Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Peter 4:19
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God ] In the acceptance of sufferings as being according to the will of God, much more is meant than the mere submission to an inevitable destiny. If we really think of pain and persecution as working out God’s will, permitted and controlled by Him, we know that that Will is righteous and loving; planning nothing less than our completeness in holiness (1Th 4:3), the Will of which we daily pray that it may be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Greek word for “Creator” is not found elsewhere in the New Testament, but is found in the LXX. of Jdt 9:12 , 2Ma 1:24 . Stress is laid on the attribute, or act, of creation as the ground of confidence. He who made the soul is also He who hateth nothing that He hath made. Here, also, we can scarcely doubt the example of the Great Sufferer was present to the Apostle’s mind, and his words were therefore echoes of those spoken on the Cross, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luk 23:46).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God – That is, who endure the kind of sufferings that he, by his providence, shall appoint. Compare 1Pe 3:17; 1Pe 4:15-16.
Commit the keeping of their souls – to him. Since there is so much danger; since there is no one else that can keep them; and since he is a Being so faithful, let them commit all their interests to him. Compare Psa 37:5. The word souls here ( psuchas) is equivalent to themselves. They were to leave everything in his hand, faithfully performing every duty, and not being anxious for the result.
In well doing – Constantly doing good, or seeking to perform every duty in a proper manner. Their business was always to do right; the result was to be left with God. A man who is engaged always in well-doing, may safely commit all his interest to God.
As unto a faithful Creator – God may be trusted, or confided in, in all His attributes, and in all the relations which He sustains as Creator, Redeemer, Moral Governor, and Judge. In these, and in all other respects, we may come before Him with confidence, and put unwavering trust in Him. As Creator particularly; as one who has brought us, and all creatures and things into being, we may be sure that he will be faithful to the design which he had in view. From that design he will never depart until it is fully accomplished. He abandons no purpose which he has formed, and we may be assured that he will faithfully pursue it to the end. As our Creator we may come to Him, and look to Him for His protection and care. He made us. He had a design in our creation. He so endowed us that we might live forever, and so that we might honor and enjoy Him. He did not create us that we might be miserable; nor does He wish that we should be. He formed us in such a way that, if we choose, we may be eternally happy. In that path in which He has appointed us to go, if we pursue it, we may be sure of His help and protection. If we really aim to accomplish the purposes for which we were made, we may be certain that He will show Himself to be a faithful Creator; one in whom we may always confide. And even though we have wandered from Him, and have long forgotten why we were made, and have loved and served the creature more than the Creator, we may be sure, if we will return to Him, that He will not forget the design for which He originally made us. As our Creator we may still confide in Him. Redeemed by the blood of His Son, and renewed by His Spirit after the image of Him who erected us, we may still go to Him as our Creator, and may pray that even yet the high and noble ends for which we were made may be accomplished in us. Doing this, we shall find Him as true to that purpose as though we had never sinned.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Suffer according to the will of God] A man suffers according to the will of God who suffers for righteousness’ sake; and who, being reviled, reviles not again.
Commit the keeping of their souls] Place their lives confidently in his hand, who, being their Creator, will also be their preserver, and keep that safely which is committed to his trust. God is here represented as faithful, because he will always fulfil his promises, and withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly.
But they had no reason to hope that he would care for their lives and souls unless they continued in well-doing. He who is employed in God’s work will have God’s protection. The path of duty ever was, and ever will be, the only way of safety.
1. THE apostle recommends fervent charity-unfeigned love both to God and man. It is well said of this grace that it is a universal virtue which ought to precede, accompany, and follow, all others. A charity which has God for its principle, and Jesus Christ for its pattern, never faileth. If our charity be extensive enough to cover all the defects of our neighbour in bearing with them; that of God is sufficient to cover all the sins of a sincere penitent by blotting them out. If we ought to be charitable to all, it is after the example of our heavenly Father, who is loving to every man, and hateth nothing that he has made.
2 The difficulty of escaping the corruption that is in the world is great; and, consequently, the danger of losing our souls. In this great work, watchfulness, prayer; faith, and obedience, are indispensably necessary. He who does not walk with God here cannot see nor enjoy him hereafter.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Let them that suffer; viz. any manner of affliction or persecution for righteousness sake.
According to the will of God; according to that will of God, whereby he hath appointed them to suffer such things, 1Pe 3:17; 1Th 3:3.
Commit; commend into his hands, or lay up, or intrust with him as a depositum, Psa 31:5; 2Ti 1:12.
The keeping of their souls; as the most precious things while they live, and most to be cared for when they die; that they may be kept from sin under afflictions, and from perishing in death: or rather, their souls here includes their bodies, and so committing their souls is committing their whole selves to God.
In well-doing; not being deterred from well-doing by the evils they suffer, but by persevering in holiness notwithstanding their afflictions, making it appear to the last, that they do not suffer as evil-doers.
As unto a faithful Creator; one who, as Creator, is able to keep what they commit to him; and being faithful to his promises, certainly will do it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. General conclusion from1Pe 4:17; 1Pe 4:18.Seeing that the godly know that their sufferings are by God’swill, to chasten them that they may not perish with the world,they have good reason to trust God cheerfully amidst sufferings,persevering in well-doing.
let themGreek,“let them also,” “let even them,”as well as those not suffering. Not only under ordinarycircumstances, but also in time of suffering, letbelievers commit. (Compare Note, see on 1Pe3:14).
according to the will ofGod(See on 1Pe 3:17).God’s will that the believer should suffer (1Pe4:17), is for his good. One oldest manuscript and Vulgateread, “in well-doings“; contrast ill-doings, 1Pe4:15. Our committing of ourselves to God is to be, not inindolent and passive quietism, but accompanied with activewell-doings.
faithfulto Hiscovenant promises.
Creatorwho istherefore also our Almighty Preserver. He, not we, must keepour souls. Sin destroyed the original spiritual relation betweencreature and Creator, leaving that only of government. Faith restoresit; so that the believer, living to the will of God (1Pe4:2), rests implicitly on his Creator’s faithfulness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God,…. This is the conclusion made from the foregoing premises; that seeing the state and condition of the saints in this world, at worst, and which is but for a time, is infinitely preferable to the dreadful state and condition of disobedient persons, ungodly men, and sinners, and which will endure to all eternity; they should not think strange of their sufferings, or complain of them, but patiently endure them; and especially when they consider that these are not the effects of chance, or merely owing to the malice and wickedness of men, or to any second cause only; but they are the will of God, are by his appointment, under his direction, and by his order, and for their good, and his own glory; and therefore it becomes them to
commit the keeping of their souls [to him], in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator: and which is not only their duty, but their privilege: and the sense is, that when they are called to suffer for Christ, they should commit their cause to God, who, as he is the Creator, is the Governor of the universe, and will judge righteously; and when they are even called to lay down their lives for his sake, they shall not lose them; though their bodies are killed, they may and should commit their souls, when departing from their bodies, into the hands of God; as Stephen, the first martyr, committed his into the hands of Christ, in imitation of him; where he that made them, as he is able to keep them, will faithfully preserve them in happiness and glory, till the resurrection morn, when their bodies shall be raised and reunited to them: and this is to be performed, in “well doing”; for which they suffer, and in which they should continue to the last; not rendering evil for evil, but blessing; and in imitation of Christ, and his servant Stephen, pray for their worst enemies, and wish them all the good, and do them all the acts of kindness that lie in their power.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Wherefore (). Picking up the thread of consolation again (Bigg).
