October 7
“Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles – when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason the Gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit,” 1 Peter 4:1-6.
The apostle Peter continues to speak of what Christ suffered to redeem all people. It reminds us of what the prophet Isaiah foretold at length over 700 years before the birth of Jesus: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth,” Isaiah 53:3-7.
After directing our attention to the suffering Savior, Peter says that we should arm ourselves with the same mind and be ready and willing to suffer ridicule and rejection as followers of the Lord Jesus. We should resist the temptations of our own sinful flesh and be determined to live according to the will of God. Peter reminds his readers that before their conversion to Christianity they lived in the sins of the flesh like the unbelieving Gentiles. He says, “We walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”
The apostle Paul also reminded Christians of their sinful past before they were converted: “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. After we are converted, we arm ourselves with the Word of God to resist sin and temptation, and from the Word we receive the power to live a Christian life.
Then the apostle adds that the unbelievers speak evil of believers, and, “they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation.” The people of the world and the critical unbelievers do not understand why Christians are willing to suffer as followers and believers in Jesus as their Lord and only Savior.
In all of our contacts with the non-Christians and the ungodly, we must firmly witness with the Law and the Gospel. We have a concern for the salvation of souls. We should be able to say with the apostle Paul, “Though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law . . . To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some,” 1 Corinthians 9:22.
Dear gracious God, bless all of our efforts to work and witness with the Gospel for the salvation of souls. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.