1 Peter 4:1-11 (CSB)
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin — 2 in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. 3 For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living—and they slander you. 5 They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.
7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
This week we are looking at the first eleven verses of 1 Peter 4. As you may have noticed, there is much ground that Peter covers in this letter. As we dig into this next section, I want to encourage you to keep in mind all that Peter has written so far. Back in chapter one, he opened by exhorting them to live holy lives as living stones, submitting to authorities and to each other, loving one another as Christ has loved them. He mentioned that living in this way will bring suffering, but they are to hold on to the hope they have in Christ. For as he wrote in 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
Having told us what Christ endured for us, he says now, in chapter 4:1-2, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin— in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.”
Like most of this letter, there are varying opinions as to whom Peter is referring to when he says, “because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin.” Some scholars think he’s referring to Jesus, and the fact that Jesus “finished” or destroyed sin on the cross after He suffered. It could mean that. It also could mean that those who have suffered for their faith have matured in their faith, and instead of living for their flesh, they are living “Not for human desires, but for God’s will.” As the ERV says, “The one who accepts suffering in this life has clearly decided to stop sinning.”
In the same way that Jesus suffered and died and destroyed sin, so too are we to have the “same understanding” or the same mind as Christ. We are to die to our flesh and resist sin. This is not easy. It’s painful, and we will suffer for it. This lines up with Galatians 2:20, which says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
No longer taking the ‘easy road,’ we die to ourselves and our sinful, fleshly desires, and live for Christ. Jesus explains how this works when He said in Luke 9:23-24, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.” I think this is what Peter is explaining.
If we pick up our cross and follow Jesus, it will cause us to suffer. But when we choose to follow Jesus, even when it leads to suffering, then we are no longer giving in to our fleshly desires; we’ve said no to sin. In doing so, we find freedom from sin, and we find life.
Peter then expands on this and explains in verses 3-4, “For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you don’t join them in the same flood of wild living—and they slander you.”
I want to note that, according to Strong’s Concordance, the word translated as Gentiles is ethnos and it means, “a race, a nation, pl. the nations (as distinct from Isr.).” So this doesn’t necessarily mean Peter is only writing this letter to Jewish Christians. I think he is using that word to mean all people who are not Christians.
Non-Christians who have given in to their fleshly desires fill their time living for the weekend: drinking and partying and what not. If we’ve suffered and fought against our fleshly desires and found victory and freedom over sin, why we would go back and spend any more time giving in to fleshly desires again? Peter says we wouldn’t do that. We’ve moved on from that. We don’t join in the world’s idea of a good time any longer. We don’t participate in their form of “fun.” Because we don’t join them, they slander us. They speak evil of us, because they don’t understand why we don’t join them.
They don’t understand, because they don’t realize what Peter says will await them if they don’t repent. He says in verse 5, “They will give an account to the one who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.”
This is not something we ever like to think about, is it? As uncomfortable as this makes us, we should not shy away from speaking about it and warning about it. We do no one a service by omitting it from our theology. In fact, many people, myself included, came to Christ through hearing this stark warning of judgment. It is part and parcel of the Gospel message. Christ dying and rising from the dead is the gospel message of hope because He has made a way for us to not be condemned on judgment day. We cannot gloss over the fact that judgment awaits all people. To do so is to alter the Gospel. If there is no judgment day, then there is no need for Christ to die on the cross. But there will be a judgment day, and the incredible news of the Gospel is that Jesus died and rose so we can be forgiven and redeemed and no longer need to fear that day. That is the gospel message.
And this is what Peter says in verse 6: “For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.”
This is another tricky verse to understand. Some scholars think Peter is referencing the spirits he mentioned in the previous chapter. I don’t think that’s what he’s doing. I think the ERV has got it right when they say, “Some were told the Good News before they died. They were criticized by others in their life here on earth. But it was God’s plan that they hear the Good News so that they could have a new life through the Spirit.”
N.T. Wright also says much the same thing. In his book, Early Christian Letters for Everyone, he says, “These Christians, now dead, had already received the powerful word of the gospel which was preached to them during their lifetime. Thus, even though bodily death has come to them as a form of ‘judgement’, their believing in the gospel during their lifetime means that now, by God’s spirit, they are alive in God’s presence, awaiting the resurrection which is yet to come” (p. 86).
This time of judgment, for all of us, is nearer than we might think. Verse 7 says, “The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.”
For those of us who are in Christ, we do not need to fear this time of judgment, but we should stay “alert and sober-minded for prayer.” Obviously, if we are “carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry” we are not in any shape of mind to pray. We must have nothing to do with those things. Instead, we should stay alert and be sober-minded so we can pray.
The phrase, ‘stay alert to pray,’ reminds me of what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane. Peter was there. Maybe he is recalling those words. Let’s look at what Jesus said to him: Matthew 26:36-41 says, “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he told the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’ Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, ‘So, couldn’t you stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”
Jesus knew He was about to be tortured to death on the cross. In preparation of that impending suffering, He prayed. If we want to be able to endure through the suffering that we face in our lives, and have the fortitude to resist temptations and stay away from sin, we must be people who pray.
