1 Peter 4:1a
Our defense against suffering is to be armed. This sounds very military and it might bring to mind the full armor of God spoken of in Ephesians 6. When we are likeminded with Christ the suffering is part of our faith and becomes a defense against the enemy. How does suffering become a defense? The greatest threat the enemy has is death and it no longer has any power over you. With the mind of Christ, death is no longer a threat to us. Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
1 Peter 4:1b-2
Peter is saying in much the same way that Christ endured suffering for us, we should endure our suffering. Even though it may seem unjust, it is important that we endure this suffering with our eyes focused on Jesus. The real you is all wrapped up in Jesus. This suffering can't touch the real you. This mindset is the mind of Christ. It's a spiritual maturity that comes from walking with Christ through pain and sorrow and persecution.
Our understanding of this theology comes from the bible but that understanding becomes the mind of Christ when we endure these hard times. When things are bad or when we are in trouble is when we are freed from sin. The sinful things of our life seem less important to us and we are drawn back to our purpose, our maker and our savior. This is why churches were full after 911. This is why there are no atheists in the foxhole. This is a maturity that comes from perseverance. We acquire the mind of Christ in our suffering. This spiritual gray hair that leads us far from a life ruled by sin.
1 Peter 4:3
The picture here is a bear slinging, drunken, brazen group of folks openly indulging in whatever ungodly act that comes to mind. This is Peter leading in a confession many of us can make. We've wasted enough of our life chasing after the profane things of the world. It's now time to chase after the eternal things of God.
1 Peter 4:4-5
When we refrain from living for the evil human desires, we leave this group wondering what's wrong with us. They think it's strange you don't jump in with them. They will ridicule us because the life of a believer incriminates them. The world finds strength in numbers – it must be okay since everyone is doing it. And the people of this world chase after the things of this world. And it's beginning to look more and more like the days of Noah when the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
These people will have to give account for their actions. Who are these people of lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, and idolatries? They are you and I. It is only by God's saving grace you are no longer included in that group. To look down our nose at those people is to forget the gospel that says you were saved by grace alone. It's not our job to judge those folks, it's our job to live out the gospel to them to get on the ark. Judgment is coming. The door will close soon. God will judge those who chase after this evil, ignoring the gospel, and they will give an account.
1 Peter 4:6
Peter is speaking of some men that had already died by the hand of the persecutors in this flood of dissipation. These people had the opportunity to accept the judgment of man through persecution in the flesh. They now live according to the spirit of God. They had received the gospel and lived it out; walked it out all the way to the end. They had received poor treatment in life but now were past all that and living in glory. (See also Matthew 12:36; Luke 16:2; Hebrews 13:17.)
1 Peter 4:7
Peter sincerely believed the end was near. If Peter anticipated the end how much more should we in our day? This world is winding down. Time is short. It's beginning to resemble the days of Noah. We have an ark in Christ; in Him we can enter in and find salvation from the waters of death.
Because the end was near, it was to bring forth a seriousness and watchfulness in our prays. Aren't all prayers serious? The concept is to be soberly wise in prayer; maybe that's more of a call to be diligent and timely than anything. There a seriousness lacking to prayer that is hit and miss, broken and interrupted. The Greek word translated to serious is the same word used to describe the man delivered from a legion of demons. He was at the feet of Jesus in his right mind. Let's be watchful over our prayer. Let's set our act of prayer at the top of the prayer list, that we might be serious and watchful.
1 Peter 4:8
A fervent love is a love that you must stretch and strain to attain. The word has two uses. The other describes Peter's prison prayer – constant, in spite of circumstances. This love takes work because the focus of this love is not for the world or me or the things I like or make me happy. This fervent love is for others. In the middle of a world gone crazy, in the middle of the Days of Noah and a flood of dissipation, we are to be working hard, straining and stretching to love one another. In doing so a multitude of sins are covered. This happens because we don't go about looking for sin or being offended by the sin of someone in our fellowship. We are about loving each other and that love is about understanding and grace. In the same way others are loving you in return and they don't hold your sins against you.
1 Peter 4:9
Hospitality with grumbling isn't really hospitality. They couldn't let the persecution of a cold, dark and evil world make them jaded and cynical. They would look and act more like the world than like Jesus.
1 Peter 4:10-11
You hear this interaction of God's people in these verses. It's the fellowship of God loving on each other and focused on serving each other. When a fellowship is focused on being served it doesn't work. We are to be serving each other as stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Manifold grace is 'many colored'. We come from many cultures, different walks of life, born of different times. We all bring many various things to the fellowship. Each of us has something to offer. The Holy Spirit gives each of you gifts to offer to others within this fellowship. God's grace is to flow through you to someone else. We are stewards of his grace. We all become givers of grace and not takers. Yet when we all give, we also all receive.
