According to Acts 11:26, the believers “were first called Christians in Antioch.” The Greek word rendered “Christian” is Christianos, a word of Latin formation. The ending -ianos, denoting an adherent of someone, was applied to slaves belonging to the great families in the Roman Empire. This name denoted that Christians were adherents of Christ and was used by the outsiders as a nickname, a term of reproach. For this reason, Peter says that if a believer suffers “as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name” (1 Pet. 4:16). This means that if we suffer from persecutors who contemptuously call us a Christian, we should not feel ashamed, but rather, we should glorify God in this name.
Today the term Christian bears a positive significance, that is, a man of Christ, a person who is one with Christ. We not only belong to Him but also have His life and nature in an organic union with Him and live by Him, even living Him, in our daily life. If we suffer for being such a person, we should not feel ashamed, because when we suffer in the name of Christ and as Christians, the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of glory, rests upon us. Instead, we should magnify Christ in our confession by our holy and excellent manner of life to glorify, express, God in this name.
First Peter shows the government of God especially in His dealings with His chosen people. The sufferings that the believers undergo in fiery persecutions are used by Him as a means to judge them so that they may be disciplined, purified, and separated from unbelievers so as not to have the same destiny as unbelievers. Hence, 4:17 says, “It is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?” In this verse the house refers to the church, composed of the believers (2:5; Heb. 3:6; 1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19). For the establishment of His kingdom, God begins His governmental administration from His own house by His disciplinary judgment over His own children so that He may have a strong ground to judge, in His universal kingdom, those who are disobedient to His gospel and rebellious to His government.
Hence, in this sense, persecutions and sufferings are a kind of judgment. This judgment, however, is not for condemnation to eternal perdition. It is a dispensational discipline to purify our life by removing any dross. The reason believers suffer is that God does not want His own children, His own house, His family, to suffer the end of the ungodly. The unbelievers, who disobey the gospel of God, will undergo a more severe judgment. Temporarily God may let them go, but eventually He will deal with them. Therefore, Peter says, “Let those also who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing to a faithful Creator” (1 Pet. 4:19). God has appointed us according to His will to suffer for Christ’s sake (3:17; 2:15; 1 Thes. 3:3). We must see that persecution is a suffering in the old creation. God as our Creator can preserve our soul, which He created for us. He has even numbered our hairs (Matt. 10:30). He is loving and faithful. His loving and faithful care accompanies His justice in His governmental administration (1 Pet. 5:7). While He is judging us as His household in His government, in His love He cares for us faithfully. In suffering His just disciplinary judgment in our body, we should commit our souls to Him and to His faithful care.
Romans 8 reveals that suffering with Christ is the condition for being heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We may not like to suffer, but it is necessary. If we suffer with the Lord, we shall be glorified with Him (vv. 17-18). Suffering is also related to the growth of life. The genuine growth of any kind of life depends on hardship and suffering. Without hardship or suffering it is difficult for any life to grow. We should not expect our life to be free of suffering. The more we suffer, the more we grow and the faster we mature. Therefore, if we expect to grow in life, we should not reject suffering, because suffering helps our growth.
The degree of our suffering determines the degree of our glory. The more suffering we pass through, the more our glory will be intensified. We want to be glorified, but we do not want to experience suffering. However, suffering increases glory. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:41 that “star differs from star in glory,” indicating that some stars shine more brightly than others. We all will shine, and we all will be glorified, but the intensity of our glory will depend on the amount of suffering that we are willing to take. It is certain that the apostle Paul will shine more brightly than all of us. We will be glorified, but the intensity of our glory will differ according to our suffering. Therefore, Paul says that the present suffering means nothing compared with the coming glory.