versions get, ‘Sanctify Christ the Lord’, because they are following poorer, less reliable, textual readings, but they happen to be right for a different reason. Isaiah 7 and 8 are predictive chapters; they prophesy the coming Christ, and the term ‘the Lord of hosts’ is applied to Christ, so it's quite right to read Christ into 1 Peter 3:15. These chapters in Isaiah speak of Emmanuel and name Christ. It is the Lord of hosts, the Lord who commands the army of angels. So we are to reflect on all the attributes of Christ the Saviour, and that will help us and strengthen us. The word translated ‘defence’ or ‘answer’ in the KJV is the Greek word from which we get the English word ‘apology’, but the usage of this word in English today has moved away from its original Greek. Today it means an acknowledgement of fault, coupled with an expression of regret and a request for pardon. But originally the word meant the opposite of this – an argued or verbal defence of innocence or of the reasonableness of a position. It is in this sense that it is used here. The Christian must show that his hope is entirely reasonable and ought indeed to be the hope of all thinking men and women. The word ‘apologetics’ is now part of the Christian vocabulary. The trouble with so much apologetics, however, is that it limits itself to a defence of the Christian faith based on arguments derived from philosophy and science which exclude the domain of special revelation. But when Scripture uses the word, it is not limited in this way. Paul, following his apprehension by the Roman garrison commander (Acts 22:1), using the same Greek word says to the Jews in Jerusalem, ‘Hear now my defence before you’, and proceeds to speak of things very different to philosophy and science. His defence is based on the Lord’s appearance to him on the road to Damascus, and Paul certainly doesn’t try to find common ground with his unbelieving hearers. The very strongest defence of the Christian faith is the proclamation of the work of God in all its glory as revealed in the Scripture. When we speak to an unbelieving world, we rely on the Spirit of God to open the minds of men and women. Our message has an intellectual element, but it is primarily a moral message which addresses the conscience. Yes, at times we need to show that Bible gives the only consistent and rational worldview which takes everything into account and which provides answers that human philosophy has failed to provide, but our chief message is Christ and him crucified. We speak of man’s fall and his sinful nature. We speak of the holiness and the grace of God, the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation to God, the need for repentance and faith. There is nothing as powerful as the gospel for breaking down the walls of prejudice and unbelief that men and women erect against God. Our task is to faithfully and earnestly present it to them and as ambassadors for Christ to plead on God’s behalf with them. ‘To every man.’ You say, ‘Oh but I couldn't witness to him. He’s a rank atheist.’ Pray for him. He may ask you a leading question. You may get into conversation one day. You may have to introduce it very gradually. It's very natural to make people aware that you are a believer and you go to church, so they get used to you and where you stand. And there may be a conversation, and somebody may say, ‘Whyever did so-and-so do such and such a terrible thing?’ ‘Well,’ you say, ‘it's the fallen state of all people. There’s a Putin in everybody.’ ‘What makes you say that?’, and you can elaborate a little more. There are good things, yes, but they cannot overpower the bad, and always somewhere there are terrible things happening. In every firm there is backbiting. There are people who behave well, and there are people who behave dreadfully, and there is always something to spoil. The greatest inventions for the production of power are turned into bombs. And then I look within, and I see my own heart, and how ready it is to sin and to selfishness and pride. Witness runs along these lines. How can I be sure that my sins have been washed away, that Christ came and died for them to make me a new person? I can be sure because of the work that has been carried on within me, because I have a new attitude to God and I love him, and a new attitude to my sins and failings – how I hate them. I used to excuse them, and now I want his help to overcome them. ‘How can you be sure you are going to heaven?’, someone asks. Our greatest task is to give an explanation for our confidence. That's the heart of witness if we can get to it.

Application

How do you sanctify him in your heart? You praise him. If we are always asking, and never praising, we’re not sanctifying Christ in our hearts, setting him apart, giving him his place, letting him rule. We’re not strengthening our own faith, and our prayers are not being offered in faith, if we don't see the one in our minds eye to whom we pray. Sanctify, set apart, reflect on, wonder at the Lord God, and Christ in particular in your heart.

Many of the modern hymns do cover Calvary. They do mention what Christ has done for me, but that is their stress. It’s good to do that, of course. Christ has come from heaven for a sinner like me; he has suffered in my place. They are full of that, but it's all about me. It’s what Christ has done for me; what he’s done to change me, what he’s done to make me happy, what he’s done to lift me up and set me on the road to heaven. That all has a place, but what about him? What about directing praise to Christ, not just for what he has done for me, but for who he is? He came to Calvary. What astonishing love! How far he would go for his people! We love to read the Gospels and we keep coming back to them because we see Christ and his ways, his character and power and glory. Think of his holiness. He is the perfect and the holy one; he cannot abide sin; he is indignant against it. He watches us. ‘I must live a holy life. I must control myself. I must control my temper. I must control my pride. I must control my selfishness. I must control my laziness.’ Then he is sovereign; he has authority. I must obey him, his every word. If there is something I do, and it is reproved in the Scripture, I must drop it. I must get rid of that music which is dedicated to the world and the drug culture, and the me, me, me culture. I have Christ; I have everything. He has wisdom and infallibility. What am I worrying about? There is something that alarms me, something that disturbs me, something which offends me. How will it work out? Lay it at his feet. If I esteem his supreme wisdom and knowledge, I can rest in faith and pray to him every time it concerns me, and let it go. He is glorious. He is full of glory and knowledge, and perfection. I am going to study him. Every morning, if you can, promote the Lord in your heart. When you pray, give some time to reflecting on him. Know how to rehearse his attributes and reflect on them, and be astonished at him, and amazed at him, and overawed at him. Love him and adore him, and pledge yourself to him, and then your prayer is full of faith.

The word ‘ready’ means be fit, be prepared. As an athlete you would scarcely enter a competitive race without having trained; you would make a fool of yourself. You have to be ready by being filled with a sense of duty. I am his representative wherever I am all day and every day. I have to be patient and wait my opportunities. I am representing him very much by my life, as well as by the opportunity to speak when it arises. Do you have sympathy for people? Do you pray for them? Do you know what you are going to say? Christians come to the Gospel Service because it's the highest point of worship for them to see Calvary again. But they also want to hear gospel arguments, and sometimes write them down.

We are to give this answer not belligerently, or accusingly, but gently, sympathetically and, Peter says, with meekness and with fear. Witness is not a time for attacking people. It is not a time for telling people the worst about themselves: you are giving something, imparting something freely and graciously. This is a kindly act. We do not speak to them as their judges but as their fellow accused, those who have found mercy and who are no more deserving than they. We cannot boast a greater wisdom or insight into divine things than any other fallen child of Adam, for all that we have was given to us. We do so with fear for we know what infinite consequences hang on their reception of the gospel. How can we do anything to put them off or present Christ in a way other than he would present himself? Humble words and gentle words are calculated to do this and an evident sympathy for the lost. You have to be careful when preaching too. Some preachers can be so hostile, and attack the hearer, and shout too much. Of course we are glad if the preacher gets excited; we don't mind. If the preacher is larger than life, we don't mind that. The preacher must show real concern and enthusiasm and feeling, but the person who seems like a man in a temper, and suddenly seems to have hysterical moments and crazy moments – that's not honouring to the gospel. It is just emotional manipulation.

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1 Peter 3:15 Commentary and Bible Study