When you put all this together, you could say we are to live as though the end is near and not live for the day. (See also 1 Corinthians 13 and Proverbs 10:12.) It might be today that we are snatched out of here. No more pain or sorrow. No more broken-down bodies, no illness or sickness. No cancer, failed lungs, weak hearts.
We'll be just like that little kid that skinned their knee and was suffering pain. We thought we'd never recover from the suffering. Our whole world was crashing down around us. How could anything ever be made right again? Jesus is going to come back some day soon. By His word, He's lifting our chin up, away from our sorrow to show us eternal things. When He comes back, He's going to show us that reality.
The flood is growing worse by the day. It's a flood of dissipation that is running headlong to judgment day. The world beckons to us to join the flood. But our life is found in the ark of Jesus Christ. Eternally safe and sound, content and waiting. Judgment is coming.
1 Peter 4:12-13
The fiery trial is to be viewed as normal. We shouldn't be surprised when it happens, as though some strange thing has happened to you. These things don't happen by chance. Our suffering has meaning in Jesus Christ. Suffering is allowed and designed by God for our testing and cleansing. In our suffering we are to rejoice because we know when the Lord comes, we are going to be rewarded with exceeding joy. That should bring us some comfort of joy now. Those who suffer more will rejoice more at the coming of the Lord.
1 Peter 4:14-16
This is one of those passages I find pretty amazing. Because you have Peter who denied Christ rather than suffer reproach. Now, the Lord is using that experience in Peter to speak that truth to others. Blessed are you if you suffer because of the name of Christ. While the enemy brings that reproach to harm you, he in fact is bringing an opportunity for blessing on you. If you receive this suffering in a godly fashion, God is glorified and the those bringing reproach will be judged for their blasphemy.
Now Peter acknowledges that not everyone who suffers will receive this blessing or find this joy. He didn't want those suffering as a murderer, a thief, evildoer or busybody to find comfort in their suffering. Those people aren't following Christ. This is for those who suffer following Christ. We can see, everyone will suffer in this world. As a Christian there is a right way and a wrong way to view and receive this suffering.
1 Peter 4:17-18
When we trusted in Christ, our sins were paid for on the cross. God doesn't bring suffering in our life as payment for our sins. This fellowship of believers and the church universal, that's believers everywhere, are the house of God. We receive God's chastening and purging and purifying first. That makes sense. We are the bride of Christ. We are being prepared for the return of the bridegroom.
We are called to redemption; we are called to holiness. We are supposed to be different from the world. And whatever fiery trial we endure in this life, that's as bad as it will get. Our fiery trial is designed to purify us and draw us closer to the Lord. For the enemy of God, their fiery trials are the beginning of eternal judgment that will get a whole lot worse. The purpose of their fire is punishment. That's a vast difference that we don't easily see. It's not an easy distinction to make at times.
Verse 18 is a quote from Proverbs 11:31:
"If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"
And it reinforces the point that the righteous are justified and brought through great difficulty. It will be that much worse for the ungodly.
1 Peter 4:19
If you gave a close friend you most prized possession in all the world and asked him to take care of it. You are committing that thing to his care. That's what this word commit means here in verse 18. We are invited to commit our soul to God, but that invitation isn't to everyone. The invitation is made to those who suffer according to God's will. We can conclude that everyone will suffer in this life. Yet, not everyone suffers according to the will of God. Those suffering outside of God will have committed their soul to other things.
Those who suffer according to God's will commit their souls to Him. This is a good place to picture Shadrach, Meshack and Abnego being thrown into the fiery furnace. They faced their fiery trial at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Listen to this passage and you can hear their steadfastness when they were asked to bow to a false god or die in the fire. They said.... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."
The soul is the eternal you that will live forever. You aren't your body, your name or your reputation. Your soul is the real you created by God. It's the programming that operates your mind and body.
Peter said you are to commit that part of you to God. This is wholly and completely turning everything over to Him for His safekeeping. That's what you see happen to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And in their fiery trial, a 4th person was seen in the fire by the king. The king said, the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. The fourth was the Son of God who honored the commitment these men made. He held their souls in safekeeping.
For those who suffer outside of God's will you can turn this around. Likewise those who suffer outside of Gods will have entrusted the keeping of their soul to themselves or some false god. I cannot imagine the hopelessness of experiencing some of the awful suffering of this world without the promises of the Lord.
Committing our souls to Him is trusting Him with our most valued possession; not just our life but our very soul. And we can see Peter's commitment. He chose to write to these people and document His faith in a time that could seal his death.
© 2012 Doug Ford
Updated & Revised 2020
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