John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 4:15

"For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men`s matters:" — 1 Peter 4:15 (ASV)

But (or, For) let one of you. Here he also anticipates an objection. He had exhorted the faithful to patience if it happened that they were persecuted for the cause of Christ. He now adds the reason why he had spoken only of that kind of trouble: namely, because they ought to have abstained from all wrongdoing.

Here, then, is another exhortation, that they should not do anything for which they might seem to be justly punished. Therefore, the causal particle is not superfluous here, since the Apostle wished to give a reason why he so strongly exhorted the faithful to a fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. At the same time, he wished to remind them, by the way, to live justly and harmlessly, so that they would not bring a just punishment upon themselves through their own faults. It is as though he had said that it was fitting for Christians to deserve well of all, even when they were badly and cruelly treated by the world.

If anyone were to object and say that no one can be found who is so innocent that he does not deserve to be chastised by God for many faults, to this I reply that Peter here speaks of sins from which we ought to be entirely free, such as thefts and murders. I further reply that the Apostle commands Christians to be as they ought to be.

It is, then, no wonder that he points out a difference between us and the children of this world, who, being without God’s Spirit, abandon themselves to every kind of wickedness. He would not have God’s children be in the same condition, so as to draw upon themselves by a wicked life the punishment allotted by the laws.

But we have already said elsewhere that although there are always many sins in the elect which God might justly punish, yet according to his paternal indulgence he spares his own children, so that he does not inflict the punishment they deserve. And, in the meantime, for honour’s sake, he adorns them with his own tokens and those of his Christ when he allows them to be afflicted for the testimony of the Gospel.

The word ἀλλοτριοεπίσκοπος seems to me to designate one who covets what belongs to another. For those who gape after plunder or fraud inquire into the affairs of others with tortuous or crooked eyes, as Horace says; but the despiser of money, as Horace says elsewhere, looks on vast heaps of gold with a straight eye.