Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 6 Sep 2015
3:8 So, the goal [is for] y’all [to be] like-minded, sympathetic, brotherly-loving, compassionate, humble-minded, 9 not paying back bad for bad or insult for insult, but instead speaking blessing, because y’all were called into this in order that y’all might inherit blessing.
· In a climate of impending persecution of Christians, Peter wisely directs the attention of believers toward the big picture, the “goal,” the “end of things” (cf. 4:7 & 17).
· This word telos, which is translated “finally” or “sum up” in other translations is the same word translated “goal” or “end” in chapter 1 verse 9 – the “goal of your faith” being “the salvation of your soul,” so in the larger context of Peter’s letter,
o he’s not just saying that the goal is for Christians to be good people who are nice,
o and he’s not just saying that we should be good in order to enjoy personal peace and prosperity in our homes and government and jobs;
o he’s saying that this is to be normative Christian behavior as we anticipate God’s salvation and as we anticipate the spread of God’s kingdom into the lives of more people as we share the gospel.
· What are the hallmarks of normative Christian social life that God wants to see? Peter lists six goals here in verses 8-9.
· This compound word ὁμόφρονες doesn’t occur anywhere else in the Greek Bible, but the two words that were stuck together to make up this compound word have clear context in the Bible. The first part is homo, which means “same”; and the second part is phren, which has to do with the use of the mind and its direction of your emotions.
· Throughout the Proverbs (Pro. 6:32; 7:7; 9:4; 11:12; 12:11; 15:21; 18:2; 24:30) we are told that those who “lack” this use of the mind – or this “understanding” – are fools who are destroying themselves. So this like-mindedness does not mean that you just follow the crowd; rather, it is a common grasp of God’s wisdom and a common obedience to His will.
· A few months ago my wife’s phone beeped around midnight, indicating that a text message had just come in. It woke her out of a dead sleep as she imagined some crisis in someone’s life that would be urgent enough to contact the pastor in the dead of night. As she jumped out of bed, I groggily asked what was going on. She looked at the screen and read, “God’s not dead.” Sigh. Some friend-of-a-friend had just seen a late-night showing of the movie and followed the instructions at the end to text the message to all her friends. It was a nice sentiment, and expressed some like-mindedness, but it was not done with wisdom and understanding.
· 1 Corinthians 14:20 uses this word when it says, “Brothers, stop being children in your thinking, but... in thinking be becoming mature.” (cf. Phil 3:15 “mature”)
· I think that a mature like-mindedness like Peter is speaking of is more like what I experience at Bethlehem Revisited. I arrive at the outdoor guide’s station at sunset in the December chill, and there are about ten men, women, and children, all about to spend the next five hours outdoors, on our feet, in sub-freezing weather – maybe even snow, just so we can share the gospel message with a group of tourists. I look around the guide table in the dim light at ten people who all attend different churches from me, but their eyes are all shining because we have something precious in common that we are sharing, and, even though I only see most of them once a year there at Bethlehem Revisited, there is an instant warmth of community as we catch up on each other’s lives. It’s because we know we are sharing the good news of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection with others, and there is powerful unity in that.
· And that unity in God’s wisdom is something we can experience as a local church too! How can we cultivate that on a day to day basis? By turning our mind away from thinking about earthly, fleshly things, and turning our thoughts toward Christ and the Holy Spirit:
o If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Col. 3:1-2 NKJV, cf. Phil. 3:19)
o For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Rom. 8:5 NKJV, cf. Matt. 16:23)
· “Having the same mind” also means not fighting and quarrelling with other Christians but rather being humble:
o Paul told the Philippian church,“fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” and “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” (Php. 2:2 & 4:2, NKJV)
o And he told the Corinthian church, “Finally, brethren... Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor. 13:11, NKJV) That goes back to the concept of maturity and completeness when our minds are on Christ and we are at peace with others.
o To the Romans, Paul wrote, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith... 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” (Rom. 12:3 & 16, NKJV) That was from Romans chapter 12, and later on in chapter 15 it says, “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another...” (Romans 15:5-7, NKJV)
o Do you see how integrally related our thinking is with our communion with God and with our fellowship with other people? The more our thought life is conformed to Christ the more completeness we will experience in this unity. Here is God’s first goal for our social life!
