but sanctify [the] Lord the Christ in your hearts, and [be] always prepared to [give] an answer [to] every one that asks you to give an account of the hope that [is] in you, but with meekness and fear;
Peter writes to believers who may suffer for doing right. His remedy is inward: give Christ the place of Lord in the heart, then be ready with a gentle answer for anyone who asks about your hope.
The verse follows a warning about being frightened into a wrong course. One commentator sets the scene by pointing to what fear does to a believer under unjust treatment:
If we are called to suffer for doing right, we are not to be miserable about it. We are to rejoice. Paul and Silas did. They had crossed the interests of some evil-minded men, who had them unjustly thrown into prison in the city of Philippi. There they sang praises to God at midnight. But there is a danger. We may give in to a wrong course because we fear the consequences. So Scripture warns us against the fear of man, and against dread of what may happen if we do right.
The command is about the heart, not the face we show. Kelly separates an outward religious manner from the real thing. He also says what takes Christ's place when He is not honoured in the heart:
Putting on a holy manner, or acting holy in outward ways, is no help at all. It is a trap and a shame unworthy of a Christian. Nothing could be further from pleasing God. It may fool the careless person himself, and other people too. But it pleases Him when we give Christ the holy place He is due in our hearts, above all as Lord. God wants us to honour the Son just as we honour the Father. If we do not keep Him set apart in our hearts, every idol the enemy uses to deceive the world can reach us. But when Christ holds our deepest affections, how safe and blessed we are!
Peter is quoting an older passage, and the wording of that quotation matters. Paterson notes that some translations read "the Lord God" here, while others read "the Lord, the Christ." He also points back to the original setting: a nation in fear of an alliance forming against it.
The King James Version reads, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." The more exact J. N. Darby translation reads, "Sanctify the Lord, the Christ, in your hearts." This is another of those places where God and Christ stand for one another. The effect of that on our faith and behaviour is plain. It gives us boldness to give a reason for the hope that is in us... This comes from Isaiah 8:13. At that time nations had joined in an alliance, and hearts were in real danger of being frightened by a crowd of enemies. In that situation the way out of the difficulty was to keep the eyes firmly fixed on God... The difficulties that surround us melt away when we have before our souls, not a small Christ, but a great One.
The question people ask concerns hope — and in the Bible that word is not a wish. Wolston defines it and then describes the tone of the reply:
You are always to be able to give a reason for the joyful expectation that you have. Hope is never uncertainty in Scripture, but the joyful expectation of a certainty... We ought to be able to give a very distinct reason, but our answer is to be given in "meekness and fear," that is, in a manner that shuts out all levity or lightness, a manner that conveys to the person asking the question this: "It is the most wonderful favour of God to give such a hope to a sinner like me, but I have received it through His grace, and you may receive it too."
Meekness and fear pull in different directions. Smith shows one curbing self and the other producing courage:
When we give the Lord His rightful place in our hearts, we shall know He is present to support us when we stand before men. So we shall not only escape the temptation to give in to what we know is wrong just to avoid trouble. We shall also be able to give a positive testimony to the truth... Acting in a spirit of meekness, we shall not offend by pushing ourselves and our opinions forward. Acting in fear before God, we shall be bold to hold to the truth.
Peter's thought does not stop at verse 15. The next verse ties the answer to a clear conscience. Grant links persuasiveness to behaviour, and points out a word that keeps repeating in this passage:
If our confession is to convince others, we must also have a good conscience about the way we live. Then, however false and wicked the accusations of men may be, those accusations will end up exposing the shame of the accusers. Notice that this section (verses 10 to 16) uses the word "good" five times. The last one, "good conduct," covers all our behaviour.
- Pressure — fear of what men may do can frighten a believer into a wrong course. Scripture warns against that fear.
- Place — the remedy is inward. Give Christ the holy place He is due as Lord in the heart, not a holy manner put on outside.
- Person — the words come from Isaiah, spoken when a nation feared an alliance against it. A small Christ leaves difficulties standing; a great One makes them melt.
