What does 1 Peter 2:20 mean?

Peter continues with the topic of Christian slaves submitting to masters that he began in verse 18. In the previous verse, he called it commendable, or a "gracious thing," when a believing slave endures unjust suffering from a harsh master. Commentary for verse 18 helps to explain how biblical "slavery" is not the institution most modern readers think of.

In this verse, Peter clarifies that a Christian—slave or otherwise—receives no credit or commendation for pain that comes as a result of doing wrong. In other words, if a Christian slave is beaten for something that would be in rebellion to God's will, that's not commendable.

We have to be careful here. As defined from a modern perspective, slavery itself is an evil thing. And certainly, beating a slave, even for wrongdoing, is also an evil thing. Again, these verses are not endorsing slavery or the beating of slaves. Instead, Peter is giving practical direction to Christians who are themselves slaves and who may be beaten by their masters. If that beating comes as a result of theft or rebellion, for instance, the Christian slave should not think of him or herself as suffering in the same way Jesus did (1 Peter 2:21). Jesus never suffered for wrongdoing; suffering for sin is never "favored" by God even if that suffering seems overly harsh or out of proportion with the sin.

Suffering for doing what is right, though, is commendable before God. In fact, the next verse will tell us it is exactly what we are called to do.