Commit their souls ( ). Present (continuous) middle imperative third plural of , old word, a banking figure, to deposit, as in 1Tim 1:18; 2Tim 2:2, the word used by Jesus as he died (Lu 23:46).
In well-doing ( ). Late and rare word, only here in N.T., from (1Pet 2:15; 1Pet 2:20).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Commit [] . Give in charge as a deposit. Compare Luk 12:48; Act 20:32; 1Ti 1:18. The word is used by Christ in commending his soul to God (Luk 23:46).
Well – doing [] . Only here in New Testament. Compare ch. 2 14. The surrender to God is to be coupled with the active practice of good.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Wherefore let them that suffer.” (hoste) “So as” (Greek kai oi paskontes) certainly the ones suffering” — referring to the indignities of mistreatment by men because of their obedience to Christ-the theme of this letter.
2) “According to the will of God.” Only suffering in the I of God, not because of one’s own sins in the flesh, is to be endured with peace and joy, Mat 5:11-12; Rom 8:17-18.
3) “Commit the keeping of their souls.” (Greek paratithesthosan) places or put the keeping of their (Greek psuchas) souls, entire lives…
4) “To him in well doing.” To God in “doing good,” The one who spends time doing good, following God in all He does, stays busy doing things in the will of God, has no time for evil. He redeems the times. Such is desirable. Eph 5:15-17.
5) “As unto a faithful Creator.” The faithful Creator is loyal, faithful to his work, sees that it operates according to his will. His creatures are given volitions (wills) of their own and admonished, but not forced to follow the will of their faithful creator. It is best. Joh 7:17; 2Ti 2:11; 2Ti 2:13.
THE CROSS
An intimate friend of Handel called on him just as he was composing the music for the words, “He was despised,” and found him sobbing, so greatly had that this passage of shame and suffering of Christ affected him.
–W. B. K.
SECOND CRUCIFIXION
They crushed the thorns into His brow And struck harsh blows that day. 0 Lord, I would not treat Thee so – I only walked away.
They drove the nails into His hands And raised the cross on high. 0 Lord, that men could be so vile – I only passed Thee by.
But blinded eyes and heart of stone Will spurn a love like Thine 0 Lord, I struck the cruelest blows; The sharpest thorns were mine.
–Victoria Beaudin JohnsonI
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19 Wherefore let them that suffer He draws this conclusion, that persecutions ought to be submissively endured, for the condition of the godly in them is much happier than that of the unbelieving, who enjoy prosperity to their utmost wishes. He, however, reminds us that we suffer nothing except according to the permission of God, which tends much to comfort us; when he says, Let them commit themselves to God, it is the same as though he had said, “Let them deliver themselves and their life to the safe keeping of God.” And he calls him a faithful possessor, because he faithfully keeps and defends whatever is under his protection or power. Some render the word “Creator;” and the term κτίστης means both; but the former meaning I prefer, for by bidding us to deposit our life with God, he makes him its safe keeper. He adds, in well-doing, lest the faithful should retaliate the wrongs done to them, but that they might on the contrary contend with the ungodly, who injured them, by well-doing.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
1Pe. 4:19 Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful creator.
Expanded Translation
And consequently (because these things are true) those that are suffering according to the will of God must give over their souls in well-doing to a creator worthy of trust and confidence.
_______________________
In 1Pe. 4:17-18 we learned:
1. That God, as the good judge, was about to allow hardship and stress to come upon Christians. He has promised to save us if we will cling to Himbut He has not promised that life would be without its hardships.
This brings to mind the well-known words of Annie Johnson Flint:
God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river, turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
2. That God is just in condemning the wicked to eternal punishment. Someone says, Would God be so cruel, harsh, and brutal as to let people suffer in the fires of hell? What shallow insight into the mind of God! He allows His very own children to suffer here on earthsometimes for years on end! And during the same years, the unconverted may be enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb. 11:25). Why, then, would not Jehovah allow the sons of Satan to suffer in the world to come? The Christian chooses to embrace Christ and suffer temporarily on earth (2Ti. 3:12). The unregenerated man chooses the ways of the devil, and suffers eternally in the future life. In fact, even in this life it is often true that the way of the transgressor is hard (Pro. 13:15).
In view of the superiority of the Christians position, then, let him place all his trust in his God. Let him suffer only for doing right, but when times of affliction are his lot, he must learn to lean heavily on the strong and sustaining arm of his loving Father.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(19) Wherefore.Because the beginning of the judgmentthe judgment of the Christiansis so light in comparison with the fearful end when it lights on the disobedient and wicked.
Let them that suffer according to the will of God.Our version omits an important little word: Let them that suffer also (or, Let even them that suffer) according to the will of God. The stress is on sufferi.e., be put to death. And the clause, according to the will of God, seems not intended to mean in a godly and unblameable manner, as opposed to the suffering as a murderer (1Pe. 4:15); rather, it brings out that such a death is no accident, no sudden calamity, but in strict accordance with Gods prearranged design. (Comp. 1Pe. 3:17 : if the will of God will it.) Thus it harmonises with the following: faithful Creator, commit their souls.
Commit the keeping of their souls.The beautiful verb rendered commit the keeping of is a technical term for depositing a deed, or sum of money, or other valuable, with any one in trust. In the literal sense it occurs in Luk. 12:48; 2Ti. 1:12 : in a metaphorical sense, of doctrines committed in trust to the safe keeping of the Episcopate, in 1Ti. 1:18; 1Ti. 6:20; 2Ti. 1:14; 2Ti. 2:2 : of leaving persons whom you love in trust, in Act. 14:23; Act. 20:32. But the words which St. Peter probably has ringing in his ears when he thus writes are the words of our Lord on the cross (where the same verb is used): Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit (Luk. 23:46). Their souls might, perhaps, with still more propriety, be here translated their lives. The connection will then be: Consider the mildness of these trials compared with the terrors overhanging the sinful. Even if the worst should come to the worst, and you must die a martyrs death, it is but the execution of Gods plan for you. View your life as a deposit: lay it confidently in His hands, to be returned to you again when the time comes: and you will find Him faithful to what a Creator ought to be.
A faithful Creator.The word faithful is used in reference to the deposit placed in His hands; and the title Creator seems to be chosen here rather than Father, or the like, because creation of the soul includes not only the giving of its existence but the shaping of its destiny. The will of God, in accordance with which they suffer, is part of the act of creation. The noble expression, however, contains the idea that the act of creation imposes duties and responsibilities upon the Creator. It is conceivable that some powerful being (not our God) might create, and be careless of the happiness or of the moral welfare or of the mutual relations of his creatures. Such a creator would be unfaithful: we should have a right to expect differently of him. But God is a faithful Creator. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
In well doing.In the Greek these words come emphatically last. (Comp. 1Pe. 3:17.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. That suffer In this time of distress.
Will of God As shown in his providential dealings.
Commit With most absolute, unfaltering trust, whatever befalls.
Their souls Their bodies and lives, indeed, but especially their souls, joining all holy obedience to their faith, so that they would be filled with his Spirit and kept from forsaking Christ in the hour of peril; and, if their lives were lost, they would be saved in heaven.
A faithful Creator Who, with all his wisdom, power, and love, is forever faithful to his faithful covenant people.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.’
Believers suffer in order that they might be purified and cleansed. Thus their suffering is in the will of God. It is because He is working in them to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). And as a result, in their sufferings, they can commit their whole beings to Him as One Who is a faithful Creator, in the same way as in His sufferings Jesus committed His spirit to Him as His Father (Luk 23:46; compare also the Psalmist in Psa 31:5). And they do it by themselves doing good and revealing Christlikeness towards their enemies, for they are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has foreordained that they should walk in them (Eph 2:10). God’s creative work is at work within them and is coming towards its conclusion in their being made ‘perfect and complete in all the will of God’ (Col 4:12) and their revealing it in the world.
