Entrusting ourselves to God: 1 Peter 4:19

 

In his first letter to the church, Peter reminds us that suffering is part of the Christian life. Peter writes, “For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21 NASB 2020). Part of those footsteps that we are to follow in is to suffer both for the sake of Christ and the sake of others. Peter goes on to write, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose” (1 Peter 4:1 NASB 2020). This same purpose includes suffering. Suffering is part and parcel of the Christian life. Peter encourages us that we ought not to be “surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12 NASB 2020), for such suffering is a normal part of being a Christian. So how is a believer to bear up under such suffering and come through it even stronger in the Lord? Peter gives us this counsel, “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God are to entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19 NASB 2020).

Two things are of note in this verse. First is the Greek word translated as “entrust.” This word means to put, place, or stand near or around something. It is often translated as commit, entrust, and deposit. Peter is telling us to commit and entrust our souls to God as if we were depositing them with him for safekeeping. But how does one do this? How can we entrust and commit our souls to a God we cannot see and who is enthroned in heaven? We do so by choosing to do good. 

The Greek word translated here as “doing what is right” is a compound word made from the Greek word for good and the Greek word for doing or making. We commit ourselves to God by committing ourselves to doing good. It is a bit surprising that the way we commit ourselves vertically to God is by committing ourselves horizontally to doing good to other people. Some may question if such counsel is contrary to faith and returns us to a works-oriented salvation. Are good works compatible with salvation by faith? The answer is “Yes!” Often, especially when we are suffering some fiery ordeal, it takes faith to continue in doing good. It takes faith in the goodness, graciousness, and merciful favor of God in our lives. Only as we have faith in God’s goodness and faithfulness can we do good, even while suffering. The way through suffering is to entrust ourselves to a faithful God in doing what is good and right to others. 

David Robison

Co-worker in the truth: 3 John 8

In his third letter to the church, John praises the believers for how they had treated strangers and those who traveled with the Gospel. John writes, “You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth” (3 John 1:6-8 NASB 2020). There are two things of interest in these verses. First is the Greek word translated here as “ought.” The root of this word is the Greek word for profit or advantage. The idea is of a duty that has accrued to us on the basis of the benefits and blessings we have received. John is reminding his readers that, because of the blessings, favors, and advantages of God that have become theirs in the Gospel, the duty of supporting those who have gone out in the service of the Gospel has been accrued to their account. Because we have been blessed, we ought to support those ministers of the Gospel.

The second thing of interest is the Greek word translated as “fellow workers.” This is a single compound Greek word containing the preposition “with” and the Greek word for worker, which is the same Greek word from which we get our word for “energy.” This particular word is used only here by John but is often used by Paul to speak of those who were working with him in the cause of the Gospel. Consider some of the people whom Paul calls his fellow workers: Prisca and Aquila (Rom. 16:3), Urbanus (Rom. 16:9), Timothy (Rom. 16:21), Titus (2 Cor. 8:23), Epaphroditus (Philip. 2:25), Clement (Philip. 4:3), Jesus (not Jesus Christ) and Justus (Col. 4:11), Philemon (Philemon 1:1), and Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke (Philemon 1:24).

However, here, John is saying that if we help and support those who have gone out for the sake of the Gospel, then we have become co-workers with them in the truth. In God’s perspective, those who go and those who supply are both workers in the truth. When we support missionaries and workers in the Gospel, we are not simply supporting them or donating to their cause; we are actually co-working with them in the truth. This ought to change the way we view missions, missionaries, and our participation with them by supporting them in their work. When we support them, then we too are participating with them in the work. By giving, we too have become workers.

David Robison