For what glory [is it], if sinning and being buffeted ye shall bear [it]? but if, doing good and suffering, ye shall bear [it], this is acceptable with God.
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For to this have ye been called; for Christ also has suffered for you, leaving you a model that ye should follow in his steps
Peter first wrote these words to household servants with harsh masters. He told them their unjust suffering was no accident but their calling — which raises two questions: what "example" has Christ left, and how far can anyone follow a path that ends at the cross?
These first readers had almost no rights and no way to answer back. Why do such people get words like these?
The instruction after that goes to the servants — those Jewish believers who were slaves. They get the choicest words of all. God knows that His own beloved Son had been on earth as a servant, here not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. They were in the blessed position to "follow in His steps." But the instruction does not mean servants or slaves only. It is written for all believers.
Suffering for doing right is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It ties the sufferer to Christ Himself.
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." It is hard, no doubt about it. Yet how great is the moral honour of being linked with Christ like this! "For to this you have been called." God allowed it, overruled it, and used it for the good of His children here below.
The Greek word behind "example" comes from the schoolroom.
When a Greek schoolboy was learning to write his Alpha, Beta, Gamma, his teacher gave him a "hupogrammos." He had to copy it to learn how to form his letters.
That choice of word rules out settling for a second-best model. Other passages hold up an apostle as a pattern; this one does not.
Remarkably, the word "example" here is found nowhere else. It means a "copy or underwriting." It is not the word the Apostle used when he told the saints at Philippi to join in imitating him and to "keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us." Nor is it the word he used when he urged his son Timothy to "set the believers an example." In those cases the word means a "type"; here it means a "copy." Our Lord Jesus Christ is the standard, and no lower one will do.
Christ suffered in two ways. Only one of them is open to us.
"Christ also suffered for you" — there He stood alone. No one but He could take our place under the judgment we deserved, or endure its awful sentence to the end, when for our sake God "made Him to be sin." But besides making atonement in death, He left us an example. Here He is not alone. Every one of His loved and blood-bought people should follow His steps.
The order matters. Copying Christ is not the way in. It is what comes after.
He suffered an atoning death on the cross. Without it there could be no example. Sin has to be dealt with first, and a righteous relationship with God set up. Then the example comes in.
Scripture records what Christ said and did. That record, not our imagination, is the safe guide.
The great trap to watch out for is following your own ideas while wrongly thinking they are the footsteps of Christ. That is almost certain to happen if, when you reach a hard point, you ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" How can you know what He would do in your situation? It would be better to ask, "What has He said?" or "What did He do?" Then you would find a dependable answer in the Bible.
So what do the steps look like? They are the steps of the one Person who never failed.
The saint needs an object from God to form our souls and fashion our ways. And He sets before us Christ. What or who can compare with Him? Flaws were in the best of saints at their best — think of Peter, Paul, John. Christ always did the things that pleased His Father. He never once did any will but His Father's. He was the lowliest of men, yet above the highest. Nothing is as lowly as obedience, and nothing is as pure and morally uplifting as always obeying God.
- Cross first. Without the atoning death there is no example to copy; sin must be dealt with before imitation can begin.
- Called next. Suffering while doing good is not a breakdown. It is the calling itself, shared with a rejected Master.
- Copy given. "Example" is the schoolteacher's copy line to trace over, and Christ is the standard — no lower one will do.
- Copy studied. Follow what Scripture records He said and did, not private guesses about what He would do.
- Copy limited. He bore the judgment alone; in patient suffering He is not alone — every one of His people is to walk there.