This idea that God’s creative work is coming to its fulfilment through the bringing of His creations to Christlikeness through suffering is a reminder that God’s creative work, while in one way complete (Gen 1:31 to Gen 2:3), is still in another way in progress. In other words history has not just been a sad accident. It has all been a part of His bringing His elect to Christlikeness through suffering in accordance with His purposes.
So those who are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification in the Spirit, are being brought to the obedience of Jesus Christ as a result of the sprinkling of His blood (1Pe 1:1-2), and their partaking with Him in His sufferings (1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 4:1), through which they are brought to God (1Pe 3:18), so that they may live unto righteousness (1Pe 2:20). Out of seeming judgment will come ultimate victory and triumph.
It is possible that Peter has in mind here 2Sa 22:31-33 LXX, ‘As for the Mighty One, His way is blameless. The word of the Lord is strong and tried in the fire. He is a protector to all who put their trust in Him. Who is strong, but the Lord? and Who will be a Creator except our God? It is the Mighty One who strengthens me with might, and has prepared my way without fault.’ In these words also we have mentioned the trial by fire for those involved in the going forth of His word, combined with the idea of the protection of God our Creator (Greek: Creator; Hebrew: Rock), the only use of the word in the Greek Old Testament. This usage in 2 Samuel suggests that behind the word ‘Creator’ is the idea of One Who is mighty and powerful, and totally dependable in the faultless way which we have to take.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Pe 4:19. According to the will of God That is “According to his permission, suffering as Christians, not as evil-doers: 1Pe 4:15.” The soul, by a Hebraism, is often put for the whole man; but here it may be understood of the highest concerns, and of our future and everlasting welfare. See Psa 31:5. Ecc 12:7. Luk 23:46. When they suffered for righteousness’ sake, they were to commit their souls or lives unto God, as unto a faithful Creator. This was another argument for patience; their suffering was not agreeable to the will of God, considered as their Governor or Judge; but God was also their Creator. But, besides his being their Creator, he is likewise faithful; that is, true to his promises, and may be depended upon, as one of sufficient power, wisdom, and goodness, to make all things conduce to the good of the pious, and particularly to raise them to a happy immortality. This promise he had made to them in the gospel, and they might trust him for the performance. By well-doing, some would understand, “a kind treatment of their enemies and persecutors;” which behaviour is unquestionably the duty of Christians when persecuted: but St. Peter seems to have used the word here in a more extensive sense, as intending to exhort them to a good behaviour in general. If they had been malefactors, and suffered as such, they could not have rationally committed their souls unto God as unto a faithful Creator: whereas such as make it their study to obeyhim, mayconfide in him in the greatest distress. He will support them in trouble, or deliver them from it; at death he will receive their spirits; and at the last day he will raise them again, and make them happy for ever.
Inferences drawn from 1Pe 4:6.It is a thing of prime concernment for a Christian, to be rightly informed, and frequently put in mind, what is the true estate and nature of a Christian; for this the multitude of those who bear that name, either know not, or commonly forget, and so are carried away with the vain fancies and mistakes of the world. The apostle has characterized Christianity very clearly to us in this place, by that which is the very nature of it, conformity with Christ, and that which is necessarily consequent upon that, disconformity with the world.
We have first here, the preaching of the gospel as the suitable means to a certain end. Secondly, The express nature of that end.
1. The preaching of the gospel as a suitable means to a certain end; for this cause. There is a particular end, and that very important, for which the preaching of the gospel is intended; this end many consider not, hearing it, as if it were to no end, or not propounding a fixed determined end in their hearing. This therefore is to be considered by those who preach this gospel, that they aim right in it at this end, and no other. There must be no self end. It is necessarily incumbent upon ministers of the gospel, that they make it their study to find in themselves this work, this living to God, otherwise they cannot skilfully nor faithfully apply their gifts to work this effect on their hearers; and therefore acquaintance with God is most necessary.
How sounds it to many of us, at the least, but as a well contrived story, whose use is to amuse us, and possibly delight us a little, and there is an end! and indeed no end, for this turns the most serious and most glorious of all messages into an empty sound. If we keep awake, and give it a hearing, it is much; but for any thing further, how few deeply beforehand consider, “I have a dead heart; therefore will I go unto the word of life, that it may be quickened: it is frozen, I will go and lay it before the warm beams of that Sun which shines in the gospel; my corruptions are mighty and strong, and grace, if there be any in my heart, is exceeding weak; but there is in the gospel a power to weaken and kill sin, and to strengthen grace; and this being the intent of my wise God in appointing it, it shall be my desire and purpose, in resorting to it, to find it to me according to his gracious intendment; to have faith in my Christ, the fountain of my life, more strengthened, and made more active in drawing from him; to have my heart more refined and spiritualized, and to have the sluice of repentance opened, and my affections to divine things enlarged; more hatred of sin, and more love of God and communion with him.”
When you come to hear the gospel, inquire within, “Why came I hither this day? what had I in mine eye and desires ere I came forth, and in my way as I was coming? Did I seriously propound an end or no, and what was my end?” Nor does the mere custom of mentioning this in prayer satisfy the question; for this, as other such things usually do in our hand, may turn to a lifeless form, and have no heat of spiritual affection; none of David’s panting and breathing after God in his ordinances; such desires as will not be stilled without a measure of attainment, as the child’s desire of the breast; as our apostle resembles it, chap. 1Pe 2:2.
And then again, being returned home, reflect on your hearts, “Much has been heard, but is there any thing done by it? Have I gained my point? It was not simply to pass a little time that I went, or to pass it with delight in hearing; rejoicing in that light, as they did in St. John Baptist’s, Joh 5:35 for a season ( ), as long as the hour lasts! It was not to have my ear pleased, but my heart changed; not to learn some new notions, and carry them cold in my head, but to be quickened, and purified, and renewed in the spirit of my mind? Is this done? Think I now with greater esteem of Christ, and the life of faith, and the happiness of a Christian? And are such thoughts solid and abiding with me? What sin have I left behind? What grace of the Spirit have I brought home? or what new degree, or at least new desire of it, a living desire, which will follow its point?” Oh! this were good repetition.
It is a strange folly in multitudes of us to set ourselves no mark, to propound no end in the hearing of the gospel. The merchant fails not only that he may fail, but for traffic, and traffics that he may be rich. The husbandman plows not only to keep himself busy with no further end, but plows that he may sow, and sows that he may reap with advantage: and shall we do the most excellent and fruitful work fruitlessly? hear only to hear, and look no further? This is indeed a great vanity, and a great misery, to lose that labour, and gain nothing by it, which, duly used, would be of all others most advantageous and gainful; and yet all meetings are full of this.
Now, when you come, this is not simply to hear a discourse, and relish or dislike it in hearing; but a matter of life and death, of eternal death and eternal life; and the spiritual life, begot and nourished by the word, is the beginning of that eternal life. Which leads us to consider,
2. The express nature of the end, that they might live to God in the spirit. Men pass away, and others succeed; but the gospel is still the same, has the same tenor and substance, and the same ends. As Solomon speaks of the heavens and earth, that remain the same, while one generation passes, and another cometh, Ecc 1:4.; the gospel surpasses both in its stability, as our Saviour testifies, Mat 5:18 they shall pass away, but not one jot of his word. And indeed they wear and wax old, as the apostle teaches us; but the gospel is from one age to another, of the most unalterable integrity, has still the same vigour and powerful influence as at the first.
