1 Peter 4:1-11 Series

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1 Peter 4:1-6

Therefore, 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, 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 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.

After mentioning the fact that Jesus suffered when He came as a human in flesh and blood, Peter goes on to tell us that we too need to possess the same attitude Jesus had, when we suffer for the sake of our faith in Jesus. He goes on to say something that would answer the question many a believer has concerning suffering - “Am I suffering because of some sin I have committed?” Peter seems to suggest the opposite. He says that we who suffer for our faith in Jesus are proving that we have ceased to live a life that is controlled by sin any longer, and hence suffering comes our way to try to turn us away from our faith, and back to sin. When we suffer for the sake of Christ, it’s not because we have sinned, but rather because we have made a commitment to follow Christ, no matter what. So we need to do all we can to remain faithful to the Lord in spite of the suffering, because if we quit on our faith in times of suffering, we are making our faith of no effect, and quitting on what we were meant to hold on to for life.

He says that such people who have put a stop to sin in their lives, have done so because they have made a decision to not fulfil their sinful desires, but instead, to live in a way that seeks to do the will of God. Thereby, such people are seeking to fulfil God’s desires, rather than their own sinful desires. This is the only way that we can be transformed into the perfect image of God.

He goes on to remind us who are tempted to satisfy our selfish sinful desires that we have spent enough time committing those sins before we came to know Christ, during which time we lived just like all the other unbelievers around us. He mentions a few of the desires that people seek to satisfy – lustful desires, alcoholism, wild singing and dancing, wild parties, and idolatry, all the Lord detests. The people of the world will be surprised that we don’t join them in such wild and irresponsible living, and would, for that reason, criticize and ridicule us for our faith in Jesus. Peter reminds us that such people who live this way, and ridicule us for the different lifestyle we live, will have to answer the Lord when He returns to judge both those who are living when He returns, and those who are dead as well.

Verse 6 is quite a difficult verse to understand, and there are several suggested interpretations for it. There are some who believe that this verse is referring to the earlier verse in 1 Peter 3:19 which talks about Jesus, after his death, and before His resurrection going to preach to the people of Noah’s time who were still in prison. If this interpretation is to be considered, then it seems like Jesus was preaching the gospel to those who died in the flood during Noah’s time. This then makes one ask what the purpose of this preaching was. Was it to give them a chance to be saved before the Lord returns the second time? This interpretation would then lend itself to mean that these people were judged by God when they were humans in the body, but if they believed Jesus’ gospel then they actually had a chance to be saved by the Holy Spirit, so they too could have eternal life.

Another interpretation to this verse is that it refers to those who died on account of some sins they committed while alive in the body, but after Jesus preached to them, they now had another chance to be saved when He returns.