1 Peter 4:1-2 ESV
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”
Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of God, who is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came to the earth, and was born as a baby
to a human mother, with God the Father as his birth father, for Jesus was conceived
of the Holy Spirit. So, when he walked the earth he was fully human and fully
God, but without sin. And so he suffered in the flesh as we suffer in the
flesh.
But this is speaking about a
different suffering, I believe, which we can see by the context here. For all
humans suffer in the flesh, but not all humans have ceased from sin, not even
all humans who profess faith in Jesus Christ. So, the suffering being mentioned
here has to do with Jesus’ suffering on that cross whereby he took upon himself
the sins of the entire world and he put our sins to death with him so that we
could die with him to sin and live to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; Romans
6:1-23; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21).
So, when we believe in Jesus
Christ with God-given faith, which is not of our own doing, but which is gifted
to us by God (Ephesians 2:8-10), we are crucified with Christ in death to sin,
and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living
as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So now, by
the grace of God, we are no longer to live according to the flesh, but now
according to the Spirit; no longer in sin, but now in righteousness and in
obedience to our Lord (Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians
4:17-14; Romans 12:1-2).
1 Peter 4:3 ESV
“For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.”
The “Gentiles”
were Non-Jews, but this term was also used to describe the ungodly. So, we, as
followers of Jesus Christ, are no longer to live like the ungodly live in sinful
passions and desires. We are not to be engaged in any type of sexual immorality,
drunkenness, and lawless idolatry. But we are to walk (in conduct, in practice)
in righteousness and holiness, in obedience to our Lord and to his commands
(New Covenant), living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait
for our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:1-23;
Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:3-6).
1
Peter 4:4-5 ESV
“With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
Now when we believe in Jesus with God-given faith, and we
die with him to sin so that we can live to him and to his righteousness, our
lives should change drastically. The old sinful patterns we used to follow
should now be behind us, and now we should be walking according to the Spirit
and no longer according to the flesh. Sin should no longer have mastery over
our lives, and we should not let sin reign any more in our mortal bodies, to
make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, not
life.
But, when we change, which is what it means to be reconciled
to God, then those people in our lives who did not change with us may not be so
accepting of the changes in our lives. For we no longer do much of the things
we did before, but that they still do. And so they may now feel uncomfortable
around us. For we don’t watch the same TV shows and movies, and/or we don’t
drink the same drinks, or we don’t party any more like we used to, or we don’t
waste lots of hours just entertaining ourselves.
But now our focus is more on the Lord and living our lives
to please him, and to serving him with the time he has allotted us on this
earth. But that will seem strange to them, and they will be surprised that we
no longer do the things we did before, but that now we are dedicated to
following the Lord Jesus in obedience. And so they may malign us and falsely
accuse us of what we did not do, and they may attack us verbally and call us
all sorts of names, and they may try to convince us that we are crazy, and they
may do all sorts of things to try to shame us into going back to our old ways.
But we need to hold fast to our faith, and not let them
unsettle us. We must stay the course no matter what opposition and persecution
we might face for the sake of Jesus Christ and his gospel message. For all of
us are going to have to stand before God/Christ one day and give an account for
what we did with Jesus and his gospel and his salvation. For even many people
who profess faith in Jesus Christ are still living in deliberate and habitual
sin, and they are refusing to bow the knee to God and to obey his commands.
And Jesus Christ said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord,
Lord,” is going to enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the
will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many are going to stand before
Jesus one day claiming him as Lord of their lives and professing all the things
they did in his name, and he is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart
from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they refused to obey the Lord Jesus
and so be saved (Matthew 7:21-23).
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Hymn lyrics by William Williams,
pub.1745
tr. by Peter Williams, pub.1771
Music by John Hughes, 1907
Guide
me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim
through this barren land.
I
am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold
me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread
of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed
me till I want no more (2X).
Open
now the crystal fountain,
Whence
the healing stream doth flow;
Let
the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead
me all my journey through.
Strong
Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be
Thou still my Strength and Shield (2X).
Lord,
I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous
are Thy works of old;
Thou
deliver’st thine from thralldom,
Who
for naught themselves had sold.
Thou
didst conquer, Thou didst conquer
Sin
and Satan and the grave (2X).
When
I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid
my anxious fears subside;
Death
of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land
me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs
of praises, songs of praises,
I
will ever give to Thee. Amen (2X).
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