First Peter - Lorin

The qualification of proper suffering continues
here with οἱ πάσχοντες κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ,
those suffering according to the will of God. This
captures the essence of the previous qualifications:
v. 13, κοινωνεῖτε τοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παθήμασιν,
sharing Christ’s sufferings; v. 14, ἐν ὀνόματι Χριστοῦ,
for the name of Christ; v. 16, ὡς Χριστιανός, suffers as
a Christian. The inward action is a deliberate decision
to entrust one’s very life to God: πιστῷ κτίστῃ
παρατιθέσθωσαν τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν. The outward
expression of having done that is ἐν ἀγαθοποιΐᾳ,
while doing good. 41
This is what we believers need to understand
about unjust suffering. When a pagan world inflicts
harm on us simply for being a committed Christian,
shock and resentment have no place in our reaction.
Rather rejoicing and praising God are our responses.
We have entrusted ourselves to a faithful God!
Our prayer and hope is that we will be spared
such harmful treatment. But such is not certain even
in our world. Countless numbers of believers in
many countries are experiencing exactly what Peter
talked about to his initial readers. Persecution of
Christians is not just a subject of history!
In the 20th century, Christians have been
persecuted by Muslim and Hindu groups inter alia,
and by atheistic states such as the USSR and North Korea.
Currently (as of 2010), as estimated by the Christian missionary organisation Open Doors UK, an estimated 100
million Christians face persecution, particularly in North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia. 2 A recent study, cited by the
Vatican, reported that 75 out of every 100 people killed due to religious hatred are Christian. 42
Unfortunately, such continues to take place. The human rights organization, Persecution.org: International
Christian Concern, tracks this activity and posts updated figures etc. at their web site http://www.persecution.
org/ regularly. We must pray for fellow Christians going through such trials and difficulties.
faithful Creator.’” [Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 173.]
41 “This noun occurs four times in 1 Clem (2.2.7; 33.1; 34.2), but only here in the NT. It is difficult to decide whether the
preposition ἐν is to be taken instrumentally as ‘by’ (BGD, 260.3.1a) or temporally as ‘while’ (BGD, 260.2.3]). Is it the author’s
point that believers ‘entrust their lives’ to God precisely by doing good, or that when they do good they should trust God to protect
their lives from danger? The logic of the sentence favors the latter, with ‘while doing good’ as the better translation.” [J. Ramsey
Michaels, vol. 49, Word Biblical Commentary : 1 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 274.]
42 “Persecution of Christians,” Wikipedia.org. Bible Study: Page 244