What are some weapons God has given us to wage the warfare against sin in our pursuit of holiness? Peter tells us in this passage. Oh, may God grant us victory over sin that we might be pleasing to Him!
Teaching Notes:
Arming Ourselves For The Pursuit Of Holiness
1 Peter 4:1-6
Intro:
The dominant idea of 1 Peter is Suffering. In the earlier portions of this book, this idea is not so prevalent. But starting at 3:13 it becomes the dominant and reoccurring theme through the rest of the book. From 3:13-22 Peter has been encouraging his readers to endure suffering for righteousness at the hands of their enemies. He has given them the example of Christ crucified (3:13) and triumphant (3:19-22) in order to help them to emulate His example and bear up under persecution patiently. Now, in 1 Peter 4:1-6 Peter brings up the sufferings of Christ for a different reason: to encourage them towards Holiness.
Hebrews 12:14 says “Pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Here we see that pursuing holiness is extremely important. It is so important, that if we don’t pursue it, we will not see the Lord. In other words, if we are not pursuing holiness it is an evidence that we are not born again, and will not be saved. So, if we must pursue holiness in order to see the Lord, it’s vital that we arm ourselves with ammunition in order to fight sin. What Peter is doing in this section, is arming us with that ammunition. Think of these 4 Principles as 4 different kinds of weaponry to fight off sin. You’ve got a machine gun, hand grenade, rocket launcher, and a sword.
1. Jesus Suffered Rather Than Commit Sin!
Therefore: this takes us back to 3:18. Christ died for sins. Therefore, because He suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose.
Suffered in the Flesh: this is speaking of Christ’s bodily sufferings. It refers to His physical death. We see Him in His humanity in Gethsemane struggling with accepting the sufferings to come upon Him.
Mt.26:38-39 “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
Luke 22:44 “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
Hebrews 5:7 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.”
What’s going on in these passages? I want to say this reverently, but it appears that Jesus, in His humanity is struggling with surrendering to the Father’s plan that He would become the Ultimate Sin-Bearing Sacrifice. He’s praying that if it is possible, the cup [of suffering] would pass from Him. He is in agony in prayer, so much so that His sweat became like drops of blood. He prayed with loud crying and tears to God to save Him from death. What was the conflict here? It was to do his own will and escape suffering (and sin against God), or bow to God’s will. If Jesus refused to go to the cross, He would have sinned.
Hebrews 12:4 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin”
Jesus knows that if He drinks from the cup, it will mean facing His Father’s almighty wrath against our sin. It will mean being separated from His Father (which He had never experienced before). It will mean that He must be treated as a sinner, condemned, judged, and punished for the sins of the world, so that we could be treated as being completely righteous. He was faced with a choice: sin and disobey His Father’s will, or face incomprehensible physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. Christ chose to suffer rather than sin. That’s our first weapon. You are His disciple. A disciple is not above his Lord. Follow Him in this regard.
2. When We Suffer For Christ We Cease From Sin!
Arm yourselves also with the same purpose: This is a military term. The weapon we are called upon to arm ourselves with is a purpose. Decide, determine that should the choice come down to either suffering or sinning, you will choose suffering like Jesus did. But why?
Because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin: We too are faced with a choice. We can either sin by indulging sinful pleasures and our fleshly lusts, blending in with the world, and avoid persecution, or we can live in purity and godliness, bearing the reproach of Christ and suffer at the hands of wicked men. Notice that the wicked “malign” you (vs.4). There we have a specific example of the kind of suffering we are likely to face if we refuse to follow the world’s ways. Unbelievers in the world think it is “normal” to pursue a life of sensuality, lusts, greed, self-centeredness, and slander the person who abandons that life in favor of following Jesus Christ.
Ceased from sin: This does not mean that the Christian who suffers for his faith never sins again. It means that his willingness to suffer rather than sin against God demonstrates that something has become more important to him than pursuing sin, namely pursing the will of God.
