John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 2:19

"For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully." — 1 Peter 2:19 (ASV)

For this is thankworthy. The word 'grace' or 'favor' has the meaning of praise. For he means that no grace or praise will be found before God if we bear the punishment we have deserved through our faults. But those who patiently bear injuries and wrongs are worthy of praise and accepted by God.

To testify that it was acceptable to God when anyone, from conscience towards God, persevered in doing his duty—though unjustly and unworthily treated—was very necessary at that time. For the condition of servants was very hard: they were considered no better than cattle. Such indignity might have driven them to despair; the only thing left for them was to look to God.

For conscience towards God means this: that one performs his duty not from a regard for men, but for God. For when a wife is submissive and obedient to her husband in order to please him, she has her reward in this world, as Christ says of the ambitious who looked to the praise of men (Matthew 6:16). The same view is to be taken of other cases: When a son obeys his father in order to secure his favor and bounty, he will have his reward from his father, not from God.

In short, it is a general truth that what we do is approved by God if our object is to serve him and if we are not influenced by a regard for man alone. Moreover, he who considers that he has to do with God must necessarily endeavor to overcome evil with good. For God not only requires that we should be such to everyone as he is to us, but also that we should be good to the unworthy and to those who persecute us.

However, it is not an assertion without its difficulty when he says that there is nothing praiseworthy in him who is justly punished. For when the Lord punishes our sins, patience is certainly a sacrifice of sweet odor to him—that is, when we bear our punishment with a submissive mind.

But to this I reply that Peter does not speak here simply but comparatively. For it is a small and slender praise to bear a just punishment with submission, in comparison with that of an innocent man who willingly bears the wrongs of men only because he fears God. At the same time, he seems indirectly to refer to the motive, because those who suffer punishment for their faults are influenced by the fear of men. But the reply already given is sufficient.