9781433573606-epdf

Creating Good Works in Danger
no prospect for reward in this life. The same would hold
true for good deeds that put us in danger, especially the
danger of death.
HOW PETER APPLIED JESUS’S TEACHING
The apostle Peter, more than any other New Testament writer,
picks up the explicit teaching of Jesus about good deeds:
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that
when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see
your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
(1 Pet. 2:12)
And Peter makes the same point about good deeds in the
face of danger. He says, “Let those who suffer according
to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while
doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19). In other words, don’t let the
possibility, or the reality, of suffering stop you from doing
good deeds.
CHRIST DIED TO CREATE GOOD DEEDS IN DANGER
Peter links this new kind of life with the death of Jesus for
our sins: “[Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on
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