What are your goals in life? Think about it for a moment. What are you pursuing? What are you working toward? What do you intend to accomplish or attain?
I have lots of goals. I want to finish building my house. I want to finish my master’s degree. I want to raise my kids to be servants of God. I want to deliver truthful and helpful sermons and classes every week. I have a couple people in particular I want to share the gospel with. I want to get my disaster of an office organized.
But our text this morning in I Peter assigns us a goal to have in life that I can’t say has ever been on my list of goals, and I’d be willing to bet that it has never been on your list either.
Let’s read it together. I Peter 4:1,
“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose…”
It could also be translated “arm yourselves with the same intention.” He appears to be talking about Christ’s intention to suffer for righteousness, Christ was determined to so speak the truth about God and so do what is right that some would hate and attack Him for it and He would suffer. And he says you have that same intention, that same purpose. Add suffering for righteousness to your list of goals, to your list of things you are pursuing in life. Did anybody make it a new year’s resolution? “I’m going to head toward suffering at the hands of people by being so like Jesus and shining so brightly in this dark world?”
When he mentions suffering in the flesh, I think he means more than the mild persecution many of us have experienced, more than not fitting in at the office or people rolling their eyes at our beliefs or calling you a religious nut or a stick in the mud. He means I think something more extreme, because of what he says about the person who suffers in the flesh in the rest of verse 1 and 2. It doesn’t fit with just being called a name. I think he must mean being physically attacked or maybe being significantly harmed financially or having something precious taken from you. He’s saying make real suffering for righteousness a goal that you are working toward.
Now, is this relevant to us in 21st century America?
Our culture is very different from the one that Peter’s readers were living in. It’s very rare that you hear of Christians in our country being beaten or flogged or imprisoned or executed for their faithfulness to Jesus. But that wasn’t uncommon in the 1st century world. And that’s going on in other countries today, but not much here. So would it be reasonable for us to have this goal or suffering for righteousness? Certainly I think it was easier to accomplish this goal in the 1st century world and in certain other countries today. And yet, I think even for us a real experience of suffering for righteousness becomes more and more likely the more we become like Jesus.
Consider a principle in John 3:19. It says of Jesus, “the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light [read that part again], and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
Isn’t this country, this town even, full of people who do evil, people who lie, cheat, hate other people, sleep with whoever they want, get drunk, ignore God and His will, worship futile things? And don’t many of them love the darkness, love living as if there is no God and no judgment and no moral standard? There are people all around us who love the darkness. John 3 says people like that hate light. So if we interact much with the lost around us, as we should, as Jesus did because He loved the lost and wanted to lead them to salvation, and in our interaction with them we reflect the light of Jesus very brightly, seems to me, we will not avoid being hated by some; because we’re surely going to shine around some people who love the darkness. The brighter we shine, the more they’re going to want us to go away or keep our light covered. In the NT I find that those who shinned the brightest also experienced the most persecution… Jesus, the apostles, Stephen, Timothy. Those who love the darkness hate people who are like candles. But they really really hate people who are like street lights.
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but if someone lights a lamp they put it on a lampstand so it may give light to all in the house” (Matt 5:15). His point being, He did not make us lights to just shine in a basket or in our own homes and church buildings away from anyone who could benefit from our light. He made us lights, intending that we position ourselves and uncover ourselves and shine to dispel as much darkness as possible for as many as possible. The more we do that the more persecution we are likely to receive. So I think the goal Peter gave his 1st century readers, while probably a little more difficult for us to accomplish, is even still for us a great goal.
I’m going to add it to my new year’s resolutions. (You know, it’s okay to add resolutions a little late. There’s no rule against it.) I hope you will also. Decide, “This year I’m going to work toward suffering for righteousness. This year I’m going to put myself among people in the darkness and I’m going to shine uncovered. I’m going to be open about my faith in Jesus, and I’m going to be different in my language and my conduct and my caring for people as Jesus was different. And in doing so I’ll be a part of attracting good hearted people to their Savior, but also fueling the hatred of those who love the darkness.”
Peter says, in explaining why suffering for righteousness is a goal we should have…
“because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.“
Let’s define some phrases first. When he says “suffered” he doesn’t mean things like falling off a ladder and breaking your back. In the context, he’s talking about suffering for righteousness.
