First Peter: Part 4: Suffering — No Fear, Know Peace

No Fear, Know Freedom - 1 Peter 3:13-17

No fear is to know freedom. 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

How do you live in a world that is increasingly hostile toward the Gospel?

1) Be Fearless. 1 Peter 3:13-14, And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”

God has called us to be more than bleating sheep. He has called us to be roaring lambs! Proverbs 28:1, The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The gospel should make us bold, courageous, and fearless. Acts 5:29, But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s the absence of self. To the degree you are selfless, you will be fearless.

2) Be Focused. 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.”

The way to overcome a cowardly faith is to set your heart apart for God. 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…” When you live in the fear of God, you will fear no man.

Your level of preparation reveals your level of expectation. 1 Peter 3:15, “…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…”

3) Be Flawless. 1 Peter 3:16-17, “having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

The most important part of our Christian witness is not what we say – it’s what people see.

Philippians 1:27-29, Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

This world is full of suffering. Choose to suffer because you live for Him instead of living for sin.