They who formerly received the gospel, received it upon these terms; therefore think it not hard: and they are now dead; all the difficulty of that work of dying to sin is now over with them; if they had not died to their sins by the gospel, they had died in them after a while, and so died eternally. It is therefore a wise prevention, to have sin judged and put to death in us before we die; if we will not part with sin, if we die in it, and with it, we and our sin perish together; but if it die first before us, then we live for ever.
And what thinkest thou of thy carnal will, and all the delights of sin? What is the longest term of its life? Uncertain it is, but most certainly very short: thou and these pleasures must be severed and parted within a little time; however, thou must die, and then they die, and you never meet again. Now, were it not the wisest course to part a little sooner with them, and let them die before thee, that thou mayest inherit eternal life, and eternal delights in it, pleasures for evermore? It is the only wise and profitable bargain; let us therefore delay it no longer.
This is our season of enjoying the sweetness of the gospel; others heard it before us, and now they are removed, and we must remove shortly, and leave our places to others, to speak and hear in. It is high time that we were considering to what end we speak and hear; high time, without further delay, to lay hold on that salvation which is held forth to us: and that we may lay hold on it, we must immediately let go our hold of sins and those perishing things which we hold so firm, and cleave to so fast. Do they that are dead, who heard and obeyed the gospel, now repent their repentance and mortifying the flesh? Or, do they not think ten thousand times more pains, were it for many ages, all too little for a moment of that which now they enjoy, and shall enjoy to eternity? And they that are dead, who heard the gospel and slighted it, if such a thing might be, what would they give for one of these opportunities which now we daily have, and daily lose, and have no fruit or esteem of them! You have seen many, and you that shifted the sight have heard of numbers, cut off in a little time. And yet, who has laid to heart the lengthening out of his day, and considered it more as an opportunity of securing that higher and happier life, than as a little protracting of this wretched life, which is hastening to an end? Oh! therefore be entreated to-day, while it is called To-day, not to harden your hearts, Psa 95:7-8. Heb 3:7; Heb 4:7.
Think therefore wisely of these two things, of the proper end of the gospel, and of the approaching end of thy days, and let thy certainty of this latter drive thee to seek more certainty of the other, that thou mayest partake of it; and then this again will make the thoughts of the other sweet to thee. That visage of death, which is so terrible to unchanged sinners, shall be amiable to thine eye: having found a life in the gospel as happy and lasting as this is miserable and vanishing, and seeing the perfection of that life on the other side of death, thou wilt long for the passage.
Be more serious in this matter, of daily hearing the gospel; consider why it is sent to thee, and what it brings; and think, it is too long I have slighted its message, and many who have done so are cut off, and shall hear it no more: I have it once more inviting me, and it may be this may be the last invitation I shall receive: and in these thoughts, ere you come, bow your knee to the Father of spirits, that this one thing may be granted you, that your souls may find at length the lively and mighty power of his Spirit upon yours, in the hearing of this gospel, that you may be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
Now, if this life be in thee, it will act: all life is in motion, and is called an act; but most active of all is this most excellent, and, as I may call it, most lively life. It will be moving towards God; often seeking to him, making still towards him as its principle and fountain, exerting itself in holy and affectionate thoughts of him; sometimes on one of his sweet attributes, sometimes on another; as the bee among the flowers. And as it will thus act within, so it will be outwardly laying hold on all occasions, yea, seeking out ways and opportunities to be serviceable to thy Lord; employing all for him, commending and extolling his goodness, doing and suffering cheerfully for him, laying out the strength of desires, and parts, and means, in thy station, to gain him glory. If thou be alone, then not alone, but with him; seeking to know more of him, and be made more like him. If in company, then casting about how to bring his name into esteem, and to draw others to a love of religion and holiness by speeches, as it may be fit, and most by the true behaviour of thy carriage; tender over the souls of others, to do them good to thy utmost; thinking, each day, an hour lost when thou art not busy for the honour and advantage of him to whom thou now livest; thinking in the morning, “Now, what may I do this day for my God? How may I most please and glorify him, and use my strength and understanding, and mine whole self, as not mine, but his?” And then in the evening, reflecting, “O Lord, have I seconded these thoughts in reality? What glory has he had by me this day? Whither went my thoughts and endeavours? What busied them most? Have I been much with God? Have I adorned the gospel in my converse with others?” And if thou findest any thing done this way, this life will engage thee to bless and acknowledge him the spring and worker of it. If any step has been taken aside, were it but to an appearance of evil, or if any fit season of good has escaped thee unprofitably, it will lead thee to check thyself, and to be grieved for thy sloth and coldness, and see if more love would not beget more diligence.
But wouldst thou grow upwards in this life? Have much recourse to Jesus Christ thy Head, the spring from whom flow the animal spirits which quicken thy soul. Wouldst thou know more of God? He it is that reveals the Father, and reveals him as his Father; and in him thy Father, and that is the sweet notion of God. Wouldst thou overcome thy lusts entirely? Our victory is in him; apply his conquest; We are more than conquerors, through him that loved us, Rom 8:37. Wouldst thou be more replenished with graces, and spiritual affections? His fulness is, for that use, open to us; life, and more life, in him, and for us; this was his business here, he came, that we might have life, and might have it more abundantly, Joh 10:10.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The apostle,
1. Draws an inference from what he had advanced. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, with patience and holy resolution: for he that hath suffered in the flesh, crucifying the body of sin through union with a dying Saviour, and willingly taking up any cross which the divine Providence may lay upon him; hath ceased from sin, from his former corrupt principles and practice, and is mortified to every evil affection: that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men; but the little space which yet remains, he is earnest to redeem, and fain would spend it according to the will of God. Note; (1.) Nothing so effectually mortifies sin as a believing view of the cross of Christ. (2.) The will of God, not our vile affections, must be our guide. If we live after the flesh, we must die eternally, while the paths of grace and holiness alone can lead us to immortal life and glory.
2. The apostle argues on the reasonableness of living unto God, from the consideration of the abuse they had made of the time that was past. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when (with shame we remember it,) we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings and riot, banquetings and luxurious carousals, and abominable idolatries, joining with the Gentiles in these horrible deeds: wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them still to the same excess of riot as before, speaking evil of you and your religion, as if it made you morose, unsociable, and poor despicable objects: who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead, at the great day of his appearing and glory. Note; (1.) The remembrance of our former evil ways should often dwell upon our minds for our deep humiliation before God. (2.) The conduct of a Christian appears very strange to an ungodly world, and they wonder what there is in religion, which, for the sake of it, can induce men to forego all that they call enjoyment. (3.) They who speak evil of our good conversation in Christ, must shortly give a solemn account of their hard speeches before an awful tribunal.
3. The former saints of God were thus censured of the world, and saved by grace. For, for that cause was the gospel preached also to them that are now dead in Christ, and departed in his faith and fear, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and undergo reproach, persecution, and some of them even death itself, for those tenets which the carnal world derides and abhors, but might, notwithstanding all the sufferings in the body, live according to God in the Spirit, under the mighty influences of his grace, in a holy conformity to his will, and expecting, through the power of the Holy Ghost, to be raised up at the last day to live with God eternally.
2nd, We have an awful position: But the end of all things is at hand. The Jewish state was soon to be destroyed; where dwelt the most inveterate persecutors of the Christian name; and to every individual is this truth most applicable, to whom death and eternity are approaching, and judgment is at the door; from which awful considerations the apostle enforces the following exhortations:
1. Be ye therefore sober, temperate in all things, not inordinately pursuing, nor immoderately using any thing in this world, knowing how short the time is. And,
2. Watch unto prayer; be on your guard against the numberless temptations which beset you, and especially be looking up by ceaseless prayer for strength to resist and overcome them. Note; Prayer is our great preservative; and we shall never fail, while we continue waiting upon God.
3. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, cordially and tenderly affected towards each other: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins, engaging you kindly to overlook the offences of your brethren, and cast a veil of oblivion over their many infirmities, and to conceal them from the censorious world.
4. Use hospitality one to another without grudging, freely and cheerfully receiving those who, for righteousness’ sake, are driven from place to place, or are travelling to spread the glad tidings of salvation, and trusting on the divine Providence for their maintenance: and in every other respect be hospitable, always keeping within the due bounds of Christian prudence and temperance.
5. As every man hath received the gift, whatever talents he is blessed with, whether of wealth, abilities, or more especially of grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even so minister the same one to another, laying out yourselves for your mutual edification and comfort, as good stewards of the manifest grace of God, from whom you have received all that you possess, and to whom you are accountable for the due improvement of it. If any man speak, therefore, as called to the office of a preacher, let him speak as the oracles of God, with strict adherence to the sacred doctrines therein revealed, not presuming to add any thing thereunto, or diminish ought therefrom: if any man minister in the office of a deacon, or out of his worldly substance to the necessitous, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, with all fidelity, cheerfulness, and diligence, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, and his name exalted in the advancement of his church and his kingdom in the world, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever, to the incarnate Saviour, and to the Father through him. Amen! Note; (1.) Whatever we possess, we are but stewards, and must give an account to the great Master for the talents committed to our trust. (2.) God’s glory should be the great end of all our conversation, and in our lips and lives we should endeavour to shew forth his praise.
3rdly, The apostle,
1. Encourages them to bear up boldly under their expected trials. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as gold in the furnace, as though some strange thing happened unto you, and your sufferings were uncommon, and such as God’s children might not have expected. But however severe your trials may be, rejoice in them, in as much as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, and herein conformed to your glorious Head; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy, and reign with him, as you have suffered for him. And, in the lesser trials of reviling and slander, if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, branded with some opprobrious name, and made the objects of derision and contempt, happy are ye; let it be your delight to be thus vile, and gladly bear this honourable badge of infamy; for the Spirit of glory, and of God resteth upon you, to comfort you under these reproaches, and to give you an earnest of that eternal glory to which these trials are the way: on their part he is evil spoken of, and his blessed operations reviled and blasphemed; but on your part he is glorified, and his name exalted by your faith and patience, and by the praises given him for the supports and comforts which you experience from him. Note; (1.) We must count no affliction strange, however grievous for the time; it is permitted to be, because God sees that we have much dross, and need that furnace to purge us from it. (2.) Our sufferings for Christ are our real honour, and shall be, if we be faithful, our highest joy. (3.) In a day of recompence we shall never regret what we have endured for Christ and his cause. (4.) We need not wonder at any reproaches cast on ourselves, when even the blessed Spirit of God himself sustains the like blasphemies, and his operations are branded as delusions and enthusiasm.
2. He admonishes them to give their enemies no such handle against them as they desired to have. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, justly chargeable with any criminal conduct whatever; or as a busy-body in other men’s matters, labouring after pre-eminence and authority, or prying into the concerns of his neighbours which do not belong to him, and neglecting his own. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, and if, however innocent, through enmity to him on account of his religion, any of these atrocious crimes are charged upon him, let him not be ashamed of such malignant abuse, but let him glorify God on this behalf, that he is counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, and enabled to despise these calumnies.
3. He supports what he had advanced, by the most weighty considerations. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God, not only in the destruction of the Jewish temple, but in very severe visitations upon his spiritual church and people, who need the correction of his rod: and if it first begin at us, and we undergo the severe discipline of the cross, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? How fearful will be the vengeance executed on them? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, plucked as brands from the burning, and hardly escaping, like Lot from the flames of Sodom, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear, who wilfully and obstinately reject all the warnings of God’s providence, and the word of his grace, determined to abide in their iniquities, whatever the consequence may be. How terrible, sure, and inevitable must be their eternal perdition! Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God, patiently and submissively, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator, content to refer themselves to him, resigned to his will, and ready to do or suffer according to his pleasure, satisfied in his faithfulness to all his promises, and trusting to reap their fulfilment in a blessed eternity. Note; (1.) God corrects his own children that they may not be condemned with the world. (2.) If the Lord chastises his own people for the evil that he sees in them, shall the rebellious sinner go unpunished? No, verily; there is dreadful vengeance hanging over him. (3.) The gate of heaven is strait; how surely then must they be excluded, who never so much as set their faces heaven-ward! (4.) Come what will, we know that our sufferings are sent or permitted of God, and that his faithfulness, power, and love, are engaged to bring every persevering believer safely through them; and this is sufficient to make us easy, yea, happy under them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Pe 4:19 . The exhortation contained in this verse is closely connected with 1Pe 4:17-18 , in such a way, however, “that it brings to a close the whole section which treats of suffering for the sake of Christ” (Hofmann); Hornejus: clausula est qua totam exhortationem obsignat.
] as in Rom 7:4 , and often elsewhere, with a finite verb following (Winer, p. 282 f. [E. T. 377]) “ therefore .”
does not belong to , equivalent to “those also who suffer,” with reference to those who do not suffer (Wiesinger, Hofmann), for there is no allusion in the context to any distinction between those who suffer because of their Christian profession and those who have not so to suffer, [262] but it is united with , and applies to the verb, “ and just for this reason ” (cf. Winer, p. 408 [E. T. 544 ff.]). Incorrectly, Bengel: concessive cum participio i. q. .
] namely, the believers.
] that is, , 1Pe 4:12 . Wiesinger: “looking back to 1Pe 4:17 , inasmuch as they as Christians are overtaken by the judgment God pronounces on His house.” Besser incorrectly takes it as referring to their subjective behaviour under suffering.
. . .] Gerhard: exprimit causam, propter quam, hi qui patiuntur animas suas apud Deum deponere debeant, nimirum quia est earum creator et fidelis custos. If be the correct reading, then from the foregoing an must be supplied, to which applies.
is not possessor (Calvin), but the creator; , Rom 1:25 . It is used here in its strict sense, and not with reference to the new creation (Steiger, Schott connect both together); cf. Act 4:24 ff.: “this prayer is an actual example of what is here demanded” (Weiss, p. 190). In the N. T. is . ., in the O. T. it occurs frequently; Jdt 9:12 ; 2Ma 1:24 . : Oecumenius, equivalent to: , ; cf. 1Co 10:13 .
With , cf. Act 14:23 ; Act 20:32 : “ to commit to the protection of any one .”
] , . .; the adjec., chap. 1Pe 2:14 . This addition shows that the confident surrender to God is to be joined, not with careless indolence, but with the active practice of good. Oecumenius erroneously paraphrases the word by .
[262] Schott explains by the contrast between “the individual sufferers” and “the church;” but nothing in the context alludes to this.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2411
ADVICE TO THE PERSECUTED OR TEMPTED
1Pe 4:19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
GOD has mercifully engaged to save his people at the last. They may however meet with many severe conflicts in their way. Nor are they to expect to he saved but with great difficulty. Nevertheless they may safely commit themselves to God, in hope of a happy issue out of all their trials. Hence the Apostle suggests, in a way of inference, the advice in the text.
We propose to shew,
I.
What Christians must expect to suffer
Though all are not called to bear the cross in the same degree, yet all should be prepared to suffer,
1.
