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, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

1 Peter 4:1-2

Peter had spoken earlier of how “Christ also suffered once for sins” (3:18) in order to correlate it with his larger theme: teaching Christians to be willing to suffer as He did as part of our efforts to bring others to Christ (2:9-12) and thus avoid responding to the hardships and persecutions of life with retaliatory vengeance (2:13-3:17).  The apostle now returns to his theme by urging us to “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking” (4:1b) that prompted Christ to “suffer in the flesh” (4:1a).  As part of this suffering, Jesus avoided retaliating in kind when He was reviled and thus left us an example to follow (2:21-24).  Peter had earlier told us that being like our Lord in this manner is a big part of what it means to be a Christian (“For to this you have been called” – 2:21a).  Now he reminds us of this again by directing us to be willing to suffer wrongdoing just as Jesus did.

“Whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (4:1c; cf. 1 John 3:6, 8-9; 5:18), taken by itself at face value, understandably looks like Peter is saying that suffering inherently leads to sinlessness.  Yet everyone sins (Rom. 3:23), including even Christians who faithfully walk in the light (1 John 1:6-10).  Some have thus concluded that the suffering Peter has in mind here must be martyrdom since the cessation of life for the faithful Christian would naturally mean that he or she would no longer sin in any way.  However, his subsequent statement – “so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (4:2) – sheds light on a more accurate conclusion.  Peter of all people would have understood from personal experience that followers of Christ are not sinless (e.g., Lk. 5:8-11; Matt. 16:13-23; 14:23-33; 26:31-35, 69-75; Gal. 2:11-14).  Yet in spite of all the sins and shortcomings made throughout his time as a follower of Jesus, Peter had no doubt that he would still be “a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (5:1).  Why?  Because even though he still sinned, as a Christian he no longer allowed sin to rule over him (Rom. 6).  He chose “to live for the rest of (his) time in the flesh no longer for human passions” (4:2a; cf. 1:14; Rom. 13:14; Tit. 2:12; 1 John 2:15-17).  Instead, his highest priority would be “the will of God” (4:2b; cf. Matt. 6:33; Rom. 6:13, 16-18).  Thus, Peter – as well as you and me, Christians – would still sin occasionally due to weakness and other human fallacies.  However, having obeying God’s will in every area of life as one’s main concern would motivate him – and us – to continually strive to repent of our shortcomings and do better in our service to God, which in turn would always result in immediate and continual forgiveness from our Lord whenever we sin (1 John 1:7-9; 2 Cor. 7:9-11).  In this way Peter – and faithful Christians today – have “ceased from sin.”

So why did Peter specify that “whoever has suffered in the flesh” is the one who “has ceased from sin” (4:1c)?  Think back of his larger theme in this letter: teaching Christians to be willing to suffer, including responding to suffering and persecution in Christ-like ways, all in an effort to bring others to Christ.  Study 1 Peter 2:9-3:17 very carefully once more.  Think of the self-control required to abstain from sinful, vengeful, self-centered retaliation when someone wrongs you because you are more concerned with showing God’s love to them in an effort to help them be open to obeying the gospel.  That kind of discipline is also needed to keep sin from reigning in your life and thus live faithfully and penitently for God, which is why self-control is listed among the traits which show that you are spiritual (Gal. 5:16-24).

Does this describe you and me, brethren?

— Jon