For the Christian, the fear of death has been removed by Christ’s resurrection. We no longer share the dread that shadows mortal life: fear of nuclear holocaust, of terrorist attack, or wasting cancer. Certainly we do not fear those who may persecute us, or suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus. We can understand that the very persecution of the enemy of Christ is fear-driven, fear of the light that exists to shine on those who live in darkness.

The “Apologea” – Overcoming Fear of Men and the End

Peter shows us that our hope provides both the courage for our witness and the content of our witness. Our hope is in our risen Lord. We sanctify the Lord Christ in our hearts; there is the end of fear. We sanctify Christ in our words; there is the start of witness. In the Greek, Peter does not begin a new sentence when he tells us to be always ready to give a reason for our hope. Rather, he says, ‘Set apart the Lord, the Christ, ready always for answer.’ Our devotion to Christ the Lord makes us ready, not only in attitude but in rationale. The word that Peter uses for answer is our word ‘apology’. We use the word exclusively in the sense of ‘excuse’, to express regret for a wrong. In the New Testament, however, the word is used to describe a ‘defense’, usually in a formal or courtroom context. (That meaning survives when we speak of an ‘apologist’ for the Christian faith.) Paul, for example, speaks of his right, under Roman law, to meet his accusers face to face and to make his ‘defense’ against their charges.2 Jesus had promised the presence of the Holy Spirit to enable His disciples to state their case before authorities. Peter well knew what it meant to stand accused in court and give answer.

As Peter speaks of the Christian’s readiness to defend their hope, he is certainly allowing for situations in which they might be haled before Roman magistrates. His encouragement is not limited to Christians in court, however. He speaks of readiness to make a defense to all who might ask a reason for their hope. Persecution was not as intense as it would become; Peter could still speak of “if” rather than “when” times of trial and suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus would come (3:14). Yet Christians must be ever ready, not only because they would be called to face Roman courts one day, but because they might be accused or challenged by suspicious or malicious pagans any day. It is true, of course, that the witness of a godly life can evoke questions of another sort. Unbelievers may become inquirers, asking with more than curiosity about the distinctive Christian hope. But Peter is here speaking of suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus. He is arming Christians against attacks, showing them how such confrontations can be turned into occasions for witness.

How, then, does setting apart Christ as Lord prepare Christians to make defense of their hope? The formal speeches of defense in the book of Acts provide the answer; so, indeed, does the whole New Testament. For the Christian faith, a strong offense is the best defense; indeed, it is the only defense. Christians defend their faith by proclaiming the gospel, declaring the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the plan and power of God. That which is foolishness to the Greeks and an offense to the Jews is the saving wisdom of God.

Paul’s defense before Agrippa shows us why Peter speaks of giving a reason for the hope that we have. Paul declares, ‘And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers.’2 ‘Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’ he asks. Peter and Paul both center on the reality of the resurrection, and they both proclaim the resurrection as the fulfilment of Scripture. Paul summarizes his defense: ‘I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to His own people and to the Gentiles.’ In this letter, Peter has proclaimed the same gospel to those who have been given ‘new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1:3). 

Peter, too, presents this salvation as the fulfilment of what the prophets have spoken (1:10–12, 25). The apostolic gospel bears witness to the historical fact of Christ’s death and resurrection, and proclaims the meaning of that fact from the Word of God. The reality of the resurrection and the rationale of the resurrection are joined under the authority of God. 

Apart from the testimony of God’s Word, the fact of the resurrection could be discounted as a strange and unexplained fact of history. The chief priests who bribed the soldiers to lie about the empty tomb were in full possession of the evidence, yet they did not submit to the Word of God.5 Conversely, there is no lack of contemporary theologians who display their skill in reconstructing apostolic Christianity so that an empty tomb is no longer necessary.

When Paul gave the reason for the Christian hope, Festus, who, with King Agrippa, heard Paul’s defense, declared that he had lost his reason. (Festus, indeed, shouted his charge, betraying by his emotion the offense that the gospel aroused!) Yet, in spite of hatred or scorn, the Christian presents his hope, humbly proclaiming God’s work and Word. As we acknowledge the deity of the risen Lord in our hearts, we bear witness to our hope in doxology; we declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His light (2:9). Worshipping the Lord, we set our hope fully on the grace to be given us when Jesus Christ is revealed (1:13).

Peter has made it clear that Christians are to be bold in their witness, not fearful of suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus. Hallowing the Lord in their hearts, they are ready at all times to confess His name before others. But now Peter returns to his major theme, the other side of the coin. Humility of life is as important as boldness in word. This is the other result of glorifying Christ as Lord. We are unafraid to press His claims, but we do so as His servants. It has been said that the corruption of the best is the worst; certainly no pride is more offensive than pride in being trophies of grace. 

The gentleness or humility that we are to show is far more than politeness of manner. It reflects the fear of the Lord in which the gospel is presented. Respect seems to be the wrong translation here. It suggests a proper attitude toward those who question us. Peter may have used the Greek word phobos in that sense when he described the attitude of servants to their masters (2:18), but he has just used it to speak of our fear of God rather than of man (3:14). It seems unlikely that he is now reversing this to ask that we fear man, even in a lesser degree. Rather, Peter is teaching us that it is our fear of the Lord that enables us to bear witness in humility.

Persecuted Christians suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus need to remember both the humiliation and the exaltation of Christ. His patient suffering will show them meekness when they are interrogated. His glorious triumph will give them courage to face their accusers. Undergirding both the meekness and the boldness of the Christian is the saving work of Christ.