In their reputation
[That fear of God which the Scriptures represent to be the beginning of wisdom, the world considers as the summit of folly. However wise, learned, or discreet any man may be, he cannot escape the imputation of weakness or enthusiasm, if he will follow the Lord fully. If our Lord and Master was called Beelzebub, his servants can expect no better name.]
2.
In their property
[In former times the saints have frequently suffered the loss of all things: nor is it uncommon now for friends, and even parents, to withdraw their kindness from godly persons on account of their religion. Who does not know that eminent piety is a bar, rather than a help, to promotion? They then who would be Christs disciples, must forsake all, and follow him.]
3.
In their liberty and life
[Through the tender mercy of our God we are protected by the laws of the land: but none can tell what changes may yet arise: multitudes even in this kingdom have suffered death for Christs sake; and, whether called to this trial or not, we should be prepared for it.]
To reconcile us to these dispositions, we proceed to shew,
II.
Why it is the will of God that we should suffer
God is pleased to permit it,
1.
For the trial of our faith
[God can discern our graces, though we should have no opportunity to exercise them; but, if they be not called forth into act, neither have we the comfort of them, nor he the glory: hence God permits the fiery trial to try us, that he may discover both to ourselves and others what great things he has done for us.]
2.
For the advancement of our graces
[Our graces almost invariably languish when our outward circumstances are easy; but in seasons of difficulty they put forth themselves with strength: though Jesus needed no such stimulus, yet even he was made perfect through sufferings; and it is for the accomplishment of the same end, that God has made our road to lie through much tribulation.]
3.
For the manifestation of his own glory
[The patience of the saints is a ground of astonishment to the unbelieving world; and the supports which God administers to them fills their hearts with gratitude towards him. But what bursts of praise will resound from the myriads of his redeemed, when all the wonders of his love shall be universally and completely known!]
Satisfied with these appointments of the Deity, let us inquire,
III.
What our conduct should be when called to suffer
The best of men may be brought, as it were, to their wits end
But the advice in the text is the most proper that can be given
1.
Let us commit our souls to Gods care and keeping
[We must not attempt to stand in our own strength: nothing less than Gods wisdom and power can defeat the conspiracy that is formed against us: we should make him therefore the manager of our cause, and the keeper of our souls.]
2.
Let us at the same time persist in well-doing
[We must neither be irritated to do evil, nor deterred from doing good. The more we are persecuted for the sake of Christ, the more studious we should be to put our enemies to silence by well-doing: the very efforts of the enemy to extinguish our light should cause it to shine the brighter.]
3.
Let us, above all, confide in God as a faithful Creator
[God has promised to keep the feet of his saints; and he will perform it: we should suffer nothing to rob us of this confidence: if we trust firmly in him, we shall be like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
Be faithful followers of Jesus! what can arm you for the fight, and holy warfare equal to constant, firm, unshaken views of Jesus, and his unequalled sufferings? And look forward to the sure, and the not very distant hour, when you will cease from suffering, and forever cease from sin! Enough of transgression hath indeed marked our lives while we were in a state of unregeneracy. Oh! that the days to come may be marked with grace, for the end of all things is it hand; and, therefore, may we always be seeking strength from the Lord, to wait on the Lord, and to watch in prayer.
Precious Jesus! do thou prepare all thy redeemed for every fiery trial, and for every conflict. Thy presence will make even the wilderness and the solitary place to blossom as the rose. And, oh! the blessedness of reproach, when it is truly for thy sake. But do thou, Lord, keep all thy little ones from everything of evil, which might bring reproach on thy blessed cause. Let there be no temptation to dishonesty suffered to prevail over thy people, and still less to cruelty and evil doing. But to all the unjust sufferings of thy redeemed, may we learn to glorify God on this behalf. And oh! blessed Lord, grant all thy martyrs, like Stephen, to die in the full enjoyment of faith, and in and through thee, to commit their souls into thy hands, as unto a faithful Creator!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Ver. 19. Commit the keeping ] As a precious depositum. So did our Saviour both in his lifetime,1Pe 2:231Pe 2:23 , and at his death, Luk 23:46 . So did Stephen and all the holy martyrs after him. Archbishop Cranmer often repeated these words in the flame, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” A certain Spanish monk that stood by and heard him, ran to a nobleman there present, and cried out that Cranmer died in great desperation, ratus desperationis fuisse voces, as conceiving those to be words of despair.
As unto a faithful ] Who will rather unmake all than we shall miscarry. And doth still manage all occurrences to the glory of his name and the good of those that trust in him,Psa 124:8Psa 124:8 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19 .] Wherefore ( general conclusion from 1Pe 4:17-18 . If the sufferings of Christians as Christians are a sign of God’s favour towards them, in subjecting them to His judgments, with a view to their not perishing with the ungodly world, then have they every reason to trust Him in those sufferings, and to take comfort: continuing in that same well-doing which is their very element and condition) let also them who suffer ( , as well as all other persons: not as Bengel, , concessive: “ , etiam, cum participio, idem quod , et si, cum verbo:” for it is on this very hypothesis that the Apostle has been long proceeding; so that it would be unnatural for him to introduce it here again with a climax: nor as De Wette and Huther, is it to be taken with ) according to (in pursuit of, along the course of) the will of God (see on ch. 1Pe 3:17 ; here especially in reference to our 1Pe 4:17 , seeing that it is God’s will that judgment should begin at His house), commit (reff. deliver (subjectively) into the hands of, and confidently leave there) their souls (their personal safety and ultimate , 1Pe 4:18 ) in ( , as clad in, accompanied with, subsisting and employed in) well-doing (as contrasted with the opposite characters in 1Pe 4:15 . Huther says well: “This addition, ., shews that the confident surrender to God is to be joined, not with careless indolence, but with active practice of good”) to a faithful Creator (in God being our Creator , without whom not a hair falls to the ground, we have an assurance that we are not overlooked by Him: in His being a faithful Creator ( . , c.), whose covenant truth is pledged to us, it is implied that we are within that covenant, suffering according to His will and as His children. must not be understood of the second creation in the new birth, nor must it be rendered possessor , as Calvin).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Pe 4:19 . So let even those who suffer in accordance with the will of God with a faithful Creator deposit their souls in well-doing . The Christian must still follow the pattern. It is God’s will that he share Christ’s sufferings in whatever degree; let him in this also copy Christ, who said, Father into thy hands I commit my spirit (Luk 23:46 = Psa 31:6 ) and bade His disciples lose their souls that they might find them unto life eternal. With this teaching Peter combines that of the Psalmist which is assumed by Jesus (Mat 6:25 ff.), Jehovah knows His creature . He the God of faithfulness ( , Ps. l.c. ) is the faithful Creator to whom the soul He gave and redeemed (Ps. l.c. ) may confidently return.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
them. Add “also”.
commit the keeping of. Greek. paratithemi. See Act 17:3.
souls. App-110.
well doing. Greek. agathopoiia. Only here. Compare 1Pe 2:14.
as. The texts omit.
unto = to.
faithful. App-150.
