Finally, [be] all of one mind, sympathising, full of brotherly love, tender hearted, humble minded;
Peter has been giving instructions to particular groups. Now he turns to everyone at once, naming five qualities that should mark believers among themselves — each one first seen in Christ.
This verse does not begin a new subject. It closes the previous ones by naming the temper that should run through them all.
Verses 8 and 9 are general exhortation, covering all relationships. To be all of one mind, we must set aside personal preferences and desires, out of genuine consideration for others.
Unity here is not agreement reached by argument. It is the by-product of a shared lowliness, and its absence has a traceable cause.
The world around is full of discord, but in Christian circles there should be unity: "Be of one mind". Other Scriptures show that a Christian company reaches "one mind" only when each person has the lowly mind — the mind that was in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:2-5). Nearly all the discord among believers traces back to one thing: the unjudged vanity and self-importance of the flesh. It always seeks to be prominent and counted great (Luke 22:24). Apart from having the mind of Christ we shall either be in conflict or form a false unity after our own ideas.
Older English versions blur three of these five words. Behind one of them stands a different reading altogether.
"Courteous" is hardly the right rendering of the original here. "Friendly" would be much more exact, since the conduct required should flow from affection. The reading generally accepted, however, gives another word altogether, translated "humble-minded." And we instinctively feel that this word fits the spirit of the whole passage better, since every feature of that passage presents Christ Himself to us. […] The phrase "having compassion one of another" is really a paraphrase of one word, and its exact meaning is "sympathising." It is remarkable that sympathy appears only three times in the Scriptures. First, it is used of our Great High Priest, who is not One unable to "sympathise with our weaknesses." Second, in the same letter the apostle says the Hebrew believers had "sympathised with prisoners" (Hebrews 10:34, in a more literal rendering). And last, in our passage from Peter. […] Finally, the term "pitiful" in Peter is far better given as "tender-hearted."
In this world, sympathy will mean sorrow far more often than joy.
We live in a world full of misery, and our bodies are not yet redeemed, so we groan in them. That is why we are urged to be "sympathetic" as well. Surely we may and ought to rejoice with those who rejoice. But far more often we are called to share the grief all around us, and especially grief borne for righteousness' or Christ's sake. Suffering with Him is the common portion of all Christians, even if we never experience suffering for Him.
Brotherly love rests on a relationship, not on a mood. And small things can dry it up.
We can let very small differences between believers wither up our compassion. If, then, our compassions are not to fail, the motive behind them must be love. So the exhortation follows: "Love as brothers". This is not love after a human fashion as in natural relationships, however right in their place, but love as linked together in the divine relationships of the family of God.
That family bond outranks natural family ties, though it never runs free of God's word.
"Brother-loving" is a plain call, as belonging to the same family of God. Should we not love them more than we love our own natural relatives? The bond is deeper, divine in nature, and everlasting. […] How we show that love depends on each case, and for that we need the word and Spirit of God. For as John clearly shows, it is no mere human impulse and must not clash with the truth of God or with obedience.
The next quality shows whether that love is real.
"Tender-hearted" suitably follows. There is no worth in God's eyes if we love only in word or tongue, and not in deed and truth. We are to learn from Him. He never gave relief by power alone. His spirit entered into the weaknesses and diseases He removed, and carried them before God.
The list ends with the quality Jesus' own twelve disciples most plainly lacked.
"Humble-minded" comes last, but it is not the least of the qualities the apostle wanted at work. And where can we find its perfection but in the same Lord and Saviour? And we cannot look back on the days of His life on earth without a vivid and humbling memory of the sad contrast even in the honoured Twelve, His closest disciples. So often, and right to the last, they argued about which of them should be counted greatest. "I am gentle and lowly in heart," He said, and it was always true. Man's ambition was wholly foreign to Him. "But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."
- Source. Every quality here is first seen in Christ. The lowly mind that was in Him is what makes "one mind" possible among believers.
