1 Peter 4 Part 1: Commitment of the Christian
1 Peter 4 Part 1: Commitment of the Christian
1 Peter 4:1-2; John 21:18-19 - We arm ourselves with purpose and commit to live for the will of God.
“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”
1 Peter 4:1-2 NASB1995
Well, I made it through 1 Peter 3! It was very challenging chapter in this epistle, but I learned a lot about how Christians should behave and endure in their faith. So now we turn to 1 Peter 4. Guess what? This starts out almost immediately with a phrase that is very difficult for many biblical commentators to understand (more on this shortly)! We’re not out of the woods yet with this beloved apostle.
Let’s start with the first part of verse 1. Since Christ suffered in the flesh, we are to arm ourselves also with the same purpose. Purpose comes from the Greek word ἔννοια or ennoia, with the following definitions:
the act of thinking, consideration, meditation
a thought, notion, conception
mind, understanding, will, manner of feeling, and thinking
Peter is writing this fully aware that he will, at some point, suffer greatly for his belief, so his mind is focused on that fact. Let’s go back to the end of the Gospel of John, after Jesus has told Peter to tend His sheep (three times) if he loves Him and restores Peter to his Apostleship. Jesus then says this:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!””
John 21:18-19 NASB1995
Early church tradition holds that Peter was martyred in Rome around AD 64, under Emperor Nero. It is thought that he was crucified upside down, because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. Peter is advising early church members to be ready to suffer and to be armed for this spiritual battle. I like this short Commentary from Precept Austin on our outlook and motivation:
Outlook determines outcome, and a believer must have the right attitudes if he is to live a right life. Since this is a constant struggle we need to be properly motivated and that is what Peter is doing in this section, teaching that we can be motivated by the truth that our Lord also suffered and also by the certainty of His imminent return to judge the living and the dead.
Now we reach the controversial second part of verse 1: “because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin”. What in the world does this mean? Does this imply that a Christian who suffers no longer sins? It is puzzling, but it really is just another way of saying that we should be holy because He is holy and He will be judging everyone soon. We should live by the will of God, not by the lusts of men. We are not free of sin until we die and go to the Lord, but we can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, put our worst sinful habits behind us.
Many modern Christians hang their hats on cheap grace and want to be “comfortable”at church. I recall having a discussion with someone from our former ELCA congregation about why we left and she said that all she wants is to be “comforted” every Sunday. C.S. Lewis had this to say about “comfort”, from Mere Christianity:
“In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth — only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”
What many modern believers also want is to have a church that works towards worldly “progress” by focusing on cultural issues and politics and by openly blessing sin and never mentioning repentance or how Jesus suffered and died for SIN. They certainly don’t want to discuss the probability that believers now, in this modern age, could very well be persecuted for their beliefs (and they are in many places in the world). It might not be crucifixions or dying in the Colosseum in the jaws of lions or being a human garden torch, but it might be the loss of a job or belonging to a church that is burned down or being harassed and threatened on-line if you talk about your beliefs. It might be worse than we can imagine. So, how do we live the time that God has given us? With the full armor of God!
David Guzik has some good commentary on this passage:
He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin: When a person suffers physical persecution for the sake of Jesus, it almost always profoundly changes their outlook regarding sin and the pursuit of the lusts of the flesh. That one is more likely to live the rest of his time in the flesh not for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
“Whoever has suffered for doing right, and has still gone on obeying God in spite of the suffering it involved, has made a clear break with sin.” (Wayne Grudem)
[D. Edmond] Hiebert observes that the phrase has ceased from sin “Depicts the spiritual state of the victorious sufferer. It carries a note of triumph; he has effectively broken with a life dominated by sin. It need not mean that he no longer commits any act of sin, but that his old life, dominated by the power of sin, has been terminated.”
If we have not physically suffered for following Jesus Christ, we can still connect ourselves by faith to Jesus, who has suffered for us in the flesh. “I beg you to remember that there is no getting quit of sin – there is no escaping from its power – except by contact and union with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Charles Spurgeon)
He no longer should live the rest of his time: Peter gave us two time references that are helpful in having the right attitude in our following of Jesus Christ.
First, no longer should we live in sin, and we should answer every temptation and sinful impulse with the reply, “no longer.”
Second, we should carefully consider how to live the rest of our time. God has appointed us some further days on this earth; when each of us must answer to Him how we live this time.
My next devotional examines 1 Peter 4:3-7, Commitment to Wisdom and Prayer.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to put sin patterns and impulses behind me and carefully consider how to live through the rest of the time that You have given me. Arm me with the purpose that came from Your suffering in the flesh. Help me to have the right outlook for the right outcome. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word from David Guzik is used with written permission.