October 11, 2025 - 1 Peter 4:1-4 - "When Others Think It Strange"

1 Peter 4:1-4

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:"

Peter begins this exhortation by pointing to the historical, incarnate suffering of Christ.

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh..." Jesus Who did not merely suffer abstractly; He suffered “in the flesh,” fully human, yet without sin. His suffering was substitutionary—He bore the wrath and judgment due for the sins of His people. This is the very heart of the redeeming, justifying work of the LORD Jesus. Christ suffered for us, sinners chosen by God the Father for whom He paid the debt, meaning He experienced the penalty and the trials of sin on behalf of those given to Him by the Father (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:4–6). In His suffering, Jesus was completely subject to the Father’s will, enduring temptation, rejection, and death on the cross without yielding to sin. He lived the life of perfect obedience that sinners could never live themselves, and in doing so, He bore their sin and guilt.

Therefore, the apostle Peter points us to the finished work of Christ: He suffered in the flesh for His people, bearing their sin. Through His suffering, He ceased from sin, that is as the sin-Bearer , having fully satisfied God’s law and justice, and therefore has ceased from bearing that sin, because it was completely put away in His death. He lived not according to human lusts, the evil desires of those who pursued Him to death but was perfectly submitted to the Father’s will.

Therefore, as believers, we are called to "arm ourselves with this same mind"—to reckon ourselves dead to sin, alive to God, and to follow Christ in spirit, submission, and obedience. This is the call to arm ourselves with the same mind that was in Christ—a solemn preparation for spiritual battle. Just as He suffered, so must we be willing to suffer, not for wrongdoing, but for the sake of His righteousness. When others regard as strange the Faith revealed in us by God's Spirit —strange in whom we worship, strange in how we live in obedience to Christ alone—we must not be discouraged. Both the world and those who claim religion will take notice. Yet, if the LORD has truly taught us the Gospel of His dear Son through His Word and the inward revelation of His Spirit, our lives will bear a marked difference. Here, Peter’s exhortation rings clear: “Arm yourselves.” Let us take up this call with steadfast hearts, counting the cost, trusting wholly in Christ. There is preparation. There is combat. We cannot live as we did in the past, for as it says, "the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings, banqueting, and abominable idolatry."

Notice the phrase, “wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riots, speaking evil of you.” The world, both secular and religious, will speak evil. They will poke at you and attempt to ensnare you just as they did our LORD Jesus (Matthew 22:15-18). They will try to cause you to stumble. They will shake their heads. They will look upon you as a foreigner, as an alien. But we are called to be distinct. There is a difference because of what Christ has accomplished for us. The life, suffering, and death of Christ is not merely a story to learn, nor merely a doctrine to believe, although we must believe it. It is the very foundation of our salvation (Acts 4:12).

The cross is where salvation was wrought. God dealt with the sin of His people through the Person of His Son. God did not merely overlook sin. God put the sin of His people to the account of His Son, and He put the Righteousness that His Son earned and established, in His obedience unto death, to the account of His people. That is why we look to Christ and Him crucified. That is where our hope is. 2 Corinthians 5:21 reminds us, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

"He no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." It is nauseating to even consider returning to the excesses of the past. Whether it was lasciviousness, idolatry, or false worship, it is all corruption, evil, and condemnation. We have been delivered. We are to live soberly and watchfully, even as Philippians 1:28-29 instructs: “And nothing’s terrified by your adversaries…for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Yes, others will find it strange, and that they ought. The LORD Himself has made a difference. We are to bear no grudges, but to stand firm, to live unto the will of God, and that the Gospel motivate us in all we say and do. Just as Peter writes, we no longer live for the lusts of men, but to the glory of Christ. We are a people distinct and separate, called to walk in the light of the Truth, as it is in Christ, guided by His Spirit, and motivated by grace, not works.

Because of Christ's great redemption accomplished on behalf of those elect sinners that the Father sent Him to save, by His obedience unto death, we arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ, knowing that others will think it strange. Let us rejoice that the time past of our life is behind us, and that we now live by the will of God, for the glory of His Son, standing justified by Christ in His death, and looking only to Him who has suffered for us, so that we might live and walk in His Righteousness and Holiness imputed to our spiritual account at the cross.

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.