Free To Choose - Suffering Over Sin

This morning, we continue with our study of First Peter. As a reminder, 1 Peter is a general epistle, meaning that it was a letter written to Christians in general, rather than to a specific church body. The first verse of the letter tells us that it was written:

“To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,” (1 Peter 1:1)

These provinces—Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia—¬were all located in first-century Asia Minor, in what today is the country of Turkey. Peter’s main purpose in writing the letter was to encourage the believers in this region to maintain a Christ-centered and God-honoring way of life in the midst of a culture that was strongly opposed to them doing so. And that view of them as outsiders is reinforced by Peter repeatedly referring to them as “exiles” and “foreigners”.

“To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,” (1 Peter 1:1)

“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” (1 Peter 1:17)

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11)

Now some of them may have actually been exiles from other parts of the Roman empire, driven from their homes by persecution. But the primary sense here is their spiritual identity. Right from the beginning, Peter is acknowledging that those to whom he is writing are separate and distinct from the people living around them. They are different from their neighbors, different from their co-workers, different from the people they interact with on a daily basis, and perhaps even their family members. They don’t really belong. And Peter’s goal in this letter is to tell them how to live, how to conduct themselves, in that foreign environment. Sound familiar?

So. What to do. Should they conform? That’s one option: “When in Rome, do what the Romans do”. Fly under the radar. Blend in. Or, should they take the opposite tack and withdraw completely; try to establish their own, independent and self-sufficient community? Some religious groups even in our day have taken that route. Avoid contact with the secular world as much as possible. But Peter’s answer, throughout this letter, has been that they should not do either of those things, neither conform or withdraw. Rather, he urges them to choose the path of constructive engagement. They are to respectfully and humbly interact with those around them and submit themselves to the governing authorities, while at the same time maintaining moral boundaries that keep them from adopting the sinful practices of their culture.

That’s a bit of a tightrope act, isn’t it? Believers across the centuries have faced the same dilemma, as they seek to honor God with their lives and remain faithful to Christ, not withdrawing completely from their culture, but also not uncritically adopting the morals and customs of their culture. It’s a struggle that even we, in America with our Christian heritage, find ourselves facing. Because over the last generation, the culture around us has grown increasingly hostile to the gospel and to the practice of Christianity (although recently we have seen some encouraging signs that may be changing).

So it’s with that background in mind that we look at today’s text, 1 Peter 4:1-6. This passage concerns the relationship between sin and suffering, specifically the suffering that comes from living in a world that is hostile to your faith. There’s a lot packed into these few verses. But if we persevere, we will be rewarded with insights that will be greatly helpful to us as we seek to live faithful and morally upright lives in the midst of a culture that is constantly trying to drag us in the other direction. All right?

We’ll begin with 1 Peter 4:1, in the NIV and the ESV.

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” (1 Peter 4:1, NIV)

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,” (1 Peter 4:1, ESV)

I’ve included both versions because there’s a Greek term whose meaning is significant. The Greek word “sarx” is translated “in the body”, in the NIV, and “in the flesh”, in the ESV. This is because “sarx” has a range of meanings. It can refer to the physical body (Luke 24:36-40). But it can also refer to humanity, or to human nature more generally, which includes not only our physical body, but also our mind and our emotions (Acts 2:17, ESV; John 1:14, ESV); everything that makes us human.