The way to face suffering and endure it is through the power of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us when we seek the Lord in prayer. And when we don’t even know what to pray, the Holy Spirit is there to help us with that, too. Romans 8:26-27 says, “In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
But, if we are distracted by all the world’s shiny objects that vie to claim our attention, or we are filling our days with meaningless activities or, even worse, if we are giving in to temptations, then when will we pray? When will we have time to pray? Let us stay alert and clear-minded, so we can pray along with the Holy Spirit and stand strong against temptations.
Then Peter adds an additional directive. He says in verse 8, “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.” This is yet another verse that has been interpreted to mean many things, but I think N.T. Wright offers the clearest explanation I’ve read. He said, “When Peter quotes (from Proverbs 10.12) the famous saying that ‘love covers a multitude of sins’, he doesn’t mean, and Proverbs doesn’t mean, that love is what we call a ‘cover-up’ operation, hiding things we’d rather not face. Rather, the gift of love we are invited to offer one another minute by minute, day by day throughout our lives actually transforms situations, so that the ‘multitude of sins’ which were there before are taken out of the equation” (p. 85).
I read that and take that to mean that if we live in love, we will not commit a multitude of sins which, by not living in love, we would otherwise commit. If we truly love one another, we will not harm others by our actions. Whereas, if we sin, we will hurt others. Jesus’ statement to how he summed up the law and the prophets was exactly this idea: love God and love others. If we do that, love will cover us, and we won’t commit a whole multitude of sins.
Those words of Jesus are recorded in Matthew 22:34-40. It says, “When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’
He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.’”
Romans 13:8-10 explains this further. It says, “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.”
Then Peter lists some examples of what loving one another looks like in practice. He says in verses 9-11, “9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
In all the things we do: from our jobs to our families, we are to serve one another. We are to “be hospitable to one another without complaining.” That sounds easy when you say it, but living that out is much more challenging. Being hospitable means we welcome people into our homes and meet their needs. So, to be hospitable to one another means we are to be hospitable to our fellow Christians or family members whom we obviously already know. I think sometimes people find it easier to be more hospitable to strangers than to their own family members. We should not take each other for granted, though. We should be hospitable, which means we should be warm, caring, generous, welcoming, to not just strangers, but to each other.
In addition to that, we should be hospitable to one another and not complain about it. Have you ever tried not to complain? It’s easy not to complain when things are going your way, but what about when it’s not? What about when something is clearly unfair? It’s hard not to be a ‘Martha’ and complain that ‘Mary’ isn’t helping out in the kitchen.
Our human nature, which is just another way of saying “our flesh,” wants things to be equal. We want it to be fair. But I don’t think we’re supposed to worry about what’s fair. We are supposed to be hospitable and not complain about it.
Also, he says to use our gifts to serve others. Whatever we’ve been given, we are to use it so we can bless others. If our gifting is encouragement, then we should not hold back. If our gifting is speaking, then we should be careful to speak God’s words. If we are gifted with practical talents, then we are to serve others, relying on the strength God gives us. And in all these things, we should let others know that we only have these gifts, resources, talents and abilities because God is the one who has provided them for us. When we do this, then we glorify God and people give thanks to Him instead of to us.
Again, though, if we are messing around in sin, living as the world does, wasting time partying and squandering our days, then how will we serve others? We won’t. How will we glorify God? We won’t.
This all goes in concert with the things Peter was saying as he began this letter, back in 1 Peter 1:13-16. He wrote, “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.” And verse 22, which says, “Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly.”
The way we love one another best is by living holy lives, imitating the example of servitude and suffering that Jesus modeled for us.
We don’t need to go looking for ways to suffer, by the way. Rather, as we strive to live holy lives, daily pick up our cross and follow Jesus, we will likely encounter persecution and suffering. Whether that comes from people, attacks from the devil, or merely the uncomfortableness we experience when we die to our flesh, we can rejoice that all of this is being used by God to transform us more and more into people who reflect His love. Remember what Peter said back in chapter two? God is transforming us into living stones and into a royal priesthood. He wants to do this work inside of each one of us, “so you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Peter is saying the same thing over and over in this letter. If we have been converted, our ultimate goal is to glorify God and make Him known to others so they too can know Christ. If we are squandering our days or living in sin, then we aren’t showing God’s love to other people. And we certainly aren’t following God’s will. In order to do God’s will, we must know the ways of Christ, as 1 Peter 4:2 says, “in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.” To follow God’s will means that we don’t give in to the desires of our flesh, but we live for His will and purposes. We either fulfill our flesh’s will or God’s will. Let us choose to lay off the works of the flesh, and choose instead to follow the ways for Christ.
There is an old worship song that you might know. The chorus is:
“Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will”
Let that be our prayer today.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your great love for us. Please help us by Holy Spirit to follow You. Help us to live holy lives, set apart for Your glory, Lord. Thank You for Your forgiveness that cleanses us and forgives us when we fail to do this. Please refine us by Your Holy Spirit into people who reflect Your love more and more each day. In Jesus’ name we pray this, amen.
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