The Surprise of the Unbelieving World

Encouraging believers to remain faithful to Jesus even if it leads to suffering, Peter has made it plain that those who are no longer under the dominion of sin through faith in Christ are prepared to do what is right even if it costs them much. Such persons understand that their past lives of sin and debauchery are wholly incompatible with Christian discipleship (1 Peter 4:1–3). These were good reminders for Peter’s original readers, but many of them had already taken these lessons to heart and were refusing to follow the ways of the world.

We know this to be the case because the Apostle comments that non-Christians were surprised at how the believers he addressed would not join in debauchery. This surprise moved these non-Christians to malign believers for not following the world’s moral code (v. 4). Peter’s words here imply that the persecution his first readers endured was likely characterized more by verbal insults (“they malign you”) than by physical harm. Scripture warns us that we will have trouble in this world and even be hated because we follow Jesus (John 15:18–21). This hatred need not always blossom into attacks on our physical well-being. Often, the world’s mistreatment of Christians amounts only to verbal insults and exclusion from “polite society.” This can be true even when Christians have blessed a culture. Many nonbelievers, Matthew Henry comments, “will speak evil of good people, though they themselves reap the fruits of their charity, piety, and goodness.”

When this happens to us, let us remember our Savior’s words that those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and spurned on account of Jesus will have a great reward in heaven (Luke 6:22–23). Furthermore, let us take to heart Peter’s reminder that all those who harass us for following Christ “will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5). Keeping in view the fact that God will judge the world through Christ at just the right time helps us persevere through every attack, for we know that our Father in heaven will not take lightly the abuse of His children. We can endure faithfully because we know that our enemies will not have the last say. John Calvin wrote, “This it is that can sustain us against all assaults, that is, when we patiently wait for that day, in which Christ will punish all those who now presumptuously condemn us, and will show that we and our cause are approved by Him.”