The phrase “ceased from sin” I don’t think means someone who is absolutely perfect, who never ever sins in any way, shape, or form. James 3:2 says of Christians “we all stumble in many ways.” Psalm 19:12, “Who can discern his errors?” It’s a rhetorical question. We don’t even realize all our errors. I think even the best of human beings do not reach complete flawlessness. But I think the idea is what the Bible also calls a blameless person. Noah, Genesis 6:9 says, was a blameless and righteous man who walked with God. But you know Noah wasn’t perfect. He drank too much that one night and passed out naked in his tent. Job, scripture says (Job 1:1), was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, Luke 1:6 says, were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. But you know Zacharias wasn’t perfect. He was hesitant to believe the message the angel Gabriel brought him and was struck mute for 9 months for it. Blamelessness is a qualification for elders in the church. So while we may not be able to reach perfection, we can be blameless, which I think means people can’t find fault with the way you’re living your life. Your language is clean. You’re always honest. You’re above board in all your business practices. You’re faithful to your spouse. You don’t watch inappropriate stuff. You’re kind, patient, forgiving…. People can’t fault you for how you’re living. Now, God could. God could say, “Your belief about this is off. Your attitude about this matter is not quite right. You could have helped that person better than you did.” But you’re not willfully sinning in any way. And others have nothing against you. We can be those kind of people with the Lord’s help. And I think that’s the idea of somebody who has ceased from sin. It’s further explained in verse 2 as somebody who lives no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. You’re really truly trying to serve God every day.
And Peter says the people who suffer for righteousness are those kind of very Christ-like people. People don’t persecute those who look much like them. They persecute those who look much like Jesus. So suffering for righteousness is like a gold star on your chart. It’s like a stripe on your uniform. Like an “atta boy” from God. Or the way Paul put it in Philippians 1:28, it is a sign of salvation for you. It’s confirmation that you are living a God pleasing life in the steps of Jesus.
At verses 3-4 Peter explains…
In more detail what’s involved in following Jesus into suffering
“For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality [just doing what feels good without concern for what God thinks of it], lusts [just doing what you want to do at the moment], drunkenness, carousing [wild party kind of behavior], drinking parties and abominable idolatries.” Times aren’t that different today. These are still the activities of the unbelieving society around us, even abominable idolatries. Many around us worship money or a career or a hobby or a pleasure. They put those things in God’s place.
What’s the response from some when we won’t join them? “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, [excessive wastefulness] and they malign you“. They try to make you look like the foolish one for not wasting your time like they do. But Peter is saying don’t let them intimidate you to join them. Though the maligning may continue and even turn into something worse, stay the course in the steps of Jesus.
And here’s a big reason, verse 5…
“but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
One day every human being will answer to Jesus. He will deal with each of us according to our deeds.
Peter brings up this part about how He is the judge of the living and the dead. Why does he say that? Perhaps to prevent anyone from thinking that once we die we’re out of reach to the Lord, that when we die we enter a realm outside of Jesus’ dominion. No. Jesus determines what happens even to the dead. So if we’re faithful to Jesus and mistreated for it and don’t have much in this world and die without much, that’s okay because we’re still in Jesus’ hands after we die. And those who reject God and His will all their lives yet live long in wealth and comfort and ease, they didn’t outfox God, because they are in Jesus’ hands too when they die. We will all eventually be dealt with according to our choices.
Now,
Verse 6
Verse 6 depending on how you interpret it is either a strange way of wording a truth that we might think would go without saying, or it’s one of the most fascinating, tantalizing, verses in all the Bible. It begins with the word “for” which connects it with something previously said. I think it supports the fact that even the realm of the dead is Jesus’ dominion.
Here’s the way it reads in the NASB: “For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.”
A common interpretation of this verse among scholars and commentators is that Peter is saying the gospel was preached to people who died after hearing it and it was even preached to people who would die, because the gospel benefits us after death. You can make the wording fit that. “The gospel has for this purpose been preached [past tense] to those who are dead [present tense]”. And so it’s argued that it wasn’t necessarily that the gospel was preached to them while they were dead, but it’s that they were dead at the time of Peter’s writing.
That interpretation, many admit, is kind of an unnatural way to read the text. I mean when you first read, “the gospel was preached to those who are dead” it sounds at first like he’s saying dead people heard the gospel. And in the Greek text (the original language) that’s even more what it sounds like, because in the Greek text the words “those who are” (or your version may have “those who are now”) are not in the text. The Greek literally reads, “For this reason the gospel was preached even to the dead…” It doesn’t say “those who are now dead.” It says “the dead”.
