Read: 1 Peter 4:1-6
Following Jesus is hard. No exceptions. For one, you’ve got a Bible whose main message is clear, but it’s not without challenging passages. Like, “the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin?” What’s that all about? Following Jesus is also hard because we live in a post-Christian culture (very much similar to the 1st century), where our beliefs often do not fit into the plausibility structures of the wider culture. But here in 1 Peter 4, the apostle urges us that even though living for God is hard, there are good and reasonable reasons for doing so.
1) Why it’s hard to live for God?
The main point of this short passage is in vv. 1-2. Peter encourages us to use the mindset of Jesus as He suffered in the flesh. What was that mindset? Jesus lived for God’s will, not His own. He was other-focused, not self-focused. That is incredibly hard for us for several reasons.
First, our past has often habituated us toward living for ourselves. In v. 3 Peter just casually assumes that his audience has at one time or another been caught up in drunkenness and orgies. But he exhorts them: you’ve already had enough time in that lifestyle. The reality remains: our actions do change us. Our hearts become conditioned to what we do. It’s hard to break with that.
Second, living for God’s will is hard because it often involves living under immense cultural pressure to do the opposite. Peter says unbelievers are “surprised” (v. 4) by Christians not joining them in a “flood of wild living.” But it isn’t just surprise. It’s shock that evolves into slander. History shows many examples of Jesus followers slandered, abused, ignored, reviled, and even condemned when they refused to join in, approve, affirm, and celebrate ways of living that run contrary to God’s will. That kind of pressure is real and it’s difficult to navigate.
Third, living for God’s will is hard because it runs contrary to the core of who we are. What do I mean? In v. 3, when Peter is listing out a range of ‘off-limits’ behaviors, he includes the word “evil desires.” It’s actually one word in the Greek (epithumia) and is more neutral than most of our translations indicate. Peter is saying that God doesn’t merely care about our behaviors, but about our thoughts, fantasies, beliefs. The apostle is drawing on a compelling and complex anthropological principle found in the Scriptures: our desires often become deep things that motivate, drive, control, and rule us. Our hearts create in us a longing, craving, need that we must have at all costs – and it drives our actions, wills, and attitudes. Essentially, Peter is saying that we need a new motivational system that operates at the core of who we are. Otherwise our sinful selves twist good desires so that we crave, long for, and build our lives on the attainment of things in order to justify ourselves.
2) What are reasons to live for God?
So there are both external and internal realities that make living for God extremely hard. But Peter is saying that there’s a truth for our minds that when we reason it out make it both reasonable and desirable to live for God. What are some of these truths?
To begin, unlike our internal desires and cultural standards, God’s will and standards don’t change. If you consider your desires for one moment you realize they often conflict and fluctuate for a variety of reasons. In short, they’re a poor navigator for life. The same goes for cultural standards. What passes for truth and goodness today will be laughable and scorned in a generation. We need something external to ourselves and the culture. God has provided His Word, the Scripture as a standard that does not change, is internally consistent, is eternally reliable.
Peter goes on to say that another reason to live for God is: you live twice. In Peter’s context, people may have been saying something like: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die. It was a common notion in the ancient world. You live once, and then you die. It’s the only change you have. But Peter argues that there are not only consequences to our life, but there is a supernatural accountability after death. Everyone will give an account. They have to prove their life mattered. Now that’s a good reason to live for God – but the reality is our selves are continuously and perpetually wrong. We do not live according to God’s will or standard. We may not spend Saturday night at an orgy, but maybe we try to tap ultimate meaning through work, busyness, a romantic relationship, our kids’ success. So is there any good news?
Yes! Peter says the most important reason to live for God is: you are finished with sin. What does that mean? Peter indicates in v. 5 that there is “one who is coming to judge the living and the dead.” And he refers to that as “the gospel” or the good news. But as we’ve seen and experience, judgment sounds like anything but good news. How can judgment be good? The answer is in v. 1. The judgment of the living and dead is good news because the One doing the judging is the One who suffered in the flesh. The use of the Greek is interesting here. Peter’s verbs describe a definitive event, not an ongoing process. In fact, the same form is used in 1 Peter 3:18 to describe Jesus’ once-for-all suffering on the cross. Peter is indicating one act of suffering that brings about a situation in which sin is finished. This is the centrality of the cross for everyone. Jesus’ suffering has brought about an end to your sin. It is finished. Done. Canceled. That means that judgment for you has already taken place in Jesus’ flesh once for all. Why would Jesus do that? What was the mindset that motivated him? What was his longing? Hebrews 12 says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. What was the joy? It was you. You were the desire of his heart such that He followed God’s will personally, perfectly, and perpetually all the way to Calvary. When Jesus’ mind, when the truth that you are His joy, fills you, then you’ll know a truth, a motivation to live for God.
Discuss
1. What about the sermon impacted you most? What left you with questions?
2. The sermon mentioned several reasons it is hard to live for God? Which one connected with you most? Are there other reasons you experience that make following God’s will difficult?
3. One thing the sermon didn’t really touch on was: the resources God has given to help us live for him. Things like: Scripture, prayer, corporate worship and the sacraments, godly relationships. Which of these have you found helpful to you recently? What resources might you be neglecting?
4. A common misconception about Christianity is that it is buzzkill. Many look at the rules and think Christianity is about behavior modification or legislating morality. How might you respond to that idea?
5. The truth that one is coming to judge the living and the dead is good news. Explain. Do you have doubts or anxiety about this judgment? How does the gospel speak to them?