Verse 17.— For it is better, if the will of God be so. If we suffer for doing right, it is better than if we suffer for doing wrong. In the last case we suffer justly. In the other it may result in our good, for God may will to chasten his children. It may not be acceptable to some, and the rea­son may not be apparent because God has not revealed the reason for it, yet the man of faith accepts as a fact unques­tioningly that God permits the wicked to do evil to the believers. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).