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THEREFORE SINCE CHRIST HAS
SUFFERED IN THE FLESH: Christou oun pathontos (AAPMSG)
sarki: (1
Peter 3:18)
For Christ also died for sins once
for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to
God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the
spirit (see note
1 Peter 3:18)
Therefore looks back to His
unjust suffering and undeserved death (1
Peter 3:18, see also
notes on
1 Peter 2:24;
4:13;
5:1) but also to His
triumphant victory
over the forces of darkness (see note
1 Peter 3:22)
and he reiterates for emphasis Jesus
suffered as a man and His example and Selfless attitude should motivate us
to arm ourselves. And specifically believers in light of Jesus'
suffering should be motivated to deal decisively with sin, for He
dealt the death blow to sin for us when He suffered and died on the
Cross. Believers are now dead to the power of sin positionally and
thus are free from its power to control us. Sure we still sin, but now
we make the conscious choice to sin. Peter says now we need to make
the conscious choice to cease from sin. Sin is destructive, deceptive,
decay producing and death dealing. In light of our Savior's unjust
suffering in our place and as our substitute, we should hate sin, for
it was sin that took our Lord Jesus to the Cross.
Since Christ
has suffered - Spurgeon comments...
Brethren, we have a Savior who
suffered for us. As the Head was, such must the members expect to be.
Let us, then, be resolutely determined that, suffer as we may, we will
never turn aside from our Lord; for, inasmuch as we suffered in him,
yea, and died in him, we ought to reckon that we are henceforth dead
to sin, and that we have ceased from it, and can no longer be drawn
into it.
In the flesh
- refers to His physical body. He was no phantom, but fully Man, Who
lived a sinless life.
Since He as a
Man has died for us. (see note
1 Peter 3:18).
The design was to set the suffering Redeemer before them as an example
in their trials and refers to the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ.
He had to suffer (see notes
Hebrews 2:9,
2:10,
5:8) because of sin. And so our Lord came to earth
to deal with sin and to conquer it forever. He dealt with the
ignorance of sin by teaching the truth and by living it before men’s
eyes. He dealt with the consequences of sin by healing and forgiving;
and, on the cross, He dealt the final deathblow to sin itself. He was
armed, as it were, with a militant attitude toward sin, even though He
had great compassion for lost sinners.
When He died, we died (co-crucified with Him - see
Romans 6:3;
6:4;
6:5;
6:6;
6:14,
Galatians 2:20). Therefore how can we enjoy that which made Jesus suffer and die
on the cross (cp attitude in Ezekiel 9:4)? We have been spiritually
circumcised and have been given a new heart (with a new motivation, a
new power, His Spirit of holiness to lead us).
ARM YOURSELVES ALSO WITH THE SAME PURPOSE (mind, attitude): kai humeis ten auten ennoian hoplisasthe (2PAMM):
(Ro 13:12-14 ;
Php 2:5;
Heb 12:3)
KJV is a good translation
of the Greek here...
arm yourselves likewise
with the same mind: (cp notes
Philippians 2:5;
2:6;
2:7;
2:8)
Arm yourselves
- This phrase brings out the force of the Greek, which
conveys the metaphor of going out to battle after putting on armor.
Don't miss Peter's implication beloved. You are involved (whether you
like it or not) in a relentless war with the world, your flesh and the
devil, so you had better arm youself!
If
we put on or adopt the same frame of mind as Jesus had, we shall find
that we have protected ourselves (our heart and mind, cp Proverbs
4:23) against the attacks of temptation (see notes
Ephesians 6:17,
1Thessalonians 5:8) The picture is that of a soldier who puts on his equipment and arms
himself for battle. Our attitudes are weapons, and weak or wrong
attitudes will lead us to defeat.
Arm
(3695)
(hoplizo from hoplon = weapon) basically means to make
ready or prepare, with a focus upon the process of equipping. In Greek
it was used from Homer down meaning to arm, to furnish with arms or to
provide. In the case of soldiers it means to equip one's self with
weapons. The noun hoplon was used for a soldier who was heavily
armed with javelin and large shield and so the picture is that this
soldier is heavily armed. Peter is not speaking of literal weapons or
armor but uses hoplizo figuratively to convey the idea of
arming oneself with a mind or thought in preparation for suffering.
Remember the way you think determines how you act (and react).
The verb
arm in
aorist imperative
which calls for
a decisive choice to effectively accomplish this action and implies an
urgent and immediate call to do so. Peter is commanding the reader to adopt
the attitude of Christ -- equip or arm yourself with this most
appropriate tool or weapon -- an attitude similar to that which Christ (cp
similar thoughts about preparing our minds - gird your mind -
see note
1 Peter 1:13,
keep sober in spirit - see notes
1 Peter 5:8,
cp
Ephesians 6:14,
2 Timothy 2:3;
2:4...)
Why the mind? What is the important point? The world make look like
the battleground for believers (and it is) but the real war takes
place in our mind where the battle is
over truth. We are in a truceless war (see note
Romans 13:12, 2Cor
6:7,10:4, see note
1 Peter 2:11).
Peter also uses of the
middle voice
which calls his hearers to a
personal responsibility in doing the arming. The idea is you arm
yourself. Only girded with this
mindset can you be victorious in the conflict. Fiery trials awaited
them and similar trials await each one of His disciples who seeks to
walk worthy of the gospel to which we were called.
