Introduction
Are you ready to follow Jesus in a way that still does good, still speaks hope, and still loves people, even when it costs you? The central teaching of 1 Peter 3:13–22 is that the living hope we have in Christ empowers us to suffer for righteousness without fear, to witness with humble confidence, and to endure with a clean conscience because Jesus suffered, rose, reigns, and will bring us safely to God. Peter wrote to Christians who were marginalized and, at times, persecuted. Their situation was not theoretical. And even if our suffering today often looks different, we still know what it feels like to do good and get hostility back, at home, at work, in strained relationships, or simply because we belong to Christ. Peter trains us to respond in a way that seems counterintuitive, but is deeply Christlike.
Main Points
Are you ready to follow Jesus in a way that still does good, still speaks hope, and still loves people, even when it costs you? The central teaching of 1 Peter 3:13–22 is that the living hope we have in Christ empowers us to suffer for righteousness without fear, to witness with humble confidence, and to endure with a clean conscience because Jesus suffered, rose, reigns, and will bring us safely to God.
Peter wrote to Christians who were marginalized and, at times, persecuted. Their situation was not theoretical. And even if our suffering today often looks different, we still know what it feels like to do good and get hostility back, at home, at work, in strained relationships, or simply because we belong to Christ. Peter trains us to respond in a way that seems counterintuitive, but is deeply Christlike.
Zealous For Good, Yet Opposed
Peter begins with what “should” be normal: “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” (1 Pet. 3:13). In a healthy world, goodness should be met with gratitude. But Peter immediately acknowledges reality: “Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed” (v. 14).
I want to disciple you here with clarity: Peter is not talking about consequences from our own sin, those are often self-inflicted wounds (compare Gal. 6:7). He’s talking about suffering that comes because we’re doing good in Jesus’ name. The goal is that we would be known as a people who bless the city, love our neighbors, serve our families, and pursue peace, yet we’re not shocked when goodness is misunderstood or attacked.
Fearless Hope Under God’s Will
Peter’s command is direct: “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled” (1 Pet. 3:14). That sounds impossible until we realize what Peter later says: “It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (v. 17).
That phrase, God’s will, can feel unsettling. But Scripture repeatedly teaches that God can purposefully use suffering rather than waste it. Earlier in this letter, Peter says trials test and refine faith (1 Pet. 1:6–7). God strips away false saviors: comfort, control, politics, revenge, perfect relationships, perfect work, and the illusion that this world will finally satisfy us. Suffering exposes what we’re leaning on so we can lean on Christ.
And when my hope is no longer anchored to something fragile, I become harder to intimidate. Fear loses its grip when I know that no one can take away what God has promised me.
Honor Christ As Holy Inwardly
Here is Peter’s deepest instruction: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Pet. 3:15). This is the engine of fearless discipleship. Peter is echoing Isaiah 8:12–13, where God told His people not to fear what the surrounding nations feared, but to regard the Lord as holy.
So I need to teach you this plainly: fearlessness is not mainly about getting safer circumstances; it’s about putting Christ in His rightful place. When Jesus is honored as holy in my heart, set apart, weighty, ultimate, then threats shrink to their proper size.
This also corrects a modern temptation: being consumed by fear narratives, outrage cycles, and endless suspicions. Even when there are real evils and real lies in the world, fear-driven fixation can quietly replace worship. Peter calls us back: don’t be mastered by dread; be mastered by reverence for Christ.
Ready To Speak With Gentle Respect
Peter moves from inner worship to outward witness: “Always [be] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). Notice: people are asking because they see something. Hope becomes visible under pressure.
But Peter immediately guards our tone: “Yet do it with gentleness and respect” (v. 15). That’s the discipleship balance, humble confidence. We don’t hide, and we don’t harden. We don’t respond with panic, and we don’t respond with arrogance.
So I want you to practice this: be ready to explain the hope you have, not as a rehearsed argument only, but as a lived reality. Then speak in a way that sounds like Jesus, gentle, steady, honoring the person in front of you, even if they’re hostile.
A Good Conscience When Slandered
Peter adds another protection for our witness: “Having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Pet. 3:16).
A good conscience doesn’t mean perfection. It means integrity, no double life. When accusations come, our lives should be sturdy enough that slander collapses under the weight of consistent goodness. This is how Christian endurance becomes compelling: not by winning every argument, but by a long obedience of visible love.
And again Peter repeats the principle: “It is better to suffer for doing good… than for doing evil” (v. 17). If suffering is coming either way, let it never be because we deserved it for wrongdoing. Let it be the cost of Christlike faithfulness.
Christ’s Suffering, Triumph, And Our Salvation
Peter grounds everything in Jesus: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). This is the heart of our hope. Jesus did not suffer as a victim of history; He suffered as our substitute, righteous for unrighteous, so we could be brought near.
Then Peter declares the victory: Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (v. 18), and now “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (v. 22). The One we honor as holy is not merely an example, He is the risen, reigning Lord.
Peter also links this to Noah: God saved a small community “through water” (v. 20), and “baptism… now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (v. 21). Baptism doesn’t save as a mere external washing; it is the Godward appeal of faith, our identified union with the crucified and risen Christ.
So when you suffer for doing good, you are not abandoned. You belong to the Jesus who suffered, rose, rules, and will finish His story. That is living hope.
Conclusion
Peter trains us to live in a way the world cannot easily explain: doing good even when harmed, refusing fear because Christ is holy, speaking hope with gentleness, maintaining integrity under slander, and standing firm because Jesus has already won.
I want you to take one step of obedience from this passage: identify what you fear most (rejection, loss, conflict, misunderstanding), and deliberately “honor Christ the Lord as holy” there. Then prepare a simple, gentle explanation of your hope, rooted in the gospel: Christ suffered for sins to bring us to God, and He rose and reigns.
Lord God, thank You for Your Word. Give us ears to hear, hearts to receive, and lives transformed by Your Spirit. Teach us to honor Christ as holy in our hearts, to live without fear, and to be ready to speak the reason for our hope with gentleness and respect. Keep our consciences clean, our love sincere, and our endurance steady when we suffer for doing good. We trust You because Jesus suffered for us, rose again, and reigns at Your right hand. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Peter trains us to live in a way the world cannot easily explain: doing good even when harmed, refusing fear because Christ is holy, speaking hope with gentleness, maintaining integrity under slander, and standing firm because Jesus has already won.
I want you to take one step of obedience from this passage: identify what you fear most (rejection, loss, conflict, misunderstanding), and deliberately “honor Christ the Lord as holy” there. Then prepare a simple, gentle explanation of your hope, rooted in the gospel: Christ suffered for sins to bring us to God, and He rose and reigns.
Closing Prayer
Lord God, thank You for Your Word. Give us ears to hear, hearts to receive, and lives transformed by Your Spirit. Teach us to honor Christ as holy in our hearts, to live without fear, and to be ready to speak the reason for our hope with gentleness and respect. Keep our consciences clean, our love sincere, and our endurance steady when we suffer for doing good. We trust You because Jesus suffered for us, rose again, and reigns at Your right hand. In Jesus’ name, amen.