◄ 1 Peter 3:10 ►
For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
Study Bible
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days

This phrase introduces a principle that is rooted in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, particularly echoing Psalm 34:12-16. The desire to "love life and see good days" reflects a longing for a life that is fulfilling and blessed. In the biblical context, "good days" are often associated with living in accordance with God's will, which brings peace and prosperity. This aligns with the teachings of Jesus, who emphasized the abundant life (John 10:10). The concept of loving life is not merely about physical longevity but about experiencing the fullness of life that God intends for His people.

Psa 34:12 Who is the man who delights in life, …
Deu 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today…
Pro 3:1-2 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart…

must keep his tongue from evil

The control of one's speech is a recurring theme in Scripture, underscoring the power of words to build up or destroy (Proverbs 18:21). James 3:5-10 elaborates on the destructive potential of the tongue, likening it to a small fire that can set a forest ablaze. In the cultural context of the early church, where persecution and slander were common, maintaining pure speech was crucial for preserving community integrity and witness. This directive calls believers to refrain from harmful speech, which includes gossip, slander, and any form of verbal abuse.

Psa 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips…
Psa 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch…
Pro 13:3 He who guards his mouth protects his life…

and his lips from deceitful speech.

Deceitful speech encompasses lying, manipulation, and any form of dishonesty. The biblical narrative consistently condemns deceit, as seen in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), where deceit led to severe consequences. Truthfulness is a reflection of God's character, who is described as a God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4). In the New Testament, Jesus identifies Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), setting the standard for His followers. The call to avoid deceitful speech is a call to emulate Christ, who was without deceit (1 Peter 2:22), and to live in a manner that reflects the truth of the Gospel.

Pro 4:24 Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips…
Pro 12:22 Lying lips are detestable to the LORD…
Eph 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Peter
The apostle Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, is the author of this epistle. He writes to encourage and instruct believers in their faith, especially in the face of suffering and persecution.

2. Early Christian Communities
The recipients of Peter's letter were early Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). They faced various trials and needed guidance on living a godly life amidst a pagan society.

3. Psalm 34
Peter quotes from Psalm 34, a psalm of David, which emphasizes trust in God and righteous living. This connection highlights the continuity of God's moral expectations from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
Teaching Points
The Power of Words
Our words have the power to build up or tear down. As believers, we are called to use our speech to reflect Christ's love and truth.

Guarding Against Deceit
Deceitful speech not only harms others but also damages our witness as Christians. We must strive for honesty and integrity in all our communications.

Pursuing a Righteous Life
Loving life and seeing good days are tied to living righteously. This involves a conscious effort to align our actions and words with God's standards.

The Role of the Heart
Our speech is a reflection of our heart's condition. By nurturing a heart that seeks God, our words will naturally follow suit.

Living Out Our Faith
Our daily interactions provide opportunities to demonstrate our faith through our words. Let us be intentional in speaking life and truth into every situation.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the context of 1 Peter 3:10 within the letter as a whole help us understand its importance for early Christians facing persecution?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of guarding our tongue in today's digital age, where communication often happens online?

3. Reflect on a time when your words either positively or negatively impacted someone. What did you learn from that experience?

4. How can we cultivate a heart that naturally produces speech that aligns with the teachings of 1 Peter 3:10?

5. Consider the connection between 1 Peter 3:10 and James 3. How do these passages together deepen our understanding of the responsibility we have over our speech?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 3
This chapter discusses the power of the tongue and the importance of controlling one's speech, echoing the message in 1 Peter 3:10 about keeping one's tongue from evil.

Proverbs 21:23
This proverb advises guarding one's mouth and tongue to avoid trouble, reinforcing the idea that speech has significant consequences.

