Title Like Christ (1 Peter 4:1-6)
Contents
1 Peter Lecture thirteenth
With a heart like Christ (1 Peter 4:1-6)
Last week we looked at the sufferings of Christ and shared grace. Today, Peter is proposing to live with a heart like Christ through the text. A lesson on godly living (1-6). It tells us to live the rest of our lives according to God's will (2), to know that the past is enough for our self-indulgence (3), and to live knowing that the time will come when we will confess everything we have done before the judgment seat (5). But this godly life is accompanied by hardships. He exhorts us to suffer hardships in order to become God's heirs. What are the benefits of suffering for us?
frees you from sin. Remember that you have made atonement and put on the armor of your heart. To live according to God's will. Let us live according to the will of God, not according to the lusts of men. It also prevents us from sharing in the sins of unbelievers. We do not share in the lusts and debauchery of the Gentiles, and we realize the benefits through the suffering of the cross. Let's take a closer look at today's Word and share the grace.
First, the reason to live with the heart of Christ
1. It is the armor that the sufferings of Christ are armed with.
(Verse 1) “Because Christ already suffered in the flesh, put yourselves on the same heart as your armor, for he who suffered in the flesh has ceased to be a sinner.” He was willing to bear the burden of suffering for the sins of You cannot suffer the same suffering as Jesus Christ. But when you have a Christlike heart when you suffer, that pain becomes a defense against enemy attacks. When you face hardships, if you endure them with the same heart as Jesus, without resenting and avoiding them, you can face glorious results. Rather, suffering becomes an armor that blocks Satan's interference.
Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in spirit, and you will find rest for your hearts, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-). Let us suffer in the heart of Christ. Let's suffer, but be positive and be active.
Jesus' suffering is a good shield against the devil's work. It depends on how you deal with suffering. There is a cross that suits everyone, big or small. It's a matter of how you take up the cross. How are you going to face the hardships set before you?
2. He solved the problem of sin.
Jesus took away our present, future, and past sins. However, it should not be mistaken for abusing cheap indulgences for sins. If you repent of your sins in Jesus Christ, you will be cleansed. The phrase “he who suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” in the text means that Jesus put an end to the problem of sin. We humans have limitations in solving the problem of sin. If there is a difference between our suffering and Jesus' suffering, Jesus suffered to solve the problem of sin, and it is suffering to realize that we are sinners and weak human beings. Because of this (Psalm 119:70), He said, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes." It is beneficial because through suffering we come to the Lord, we discover our weaknesses, and we know the necessity of the law.
(Romans 6:6) “We know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6). Believe that Jesus Christ solved the problem of sin so that we are freed from our slavery to sin.
3. After this, you can no longer live according to people's lusts.
Before the problem of sin was solved, we lived according to the lusts of men. (2) “From then on, we will no longer go after the lusts of men, but the will of God so that we may live the rest of our flesh.” After salvation, something must change. We must be freed from licentiousness, licentiousness, and drunkenness. (Hebrews 3:13) "Only exhort one another daily while it is called Today, that any of you be not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Eternal life is not life in time. It is life in eternity and eternity. However, it is to pursue eternity with the will to live the present time called today in holiness.
Second, stop living a life of debauchery.
1. Cover the past with the past and don't reveal any more.
A woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus. Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Do not sin again." When we come before Jesus, we do not take issue with the past. How you live the rest of your life is important. (Verse 3) "The time is enough for the time when you went after the will of the Gentiles, in your sexual immorality, lust, drunkenness, licentiousness, liaison, and lawless idolatry." Let's repent of the past lewdness and debauchery, drunkenness and prodigal contact. He does not remember; He cleanses. The devil reveals the past. However, God's work and the work of the Holy Spirit do not ask about the past if we repent.
2. Don't fall for the temptation of accusations of unbelievers.
(Verse 4) “Therefore, they find it strange that you do not run with them in such extreme debauchery, which they slander.”
A foreign friend who has sinned in the past is bound to slander. Don't be surprised. This is a natural phenomenon. It is difficult for ex-convicts to resist the temptations of ex-convicts, but Christians should not. You need to know that He exists. You need to know that there is a referee. “He is prepared to judge the living and the dead” (verse 5). (Verse 6) is esoteric. However, it should be understood as emphasizing the judgment of life and death rather than as a passage that speaks of the possibility of salvation after death, so that it fits the context of the entire Bible.
Suffering is painful, but in the end it is beneficial. Just as the glory that Jesus received was accomplished through the sufferings of the cross, when we endure and endure our physical sufferings and difficulties, we receive the spiritual grace of heaven and the rich blessings of the earth.