Outlook determines outcome, and a
believer must have the right attitudes if he is to live a right life.
Since this is a constant struggle we need to be properly motivated and
that is what Peter is doing in this section, teaching that we can be
motivated by the truth that our Lord also suffered and also by the
certainty of His imminent return to judge the living and the dead.
Yourselves - humeis = you
is first in the sentence for emphasis. Purpose is better translated
"mind" (see note
Hebrews 4:12)
and indicates an attitude,
viewpoint or resolve that expresses itself in determined action.
Attitude determines action.
Peter says we are to have the same attitude about suffering for
righteousness sake as did the Righteous One. The idea of arm is "put
on the same armor", "arm yourselves with the same insight."
Christ had perfect insight into the true nature of
Sin
and its consequences and
this led Him to deliberately set His face like flint (Isa 50:7) toward
Jerusalem and the Cross (Lu 9:51) and so too must we (Lu 9:23, Mk 8:34-36)
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me (Mt 16:24).
Richison makes an
excellent point that...
Every time we resist temptation, we
become more equipped to resist the next temptation. Each time we
conquer sin makes us better able to face the next attack. As we build
momentum of conquering sin, we become more spiritually mature.
Spiritual maturity guarantees infrequency of sin in our lives. (1
Peter 4:1b)
H Mears writes
Such a high resolve will involve a measure of actual suffering, for
God’s will may cut across our desire to gratify some bodily craving.
Very few in this world escape suffering, either mental, physical or
spiritual. We cannot choose the way we shall suffer. Often God allows
us to go through life denied the one thing we wish more than anything
else. But we should be comforted in this that whom God loves, He
chastens. If He grinds down the surface of our lives, it is that the
stone may shine the more brilliantly. The many facets of the diamond
are what make it dazzling.
What is your attitude toward sin? Have you armed yourself? Are
you willing to suffer for righteousness sake?
With the same purpose - As discussed below perhaps a better way
to translate this word would be intention. What Peter is showing us is
that righteous living begins right thinking (intentions).
Purpose (1771)
(ennoia from en = in + noús = mind) is
literally "in mind" and so refers to a thought, principle, counsel, resolve.
The principle of thought and feeling here referred to is that of the
dying life voluntarily accepted and put on as armor, and finding
expression in the meek & courageous pursuit of the spiritual life.
This word deals with forming motivations.
The only other NT use of
ennoia is in Hebrews...
For the word of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as
the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able
to judge the thoughts and intentions (ennoia) of the heart.
(See note
Hebrews 4:12)
(Comment: Here the point is that God’s Word discerns morally
questionable motivations of our hearts.)
BECAUSE HE WHO HAS SUFFERED
IN THE FLESH HAS CEASED FROM SIN: hoti o pathon (AAPMSN) sarki
pepautai (3SRMI) hamartias: (Ro 6:2,7,11;
Gal 2:20;
5:24;
Col 3:3-5)
(Isa 1:16;
Eze 16:41;
Heb 4:10)
Note that this is a difficult
passage and although I have presented the interpretation I favor, the
reader should be aware that there are at least three other possible
interpretations. See Steven Cole's discussion for a more detailed
analysis of the possibilities (click).
Suffered in the flesh -
as Christ did equates with His death, burial and resurrection bringing
victory over sin & death. As we "suffer in the flesh" (note aorist
tense here signifying a once for all time suffering ~ when He died we
died when we by faith identified with His death). Now because of our
IDENTIFICATION with Christ by faith, we too have died to the power of
sin in our life. Sin no longer reigns & controls us (see notes
Romans 6:11;
14). We have ceased once and for all from our
former slavery to SIN and now are slaves to Christ, slaves to
righteousness. Note "ceased" is in the perfect tense which signifies a
definite break with sin's rule at one point in time (their day of
salvation when they identified by faith with Christ's propitiatory
work of Romans 6) with the effect of that once for all break from the
domination of SIN continuing in their new life in Christ.
So the central idea here seems to be the same truth taught in Romans 6
(also see note
Romans 8:13):
As we daily and even moment by moment yield ourselves in total
abandonment to to God, we are arming ourselves with
the same attitude toward sin that Jesus had and we are enabled by His
Spirit Who indwells us to overcome the strong desires that once ruled
over us in our old life. Remember however Jesus' warning in (Mt 25:41)
and be vigilant and diligent (see note
2 Peter 1:5ff).
Ceased (3973)
(pauo)
means to stop, restrain,
refrain, quit, desist. To come to an end.
Wiersbe writes
Our goal in life is to “cease from sin.” We will not
reach this goal until we die, or are called home when the Lord
returns; but this should not keep us from striving (1Jn 2:28-3:9).
Peter did not say that suffering of itself would cause a person to
stop sinning. Pharaoh in Egypt went through great suffering in the
plagues, and yet he sinned even more! I have visited suffering people
who cursed God and grew more and more bitter because of their pain.
(Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
Peter is encouraging them that although they may be currently
suffering or soon will enter a season of suffering, they are victors
in Christ (1Jn 5:4-5) & they have effectively broken with their former
slavery to the old master sin (see notes
Romans 6:17;
18;
22). The power of sin has
been terminated by Christ's death on the Cross and we can now walk in
newness of life (see note
Romans 6:4).
Believers now don't so much fight for victory as from the victory that
has already been accomplished on Calvary.
Suffering, plus Christ in our lives, can help us have victory over
sin.
Wayne Barber teaches that the suffering has a
purifying effect in our life so that after we have suffered we will
cease from sin. Other commentators take ceased from
sin to be more the idea along the line of the same truth
taught in Romans 6 that we are identified with Christ in His suffering
and death, and therefore can have victory over sin. As we yield
ourselves to God, and have the same attitude toward sin that Jesus
had, we can overcome the old life and manifest the new life.
F B Meyer in Our Daily Homily
- THE Church was redeemed in a baptism of pain: for her members to
suffer, and by suffering to overcome the world, is to fulfill the
forecast which Jesus gave when He said, "In the world ye shall have
tribulation; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Arm
yourselves with this mind; put on this thought, this resolution, this
purpose; determine that suffering at least shall never daunt you.
The reason for donning this
armor.--Here we have no continuing city. In the death of Jesus we
suffered in the flesh, and ceased from our connection with the world
which cast Him out: and, as suffering is meted out to us, we become
increasingly convinced that we can have no fellowship with its sins.
The pain which the world allots to the followers of Jesus widens the
chasm between them and it, pulls down the old nests in which their
affections once built, and makes them more determined than ever to
follow their Lord. The
choice which this armor involves.--No more the lusts of men, but
the will of God. Never again to work the desire of the Gentiles, but
to live according to God. Not henceforth to bow before the bondage of
evil habit, but with erect and upright gaze to behold the face of
Christ --such is the choice. Will you not now make it at this solemn
moment, as you stand on this watershed between the two
continents--here of the morning, there of the midnight? Follow the
King, cost what it may.
The nature of the armor.--It is armor of Light: in which
Christ's nature was encased, and on which all the shafts of man and
devil broke into splinters. No weapon that was ever manufactured can
prevail against its heavenly temper.
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F B Meyer - "Arm yourselves with
the same mind" (or thought, R. V. marg). - Let this thought be
deeply inwrought by the power of the Holy Ghost. Let it be the ruling
conception of your soul. Muse (Meditate)
on it as steadfastly as the saint is said to have considered the
stigmata. Gird it about you each morning (see note
1 Peter 1:13),
as the soldier his cuirass (ED: piece of armor covering the
body from neck to waist - the breastplate of such a piece) before he
enters on the fight (see notes
Ephesians 6:12;
6:13).
Whenever the world approaches with its soft caress, or the flesh
allures (see
Chart contrasting in the flesh vs
in the Spirit),
or the devil tempts, answer each unhallowed suggestion with the words,
I cannot do that now; I have
passed into a new world, where such things are not admissible. I am
seated in Christ Jesus, where all that is unclean and defiling is far
down under my feet.
Then reckon on the blessed Spirit to make your boasting good, and to
realize in you all that Jesus accomplished when He breathed out His
Spirit in the last throes of death. There is no need to be overcome of
sin. We are risen. We have ascended (see note
Ephesians 2:6).
We are one with Jesus in His glorious triumph (see notes
Colossians 1:27;
Colossians 3:4).
The Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and is
prepared to realize in us, as in miniature, all that glory and victory
which He wrought in our glorious Lord.
He that hath suffered in the
flesh (and we have done that in Jesus) hath ceased from sin.
Let us ponder these deep and
precious words. (F B
Meyer from The Glorious Lord)
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A Cure For Self Pity - We
all have a tendency to feel sorry for ourselves when trouble comes our
way and everything seems to be going wrong. One cure for these
feelings can be found in remembering what other believers have endured
in their service for Christ.
Consider American missionary David Brainerd (1718-1747). He wrote,
My diet consists mostly of
hasty-pudding, boiled corn, and bread baked in ashes, and sometimes a
little meat and butter. My lodging is a little heap of straw, laid
upon some boards. . . . My work is exceedingly hard and difficult. . .
. These and many other uncomfortable circumstances attend me; and yet
my spiritual conflicts and distresses so far exceed all these that I
scarce think of them, but feel as if I were entertained in the most
sumptuous manner. It's
helpful to consider what people like David Brainerd have endured, but
it's even more helpful to remember what our Lord Jesus went through
for us. The most effective cure for self-pity is to recall the
suffering of our Savior on the cross and to think of the great joy we
will experience when He returns in His glory (1 Peter 4:1,13).
As we focus our thoughts on Jesus, we'll gain a new perspective and
our self-pity will cease. —Richard De Haan (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Lord, I thank You for the lessons
You have taught through those in need,
For they show how by affliction
They have learned on You to feed. —Anon.
When you think no one has problems like yours,
remember what Jesus endured. |
