← All outlines

Outline 094 of 100 · 1 Peter

By Whose Stripes Ye Were Healed

1 Peter 2:21-25 — Christ's substitutionary suffering as both atonement and example

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Writing to suffering servants and slaves who faced unjust treatment, Peter points them to Christ, who 'did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth' yet suffered unjustly, leaving 'us an example, that ye should follow his steps.' But Peter does not stop at example — he moves immediately into substitution: Christ 'his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,' so that we, 'being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,' for 'by whose stripes ye were healed.' This dual truth — Christ as example and Christ as substitute — cannot be separated: because He bore our sins completely, we are freed to follow His steps, not to earn what He already secured. The chapter closes with the tender image of sheep gone astray now returned 'unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls,' capturing both the wandering guilt of sin and the safe restoration found only in Christ.

  1. I. Christ's sinless suffering

    • Did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth
    • Reviled, He reviled not again
    • Suffering, He threatened not

  2. II. Christ as example

    • Left us an example, that we should follow His steps
    • Committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously
    • A pattern for unjust suffering endured well

  3. III. Christ as substitute

    • Bare our sins in His own body on the tree
    • That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness
    • By whose stripes ye were healed

  4. IV. Sheep returned to the Shepherd

    • Ye were as sheep going astray
    • Now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls
    • Restoration, not mere correction
The appeal

Christ bore your sins completely on the tree so that you could be healed and freed to live unto righteousness. Will you stop wandering as a lost sheep today and return to the Shepherd of your soul?

Key points

  • Christ's suffering is both the substitute for our sin and the example for our conduct.
  • His stripes accomplished healing, not merely inspiration to endure.
  • Believers who were wandering sheep are now returned to the Shepherd of their souls.

Key passages

  • 1 Peter 2:21-22
  • 1 Peter 2:24
  • 1 Peter 2:25
  • Isaiah 53:5-6