1 Peter 2:12

having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The winning of acceptance in a hostile environment is here held forth as the motivation for righteous behavior in the midst of the alien Gentile population.

They speak against you as evil-doers ... Already, despite the fact of the first great Roman persecution being yet a little while in the future, there were widespread antagonisms vented against Christians in the form of every kind of slander and reproach. Why? The Christians were the noblest, purest and most lovable people ever to appear on earth, and yet they were hated. Why? "Christianity by its very essence opposed the vanities of paganism at every turn."[32] Like ancient Noah, the very purity of their behavior "condemned the world" (Hebrews 11:7), and that was reason enough for the world's hatred. There was a double source of hatred for Christians, their model demeanor being one, and their also being widely confused with the Jews another. The Jews themselves were hated and expelled from Rome in apostolic times, and many vile slanders against them were circulated in connection with such displacements. Many of the people identified Christianity as a form of Judaism and therefore transferred to them the existing hatred of the Jews. Regarding the nature of slanders against the church, Barclay pointed out that:

They were accused of cannibalism ..., this took its rise from a perversion of the words of Jesus, "This is my body ... this is my blood, etc." They were accused of killing and eating a child at their feasts.

They were accused of immorality and incest. The famed Agape, or love feast, was misrepresented as a sensual orgy.

They were accused of turning slaves against their masters.

They were accused of "hatred of mankind."

They were accused of disloyalty to Caesar, due to their refusal to worship the emperor.[33]

By your good works which they behold ... "The good works here were not what are commonly called acts of benevolence."[34] The thing which the non-Christian beheld was the beautiful moral conduct of the Christians, emphasized by their adamant refusal to indulge in the sensualities of paganism.

May glorify God ... Peter had learned his lesson at the Master's feet, because Christ himself taught this same principle in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5:16).

In the day of visitation ... Whether the day here is understood as the final judgment, or some time of future conversion, it yields the same basic meaning; because "The glorification of God on the day of judgment would presuppose their previous conversion."[35]

As Barclay said of this verse:

Here is our challenge and our inspiration. It is by the loveliness of our daily life and conduct that we must commend Christianity to those who do not believe,[36]

[32] Stephen W. Paine, op. cit., p. 975.

[33] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 203.

[34] A. J. Mason, op. cit., p. 406.

[35] Raymond C. Kelcy, op. cit., p. 54.

[36] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 204.