1 Peter 2:19

2:18-25 Servants in those days generally were slaves, and had heathen masters, who often used them cruelly; yet the apostle directs them to be subject to the masters placed over them by Providence, with a fear to dishonour or offend God. And not only to those pleased with reasonable service, but to the severe, and those angry without cause. The sinful misconduct of one relation, does not justify sinful behaviour in the other; the servant is bound to do his duty, though the master may be sinfully froward and perverse. But masters should be meek and gentle to their servants and inferiors. What glory or distinction could it be, for professed Christians to be patient when corrected for their faults? But if when they behaved well they were ill treated by proud and passionate heathen masters, yet bore it without peevish complaints, or purposes of revenge, and persevered in their duty, this would be acceptable to God as a distinguishing effect of his grace, and would be rewarded by him. Christ's death was designed not only for an example of patience under sufferings, but he bore our sins; he bore the punishment of them, and thereby satisfied Divine justice. Hereby he takes them away from us. The fruits of Christ's sufferings are the death of sin, and a new holy life of righteousness; for both which we have an example, and powerful motives, and ability to perform also, from the death and resurrection of Christ.

And our justification; Christ was bruised and crucified as a sacrifice for our sins, and by his stripes the diseases of our souls are cured. Here is man's sin; he goes astray; it is his own act. His misery; he goes astray from the pasture, from the Shepherd, and from the flock, and so exposes himself to dangers without number. Here is the recovery by conversion; they are now returned as the effect of Divine grace. This return is, from all their errors and wanderings, to Christ. Sinners, before their conversion, are always going astray; their life is a continued error.

{22} For this is thankworthy, if a man for {f} conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. (22) The taking away of an objection: indeed the condition of servants is hard, especially if they have perverse masters, but thus their subjection shall be so much more acceptable to God, if his will prevails more with servants, than the masters wrong treatment. (f) Because he makes a conscience of it, to offend God, by whose good will and appointment he knows this burden is laid upon him.

Conscience toward God (συνείδησιν Θεοῦ) Rev., in margin, conscience of God. The idea is not conscientiousness in the ordinary sense, but the conscious sense of one's relation to God; his consciousness of God. Thus one suffers patiently, not from a conscientious sense of duty, but from an inner consciousness of his relation to God as a son, and to Christ as a joint-heir, which involves his suffering with him no less than his being glorified with him.

1 Peter 2:19 . Χάρις [“thank-worthy”], favour ) with God: 1 Peter 2:20 .— διὰ συνείδησιν Θεοῦ , for conscience toward God ) On account of the consciousness of a mind which does things good and pleasing to God, even though they please no man (let the force of κλέος , which presently follows, be considered).[18]— ἀδίκως , unjustly ) that is, suffering those things, which are unjustly inflicted. חנם , ἀδίκως , Septuagint, Proverbs 1:11 ; Proverbs 1:17 . [18] When a just man is not approved of by men, though doing what is good, and when he does not acquire, either before or afterwards, either their assent, support, or the intimation of a grateful mind, nay, rather experiences everything of an opposite kind, he may possibly be affected with no small chagrin and sorrow. But, if his conscience can only have God propitious, nothing but an unmixed feeling of delight remains.—V. g.

For this is thank-worthy; in the Greek the substantive is put for the adjective: the sense is either, this is acceptable to God, and will be graciously rewarded by him; or, this is praise-worthy, and will be your glory, as 1 Peter 2:20 . For conscience toward God; out of respect to God, and a desire of pleasing him.

1 Peter 2:19 f. Summary application of the teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke 6:27-36 = Matthew 5:39-48 .— χάρις seems to be an abbreviation of the O.T. idiom to find favour ( תן ) with God—cf. χάρις παρὰ θεῷ (20)—taken from St. Luke’s version of the saying, εἰ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς , ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἔστιν ( Luke 6:32 ).—Compare χάριτας = רצון that which is acceptable in Proverbs 10:32 .— διὰ συνείδησιν θεοῦ (i.) because God is conscious of your condition ( θεοῦ subjective genitive), a reproduction of thy Father which seeth that which is hidden … ( Matthew 6:4 , etc.); so συνείδ . in definite philosophical sense of conscience is usually followed by possessive genitive OR (2.) because you are conscious of God ( θ . objective genitive), cf. σ . ἁμαρτίας , Hebrews 10:2 . The latter construction is preferable: the phrase interprets διὰ τὸν κύριον with the help of the Pauline expression διὰ τὴν ς . ( Romans 13:5 ; 1 Corinthians 10:25 ) employed in the same context.— πάσχων ἀδίκως , emphatic.

