Abundant Joy

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding—because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin—in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.”

We start chapter 4 with the word ‘therefore’. Whenever we see this word, we must ask, what is it referring to? In this case, we must go all the way back to verse 18 in chapter three. There is quite a bit after verse 18, so I’m going to splice the two together for you. “For Christ also suffered once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God (3:18a) … Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same understanding” (4:1a).

That was the easy part. Here’s where it gets difficult. The second part of that verse is “because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin…” I have to admit, I wrestled with this verse! Who is ‘the one’? Is it referring to Christ? Is it referring to us? As I read through different commentaries, I found different answers! But I came to realize that either way the message of the passage is the same. Let’s dig in!

Christ set an example for us. 1 Peter 2:21 says, “For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” So, now, Peter goes on here later in his letter to say that we are to arm ourselves with the same understanding. This phrase arm yourselves is a military metaphor. It means to equip yourself with the tools necessary to accomplish a particular purpose. We see military metaphors in other places in the New Testament. One example is 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Another is Ephesians 6:11-17 where Paul talks about taking up the full armor of God.

Let’s move on to the next portion of the verse. Does it refer to Christ? I’m inclined not to think so because of how it moves on to the next section. If it does, Peter is definitely not saying that Christ sinned (finished with sin) but that he put sin to death on the cross. Edmund Clowney puts it this way in this commentary. “Indeed, it is possible that in the last half of 4:1 Peter is still speaking of Jesus: he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. In any case, Peter applies that principle to us. We are to arm ourselves with a thought that is decisive for our new manner of life. Christ’s mortal suffering ended his conquest of sin and ushered in his resurrection life.”

When studying passages of the Bible in depth like this, it is always good to compare translations to see how they differ. I am reading How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth for an online book club right now. I am only in the second chapter, but it is an important one! The authors explain Bible translations and the difference between formal equivalence and functional (sometimes called dynamic) equivalence. In formal equivalence, it is a more word for word translation where the functional translation is an attempt to keep the meaning of the original language but put into the normal way of saying things in English. Both are valuable in studying the Bible. I decided after reading this chapter to go back and look up this verse in the NIV. Here is how it reads. “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” So where the CSB, (and most of the other versions I looked at) use the ambiguous pronoun “him”, the NIV changes it to “whoever”.  This may or may not be the right way to translate this pronoun here, but I do think that it makes the most sense based on the second half of the passage.

If it is referring to us, what does it mean? Do we no longer have to worry about sin? Absolutely not! That is why Peter used the warfare analogy. Earlier in his letter, he warned his readers, “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul” (2:11). Sin should no longer be our way of life. Peter used the analogy of Noah being saved through water by the ark in chapter 3 to show that baptism symbolizes a new life for us. We died to sin; we are alive in Christ. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Romans 6 speaks perfectly to this whole concept. Rather than write out the whole chapter, I’m going to pick a few verses that are especially appropriate.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (6:1-2)

“We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin.” (6:6-7)

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (6:11)

I encourage you to read the whole chapter when you get a chance!

One last thought on suffering. When we suffer for Christ, it draws us together. Rod Dreher has a book called Live Not by Lies that I highly recommend reading. The last chapter is all about Christians who have suffered under Communist regimes in the last century and how the suffering strengthened their faith. He writes this. “The kind of Christians we will be in the time of testing depends on the kind of Christians we are today.”

What kind of Christian are we going to be today? Are we going to follow Christ’s example? We need to live the rest of our lives not for human desires, but for God’s will. We will be looking more at that in the next verses!

Grace be with you!