· I would define “Sympathy” as “grieving over the effects of sin in someone else’s life.”
· Sympathy is Christ-like. The only other instance of this root συμπαθεῖς is in Heb. 4:15, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but who was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus wanted to sympathize with us, so He took on flesh so he could experience life as we experience it. When we experience pain and sorrow in this life, we can pour out our hearts in prayer to Jesus, and He can say with full integrity, “Oh, I know how that feels! My heart aches with you!” And just as Jesus can sympathize with us, we can sympathize with each other when we hear of their pain and heartaches.
· Peter talks about pathw suffering in his first epistle more than any other book in the Bible, and we’ve already run into his comment about being willing to suffer injustice in chapter 2 verse 19.
o That suffering might be sickness (Jesus had sympathy for the suffering of the sick and healed many of them - Mt. 17:15 where sickness is cause of pathw “suffering”),
o It might be rejection (Jesus experienced that from the Jews - Mark 8:31),
o It might be insults and contempt (Jesus has experienced that: Mark 9:12),
o It might be a natural – or man-made - disaster that causes suffering (Luke 13:1-4),
o And there’s the suffering of death (Jesus can sympathize with dying too! - Luke 24:26).
· There is a close synonym used in 1 Corinthians 12:26, “God has mixed together the body... in order that there might not be a division in the body, but rather that the members might care the same for each other. Now, if one member suffers, all the members suffer together, or if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice together.” (NAW)
· “During the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, missionaries Matt and Lora Higgens were returning one night to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory, where Kenyans and missionaries alike had been killed and dismembered. Seventeen miles outside of Nairobi their Land Rover stopped. Higgens tried to repair the car in the dark, but could not restart it. They spent the night in the car, but claimed Psalm 4:8: ‘I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.’ In the morning they were able to repair the car. A few weeks later the Higgenses returned to America on furlough. They reported that the night before they left Nairobi, a local pastor had visited them. He told how a member of the Mau Mau had confessed that he and three others had crept up to the car to kill the Higgenses, but when they saw sixteen men surrounding the car, the Mau Mau had left in fear. ‘Sixteen Men?’ Higgens responded. ‘ I don't know what you mean!’ While they were on furlough a friend, Clay Brent, asked the Higgenses if they had been in any danger recently. Higgens asked, ‘Why?’ Then Clay said that on March 23, God had placed a heavy prayer burden on his heart. He called the men of the church, and sixteen of them met together and prayed until the burden lifted.[1]”
· Now, that is sympathy. Brothers and sisters halfway across the world suffering danger, and their friends back home feeling it and praying for it. That doesn’t happen without first being like-minded, attuned to the same Holy Spirit. When God wakes you up in the night with somebody on your mind, will you pray for them? This, together with sympathy when you see people in pain face to face, is God’s will for your social life.
· Peter mentions “brotherly love” more than any other Biblical author. The meaning of φιλάδελφοι can be unpacked further as we look at some of the other 6 Bible passages where it appears:
o “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:9-11, NKJV)
o Philew love may start with liking being around another Christians, but it is intertwined with agape love in the Bible, for instance: “concerning brotherly love... you yourselves are taught by God to love (agapan) one another” (1 Thess. 4:9 NKJV). Wait, I thought Paul was talking about “brotherly love,” how can he prove that we should have brotherly love by quoting God’s command to agape-love each other? It’s because they are not so far apart.
o We’ve already seen how brotherly-love turns into agape love in 1 Peter 1:22, “[Since it was] your souls [which] you have purified by [your] obedience [which came out] of the truth through the Spirit into un-hypocritical brotherly fondness, start fervently loving each other from a clean heart,” (NAW). It shows up again in 2 Peter 1:7. You can’t really separate the two if you are a Christian.
o So, what exactly does brotherly love look like? Hebrews 13 starts out “Let brotherly love continue,” and then breaks it down in the next six verses:
§ “Do not forget to entertain strangers...
§ Remember the prisoners as if chained with them...
§ [Keep] Marriage honorable among all, and the bed undefiled...
§ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have...
§ Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you...” (Heb. 13:1-7 NKJV)
§ That’s how you practice brotherly-love: home hospitality, prison visitation, sexual purity that guards against anyone being defrauded, contentment that guards against stealing, and solid support of church leaders, etc.
· This is so much easier when you are mentally tuned in to the same wavelength and ready to grieve over their suffering – as though you were chained together with them! This is God’s will for your social life.
· The Greek word for “compassionate/pitiful/tenderhearted/kindhearted” - εὔσπλαγχνοι literally means having a “good spleen” – following the Eastern sentiment that your feelings are centered in the middle of your body.
· It is only found one other place in scripture, and that is Ephesians 4:32, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” How do you have a “good spleen”? Ephesians 4 tells us it’s showing graciousness to forgive (“forgiving...as God forgave you”).
· If someone else in the church sins against you, are you willing to let it go, or will you harden your heart toward them and become bitter?
· It seems that everybody I’ve ever talked to has had some sort of bad experience with a church; I certainly have had my share of bad experiences. In the last church I was in, I showed up with my family the first Sunday, and the pastor introduced me, “After the service please be sure to greet our new assistant pastor, Nate Wilson.” At the end of the service, everybody walked straight out of the sanctuary and made no attempt to even talk to us or shake my hand. I take that back; one person came up and shook my hand, but that was all. Wow, that – as well as some other things that felt really cold-shouldered – really started a struggle in the hearts of my wife and me, but the senior pastor was a tender-hearted man. He helped me see how many of the people in the congregation were struggling themselves and how hard it was for them to open their hearts to me – some had difficult health problems, others had tough family problems, some were such new Christians that they just didn’t know any better, and many of them had been deeply scarred by a church split that made it difficult for them to trust fellow-Christians again. But because that senior pastor had a tender heart, I was able to grow in compassion for those people.
· Jesus is characterized by compassion (James 5:11). Matthew 9:36 says, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, as sheep not having a shepherd.” (NAW)
· and it was that compassion which moved Him
o to pray (9:37),
o to heal the sick (Mat. 4:14),
o to feed the hungry (Mat. 15:32),
o to give sight to the blind (Mat. 20:34),
o and it was compassion which led Jesus to come down to this earth in the first place (Lk 1:78).
o Compassion/tenderheartedness leads to action which will soothe the grief of other people.
· “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (Col. 3:12-14, NKJV)
· This is God’s goal for your social life.
· There is some debate whether this last word in the verse means “courteous hospitality” or whether it means having a “humble attitude.” The call to hospitality is a command in the Bible (in Romans 12:13), but I think that the call to humility fits best here.
· The Proverbs tells us that, “A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor” (Prov. 29:23, NASB), and so it is that we are called to adopt a lowly attitude around other Christians.
· Now, this doesn’t mean that you are spineless and obsequious. For instance, in Acts 20:19, Paul defines humble service as “declaring to you [what] was profitable... teaching you publicly and from house to house, [and] solemnly testifying... of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Declaring,” “teaching,” and “testifying” are not passive, mousy actions. You can be humble and still lead and teach.
· Humility is like oil in a car engine. There are all kinds of metal parts that have to slide alongside each other in order for the car to move – the piston in the engine block, the piston arms on the camshaft, the camshaft on the differential gears, the wheels on the axle, but in order for all those parts to move without melting down from all the friction, oil and other lubricants are injected so that they can slide by each other smoothly. (By the same token, that’s why you don’t put oil on your tires, because then your wheels would slide and not get friction with the ground. The friction that your tires get on the road is why you have to change your tires regularly, but seldom do you ever have to change your engine – your engine gets oil to reduce the friction, but your tires don’t). But I was talking about humility. Humility allows you to gracefully work alongside someone else peacefully.
· It has a lot to do with will-power. A proud person walks into the room and they make their will known, don’t they. They despise anyone who disagrees with them, and the proud person will attempt to force everyone else to do his will. A humble person, on the other hand, walks into the room seeking to do the will of other people. Now, that can be totally overwhelming because everybody wants something different. What makes a humble person stay on track is that he or she has a sense of what God’s will is(going back to that same-mindedness principle at the beginning of this verse), and so they try to accomplish what God wants done in the way God wants it done. And when they try to get other people to do what God wants, humble people seem to have a way of finding out how to motivate others to actually want to do what God wants, so that there is not a lot of friction of will against will, instead there is the oil of humility and unity in wanting to do someone else’s will together.
