1 Peter 2:21-25

“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, ²² He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ²³and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. ²⁵ For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

So that you would follow: Peter is not encouraging seeking out pain and suffering for being a Christian. There is plenty of pain and suffering that will happen simply by virtue of being a Christian in this fallen world. This is Peter’s point. If we suffer because we are opposed to the ways of the world, then we are true believers who are intimately associated with Jesus in this life.  

Kept entrusting Himself: Just as Jesus trusted in His Father unto death, so are we to trust in God in the midst of our sufferings. Peter is not encouraging Christians to try and overthrow the government or change their circumstances in some forceful way. Instead, he is saying that regardless of whether circumstances change or not, we are to entrust ourselves to God, our Shepherd and Guardian.

Might die to sin: Peter is speaking of the certainty of the Christians death to sin in Christ. Therefore, the word might is not speaking of a hypothetical outcome. It speaks, rather, of a promised outcome for all who believe. Dying to sin is not a surface level action in which we become moralists. Instead, it is an inner reality in which Christ has changed our nature. We no longer thrive under the reign of sin. Christians are no longer compatible with anything but righteousness. 

Healed: Peter is speaking of the spiritual healing which occurred for all in Christ. When we believe we are healed spiritually from sin. This is not a verse guaranteeing physical healing. Miracles of physical healing are a reality but there is a difference between God acting in a miraculous way through physical healing and what has been achieved by the death and resurrection of Christ. 

Returned to the Shepherd: Peter is communicating the importance of knowing our safety in God. God is our eternal shepherd and guardian; he keeps us safe from the evil one and the world. When we believe we are forever saved and reunited with God. We are hidden with Christ in God and are therefore safe (Colossians 3:3). The Gospel, therefore, is designed to bring in rest and security for the Christian. False gospels promote fear which in turn encourages religious rules and regulations to be obeyed in order to somehow earn or keep God’s favor.