LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

OCTOBER 14, 2026

1 Peter 3:8-12

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

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 obtain a blessing. 10 For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

11 let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

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v 8 – “Finally, all of you …”

more lit. “And finally, all [being] likeminded, sympathetic, brotherly-affectionate,

compassionate, and humble-minded …”

likeminded – homophrón, only here in the N.T.

sympathetic – sympathés, with + suffering/feeling

brotherly-affectionate – philadelphus, only here in the N.T.

compassionate – eusplagchnos, to be moved deeply

humble-minded – tapeinophrosýnē, only here in the N.T.

v 9 – “Do not repay evil for evil …”

This is to people who were bound to have been wrongly-treated.

When mistreated, we are not to “get them back” or “tell them off” or out-insult somebody.

This does not mean (necessarily) that we cannot assert our rights as citizens under the law (Paul

did).

And it does not mean that we cannot defend ourselves or challenge what others are saying (Jesus

did)

“but on the contrary, blessing” – what we are to seek to do, depending upon God to lead us

“for to this you were called” – see 1 Peter 2:21; Peter reminds us again that we have a calling

which we are to understand and be faithful to

more lit. “that you may inherit a blessing” – we bless others, knowing that God will greatly bless

us, when we fully receive our inheritance in Christ

vv 10-12 – “For ‘Whoever desires to love life …’”

Peter quotes Psalm 34:12-16

Parallelism in Hebrew poetry

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days …”

In Greek, “love” and “good” are similar, related words

This desire is approved by God, properly understood as accomplishing this in godliness

2

We should be interested in what follows…

“let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;”

This may surprise as the first thing to be mentioned

Scripture places great emphasis on our words; we may be less aware of this than were Christians

in earlier times

What we say, how we use our tongues, is under the authority of Christ and should honor him

Saying “I just say what I think” and other excuses does not take away the responsibility of

guarding our speech and using it for good

It might surprise some people to know that signs of God’s displeasure in their lives are due to the

way they are displeasing him with their words

Herbert J Taylor’s Four-Way Test is a good example of seeking to discipline our speech:

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

And the Bible provides extensive guidance, direct and indirect

“let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.”

These are seen as parallelisms

“turn away from evil”—how simply put. More than not doing evil things, but to turn away from

evil in our affections, our attention, our desires, etc. This is what Jesus preached: “repent.”

“and do good.”—we are not to be defined by what we “don’t do” but by the things we are and

do. Christlike living is much more than “staying away from” certain things.

“let him seek peace and pursue it”

This is fully consistent with turning away from evil and doing good

The verbs are doubled up to emphasize importance: seek it, pursue it!

This is such an emphasis in the ministry of Christ and in the N.T.—yet, is it prevalent in our

thinking?

Unfortunately, the term has been politically co-opted and hijacked for decades, which may have

contributed to a separation from Christian thought and usage

Biblical peace begins with well-being and wholeness in relationships: with God, within

ourselves, and with others. The Bible certainly speaks about peace between nations, but that

peace comes as a result of personal, relational peace.

How can I bring peace …

into a given situation?

into a relationship?

into a matter in my church?

into the world around me?

How can I obtain God’s peace in my life and walk in it daily?

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.”

Remember, we are still answering the proposition: “Whoever desires to love life

and see good days, let him …”

Words that, in this statement, cannot replace “righteous”:

wicked, luke-warm, indifferent, selfish, vengeful, bitter, half-hearted

3

We may not be comfortable with the word “righteous,” but the Bible is.

Some from of it appears (in the ESV) 535 times—139 times in the New Testament—in every

multi-chapter N. T. book but one.

It is often being applied to God. And it is often applied to us as well.

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all

righteousness.”—Matthew 3:15

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.—

Matthew 5:6

Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right,

and the holy still be holy.—Revelation 22:11

Yes, our saving righteousness is in Christ, because there is no one who is perfectly righteous. But

our salvation in Christ is both motivation and mandate for us to seek to live righteously—to

seek to do the right thing, to live the right way. Salvation is not a license to pursue sinful

living, and if a person thinks that way, he should examine himself to see if he is in Christ.

“And his ears is opened to their prayer.”

To whose prayer?—the righteous’.

Prayer is not an entitlement. God is not a vending machine in the sky.

God hears the prayers of brokenness and contrition and repentance—and he hears whatever

prayers he decides to hear

But he has told us and shown us that prayers of self-righteousness or entitlement or prayers from

a person trying to treat God as some kind of resource on standby with no effort to live for

him are not likely to receive the intended response.

Prayer is a part of our relationship with God.

“But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

This is to make things clear, if there is any question about it.

If a person is an evildoer, he should not expect “to love life and see good days.”

Not only that the Lord is against him.

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the

righteous.—Matthew 13:49

And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive

to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand

outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do

not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your

presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you

come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’—Luke 13:23-27

Judgment against sin is real.

All people are sinners.

All people need salvation which God has provided in Christ.