· In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I... implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-3, NASB) Humility creates peace.
· And we’re going to see later in 1 Peter 5:5, humility brings out grace: “...all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (NASB)
· This is God’s goal for your social life
· The scriptures are clear on this point of Christian ethics:
o 1 Thessalonians 5:15 “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.” (NKJV)
o Romans 12:17-18 “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (NKJV)
o Proverbs 17:13 “Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.”
· The Proverbs warn us that if we stoop to insults and abusive speech, we become fools ourselves. If you don’t have the grace to offer a blessing in return, at least just keep quiet and don’t say anything back!
o Proverbs 10:18-19 “Righteous lips cover enmity; but they that utter railings are most foolish. By a multitude of words thou shalt not escape sin; but if thou refrain thy lips thou wilt be prudent.” (Brenton)
o Proverbs 20:3 “It is a glory to a man to turn aside from railing; but every fool is entangled with such matters.” (Brenton)
· The goal is to actually speak “blessing”:
o Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (NKJV)
o 1 Corinthians 4:12-13 “And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat...” (NKJV)
o Ephesians 4:29 “Do not continue to let any rotten word proceed out of your mouth, but rather it should be something good toward building up of the needy in order that it might give grace to the hearers.” (NAW)
o Here’s a good litmus test of whether to share or re-tweet or pin - or whatever, that item you saw on the internet. Will it “build up” and “impart grace”? If so, broadcast that baby! If not, chuck it! It’s a waste of time.
· God’s word provides examples of how to live this out:
o The Apostle Paul gives us a glimpse of a situation in his life in 2 Timothy 4:14-18, where he was verbally abused by Alexander the coppersmith (perhaps Alexander made copper idols and felt threatened – like the Ephesian silversmiths did on another occasion – by Paul’s preaching against idolatry. As best I can tell, Alexander brought charges in court against Paul and told lies that turned public opinion against Paul. When Paul went to trial, no one was willing to testify that he was innocent. Alexander’s influence had been that damaging. But what did Paul do? He kept preaching the Gospel in hopes of saving more gentiles from hell, he trusted God to deliver him in court (and God did), and he wisely avoided contact with Alexander.
o The ultimate example, of course, is Christ. In the previous chapter of this epistle, Peter reminded us of when Christ was hanging on the cross and people were walking by and insulting Him. What did Jesus do? 1 Peter 2:23 “while being insulted He was not insulting back, [and] while suffering He was not threatening, but He was giving [it] over to the One who judges justly” (NAW) And He blessed them saying, “Father, forgive them!”
· Now, it might go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that just because you should return curses with blessings doesn’t mean you have to expose yourself to abusive speech. It’s one thing if you are called to minister in a particular way to someone who is disagreeable, but there is wisdom in avoiding casual social interaction with people whose speech indicates they are out to cause trouble for Christians[2]. In 1 Corinthians 5:11, the apostle said, “Hey, just keep away from revilers. Don’t go out to dinner with them.”[3] But you can’t protect yourself from everything, and at some point you’re going to have to put this principle into practice. Count to ten; pray for God to give you gracious words, and then blow their minds by doing or saying something kind.
· This is God’s goal for your social life.
· This concludes the list of six goals God has for your social life. Remember, it starts with calibrating your thinking with Christ, and then He can give you the grace to love others in all these ways.
· In the next three verses, Peter gives powerful reasons why these things should characterize us. Let’s plan to look at those reasons next time.
