1 Peter 4:12 - Meaning and Application

The repeated counsel and comfort in every chapter of this letter shows how much danger these new believers faced from persecution for their faith. Good conduct under suffering is one of the hardest parts of the Christian life, but it is necessary for Christ’s honor and for our own comfort. So, after urging them earlier in this chapter toward the important duty of putting sin to death, the apostle now turns to the needed duty of patience in suffering. An unchecked spirit is poorly prepared for trials.

Notice, first, the apostle’s tender way of speaking to these poor, despised Christians. He calls them his beloved. Then notice his advice about suffering: they should not think it strange or be startled by it, as if something unexpected had happened. Even when suffering is painful and severe, it is meant to test them, not destroy them. It tests their sincerity, their strength, their patience, and their trust in God.

Instead of only enduring, they ought to rejoice, because their sufferings can truly be called Christ’s sufferings. They are of the same kind and for the same reason as his. In them, they are made like him. He suffers in his people and feels their weakness. And if we share in his sufferings, we will also share in his glory and meet him with great joy when he appears to judge his enemies and crown his faithful servants (2 Thessalonians 1:7).

True Christians love and recognize God’s children even in their lowest and most painful condition. The apostle does this here when he calls these afflicted believers his beloved. Christians also have no reason to be surprised at the world’s cruelty and persecution, because Christ himself suffered, and he taught that following him means denying ourselves and leaving all for him. Christians should not only be patient, but even rejoice in the hardest sufferings for Christ, because these sufferings are marks of God’s favor, help spread the gospel, and prepare us for glory. Those who rejoice in suffering for Christ will one day rejoice with him forever.

From the fiery trial, the apostle moves to a lighter kind of persecution, the kind that comes through the tongue, through slander and insult. He assumes they will be abused, spoken against, and slandered for Christ’s name. In that case he says, Happy are you. The reason is that the Spirit of God is with them to strengthen and comfort them, and the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of glory, the Spirit who will carry them through and prepare them for eternal glory.

This glorious Spirit rests on them, lives with them, and supports them. What a great privilege that is. When they suffer with patience, trust God’s promises, and hold firmly to the truth the Holy Spirit has revealed, they honor the Spirit. But when evil people mock and insult them, they are also insulting the Spirit who lives in them. The best people and the best things in this world are usually the targets of reproach. Jesus Christ, his followers, the Spirit of God, and the gospel are all spoken against. Yet the happiness of God’s people does not stop in affliction, it often rises through it. A person who has the Spirit of God resting on him cannot be truly miserable, no matter how great his troubles are. And when wicked people shame believers for Christ’s sake, they are treating the Holy Spirit with the same contempt. When God’s people are slandered for Christ’s name, the Holy Spirit is honored in them.

The apostle also warns them not to suffer as evil-doers, as if they were guilty of real wrongdoing. At first, such a warning might seem unnecessary for such fine Christians. But their enemies were accusing them of many ugly crimes. So, while setting out the rules of Christian life, the apostle thought this warning was needed. He forbids them from harming anyone’s life, property, or good name, from doing any kind of evil, and from meddling in other people’s affairs without call or need.

He adds that if anyone suffers for the cause of Christianity, and does so with a patient Christian spirit, that person should not see it as a shame, but as an honor. He should praise God for counting him worthy of such dignity. The best people still need warnings against the worst sins. There is little comfort in suffering when we bring it on ourselves through our own sin and foolishness. It is not suffering itself, but the cause of it, that makes a martyr. And we should thank God if he calls us to suffer for his truth, his gospel, or our faithful obedience to any Christian truth or duty.

The apostle then reminds them that their trials were close at hand, and they must be ready. He says that the time had come for judgment to begin at the house of God. This has often been God’s way. When he brings great troubles and heavy judgments on whole nations, he usually begins with his own people first (Isaiah 10:12; Jeremiah 25:29; Ezekiel 9:6). A time of widespread suffering was near, just as Jesus had foretold (Matthew 24:9-10). That makes all these calls to patience even more necessary.

He gives them two comforts. First, the judgments will begin with God’s house, but only begin there. Their trials and corrections will not last forever. Second, their troubles will be light and short when compared with what will fall on the wicked world, including their own unbelieving countrymen, the Jews, and the idol worshipers and unbelievers among whom they lived. If such things happen to God’s own people, what will become of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

From this we learn, first, that even the best of God’s servants still have enough sin in them to make his discipline fitting and necessary. Judgment begins at the house of God. Second, those who belong to God’s family have their worst things in this life. Even their hardest condition is bearable, and it will soon be over. Third, people who disobey the gospel of God are not truly part of his church and household, even if they make the loudest claims. The apostle clearly separates the disobedient from the house of God.

The suffering of good people in this life is a warning of the dreadful pain coming on the disobedient and unbelieving. What, then, will happen to those who do not obey the gospel? No one can fully describe how terrible their end will be. Peter also points to the hopeless doom of the wicked: “If the righteous are saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18). This comes from Proverbs 11:31: “The righteous will be rewarded on earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner?” The Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, gives it in the same form Peter uses here.

From this we learn, first, that the hard sufferings of godly people in this world are a sad sign of even heavier judgments coming on unrepentant sinners. But if we take salvation in its fullest sense, we also learn that even the best people must work hard to secure the salvation of their souls. There are many sufferings, temptations, and difficulties to overcome, and many sins to put to death. The gate is narrow and the road is hard, so it is no small thing for the righteous to be saved. Still, the need for salvation should outweigh the difficulty of it. Your hardest struggles are at the beginning. God offers his grace and help. The battle will not last forever. Be faithful until death, and God will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

We also learn that the ungodly and the sinner are certainly under condemnation. Where will they stand? How will they face their Judge? Where can they hide? If the righteous are saved only with difficulty, then the wicked will surely perish.

When Christians are called to suffer according to God’s will, they should care most about the safety of their souls. Affliction puts the soul at risk, and only God can keep it safe, if we commit it to him while continuing in good conduct. God is the Maker of our souls, and he has freely given many promises of eternal salvation. In all of them, he will prove faithful and true (1 Peter 4:19).

Learn from this that all the sufferings that come to good people happen according to the will of God. Also, Christians in every trouble should care more about keeping their souls than about saving their bodies. The soul is of greatest worth, and it is also in the greatest danger. If suffering from outside stirs up fear, anger, frustration, or other sinful passions inside, then the soul suffers most of all. If the soul is not well kept, persecution can push people into turning away from the faith (Psalm 125:3).

The only safe way to keep the soul is to commit it to God while doing what is right. Give your soul to God through earnest dedication, prayer, and patient obedience in good works (Romans 2:7). And when godly people are in trouble, they have strong reason to commit their souls to God, because he is their Creator and faithful in every promise he has made.