Creator. Greek. ktistes. Only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19.] Wherefore (general conclusion from 1Pe 4:17-18. If the sufferings of Christians as Christians are a sign of Gods favour towards them, in subjecting them to His judgments, with a view to their not perishing with the ungodly world, then have they every reason to trust Him in those sufferings, and to take comfort: continuing in that same well-doing which is their very element and condition) let also them who suffer (, as well as all other persons: not as Bengel, , concessive: , etiam, cum participio, idem quod , et si, cum verbo: for it is on this very hypothesis that the Apostle has been long proceeding; so that it would be unnatural for him to introduce it here again with a climax:-nor as De Wette and Huther, is it to be taken with ) according to (in pursuit of, along the course of) the will of God (see on ch. 1Pe 3:17; here especially in reference to our 1Pe 4:17, seeing that it is Gods will that judgment should begin at His house), commit (reff. deliver (subjectively) into the hands of, and confidently leave there) their souls (their personal safety and ultimate , 1Pe 4:18) in (, as clad in, accompanied with, subsisting and employed in) well-doing (as contrasted with the opposite characters in 1Pe 4:15. Huther says well: This addition, ., shews that the confident surrender to God is to be joined, not with careless indolence, but with active practice of good) to a faithful Creator (in God being our Creator, without whom not a hair falls to the ground, we have an assurance that we are not overlooked by Him: in His being a faithful Creator ( . , c.), whose covenant truth is pledged to us, it is implied that we are within that covenant, suffering according to His will and as His children. must not be understood of the second creation in the new birth, nor must it be rendered possessor, as Calvin).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Pe 4:19. , even those who suffer) , even, with the force of a concession. , even, with a participle, is the same as , and if [even though]; with a verb, , and if [even though] ye suffer, ch. 1Pe 3:14. We ought not to conceive distrust from suffering.- , according to the will of God) on account of doing the will of God in a different manner from evil-doers, who suffer according to the will of God, inasmuch as God wills them to be punished: 1Pe 4:15. The will of God is in Christ.- , to a faithful Creator) to Him to whom souls are safely committed, who does not even at the first [at the earliest time that He might in each instance] send upon us sufferings for our injury. Let the supra-Lapsarians see how they recognise a Creator faithful towards all.-, let them commit) as a deposit, not alarmed, but rather gladdened by sufferings, since they receive them to their advantage.-, their souls) although the body appears to perish.- , in well-doing) This should be the one and only care of those who suffer, both to act well and to suffer well: He will take care of the rest. To be taken with let them commit. Well-doing always has confidence united to it: ch. 1Pe 3:6; 1Jn 3:22.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
let: 1Pe 4:12-16, 1Pe 3:17, Act 21:11-14
commit: Psa 31:5, Psa 37:5, Luk 23:46, Act 7:59, 2Ti 1:12
in: 1Pe 2:15, Est 4:16, Jer 26:11-15, Dan 3:16-18, Dan 6:10, Dan 6:11, Dan 6:22, Rom 2:7
a faithful: Psa 138:8, Psa 146:5, Psa 146:6, Isa 40:27, Isa 40:28, Isa 43:7, Isa 43:21, Isa 51:12, Isa 51:13, Isa 54:16, Isa 54:17, Col 1:16-20, Heb 1:2, Heb 1:3, Rev 4:10, Rev 4:11, Rev 5:9-14
Reciprocal: Job 5:8 – unto God Job 10:3 – the work Job 14:15 – thou wilt have Job 35:10 – Where Psa 4:5 – put Psa 7:1 – save Psa 10:14 – the poor Psa 95:6 – our Psa 100:3 – it is he Pro 20:22 – wait Jer 20:12 – for 1Co 4:12 – being persecuted 1Co 10:13 – but Gal 6:9 – well 1Pe 2:23 – but 1Pe 4:16 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
SUFFERING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
1Pe 4:19
There are occasions when the commonplaces of consolation fail; when our hearts, appalled by the extent of the evil and suffering which we see around us, or overwhelmed with our own personal grief, are disposed to cry out in despair: To what purpose is all this misery, all this waste? If God be, as we are told that He is, all-merciful and all-loving, as well as all-powerful and all-wise, could He not and would He not have so framed the world and so constituted human nature as to have rendered His creatures exempt from all this woe? To reply that suffering and death are the natural and inevitable consequence, the wages (to use St. Pauls word) of sin, is an answer to this question, but it is only a partial answer. It is not a complete solution of the problem.
How are we as Christians to deal with the difficulty? We may do so in one of two ways. We may refuse to argue or reason about it altogether. We may adopt the old medival standpoint that faith demands the absolute surrender and subjection of reason; that we are bound to believe in a Christian doctrine, however unreasonable and impossible it may appear; and the greater its impossibility and antagonism to reason, the greater is the merit of our faith in it. I do not believe in this attitude. I believe in the other way of meeting the question; that of bringing to bear upon it, to the best of our ability, the reason which God has given to us. But then we must do so humbly and reverently, and under three conditions.
I. With a deep sense of our own sin and unworthiness.This is taught us in that book of the Old Testament which discusses the problem now under our consideration. We all remember the narrative of Job. An exceptionally righteous man was subjected to exceptionally severe afflictions. His three friends were convinced that he must have deserved them, and that, in spite of his apparent uprightness, he must really have been a very bad man, or else God would not have permitted him to endure such suffering. They were wrong, and were shown to be wrong. But at the same time Job was shown that, however superior in goodness he was to his fellow-men, yet he fell far short of Gods standard of perfect holiness. Compared with this standard, he was forced at last to cry, Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Although, therefore, suffering and sorrow are not measured out in this world in proportion to each mans merits or demerits, yet the very best of us has no right to say, when even the very heaviest affliction overtakes him, This is a visitation greater than I deserve.
II. But while, if we know our own hearts, we dare not murmur at what befalls ourselves individually, this does not prevent our minds being exercised by the problem of the existence of evil and suffering in the innocent brute creation and the human race generally. Here, however, we are bound to remember the limited nature of our knowledge and reasoning powers. Even the unbeliever must admit this. He may say that God ought to have created the world differently, and ought to have secured perfect and unbroken ease and freedom from pain for all His creatures. But when we ask our objector how this could have been done without the sacrifice of something higher and better, he is unable to tell us. If he is honest he will admit that heroism is better than painlessness, that self-sacrifice is better than ease, and virtue than pleasure. He will admit that freedom of will and of choice is a higher condition than bondage to Fate. But if we ask him to tell us how heroism and self-sacrifice and virtue could have been displayed in a world where there was no labour or suffering or pain, and how freedom of will and of choice could exist concurrently with the impossibility of willing what is evil and choosing what is bad, he will be unable to tell us. Modesty, therefore, if nothing else, would seem to require of us, worms of the earth, that, so far as we are taught by our reason alone, we should suspend our judgment as to the Almighty and His ways, and should be content in this life to say, with the Apostle, Now we see through a glass darkly now I know in part.
III. But thirdly, we are not left to our unaided reason in this matter.The Incarnation, the coming of God in the flesh, has put an entirely new complexion upon it. As long as we conceive of Him as an Almighty Creator, Who has called into existence countless millions of beings, all subject to more or less of sorrow and pain and death, from which He is Himself wholly exempt, we may abstain from irreverent questioning; we may bow our heads and our minds in awe before an insoluble mystery; but we can hardly regard Him with feelings of active love. When, however, we realise that, whatever sufferings He has allowed His creatures to endure. He has borne and felt to the uttermost Himself, the case is entirely different. The prophets of old had some dim conception of this. One of them could say, In all their affliction He was afflicted (Isa 63:9). But it was reserved for Christianity to reveal the truth in its full measure. We have learnt that God Himself, in the person of our Blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, has not only taken our nature, but has undergone the utmost sorrow and suffering that any of His creatures has ever been called upon to endure. We have learnt, further, that He feels all the pains and woes to which His children are subjected as acutely as if they were inflicted on Himself personally. We have learnt, too, that He can, and does, bring good out of evil, joy out of sorrow, and benefit out of suffering. With this knowledge all doubt as to His wisdom and love in permitting evil and suffering must necessarily vanish. While it still remains true that at present we only see darkly and only know in part, yet enough of the evil has been lifted to afford us the certainty that the whole mysterious scheme of the world is based on deepest, truest love, and to enable us, when we suffer, to realise that it is according to the will of God, and to commit the keeping of our souls to Him, our faithful Creator. Truly, as St. Paul has said in language repeated and reiterated in more than one passage (Rom 5:10; 2Co 5:18-20), God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself; not reconciling Himself to the worldthere was no need for thatbut taking from the world the smallest semblance of an excuse for looking upon Him as its enemy and for remaining in hostility to Him.