But it’s believed, Peter can’t be saying the gospel was preached to the dead while they were dead, on primarily two grounds. One, it’s claimed the Bible doesn’t mention this anywhere else, yet you would think it would if that were true. And two, that sounds like some dead people got a second chance at salvation which would contradict Scripture.
Well, I don’t have a goal of being persecuted this morning. But I want to share with you my opinion about this, because if I were sitting where you are I would want me to do that. If somebody thinks God’s word is saying something, I don’t care if it goes against tradition, I want to hear it. I want the truth on all matters to which God speaks. So can I be open with you? Will you not throw anything? I didn’t wear my helmet this morning.
I have read a lot of credible opinion about this verse, probably over a dozen different commentaries on this verse, several scholarly journal articles, and other things. So I have a lot I could say about this, if you want to discuss it with me more, we can do that, but I’m just going to share with you the gist of my understanding and why.
I think Peter is saying what it sounds like he’s saying and I think we should look again to see if the Bible mentions anything like this elsewhere and reconsider if it would really contradict any Scripture.
In the context before this, not very far away, Peter said something similar. Remember I Peter 3:18-20, “ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared…” So that really sounds like, Jesus died, then before He rose, He went and did some prison ministry, and he doesn’t tell us here what He preached, but only that He went and preached to spirits in prison back from Noah’s day. And I think 4:6 is a similar event, if not the same event, “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead…”
Among several early Christian writings of the first few centuries, you find this belief that the gospel was shared with the dead.
A couple of the most fascinating examples to me come from two 2nd century Christian writers, Irenaues and Justin Martyr. They both wrote that there was a verse in the OT book of Jeremiah and the book of Isaiah that Jewish leaders actually had removed from the text because it sounded too much like what Christians believe. They say the ancient verse that was removed read like this: “The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.” Now, I don’t know if that text was really removed from the OT or if that was just a nasty rumor. But it’s very interesting that they would say that. It shows at least that those early Christians believed the kind of thing it sounds like Peter is saying.
Now, I think you could make a convincing case that we do not get a second chance after death. II Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Sounds like we will be dealt with according to our deeds in the body while living on earth. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that people who lived in OT times and in times of great ignorance, wouldn’t get a chance, eventually after death, to hear the gospel and repent.
Some say “That would make God a respecter of persons (showing partiality) if He gave them a second chance after death, but not us.” But I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I think it could also be argued, it would make God a respecter of persons not to give the people who lived in OT times a second chance. OT times were times of ignorance, says Paul in Acts 17:30, times when God permitted the nations to go their own way (Acts 14:16). The nations all served other gods, and Israel by in large was unfaithful to God. If we had lived back then, especially in a nation other than Israel, would we have served God? There’s a lot more people serving God today, than back then. And why is that? Because we’ve heard the gospel. I serve God and am saved because of the gospel. I’ve heard about Jesus’ death for my sins and His resurrection and it’s convinced me of God’s love for me and has given me real hope and I’ve heard of how He’s coming back and what He will do when He comes back… And that message has motivated us to want to serve God. So we’ve been given a privilege, and maybe to be fair, God’s given the dead from OT times a chance to hear the gospel as well. Now I don’t know if all the dead heard the gospel or just a category of the dead, I don’t know, I have lots of questions.
Is this the only passage we have in the Bible that says anything like this? Well, what about that interesting one in Ephesians 4:8-9 that speaks of Jesus descending into the lower parts of the earth and then ascending on high, leading a host of captives. In ancient thought, Hades or the realm of the dead was believed to be under the earth or in the lower parts of the earth. Ephesians 4 kind of sounds like Jesus went there and then led a host of captives when He ascended on high.
And I’ve got some other strange passages that I’m not confident on, but if you’d like to wrestle with them, let me know.
What would be the point of this? Why would Peter bring something like this up? I don’t think it’s to say that we get a second chance, because that’s not what it says (cf. 4:7). But more I think that the realm of the dead is also Jesus’ dominion and He’s in charge of even what happens to the dead. And so even if it costs us our life (figuratively and literally) to follow Jesus, that’s what we want to do. So wrestle with that, but don’t miss the point of the passage: suffering for righteousness is not a misfortune we want to avoid, but that’s an honor we want to follow Jesus to. We want to be so like Jesus, that those who love the darkness, hate us. That’s the life we want to live.
-James Williams