“In the early church it was Christians who were being asked questions. Their lives demanded explanation! Why were they so different? What did it mean to become a follower of Jesus?
Why this difference between the first century and the twenty-first century?
What makes non-Christians ask questions?
Peter implies that non-Christians would ask about ‘the hope that is in you.’ It was a visible reality in the lives of these early Christians:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Pet. 1:3-9)
What, then, had non-Christians noticed? It was their hope, that is their assurance of their salvation in Christ and the joy it created.
They seemed like people who had been born all over again into a life of confidence in their relationship to God, and a certainty that their sins had been forgiven. They knew God. Doubtless this was expressed quietly in some of them and more exuberantly in others. But their new sense of purpose, their remarkable peace could not be hidden. The ‘hope’ of which Peter writes was not mere ‘wishful thinking,’ but a strong assurance of God’s grace. This can never be hidden, even when Christians are not conscious that they are expressing it. Non-Christians have no explanation for what they are seeing.”
Sinclair Ferguson, Devoted to God’s Church, 171-172.