Grace Thoughts
GraceLife Thoughts – Defend the Faith Every Day
“defend” – guard and protect with words and actions; stand up for what you believe; help other people understand what you believe, why you believe it, and why they should believe it through informed answers based on reason
“the faith” – vital beliefs based on truth
“in your community” – your sphere of influence … family, friends, neighbors, school and work mates, people who serve you in the community, fellow Christians
“every day” – every 24-hour day you are alive
The Apostle Peter wrote to a group of Jewish believers who had gone through some hard times for believing that Jesus was Israel’s promised Messiah. They were moms and dads, boys and girls, grandparents, working people, regular folks – “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” (1 Peter 1:1-2) To this group of “pilgrims,” Peter told them “defend the faith.”
“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. ‘And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.’ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” 1 Peter 3:13-17
The words “be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” in the Greek are hetoimoi aei pros apologian panti to aitounti humas logon peri tes en humin elpidos.
“be ready” – hetoimoi means to be prepared. In a Christian martial arts class, after bowing to God and demonstrating respect to each other in class, we move to a “ready” position call yoi (Japanese) or joon bee (Korean). The idea in the original languages is being ready, focused, and engaged at all times. Being “ready” is the way a true martial artist lives. It’s not something we do just for class or when the teacher is watching. We are to always “be ready” to defend ourselves or others who may need our help. The same is true for Christians. We are to be “ready” at all times. It is not something we do just for Bible study class or worship time with other believers. We are to be hetoimoi at all times.
“to give a defense” – aei pros apologian means to give an answer. The Greek legal system included a person who brought a charge against another person and the people who acted as jurors and would vote for or against the one charged. The person who brought the charge or accusation came ready to give a kategoria. That was the list of charges or accusations. The person who answered the charges against him came ready to give an apologia. That was the spoken defense the accused would give to the list of charges or accusations.
“to everyone” – panti to means every person. Someone trained in self defense is not selective about who they defend themselves against. We are ready to defend against “everyone” who would try to harm us or others. The same is true for Christians. We are ready to give a defense against every person who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us.
“a reason for the hope that is in you” – logon or logos is translated here as “reason.” It also translates as “word.” The ancient Greek idea of logos was that it was a plea, opinion, reason, word, expectation, account. The ancient philosopher Heraclitus used logos for a principle of knowledge and order. Jesus Christ is called the eternal Logos (see John 1:1-18). The word “hope” is elpidos. It is “a confident expectation based on what is certain.” The hope of a Christian is based on the certainty of what God has declared in His Holy Word.
Why would people ask a Christian about the “hope” that is in them? In the case of the “pilgrims” Peter wrote to centuries ago, they were undergoing intense persecution – the kind of persecution that would lead people of lesser faith in their “faith” to give in and say and do whatever the persecutors wanted. Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, called on these persecuted believers to be ready at all times to answer the charges brought against them – charges that were based on “the hope” that was in them.
“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
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Published by gracelifethoughts
Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
