Defending Hope - 1 Peter 3:15-16 Series

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that when your good behavior in Christ is being slandered, the ones mistreating you may be put to shame.

Introduction

We have spent the past nine months studying verse-by-verse through the book of 1 Peter, and ever since about the end of last summer Peter has been teaching us all about how to handle unfair treatment. When you are mistreated, mocked, made fun of, gossiped about, slandered, ridiculed, or abused, it is very important that you think about it in the right way, and that you respond in the right way, so Peter gives us some detailed teaching on this subject.

One of the prominent characteristics of the book of 1 Peter is how much attention he gives to our interaction with the world - almost half the book (48 out of the 105 verses discuss how we are to deal with the world and their treatment of us).

This is important to Peter because so much is at stake in our response to the world's hostility. The glory of God is at stake. When we respond the right way, Jesus Christ is honored and the lost are saved. And that is another major concern for Peter - evangelism - winning the lost to faith in Christ.

1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over

The world treats us poorly, we respond with humility, patience, and love, maintaining our joy and hope in the Lord, and some will see that and be saved, which means all the more worship and glory to Christ when He returns.

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

So, we get mistreated and respond in a godly way, and the world takes notice, and Jesus Christ is glorified. And today Peter is going to give us three principles on how to make that happen. And it all revolves around one word.

15 Always be prepared to give a defense (answer)...

Defense is a better translation. The word means to provide an explanation for why something is valid. The Greek word is apologia - we get our word apologetics from it. If you buy a book on apologetics, it will be a book on how to defend the faith - how to prove Christianity. Every Christian is called to be ready, at a moment's notice, to prove the validity of Christianity. And Peter gives us three principles on how to make that defense. But before we look at those three principles, let's make sure we are clear on what it is we are defending.

Defending Hope

Defend the Feeling of Hope

What does it say we are to defend? Most people, if you ask them to define apologetics, will say, "Apologetics is defending the faith." And if you say, "How do you know we are supposed to do that?" they will take you to this verse. But look at verse 15 - Peter does not say anything about the faith. What is it, specifically, that we are to defend? Our hope. Now, some have suggested that Peter is not using the word hope in the normal sense - referring to an emotion in your heart. They say Peter using hope here as shorthand to refer to all the doctrines of Christianity, so that hope is just another way of referring to the Christian faith. But look again at the verse.

15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the defense for the hope that is in you.

Not the body of doctrine that is in the Bible, but the feeling of hope that is in you. It is referring to the emotion.

The Meaning of Hope

Hope is happiness you feel now because of some wonderful thing you know for sure is going to happen in the future. When you are looking forward to something, and you are so sure that it is going to happen (and that you will like it) that you are already in a good mood and feel happiness just from the anticipation, even though it has not even happened yet - that good mood and feeling of happiness is hope.

The thing that will really capture the world's attention is usually not the consistency of our theological system, but rather the emotions we have when they mistreat us. Very often people think of apologetics in terms of providing some kind of scientific proof of various propositions in the Christian religion. But Peter does not say, "Be ready to defend the doctrines you believe." He said, "Be ready to defend the hope that you feel." So it is not so much that you have to be able to give an explanation for apparent contradictions in the Bible, or why a loving God would allow evil; as much as you have to be able to give an explanation when someone says, "You are being horribly mistreated - why is there a smile on your face?"