The rest of the time in the flesh: notice how this expression is set against another expression in vs. 3 the time already past. These are the 2 different time periods in the believer’s life. The time already past – that’s our pre-conversion life. The rest of the time in the flesh – that’s the time we have after we are saved until we die. Peter calls it “the time of your stay on earth” in 1 Peter 1:17. This expression points to the brevity of life, the preciousness of time, and the importance of using your time to do the will of God while you can.
No longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God: Here we are given a good definition of sin. Sin is choosing my own lusts and desires over God’s. Holiness is choosing the will of God over my desires. Every day is a fresh struggle to surrender to God’s will, and every day we need to arm ourselves with the weapons Peter describes in this section to be obedient.
3. We Have Sinned Enough Already!
The time already past: This refers to whatever length of time you were not saved. For some it is only a few years, while for others it is most of their lives. Whatever length of time you sinned willingly, it is sufficient. It is enough. No matter ho long we lived in sin, that period of time is enough. We don’t need to go on sinning, in order to get our fill of sin.
The desire of the Gentiles: here Peter is using “Gentiles” in the sense of the unbeliever.
Having pursued a course: This is the Biblical description of the unsaved person’s life. He is pursing a course. He’s not struggling with sin. He’s pursuing a course of sin. He’s like a runner on a race course, who is trying to get to the finish line. He’s living deliberately in rebellion to God.
Sensuality, lusts: this refers to illicit, immoral sexual pursuits and relationships. Fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, pornography. Every kind of immoral sexual behavior.
Drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties: This refers to giving yourself to addictive substances. Today, Peter would refer to substance abuse, and drug addictions.
Abominable Idolatries: this may refer to literal idols of wood and stone. It may also refer to the idols Peter has just mentioned (sex and drugs). Peter is here describing “the lusts of men” of verse 2. An abominable idolatry is anything that we set up as being that which we live for, rather than God.
4. God Will Judge All Men:
They will give account: Who is “they?” Those that malign believers for pursuing a life of holiness. All people will stand before Almighty God and have to give an account of the life they have lived. They may malign and condemn you, but one day God will judge and condemn them!
The living and the dead: I believe this refers to both those that are alive when Christ returns as Judge, or those that have already died. He will be the Judge of all men. 2 Cor. 5:10 – “we must ALL appear before the judgment seat of Christ”
The gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead: This verse has been misunderstood to teach that unbelievers get a second chance to be saved after they die by the gospel somehow being preached to them while they are in Hades. That is foreign to the context. Peter is speaking about suffering at the hands of unbelievers. “Those who are dead” probably refers to Christian martyrs who have died at the hands of godless men. Stephen and James have been martyred. Probably others have been martyred under Nero’s reign. Peter’s readers were anxious about the fate of these believers. They had died just like other men. This raised the question as to whether their faith had gained them anything. In their opponents’ eyes, it seemed to have gained them nothing. Because a Great Judgment Day is coming, we must get the gospel out to all men!
Though they are judged in the flesh as men: This probably refers to the persecution and death believers had faced at the hands of their enemies. They had been judged by men, and suffered in the flesh.
They may live in the spirit according to the will of God: In spite of the fact that they had died for their faith, they now lived eternally in the presence of Christ in the spirit. Yes, their faith did achieve something – the blessing of enjoying an everlasting inheritance with Jesus Christ in heaven. Notice that the preaching of the gospel has two results: the censure of man, and the approval of God.
Application: You will face the temptation to sin by choosing the lusts of your flesh over the will of God. How can you triumph over those temptations? By arming yourselves with these weapons:
Remind yourself that your Lord suffered rather than sin, and you are called to follow Him in this regard.
Remind yourself that when you suffer for Jesus you cease from sin
Remind yourself that you have already sinned enough, and there is no good reason for you to go on sinning.
Remind yourself that there is a Great Judgment Day approaching in which you will want to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
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