1 Peter 3:17

1 Peter 3:17. For it is better to suffer, if the will of God should will it, doing well than doing evil. This statement resembles that in chap. 1 Peter 2:20. It is also followed up, as was the case there, by an appeal to Christ's own case. The two propositions, however, have distinct points of difference. The present is introduced in immediate connection not with the credit attaching to a particular kind of conduct, but with what is essential to the keeping of a good conscience under the sense of wrong, and to the possibility of giving a right account of the Christian hope to inquirers or revilers. There Christ's own case is dealt with specially as an example of endurance which befits Christians. Here it is expounded mainly with a view to what His sufferings ultimately brought Him, in the form of a life quickened, exalted, and having now in its service angels and principalities and powers. The word rendered ‘better' here is one which does not mean exactly what is of better moral quality, but rather what is of greater power or importance, and so what is preferable or of greater advantage. Thus, looking still at the pressing question of what Christian duty is under the burden of suffering for righteousness' sake, and how a blameless behaviour should at all hazards be studied in such circumstances, Peter meets the feeling which rises against unmerited suffering by reminding the sufferers of two considerations. These are, first, that nothing can befall them but by God's will; and secondly, that if it is God's will that they be subjected to painful things, their sufferings, instead of being embittered, should be softened and relieved by the consciousness that they are undeserved, and by the assurance that they will work together for their good. This last idea, namely, the gain which such sufferings will bring to the sufferers, is what is specially taken up and illustrated at length in the following paragraph.