Chancellor P. V. Smith.
Illustration
We know how unbelievers deal with this difficulty. They maintain that it proves either that there is no God, or else that He is not such an One as we believe in, both all-powerful and all-loving. If God exists, they say. He must be deficient either in power or in love. Otherwise He would have created a world in which moral evil and unhappiness would have been impossible. The difficulty is one which we cannot ignore. As described by one of our greatest living statesmen (who has, however, himself no sympathy with it), it lies in the belief that an all-powerful Deity has chosen out of an infinite or at least an unknown number of possibilities to create a world in which pain, bodily or mental, is a prominent and apparently ineradicable element. His action on this view is, so to speak, gratuitous. He might have done otherwise. He has done thus. He might have created sentient beings capable of nothing but happiness. He has, in fact, created them prone to misery, and subject by their very constitution and circumstances to extreme possibilities of physical pain and mental affliction. How can One of Whom this can be said excite our love? How can he claim our obedience? How can He be a fitting object of praise, reverence, and worship? So runs the familiar argument accepted by some as a permanent element in their melancholy philosophy: wrung from others as a cry of anguish under the sudden stroke of bitter experience.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1Pe 4:19. This verse is the grand and consoling conclusion from the truths that have been considered in the preceding three chapters. To suffer according to the will of God means to suffer persecutions for having lived in harmony with His will. Commit the keeping of their souls. Man can kill the body but not the soul (Mat 10:28). This commitment must be done in well doing, and since God created that soul He is the one who can and will keep it safely.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Pe 4:19. Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to a faithful Creator in well-doing. The wherefore introduces this advice as an inference from what has been said about suffering, the relation of suffering Christians to their persecutors, the feelings of Christians in reference to their sufferings, and especially the hastening judgment of God which already begins in the trials of His House. In view of all this, the advice with which the train of thought is brought to a close worthy of it, is to fearless faith and earnest well-doing. The word also, which the A. V. wrongly omits, is taken by some (Huther, etc.) to qualify the wherefore, as if the sense wereFor this reason, too, etc. But the analogous statement in 1Pe 3:14, and the fact that throughout the present paragraph the strangeness which Christians are tempted to discover in their own subjection to suffering, indicate rather that the also qualifies the persons. The sense, therefore, is, let those also who have to suffer, strange as it may seem to them that they should have to suffer, commit their souls, etc. The according to the will of God does not refer to the submissive spirit in which the sufferers endure, but to the animating consideration that their sufferings come only by Gods purpose. Their souls are regarded as a deposit which they should be willing to leave confidently in Gods hands, the term rendered commit (which the A. V. renders commit the keeping of) being used of entrusting persons or objects of value to ones care (Luk 12:48; Act 14:23; Act 20:32; 1Ti 1:18; 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 1:14; 2Ti 2:2). It is the word which Christ Himself used upon the CrossFather, into Thy hands I commend (or, commit) my spirit (Luk 23:46). The God who is to be confidently trusted with so precious a deposit is designated a faithful Creator (the as of the A. V. must be omitted on the ground of documentary evidence); Creator (which particular term is used only this once in the New Testament, and is to be taken in the literal sense, and not as if = possessor, or as if = Creator anew), and, therefore, One who has an interest in the work of His own hands; and faithful Creator, One whom we have every reason to regard as absolutely reliable.
in well-doing. The necessary accompaniment and evidence of a true trust in God, here put emphatically last as a caution against all indolent or immoral presuming on our special relationship to God. This is the single occurrence of the noun in the New Testament. To do well and to suffer well should be the only care of those who are called upon to suffer; God Himself will take care of all else (Bengel).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. A cautionary direction given, that in all our sufferings we take care that we suffer according to the will of God: that is, for what is according to God’s will, either to be believed or practised by us, for asserting and maintaining the purity of the Christian doctrine and worship; and when our patience under such sufferings is as extensive and intensive as God requires, when our patience is as large and as lasting as our troubles, then may we be said to suffer according to the will of God.
Observe, 2. The special privilege allowed to such sufferers as suffer according to the will of God: they may commit the keeping of their souls to God in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Learn hence, 1. That when men suffer really and truly for well-doing, they may with confidence and great assurance commit their lives, and all that is dear unto them, to the special care of the divine providence; either God will keep us from, or support us under, trials, when we thus commit ourselves to him.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Pe 4:19. Wherefore let them that suffer This temporary chastisement; according to the will of God Namely, for a good cause, and in a right spirit; commit the keeping of their souls to him Intrust themselves to Gods care, either to preserve their lives, if he see good, or to save their souls if they suffer death; or, whatever becomes of their bodies, let them commit their souls to him as a sacred depositum: in well-doing Persevering to the end in the way of duty and obedience, notwithstanding all the sufferings to which they are exposed. In other words, let it be their care to do well, and suffer patiently, and God will take care of the rest. As unto a faithful Creator In whose wisdom, power, goodness, truth, and faithfulness to his promises, they may safely trust: for as he called them into existence when they were not, he is able to preserve them without any visible means, and will dispose of them as he sees will conduce most to their eternal welfare.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:19 {18} Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
(18) The conclusion: seeing the godly are not afflicted by chance, but by the will of God, they ought not to despair, but go forward nonetheless in the way of holiness and well doing, commending themselves to God their faithful creator, that is to say, their Father.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
"Therefore" draws these encouragements to a conclusion and introduces a command in view of them. In view of these reasons we should respond to suffering by entrusting ourselves to the God who created us (cf. Mat 27:50; Luk 23:46). He will bring us through our sufferings safely (cf. Php 1:6). God is faithful to do this. Furthermore we should keep on doing what is right (e.g., submitting to government rulers, obeying masters, submitting to husbands, loving wives, etc.) rather than doing evil (1Pe 4:15). "Souls" (Gr. psychas) again refers to our total persons (cf. 1Pe 1:9; 1Pe 1:22; 1Pe 2:11; 1Pe 2:25; 1Pe 3:20).
"Peter described God as the ’faithful Creator’-an unusual designation because only here in the NT is God called ktistes [Creator] . . . The combination of ’faithful’ and ’Creator’ reminds the believer of God’s love and power in the midst of trials so that they will not doubt his interest or ability." [Note: Blum, p. 249.]
Peter brought together four reasons for suffering in this section. First, God allows us to suffer to demonstrate our character (1Pe 4:12). Second, those who identify themselves with Jesus Christ will share in the sufferings of our Savior (1Pe 4:13; cf. Php 3:10). Third, our sufferings will be an occasion of God blessing us (1Pe 4:14). In addition, fourth, our suffering will glorify God (1Pe 4:16). Peter then redirected our perspective on suffering by reminding us of the time and intensity of our sufferings, compared with those of unbelievers (1Pe 4:17-18). Finally, he concluded with an exhortation to trust God and do right (1Pe 4:19). Peter thus encouraged his readers by revealing God’s perspective on their sufferings.
"The most striking feature of this section is its bold emphasis on the sovereignty and initiative of God, even in the suffering of his own people." [Note: Michaels, p. 274.]