Peter has to take account of the possibility which Jesus ignored, that Christians might deserve persecution; cf. 1 Peter 2:20 ; 1 Peter 2:25 .— ποῖον κλέος , what praise rather than what kind of reputation ( κλ . neutral as in Thuc. 2:45) cf. ποία χάρις τίνα μισθόν , (only twice in Job in LXX) corresponds to ἔπαινος above: χάρις παρὰ θεῷ shows that the praise of the Master who reads the heart is intended.— κολαφιζόμενοι , from description of the Passion, Mark 14:65 , ἤρξαντό τινες … κολαφίζειν αὐτόν , cf. Matthew 5:39 , ὅστις σε ῥαπίζει . So also St. Paul recalls the parallel between Christ’s and the Chrstians’ sufferings ( 1 Corinthians 4:11 ) κολαφιζόμεθα .— ἀγαθοποιοῦντες , opposed to ἁμαρτάνοντες , explains ἀδίκως (19).— χάρις , see on 10. 1 Peter 2:19 .

19. Reason for subjection even to froward masters. thankworthy—(Lu 6:33). A course out of the common, and especially praiseworthy in the eyes of God: not as Rome interprets, earning merit, and so a work of supererogation (compare 1Pe 2:20). for conscience toward God—literally, "consciousness of God": from a conscientious regard to God, more than to men. endure—Greek, "patiently bear up under": as a superimposed burden [Alford]. grief—Greek, "griefs."

19 . For this is thankworthy ] The word charis , commonly translated “grace,” is here used in the sense, which attaches also to the Latin gratia , as in ago tibi gratias , and the French mille graces , of thanks or cause for thanks. So in Luke 6:32 the same word is used in “what thank have ye,” where the context shews that it is equivalent to a “reward,” and in that case, as in this, a reward from God. It is not unreasonable to suppose that St Peter’s choice of the term was determined by the use of it which St Luke records in his report of the Sermon on the Plain. for conscience toward God ] Literally, consciousness of God , i.e. of His presence as seeing, judging, helping, rewarding, His suffering servants. The phrase is analogous to the “conscience of the idol” in 1 Corinthians 8:7 . suffering wrongfully ] Natural impulse, one might almost say natural ethics, sanctions the burning indignation and desire to retaliate which is caused by the sense of wrong. Here, as in the Sermon on the Mount ( Matthew 5:39 ), which this teaching distinctly reproduces, that is made the crucial instance in which the Christian is to shew that the law of Christ is his rule of life. It is obvious that in this case the allowance of any exception to the rule would make it altogether inoperative.

Each party in a dispute or quarrel thinks himself at the moment in the right, and it is only by acting on the principle that the more he believes himself to be in the right the more it is his duty to submit patiently, that a man can free himself from an endless entanglement of recriminations and retaliations.

Verse 19. - For this is thankworthy ; literally, this is grace (comp. Luke 6:32 , Ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστί ; "What thank have ye?" where the parallel passage in St. Matthew is Τίνα μισθὸν ἔχετε ; "What reward have ye?"). A comparison of these passages seems to show that χάρις and μισθός are used in a similar sense as expressive of God's condescending love. In his gracious tenderness he speaks of reward, though we deserve only punishment; he even speaks of thanks, though we deserve only condemnation. Other possible explanations are, "This is the work of God's grace;" or, "This is lovely;" or, "This is favor;" or "This implies" or "This causes favor with God." If a man for conscience toward God ; literally, for conscience of God ; that is, consciousness of God's presence, of his will, of our duties to him. This is better than to take the genitive as subjective, and to interpret, "because of the consciousness of God," because he sees and knows all that we do and say and think (comp. 1 Corinthians 8:7 , where "conscience of the idol" seems to mean a belief or half-belief in the real existence of the god supposed to be represented by the idol). Endure grief, suffering wrongfully ; literally, griefs , λύπας (comp. λυπηθέντες , 1 Peter 1:6 ). St. Peter echoes our Lord's teaching in the sermon on the mount ( Matthew 5:39 ). 1 Peter 2:19