Matthew 12:36-37
Jesus teaches about the accountability of every word spoken, aligning with Peter's emphasis on truthful and edifying speech.
Sermons
Unity Between Christian PeopleU.R. Thomas 1 Peter 3:8-12
Injunctions to AllR. Finlayson 1 Peter 3:8-22
The Conduct Becoming the Christian Towards His PersecutorsC. New 1 Peter 3:9-17
All Sins to be EschewedJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
Christians Must be Doers of GoodJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
Dangers in Life to be AvoidedH. W. Beecher.1 Peter 3:10-11
Do GoodW. S. Plumer, D. D.1 Peter 3:10-11
Eschew Evil and Do Good1 Peter 3:10-11
How We Must Seek PeaceJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
On Seeking PeaceBp. Kidder.1 Peter 3:10-11
The Evil of SinJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
The Evil of the TongueAbp. Leighton.1 Peter 3:10-11
The Extent of Well-Doing RequiredJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
The True Life Worth LivingBp. Alexander.1 Peter 3:10-11
The Way to Secure Good DaysThe Weekly Pulpit1 Peter 3:10-11
The Words of Our LipsH. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A.1 Peter 3:10-11
VeracityF. Wayland.1 Peter 3:10-11
Why Sin Must be AvoidedJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
Why We Must Seek PeaceJohn Rogers.1 Peter 3:10-11
People
Christians, Noah, Peter, Sara, Sarah
Places
Asia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Galatia, Pontus
Topics
Cause, Cease, Deceit, Deceitful, Desires, Desiring, Evil, Guard, Guile, Happy, Lips, Love, Refrain, Restrain, Speak, Speaking, Speech, Tongue, Well-satisfied, Willing, Wishes
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Peter 3:10

     4016   life, human
     5164   lips
     5193   tongue
     5362   justice, believers' lives
     5934   restraint
     6147   deceit, practice
     8493   watchfulness, believers

1 Peter 3:8-13

     8442   good works

1 Peter 3:9-10

     5549   speech, positive

1 Peter 3:9-12

     5705   inheritance, spiritual

1 Peter 3:10-13

     5847   enthusiasm

Library
Good Days
Eversley, 1867. Westminster, Sept. 27, 1872. 1 Peter iii. 8-12. "Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Fifth Sunday after Trinity Exhortation to the Fruits of Faith.
Text: 1 Peter 3, 8-15. 8 Finally, be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted, humble-minded: 9 not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: 11 And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Hallowing Christ
'Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.'--1 Peter iii. 14, 15. These words are a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, with some very significant variations. As originally spoken, they come from a period of the prophet's life when he was surrounded by conspirators against him, eager to destroy, and when he had been giving utterance to threatening prophecies as to the coming up of the King of Assyria, and the voice of God encouraged him and his …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

April the Ninteenth Union in Harmony
"Be ye all of one mind." --1 PETER iii. 8-17. But this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance: each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. "By love serve one another." It is love that converts membership into fraternity: it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family. Look at a field of wild-flowers. …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
In order accurately to understand the position of woman in Israel, it is only necessary carefully to peruse the New Testament. The picture of social life there presented gives a full view of the place which she held in private and in public life. Here we do not find that separation, so common among Orientals at all times, but a woman mingles freely with others both at home and abroad. So far from suffering under social inferiority, she takes influential and often leading part in all movements, specially …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Faith of Abraham.
"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Power of the Holy Ghost
We shall look at the power of the Holy Ghost in three ways this morning. First, the outward and visible displays of it; second, the inward and spiritual manifestations of it; and third, the future and expected works thereof. The power of the Spirit will thus, I trust, be made clearly present to your souls. I. First, then, we are to view the power of the Spirit in the OUTWARD AND VISIBLE DISPLAYS OF IT. The power of the Sprit has not been dormant; it has exerted itself. Much has been done by the Spirit …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Consecration: what is It?
The second step that must needs be taken by those of us who have been living without the Fullness, before it can be obtained, is Consecration, a word that is very common and popular; much more common and popular, it is feared, than the thing itself. In order to be filled with the Holy Ghost one must first be "cleansed," and then one must be "consecrated". Consecration follows cleansing, and not vice versa. Intelligent apprehension of what consecration is, and of what it involves, is necessary to …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Holy Spirit in the Glorified Christ.
"Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."--Rom. i. 4. From the foregoing studies it appears that the Holy Spirit performed a work in the human nature of Christ as He descended the several steps of His humiliation to the death of the cross. The question now arises, whether He had also a work in the several steps of Christ's exaltation to the excellent glory, i.e., in His resurrection, ascension, royal dignity, and second coming. …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Of Baptism.
1. Baptism defined. Its primary object. This consists of three things. 1. To attest the forgiveness of sins. 2. Passages of Scripture proving the forgiveness of sins. 3. Forgiveness not only of past but also of future sins. This no encouragement to license in sin. 4 Refutation of those who share forgiveness between Baptism and Repentance. 5 Second thing in Baptism--viz. to teach that we are ingrafted into Christ for mortification and newness of life. 6. Third thing in Baptism--viz. to teach us that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Authenticity and Credibility of the Pentateuch.
1. The historic truth of the Pentateuch is everywhere assumed by the writers of the New Testament in the most absolute and unqualified manner. They do not simply allude to it and make quotations from it, as one might do in the case of Homer's poems, but they build upon the facts which it records arguments of the weightiest character, and pertaining to the essential doctrines and duties of religion. This is alike true of the Mosaic laws and of the narratives that precede them or are interwoven …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