- Preparedness — in Scripture, hope is the joyful expectation of something certain. So give a clear reason, never a vague one.
- Posture — meekness keeps self out of the answer. Fear before God makes it bold. A good conscience keeps your life from contradicting your words.
having a good conscience, that [as to that] in which they speak against you as evildoers, they may be ashamed who calumniate your good conversation in Christ.
Peter has just told believers to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about their hope. This verse adds what makes that answer believable: a clean conscience and a life no accuser can fault. It also takes for granted that people will slander you anyway.
Older translations call this "good conversation." One writer explains what the word meant:
"In conversation." In the Bible this word carries its old, wider meaning. It covers our whole way of life and behaviour. Do we behave in a way that pleases the Lord? Do we show what suits a follower of Christ, in the eyes of those who watch us?
Peter uses this word again and again. Each time he ties a different quality to it:
In his first letter he tells us we have been redeemed from "vain conversation" (1 Peter 1:18)... Then he tells us to keep our "conversation honest among the Gentiles" (1 Peter 2:12). Everything is to be open and fair in our dealings with people of the world. After that he tells wives to win their unconverted husbands by "chaste conversation" (1 Peter 3:2). Then he urges all of us that our "good conversation in Christ" (1 Peter 3:16) should shame and silence every false accuser.
A "good conscience" here is not the same thing as being forgiven. One writer draws the line:
The purged conscience is one that, having been "once purged", has no more conscience of sins (Hebrews 10:2). It means a conscience that has been deeply troubled about its sins, and then had that trouble answered. The believer learns that the precious blood of Christ has cleansed him from all sins, and that he will never come under judgment. A good conscience is a conscience free of offence in the practical ways and walk.
A dictionary defines it by what it does for you: "a 'good conscience,' enabling one when accused of evil, to know that the charge is untrue" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
One writer traces what a bad conscience does to your courage:
For all this we need a good conscience. We may carry a bad conscience to God, so that He may pardon us and have mercy on us. But with a bad conscience we cannot resist the enemy — we are afraid of him. On one side we fear his malice. On the other we have lost the sense of God's presence and God's strength. When we walk before God, we fear nothing. The heart is free. We do not have to think about ourselves; we think about God.
Slander is not a sign that something has gone wrong. A changed life stirs it up:
The worst of people are struck when they see the proud made humble, the violent made gentle, the quarrelsome made peacemakers, the frivolous and pleasure-hunting made serious, the corrupt made pure, the greedy made generous, the careless or even blasphemous made godly. But an evil eye under Satan's power may well refuse all this moral evidence. It may put down a change that is entirely real to hypocrisy, and hate all the more those who leave their own wretched and wicked ranks to follow Christ.
The charge cuts both ways, as one writer shows by setting this verse beside the next chapter:
In the earlier chapter we learned that the world falsely charges the believer with evil, and then condemns him for doing evil (1 Peter 3:16). Here the world condemns the believer because he refuses to do evil. So whatever the believer does or does not do, the fallen nature of man stands convicted of opposing everything that is of God.
Notice where the verse ends. God, not the believer, answers the accusation:
Notice the good things here. Good days, following what is good, a good conscience, and good conversation. My dear friends, if you are doing good, following good, and feeding on good, you will see good days. You will have a good conscience. And all the world will have to admit that your conversation is good. More than that, God will yet work so that "they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ."
- Behavior, not talk. In the older wording, "good conversation" means your whole way of life. Your spoken answer is only as good as the life behind it.
- Cleared, then clean. The blood of Christ purges the conscience once, and that never changes. The good conscience of this verse is a different thing: one kept free of offence in daily life.
- Guilt disarms. You can always carry a bad conscience to God for mercy. But it cannot stand up to the enemy. You think about yourself instead of God, and fear follows.
- Expect the charge. A real change of life does not always silence opponents; some read it as hypocrisy and hate it more. Slander is normal, not a failure.
- Leave the verdict. The verse never tells you to clear your name. Keep doing good, and God Himself works so that the shame lands on those who brought the accusation.