1 Pet. 2:20-23 - Christ's innocent sufferings are an example for us

20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;
23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

vs. 20 - "what credit is there" - There is no glory in suffering if you deserve the treatment you get. When you suffer for living rightly, God is pleased. If you rob a bank, are arrested and convicted for the same, there is no glory when you sit in prison. "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." (TV series 'Baretta'.)
You DO NOT want to do the 'time' when facing the righteous judgement of the Holy God. See: 1 Pet. 4:17 - For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? However, if you are living righteously, in the power of the Holy Spirit and suffer persecution, God knows and will take note, there is a reward. (Not that we should seek a reward. We seek to live for Him.) See: 1 Pet. 2:19, 3:14, 17

vs. 21 - "called for this purpose" - We have been called to walk in Christ's steps, to follow His example. Oh, how much I want to be able to live without troubles, without having to deal with anger and hatred or mocking toward me just because I am a Christian. (Again, believers in America are not imprisoned, beheaded, crucified, burned to death, typically.) Jesus did not promise that we get trouble free lives. Just the opposite. John 7:7, 15:20; Luke 6:22; Matt. 5:11; Rom. 12:14.

vs. 22 - "committed no sin" - Christ's perfect example, is one of living and loving by faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

vs. 23 - "entrusting Himself to Him" - Living and walking in the Spirit - Christ entrusted His life and action to the living God while suffering. Jesus knew His mission - to provide the perfect sacrifice for my sins.

Think on this:

1. Jesus knew He was to die. See: Matt. 16:21, 17:22-23; Luk. 17:25, 18:32-33
2. He knew God's wrath would fall on Him. See: John 18:11; Isa. 51:22; 1 John 2:2
3. He knew He would be separated from The Father and Holy Spirit - something that had not happened before.
4. He knew He would have to be resurrected from the dead by the Father. See: Matt. 16:21, 17:9
5. Jesus trusted God the Father to do that very thing. See: Matt. 26:39, 42; Luke 23:46

That's trust!

All the sins of the world, the prospect of eternal hell, and nothing He could do except have faith that God would be faithful Himself and raise Jesus to glory.

Pray that Jesus will give you a smidgen of that kind of trust.
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1 Pet. 1:18-19 - Purchased by the Blood

1 Pet. 1:18-19 - Purchased by the Blood

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

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vs. 18 - "knowing" - this is the basis for your behavior. You know you are redeemed by His blood shed. Let this knowledge be the paradigm that guides you - the roadmap you follow as you live each day.

"not redeemed with perishable things..." - Redeemed also can mean bought for a price, ransomed. Only three things could be redeemed under Jewish Law - 1) wife, 2) slave, Lev. 25:35-55; 3) land, see Lev. 27:16-20. The redeemer had to be willing to pay the price to purchase the things held. These items are redeemed via 'cash' transfer. You have been bought and paid for in blood. See: 1 Cor. 6:20 - For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.; Titus 2:14 - who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.; Heb. 9:12 - and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.; 1 Pet. 1:7 (also need to look in OT).

"futile way of life ..." The life of the unbeliever is indeed futile (maybe not in this life, but that is temporal, i.e., you can't take it with you). The Psalmist laid this out in Psa. 73:11-17, we are too tempted to tell ourselves that no one, not even God will know what we have done. If we stopped to think, we would agree that is silly. But we rationalize until we are pretty sure we can get away with our errant lifestyle. The Psalmist was bothered by this. He considered doing the same thing, and it troubled him. Then he saw their ultimate end when he "entered the sanctuary of God." Their end is death, separation from God for eternity. I just finished a novel, "A Simple Plan" by Scott B.Smith, which this scenario plays out to tragic end. The characters keep telling themselves everything is okay. One bad decision leads to another. Their lives are ruined as they keep trying to convince themselves that all is normal.
Any way of life not centered around Christ is futile. See: Acts 4:12 - There is no other name by which men may be saved . See Eph. 4:17, 18 - So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.; Gal. 1:13-14, Gal. 2:16 - yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified., Gal.5:1 - For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.

"inherited" - Peter is pounding home the concept "You sin because you are a sinner." You don't work your way to being a sinner, it is in your nature. You 'inherited' that nature. If you have blue eyes, or black hair, or are short - these are all from your family tree. YOu are born with these physical traits. You are also born with certain spiritual traits - one of them being a "sin nature". God has also blessed you with free will, and the intelligence to choose the right path or the wrong path. The ability to choose is inherited. If you have the correct information, you can make the correct decision so as to have Christ as your Lord and Savior. The information comes to you. Jesus asks you; He does not force you to come to Him. See: Rom. 10:13, 14, 17.

vs. 19 - "with precious blood" - The Jews would be very familiar with this concept - they saw this every year during the Passover. Their sins were not held against them having been placed on the lamb which was then slain. But this was not permanent. They celebrated the Passover each year. Each year they were reminded that God removed their sins. The sins of mankind could only be forgiven through the shedding of totally innocent blood. (The lamb was innocent, but it was not human blood, therefore a stop-gap measure.) A perfect, sinless person was needed for the sacrifice to save the world. Christ fulfilled that requirement. This is the method that satisfied God. I don't know fully why this was the method. It is God's sovereignty that makes it that way. He chose it, the Bible says it. See: Heb. 9:14; 1 Cor. 5:7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:22.

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