Lesson 15: Holiness in action – following His example
Read 1 Peter 3:1-22- https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1pe.3
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
With this lesson we conclude the section of our holiness in action. Peter does so with a reminder of Jesus’ example for us. So let us look at what Peter learned from following Jesus’ example.
It was Jesus’ last evening with His disciples before His trial (read the story in Luke 22). He was telling them a lot of things He knew they would not understand or even remember until weeks or months or years later, but Peter kept telling Jesus he would not allow anything bad to happen to Him. Jesus finally turned to Peter, shaking His head, and told Peter he would deny knowing Jesus three times before morning. It was nearly midnight, and Peter could not imagine ever doing this to Jesus and told Him so. Jesus probably put His hand on Peter’s shoulder and said He had been praying for him so his faith would not fail. Peter again insisted he would never deny Jesus. But when Jesus was arrested, fear took over Peter’s mind and he was no longer gentle or respectful (as he was in the last lesson). He was afraid, and the storm of fear tried to knock him down. When Jesus then died and was buried, Peter was certain he had lost every chance of ever making his betrayal right. But Jesus had other plans for Peter. When Jesus rose from the dead, He sent a message to the disciples to meet Him by the Sea of Galilee where He could spend some personal time with them. He turned to Peter and asked him if he loved Him. Jesus stuck with Peter through this painful testing in his life until Peter’s repentance and restoration to his relationship with Jesus was complete, and as a result Peter became the leader of the disciples who began telling the world about Jesus.
We have other Bible studies available of Jesus’ life and invite you to study His life in greater detail through them.
*When you face a trial in your life, what is usually your first response to it?