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Patriarchal Text |
NAW |
KJV |
NKJV |
ESV |
NASB |
NIV |
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8 [5]Τὸ δὲ τέλος, πάντεςNPM ὁμόφρονεςNPM, συμπαθεῖςNPM, φιλάδελφοι, εὔσπλαγχνοι, [φιλό[6]]φρονες, |
8. So, the goal [is for] y’all [to be] like-minded[7], sympathetic[8], brotherly-loving[9], compassionate[10], humble-minded[11], |
8 Finally, be ye all [of] one mind, [having] compassion [one of another], love [as] brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: |
8 Finally, all of you be [of] one mind, [having] compassion [for one another]; love [as] brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; |
8 Finally, all [of you, have] unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, |
8 To sum up, all [of you be] harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, [and] humble in spirit; |
8 Finally, all [of you, live in] harmony [with one another; be] sympathetic, love [as] brothers, [be] compassionate [and] humbleX. |
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9 μὴ ἀποδιδόντεςPAP-NPM κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ ἢ λοιδορίανASF ἀντὶ λοιδορίαςGSF, τοὐναντίον[12] δὲ εὐλογοῦντεςPAP-NPM, [εἰδότες[13]] ὅτι εἰς τοῦτο ἐκλήθητεAPI-2P, ἵνα εὐλογίανASF κληρονομήσητε AAS-2P. |
9. not paying back bad for bad or insult for insult, but instead speaking blessing, because y’all were called into this in order that y’all might inherit blessing. |
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. |
9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. |
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary,
bless, for to
this you were called, that you may
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9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a
blessing instead;
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9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but X [with] blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. |
[1] Quoted from Touch the World with Prayer by Wesley Duewel, 1986, Francis Asbury Press.
[2] 1 Corinthians 6:10 “nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NKJV)
[3] 1 Cor. 5:11 “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.” (NKJV)
[4] Where the traditional Patriarchal edition of the
Greek Bible is challenged by the Textus
Receptus or by the modern critical editions, I note that. When an
English translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not indicate it
has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words
in [square brackets]. When one English version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses
a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root
meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the grammar form of the
original Greek word, I use strikeout. And when an English version omits
a word which is in the Greek text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X
at the end of a word if the Greek word is plural but the English translation is
singular.) I have also tried to use colors to help the reader see correlations
between the Greek original and the various translations.
[5] This phrase does not occur anywhere else in the Greek Bible. It appears that translators have interpreted this phrase to mean the same as To loipon, which is used as an epistolary summary indicator in 2Cor. 13:11; Eph. 6:10; Phill. 3:1; 4:8; 1Thess. 4:1; 2Thess. 3:1; and 2Tim. 4:8. Interestingly, the same 4 words in a different order can be found in 1Peter 4:7 Πάντων δὲ τὸ τέλος “The end of all things [is near]”.
[6] All manuscripts and versions older than the 9th century AD read ταπεινοφρονες (humble-thinking) instead of φιλόφρονες (fond-thinking – thus the KJV “courteous”), so the reading of the Patriarchal text here is suspect, even though it is the reading of the majority of total known Greek manuscripts. Philophrones is only found in one other location in the Greek Bible, and that is in Acts 28:7 to describe Publius’ “courteous” hospitality toward Paul and his stranded shipmates. (It is also in 2 Maccabees 2:25; 3:9; and 4 Maccabees 8:5 with a similar meaning.)
[7] hapex legomenon (See Prov. 6:32; 7:7; 9:4; 11:12; 12:11; 15:21; 18:2; 24:30 on a “lack” of this “mind”). Linked to maturity in 1 Corinthians 14:20 & Phil. 3:15. Set on God/Christ/Spirit in Col. 3:1-2 & Phil 3:19,Mat 16:23, Rom 8:5. Unity and peace implied in Php 2:2 & 4:2, 2 Cor. 13:11, Rom. 15:5-7, & 12:3 & 16
[8] cf. suffering in 2:19. The only other instance of this root is in Heb 4:15. cf sympasch- in 1 Corinthians 12:26.
[9] Peter mentions “brotherly love” more than any other Biblical author. See Rom. 12:9, 1 Thess. 4:9, 1 Pet 1:22, 2 Peter 1:7,Heb. 13:1-7.
[10] Found one other place in scripture, Ephesians 4:32. Jesus is characterized by compassion (James 5:11). Compassion leads to action: Matthew 9:36-37, 4:14, 15:32, 20:34, Col. 3:12-14.
[11] cf. Prov. 29:23, Acts 20:19, Eph. 4:1-3, 1 Peter 5:5
[12] This word is translated “on the contrary” or “instead” and is only found in two other places in the Greek Bible: 2 Corinthians 2:7 and Galatians 2:7.
[13] Not in Critical Editions of the GNT because it is not in any manuscripts or versions dating before the 9th century.