In verse 7 Peter says that husbands and wives are “joint-heirs of the grace of life.” Grace of life is God as life and life supply to us in His Trinity—the Father as the source of life, the Son as the course of life, and the Spirit as the flow of life, flowing within us with the Son and the Father (1 John 5:11-12; John 7:38-39; Rev. 22:1). All believers are heirs of this grace.
In brief, the grace of life is the Triune God processed to become the all-inclusive, life-giving, indwelling Spirit. The Triune God is now within us as the grace of life. Both husbands and wives are joint-heirs of this grace of life. We inherit the grace of life together.
This inheritance is part of the “inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and unfading” (1:4). All the items of our eternal inheritance are related to the divine life which we received through regeneration and which we are experiencing and enjoying throughout our entire Christian life. All husbands and wives need to see that in their married life the husband and wife are co-heirs of such an inheritance, in particular, of the grace of life.
In 3:8-13 Peter speaks of the Christian life and its sufferings with respect to common life. Verse 8 says, “And finally, be all of the same mind, sympathetic, loving the brothers, tenderhearted, humbleminded.” This verse is filled with good terms. Paul also uses such terms, but he does not put them together the way Peter does.
Verse 9 continues, “Not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, because to this you were called that you might inherit blessing.” In the first part of this verse “blessing” is not a noun as the object of “rendering”; instead, it is a participle, meaning “be blessing.” When others revile us, we should not revile them in return. On the contrary, we should bless them. Peter’s word here corresponds to what the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 5:44 and to what Paul says in Romans 12:14.
In verse 9 we are told that we have been called that we might inherit blessing. We have been called to bless others, so we, as a blessed people, should always bless others that we might inherit blessing. What we bless others with, we shall inherit ourselves (Matt. 10:13). Of course, the blessing here is not material. According to the context, the blessing refers to life, indicating that we shall inherit more life.
In verse 10 Peter continues, “For he who is desiring to love life and see good days, let him cause his tongue to cease from evil and his lips to speak no guile.” Good days are days of good, referring to good things as blessing. If we would see such good days, we should cause our tongue to cease from evil and our lips to speak no guile. Concerning this, Christ is a pattern for us to follow. In 2:22 Peter tells us that Christ “did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.” But our lips and tongue cause much trouble. Many negative things have resulted from the improper use of our tongue and lips.
In verse 11 Peter speaks of turning from evil, doing good, and seeking and pursuing peace. In verse 12 he says that the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are unto their petition, but His face is against those who do evil. Then in verse 13 Peter says, “And who will harm you if you become zealots of good?” According to this verse, we should not only be zealous of good; we should become zealots of good. The word “zealots” denotes a particular kind of person. We all should become zealots of good.