And not Without Just Cause a Doubt is Raised...
14. And not without just cause a doubt is raised, whether he said this of all married women, or of such as so many are, as that nearly all may be thought so to be. For neither doth that, which he saith of unmarried women, "She, that is unmarried, thinkest of the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit:" [1973] pertain unto all unmarried women: whereas there are certain widows who are dead, who live in delights. However, so far as regards a certain distinction and, as it were, character …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Concerning Peaceableness
Blessed are the peacemakers. Matthew 5:9 This is the seventh step of the golden ladder which leads to blessedness. The name of peace is sweet, and the work of peace is a blessed work. Blessed are the peacemakers'. Observe the connection. The Scripture links these two together, pureness of heart and peaceableness of spirit. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable' (James 3:17). Follow peace and holiness' (Hebrews 12:14). And here Christ joins them together pure in heart, and peacemakers', …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Its Nature
Justification, strictly speaking, consists in God's imputing to His elect the righteousness of Christ, that alone being the meritorious cause or formal ground on which He pronounces them righteous: the righteousness of Christ is that to which God has respect when He pardons and accepts the sinner. By the nature of justification we have reference to the constituent elements of the same, which are enjoyed by the believer. These are, the non-imputation of guilt or the remission of sins, and second, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Exhortations to Christians as they are Children of God
1 There is a bill of indictment against those who declare to the world they are not the children of God: all profane persons. These have damnation written upon their forehead. Scoffers at religion. It were blasphemy to call these the children of God. Will a true child jeer at his Father's picture? Drunkards, who drown reason and stupefy conscience. These declare their sin as Sodom. They are children indeed, but cursed children' (2 Peter 2:14). 2 Exhortation, which consists of two branches. (i) Let …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Sanctification
'For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.' I Thess 4:4. The word sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to a holy use: thus they are sanctified persons who are separated from the world, and set apart for God's service. Sanctification has a privative and a positive part. I. A privative part, which lies in the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven, which sours; and to leprosy, which defiles. Sanctification purges out the old leaven.' I Cor 5:5. Though it takes not …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Concerning the Sacrament of Baptism
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to the riches of His mercy has at least preserved this one sacrament in His Church uninjured and uncontaminated by the devices of men, and has made it free to all nations and to men of every class. He has not suffered it to be overwhelmed with the foul and impious monstrosities of avarice and superstition; doubtless having this purpose, that He would have little children, incapable of avarice and superstition, to be initiated into …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Differences in Judgment About Water Baptism, no Bar to Communion: Or, to Communicate with Saints, as Saints, Proved Lawful.
IN ANSWER TO A BOOK WRITTEN BY THE BAPTISTS, AND PUBLISHED BY MR. T. PAUL AND MR. W. KIFFIN, ENTITLED, 'SOME SERIOUS REFLECTIONS ON THAT PART OF MR BUNYAN'S CONFESSION OF FAITH, TOUCHING CHURCH COMMUNION WITH UNBAPTIZED BELIEVERS.' WHEREIN THEIR OBJECTIONS AND ARGUMENTS ARE ANSWERED, AND THE DOCTRINE OF COMMUNION STILL ASSERTED AND VINDICATED. HERE IS ALSO MR. HENRY JESSE'S JUDGMENT IN THE CASE, FULLY DECLARING THE DOCTRINE I HAVE ASSERTED. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'Should not the multitude of words be answered? …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

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