Verse 16
having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ.
Having a good conscience ... This key admonition recurs again and again in this epistle: "zealous for good works ... for righteousness' sake ... sanctify the Lord ... with meekness and fear, etc.," all of these in this very paragraph.
Wherein ye are spoken against ... They were spoken against because of the manner of their lives; but they are told to make their lives so beautiful that they will shame the evil critics.
In Christ ... This is one of the great phrases of the New Testament, being used 164-172 times (depending on the version) in the writings of Paul alone; but although Paul laid the greatest stress on it, the conception of being "in Christ" is not Pauline, going back to our Lord himself who said, "Ye are in me and I in you" (John 14:20). Also, "I am the vine and ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit" (John 15:5). What is meant by being "in Christ"? The clue ... is in the Hebrew conception of corporate personality."[23] The church is Christ, and is called Christ's spiritual body. See the extensive comment on this in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 118-154, especially under "Jesus Christ, Inc.," p. 123. "To be in Christ therefore is to be a member of the redeemed society, the church, of which Christ is head ... the Bible knows nothing of solitary religion."[24]
[23] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 130.
[24] Ibid.
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