“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Pet. 3:15-17). When Christians are called on to defend their faith, the object of that defense is always the hope we have in us. We are called to hope and saved in hope (Eph. 4:4, Rom. 8:24). The hope of Christ in us is the central revealed fact of God’s mystery (Col. 1:27). This hope is the anchor of our souls and that to which we are to hold fast (Heb. 3:6, 6:11, 6:19). Hope is among the three great abiding possessions of the Christian along with faith and love (1 Cor. 13:13).

Our hope is a firm expectation that we shall always stand acceptable before God with the imputed perfect righteousness of Christ (Phil. 3:18). Our hope is that when we leave this life, we shall share in the inheritance of Christ in glory (Rom. 8:16-17). Our hope is that God shall be forever with us and for us (Heb. 13:5, Rom. 8:31-39). Hope is wonderful, glorious, and completely optimistic. Christianity holds forth something that is truly good, always exciting, ever refreshing and new, and always beneficial. In short, the gospel of Christ is really good news.

Thus when we are called on to defend our beliefs, our answer needs always to lead to the subject of the hope we claim and to which we tenaciously hold. What shall come through to the inquirer, whether he is a pagan or a fellow Christian, is that our beliefs are in something good, wonderful, and exciting. If we present a dismal set of rules and regulations, we may convince our hearer to accept our beliefs, or rather we may scare him into it, but we have not presented the gospel.

To present a reason for our hope means that we go to the cross, for that is the only reason for hope. Our reason lies in the doing and dying of the Son of God on our behalf. It lies in the fact that He lived a life of perfect obedience and died a sacrificial death that fully paid for our sins. We must then present Christ and His life and work, and we must present God’s purpose in Christ: that those who put their trust in Him are pardoned of all sin and declared righteous in His sight. This is our “assignment” from Peter. If we stray from these principles, we are misleading our hearers and there may be eternal consequences.