The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Peter — Section 49

Yer. li.-C!!l?'istia.n feai'. Fear is an emotion which is much misunderstood and misrep:c~_cntcd. It is sometimes denounced as something radically and necessarily bad. But tins 1s not the case; all depends upon what is feared, for this determines whether th<> emotion is justifiable and capable of tending to some good result. I. THE_ C~ARACTER: OF. ~HRISTIAN FEAR. 1. It is quite different from the fear of the unbchev~ng_ and 1rr~hg10us. Such perso~s fear to lose their worldly possessions, and to lose life itself. 'I hey may have a certain fear of God, for even the devils believe and tremble. 2. It is inculc11ted in Scripture. Not only does the Old Testament bid us "serve the Lord with fear," "fear God, and keep his commandments;" the New Testament records Christ's admonition, "Fear him who is able to destroy" and the ap_ostolic injunction to "perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord," and, "Bo'not high- mmdcd, but fear." 3. The grounds for the Christian's fear are evident. He fears lest he should yield to temptation, lest he should be defeated by his spiritual adversary. He fears God, not with the abject terror of the slave, but with the reverence and awe due to the All-holy, the infinitely Just. 4. Fear is not the all-absorbincr emotion in the Christian's breast. Its presence is not incompatible with love and hope and a measure of joy. Fear mingles as an element in Christian experience . . II: TnE MOTIYES To CHRISTIAN FEAR. 1. Our. state as one of sojourning and pilgrimage. We are not yet "at home ; " we are m the wilderness. 'fhe season of desert-wandering is appointed l1y Divine wisdom; yet it is a probation not to be avoided. How can we do other than fear, when we think of our weakness, and of the might of our foe? Indeed, had we not the assurance of our Captain's spiritual pre- sence and a.id, fear might well become the predominant emotion in our mental life. 2. The anticipation of judgment will not suffer fear to be quelled. Is our "work" fit for the Master's inspection? However our fellow-men may regard us, we know that we must appear before him who is "no respecter of persons," and who will estimate us and our service with justice and impartiality. That we may not fear then it is well for us to fear now. 3. The recognition of God's Fatherhood gives the true character to the Christian's fear. This is a paradox. Men would say, '\If God be a Father, and r,ot merely a. Judge, then he need not be feared." This is not the apostle's view. On the contrary, the holy fear which becomes us is made gracious and purifying by our knowledge that a Father's eye is upon us, that a Father's heart ceases not to cherish us.-J. R. T. Ver. 21.-The Divine means to faith and hope. In admonishing his readers to holi- ness and obedience, Peter supported his injunctions by appeals to the highest motives. He placed his reliance upon especially Christian principles. He brought before the minds of bis brethren the preciousness and the power of the Savi_our's resurrection. I. MAN's NEED OF FAITH AND HOPE 1B IMPLIED. If man have a higher than a merely animal life, he requires higher principles by which the higher life may be sustained. He must be related to the unseen in the present and in the future. Faith must have an object, and hope a ground and aim. If we were without these we should 1,e left sinful, ignorant, and helpless; without a Divine law for life, without a Divine assurance of pardon. without a Divine prospect of immortality. The unseen present and the eternal future being alike unknown, self-indulgence or brutal apathy would take the place of a spiritual life. But in fact we have a nature capable of infinite aspiration, and the Creator has not set us narrow limits or appointed for us inevitable poverty of spirit. ll. GoD's RAISING OF CHRIST FBOM THE DEAD IS DECLARED, There is in this state- ment of Peter, that God raised his Son from the dead, nothing opposed to Christ's declaration, "I take it [i.e. 'my life'] again;" and nothing inconsistent with the assertion that Christ was "quickened by the Spirit." The New Testament is one continuoUB witness to our Lord's resurrection. 'l'he Gospels circumstantially record it; the Book of the Acts represents it as the chief theme of apostolic preaching; the Epistles base upon it the whole of Christian doctrine and life. If Christ was not raised, the New Testament is full of misstatements, our Lord's own predictions were unful- filled, the apostles' witness was deceptive. the Lord's p,ay and Easter-tide had no historical origin, and Christianity itself remains unaccounted for. Further, God, who raised Jesus from toe dead, gave him glory. It was io ol>cdience to the Father that ou. 1. 1-26.J THE FIIlS'l' EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. 43