- Inward. Sympathy means feeling with another. Scripture uses the same word of our High Priest, who sympathises with our weaknesses.
- Bond. Brotherly love rests on the family of God — a tie deeper and longer-lasting than natural family.
- Outward. Tender-heartedness turns love into deed and truth. Love that stays in the tongue counts for nothing.
- Finish. The list ends in a humble mind, not mere courtesy. That answers the disciples' argument over who was greatest.
not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing; but on the contrary, blessing [others], because ye have been called to this, that ye should inherit blessing.
Peter has just urged unity, sympathy and a humble mind. Now he applies it to the hardest case: how to answer someone who has wronged you.
The verse names two forms of payback: the injury done and the insult spoken. Peter rules out both and puts something positive in their place.
If, sadly, someone tries to harm us, or speaks abusively against us, we are not to return evil for evil, or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary, blessing. Our practical life in the Christian circle is to be governed by our calling to inherit blessing. Sensing the grace that has so richly blessed us, we should be ready to bless others even if they have spoken abusively to us.
Refusing to hit back means leaving the case with God instead of settling it yourself.
If we are to gain the blessing in the time of suffering, we must first give up all thought of taking our case into our own hands. We must give up trying to avenge ourselves on those who oppose and abuse us unjustly. Whatever the suffering, the believer is to hold back from taking vengeance. When insulted, the flesh is always ready to insult back. When suffering unjustly, it is ready to threaten. It would love to take vengeance on all who oppose us and insult us with harsh words. The LORD cannot trust the believer to deal with those who oppose. Vengeance belongs to the LORD.
The reason Peter gives is a calling. That sets the whole verse on the ground of grace, not achievement. Older translations render the promise as "inherit a blessing," where the ESV has "obtain a blessing."
Again the apostle charges the saints not to return evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary to bless, "for to this you were called, that you might inherit blessing." How sharp the contrast is between the Christian and Israel, who undertook to earn blessing by keeping the law! The apostle Paul set this before the saints in Galatia, who had made the same sad mistake. "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse" (Gal. 3:10): not those who broke the law, but all who are pledged to that principle.
Those who were themselves rescued now carry to others what they received.
They were called out of sin, ruin and misery into blessing. So they were to be the witnesses and channels of grace in a world and a race that had fallen under curse.
Peter has been giving instructions to servants, and to wives and husbands. Here he widens it.
The exhortation is not limited to slaves. Here we find the various relations of life practically met, and in particular the great social bond of wives and husbands... What a place for the Christian! — called to blessing, and to be a blessing.
One writer pauses on the word "blessing" here and reads it as work to be done, not a mood.
"Not returning evil for evil, or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary blessing." Blessing there means the ministry of blessing. "Knowing that you are called to this, that you should inherit a blessing." We are going to inherit it, we do inherit it, and our only business is to minister it.
Peter calls the blessing an inheritance. Hardship now does not cancel it.
"You are called to this, that you should inherit a blessing" (1 Peter 3:9). What an inheritance! It is quite true that the Christian is already "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." But along with this infinite favour he has many a sorrow and many a trial along the way, for he has not yet reached his home. Even so, God calls him to share for ever in an inheritance of perfect and unmixed blessing.
Knowing God has forgiven you drains the bitterness out of your answer to others.
Because my foundation is what God has done for me, I am aware of the goodness of God. If I am blessed myself (see 1 Peter 3:9), I can show love to others. Feeling that God has pardoned me takes away all bitterness from my life and from the way I act.
The standard is not an ideal but a Person.
Perfect consistency in a Christian is found only in Christ. He is the one constant standard for us. What love in Him even for the vilest and bitterest of His enemies! Called to inherit a blessing, may we not return evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but bless instead.
- Blessed — the chain starts with what God has done. He called you out of ruin into blessing; He did not put you on trial to earn it.
- Blessing — because the supply came free, blessing is what you now hand out, even to the person who insulted you.
- Blocked — two exits are shut: paying back the injury, and returning the insult. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.
