1 Peter 3:8-9

THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT

‘Finally be ye all of one mind … that ye should inherit a blessing.’

1 Peter 3:8

There are certain duties peculiar to certain positions and relations of human life. These the Apostle has treated of in previous verses. And now he enjoins those virtues which are binding upon all who profess and call themselves Christians. The class of graces which he here presents for their cultivation is that which is peculiarly Christian. In this, as in other places, it is taken for granted that moral qualities, the excellence of which was admitted by heathen philosophers, will be held in esteem; and special attention is given to such as were commonly overlooked, such as in an especial manner flow from the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ as their true source.

I. The central duty and virtue enjoined is brotherly love.—This was the Master’s new commandment. And to this Christianity supplies the highest and most powerful motives, in its revelation of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Christ. Dispositions which men cannot be expected to cultivate from motives of human expediency, or under the sanction of human authority, become possible when they are based upon a Divine revelation, and are enforced by a Divine motive.

II. From this central duty and virtue radiate a variety of holy and beneficent dispositions and moral habits.—Of these the Apostle here enumerates:—

(a) Unity in thought; by which is meant, not identity of opinion; but a common agreement to accept the Divine revelation, and a unity of feeling and spirit.

(b) Sympathy, or fellowship in feeling; the readiness to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep.

(c) Compassion, especially towards the weak, the suffering, and the needy.

(d) Humbleness of mind; which is the opposite of pride, arrogance, and self-conceit, and involves modesty, and readiness to condescend to men of low estate.

(e) Abstinence from revenge and retaliation, and the formation of the habit of benediction. Evil-doing and evil-speaking are uncongenial to the Christian spirit, which finds expression in words of benediction and of intercession.

III. Such duty and virtue shall meet with an abundant reward from Heaven.—The promise alike of the Old Covenant and the New is, that they who confer blessing upon others shall, by God’s grace, inherit blessing themselves.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Henry the Fourth, of France, being once taken to task for returning the salute of a poor man as he was passing through a village, said, “Would you have your king exceeded in politeness by one of his meanest subjects?” ’

(2) ‘When Sir William Johnson returned the salute of a negro who had bowed to him, he was reminded that he had done what was very unfashionable. “Perhaps so,” said Sir William, “but I would not be outdone in good manners by a negro.” ’