We Are Upright
Who Are We? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsGod is pleased when we live according to his commands.
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Reading: 1 Peter 3:8-12
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Pray
Peter has been stressing the call for Christians to endure unjust suffering while still subordinating themselves to proper authority. He has detailed some of the ways we submit, to governing authorities, masters (employment authorities), and within marriage (both husbands and wives). He now calls his readers to have several character traits that enable/empower righteously enduring suffering.
To do this, Davids notes, Peter uses five “imperatival adjectives” (NICOT, 123ff.). Instead of commanding these outright, Peter uses descriptions of what the righteous sufferer looks like. The use of adjectives with imperatival force is a more vivid way to issue a command. God does not merely want to be obeyed, but to be understood; he desires more than cold “good works,” but wants a warm relationship with his people. By presenting these adjectives rather than simply commanding his readers, Peter is illustrating the commands in a more personal way.
God Calls Us to Be Upright
God Calls Us to Be Upright
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Unified in Mind
Unified in Mind
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
Bigg refers to this word indicating “rather likeness of sentiment or disposition than of opinion, but includes community of faith and hope” (ICC, 156). The idea is not that we agree or have the same outlooks and opinions, but that we utilize the same process of making decisions. Davids says “This is not the unity that comes from a standard imposed from without, such as a doctrinal statement, but that which comes from loving dialogue and especially a common focus on the one Lord” (NICNT, 124). We are to be “birds of a feather,” viewing the world with the paradigm of faith.
Caring for Others
Caring for Others
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
To be sympathetic, in the traditional sense, is to allow oneself to feel the emotions experienced by another.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
We are to sympathize with others, both those who suffer and those who are happy, because part of God’s love for us is demonstrated in Christ’s bearing our burdens.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
He demonstrates sympathy because he loves us, and we are to express that same kind of sympathy toward others out of God’s love for them flowing through us.
Loving the Body
Loving the Body
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
The city of Philadelphia gets its name from this Greek word. The idea of loving each other within the Christian community, however, is a common refrain:
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Tender in Heart
Tender in Heart
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
The same word is used in Ephesians 4:32.
The word used here literally refers to good bowels, as bowels were considered the seat of emotions such as compassion and tender-heartedness. Thus the translation “tender-hearted” in many translations. The compassion Christians were to show would extend beyond mere pity and sympathy to actual demonstrations of care and concern. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ words at the last day (cf. Matthew 25:40, 45).
Humble in Attitude
Humble in Attitude
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
Peter begins these adjectives with a reference to the mind. Here, Peter reiterates the mind, but this time concerning humility. Coming from the disciple who once said “though all forsake you, I would never,” only to within the same day also say “I do not know the man,” Peter had learned humility how we often do - the hard way. He had eaten plenty of crow, and could not exhort humility as the better way for believers.
Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Blessing, Not Retaliating
Blessing, Not Retaliating
To top off these adjectives describing the upright person, Peter also describes how this person responds to evil. You will be wronged - there’s no way to escape it. But how you respond demonstrates your character. Peter tells us not to retaliate, but to bless those who do us wrong:
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
He’s obviously drawing from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus commands us:
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Our response to evil with good shows our character as God’s children, and trusts that he will administer justice in his time. It is enduring unjust suffering the way Christ did. But Peter doesn’t just leave us with instructions - he also reminds us of God’s promise that our suffering is not in vain, for:
God Blesses Us When We Are Upright
God Blesses Us When We Are Upright
God will bless our righteous response to wrong. That’s comforting, because we all bear the brunt of evil from time-to-time. Peter quotes from Psalm 34 in verses 10-12:
10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
God’s promise has three facets in this passage:
He Watches over Us
He Watches over Us
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Whenever you see the eyes of God mentioned in Scripture, he is always active to do his work. He watches over his word to perform it, he sees the struggles of his people and responds with salvation, he sees wickedness and judges it perfectly. Where God’s eyes see, God acts: and God watches over the righteous. What a comfort!
He Listens to Us
He Listens to Us
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
He Avenges for Us
He Avenges for Us
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.