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Introduction
So, last week we started into chapter 4 and got not quite halfway through.
We stopped at verse 12.
Chapter 4 is really a continuation of chapter 3, as Paul looks back to what he has already said to advance his point.
That is … the vindication of suffering for righteous reasons.
And his purpose in chapter 4 is to prepare the Christian.
Peter prepares the Christian with right attitude … that is, as Peter says in verse 1, “arm yourselves with the same mind” … that is the mind of Christ who suffered for us.
In this newness of life which we have in Christ, the will of God is so much better.
And so, while we are NOT condemned for our sins (there is no condemnation in Christ), we also do not condone sin … and we desire to be done with sin in our own lives.
Do not read below:
Without Christ, we were all in the same sad situation … sinners desperately in need of saving.
Without Christ, they were all in the same sad situation … sinners desperately in need of saving.
Saved from what?
With Christ we are forgiven, but also done with sin …
Saved from the judgment due for our sins, for sure.
But also saved out of the judgment of the world.
We are also saved out of slavery to sin.
Having believed and received Jesus, we are identified with Christ in His suffering and death, and therefore there is victory over sin.
Now, having believed and received Jesus, we are identified with Christ in His suffering and death, and therefore there is victory over sin.
And Paul wrote to the believers in the Roman church:
Of course, we do still have our sin nature … and there is still an attraction to the fleeting pleasures of sin for us.
And the world would like for us to participate in the sinful things it does.
And so, as we have noted, Peter says, “arm yourselves with the same mind.”
That would be the mind of Christ.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
Having the mind of Christ means several things.
For one, we understand God’s plan in the world - to bring glory to Himself, restore creation to its original splendor, and provide salvation for sinners.
It means we identify with Christ’s purpose “to seek and to save what was lost.”
It means we share Jesus’ perspective of humility and obedience, compassion, and prayerful dependence on God.
Specifically, Peter here speaks of the way that Christ approached His own suffering.
The author of Hebrews in chapter 12 wrote that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before Him” endured the cross.
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Hebrews
Outlook often has bearing on outcome.
The right attitude of a believer helps him to live a right life.
So often, outlook has bearing on outcome, and a believer having the right attitude helps him to live a right life.
We can all probably sit in church and not be tempted to sin … we are hearing God’s Word, being reminded of God’s will, and we are seeking the LORD’s face.
But things get much harder as soon as we step out that door.
The world, which wants us abide in it’s standards, starts to assault us with temptations.
And our flesh nature remembers that sin has temporary pleasures.
We might remember feelings and sensations from our old life.
And we might also feel pressure from others to conform to their standard of living and behaving.
Those to whom Peter was writing were enduring physical persecution that would soon become even more violent … as if a “fiery trial” (v12).
It would be very tempting for them to give in and give up believing to fit in and avoid persecution.
Paul addressed something similar with the Galatians believers who were being pressured by the Judaizers to lay aside grace for works.
To them, Paul wrote:
Galatians 3:3
They had already suffered at the hands of the Judaizers for their faith … were they now going to let all of the things they have suffered come to nothing?
They had paid a price already for receiving the Gospel … was it all in vain?
Salvation has a cost.
Friends may not like the “new you” … and you may lose their friendship.
Or maybe not … but there is almost always something of the old life that can no longer be a part of the new life.
The cost may be a particular temptation that you always have to deal with left over from your previous life … and you suffer under it.
This is not new … early believers also suffered.
They suffered due to temptations of the flesh.
The Galatians and much of the early church would suffer under the pressure from the Judaizers to turn back to law keeping.
The church in Jerusalem would suffer under the persecution of the religious leaders (of whom Paul once was.)
Believers all over the Roman Empire would also suffer under persecution from their neighbors who found them to be strange.
And they would suffer official persecution under the authority of the Roman Government.
But proper outlook would help them to endure.
In suffering they would identify with Christ in a deeper way.
In suffering they would be reminded that this life is short and not to be wasted in sinful behavior.
And in suffering we are reminded that the unrighteous judgment of the world is nothing compared to the righteous judgment of God.
Vengeance belongs to the LORD … The unsaved may judge us, but one day, God will judge them.
There are people now dead physically, but alive with God in the spirit, who were judged by the world.
But they heard the Gospel before they died and they believed.
They suffered and died because of their faith—but they are living with God!
It is better to suffer for Christ and go to be with God than to follow the world and be lost.
There are people now dead physically, but alive with God in the spirit, who were judged by the world.
But they heard the Gospel before they died and they believed.
There are people now dead physically, but alive with God in the spirit, who were judged by the world.
But they heard the Gospel before they died and they believed.
They suffered and died because of their faith—but they are living with God!
It is better to suffer for Christ and go to be with God than to follow the world and be lost.
Like the martyr Stephen, they suffered and died because of their faith - but they are living with God!
It is better to suffer for Christ and go to be with God than to follow the world and be lost.
It is important that Christians “arm themselves” with the same attitude toward the world, sin, and suffering that Jesus had while on earth.
iidentified with Christ in His suffering and death, and therefore can have victory over sin.
If we face suffering without a spiritual attitude, suffering might cause us to sin, embitter us, or cause us to renounce our faith.
Belief is important … And it is important that we do keep believing, as most of the writers of the New Testament expressed.
So then, what we have been studying and are about to study in the second half of chapter 4 has great bearing on our lives.
So then, paying close attention and taking good notes would be the order of the day.
Prayer: Lord, as we embark to study your Word, we ask that our hearts would be open to receive all that You have to say to us.
We desire to be hearers and doers and for You to lead us in Your ways.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
v12
v12
Every Christian who lives a godly life experiences a certain amount of persecution.
At the workplace.
At school.
From neighbors.
Maybe even from the family.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
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And Jesus said, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”
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The world will hate Christians because the world hates Christ.
If Christians were like the world, the world would not oppose them.
It should always give us pause when the world embraces a particular Christian ministry or glorifies it … the world should be hating it.
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