- Blesser — this is not a passive mood but a ministry: we do inherit blessing, and our business is to pass it on.
- Blessing ahead — the circle closes in an inheritance of unmixed blessing. Sorrow on the road never cancels the calling.
For he that will love life and see good days, let him cause his tongue to cease from evil and his lips that they speak no guile.
Peter's letter is about how God governs His people in this world. Here he quotes Psalm 34 to answer a practical question: how does a Christian come to enjoy life in a hostile world?
One writer traces which parts of the Old Testament Peter uses, and why.
Now we come to a quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures, Psalm 34. It is very instructive to see how the apostle, by the Spirit of God, lays his hand on the three great sections of Scripture in this letter. He uses them all for our building up. In the first chapter he quotes from the law, in the second from the prophets, and now in the third from the Psalms. They all bear beautifully on us. That is because Peter, in his letter, is presenting the moral government of God over His people in this world.
The life in view is the life you are living now.
Godliness is the way of happiness in this life, apart, of course, from persecution along with it, as we read in Mark. But it is the way of blessing... The passage in Peter refers directly to the peaceful and upright character. That character avoids evil, and gets quietly through the world in peace as a follower of good. If you wish to see good days, you must govern your spirit and walk in a certain way. Then — apart from persecution for righteousness or for Christ — if you live in peace, you will live in peace and happiness. But the life we love is life here.
Yet this life is more than being alive. Another writer shows the difference with a picture.
What is life to a criminal shut in a solitary cell? It is true he is as much alive as if he were free and among his family; but in the practical sense, is his "life" the same? Would he not describe his prison life as a living death?
Of all the places the verse could begin, it begins with the mouth.
Do you love life? Do you want many days, and to see good? Is it good you are seeking? Here is the instruction on how to secure these blessings... It does not begin here with my heart. It begins with my tongue. "Keep your tongue." Oh, that is a most difficult job. We all know how hard it is to keep the tongue. Are you set on seeing good? That is the question. I know the people who are desiring good, by the way they use their tongues.
Loose talk costs the speaker first.
You will not find a happy, bright Christian who allows himself the unrestrained use of his tongue. He will not be bright, he will not be happy, and he does not see good days. On the contrary, he sees miserable days, unhappy and dull. That is because he has done the thing the Lord told him not to, and he suffers for it.
The second half of the verse names a particular sin of speech. One writer defines it and shows how far it reaches.
This word is often translated "guile" in the New Testament. It expresses cunning, craftiness, and plotting to deceive. It usually has to do with a person's words. There was no guile found in the mouth of Christ (1 Peter 2:22)... But it was by guile that the Jewish council sought to arrest Jesus and put Him to death (Matt. 26:4; Mark 14:1).
Does becoming a Christian lift you out of that rule? One writer answers.
The grace of God does not set aside the government of God. We do not escape it by becoming Christians. Though we are the subjects of grace, it is still true that we reap what we sow. We cannot use Christianity to cover evil.
The same writer stops short of promising an untroubled life. Doing good may still cost you.
The Christian who walks this way, according to the government of God, will be in the Lord's favour. He will escape in large measure the troubles that men bring on themselves by their evil ways. Still, in an evil world the Christian may have to suffer for righteousness' sake. This shows that the government of God will not always show itself fully until righteousness reigns in the days to come. The devil is not yet banished from the world, and evil still prevails. So the pursuit of righteousness always meets with the favour of God, yet it may bring opposition from men when doing right cuts across their interests.
- Desire. The verse starts with a wish anyone can own: to love life and see good days.
- Government. God answers that wish through the way He governs now. Grace does not stop us reaping what we sow.
- Tongue. The first step is not the heart but the mouth: keep it from evil, and from the craftiness that plots through words.
- Days. Loose speech punishes the speaker. Dull, unhappy days follow the very thing the Lord warned against.
- Limit. Good days are the rule, not a promise of ease. Doing right may still draw opposition until righteousness reigns.