A Militant Attitude toward Sin (1 Peter 4:1–3)

The picture in these verses 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. Outlook determines outcome, and a believer must have the right attitudes if he or she is to live a right life. It is easy for Christians to get accustomed to sin. Instead of having a militant attitude that hates and opposes it, we gradually get used to sin, sometimes without even realizing it. The one thing that will destroy “the rest of our time” is sin. A believer living in sin is a terrible weapon in the hands of Satan. Peter presented three arguments to convince us to oppose sin in our lives.

I. Think of what sin did to Jesus (v. 1).

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

A. He had to suffer because of sin.

How can we enjoy that which made Jesus suffer and die on the cross? If a vicious criminal stabbed your child to death, would you preserve that knife in a glass case on your mantle? I doubt it. You would never want to see that knife again.

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 out. 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, with a militant attitude toward sin, even though He had great compassion for lost sinners.

B. 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 to not sin.

Christ in our lives, can help us have victory over sin. 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.

II. Enjoy the will of God (v. 2).

2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

A. The contrast is between the desires of men and the will of God.

Our longtime friends cannot understand the change in our lives, and they want us to return to the same “flood of dissipation” that we used to enjoy. But the will of God is so much better! If we do the will of God, then we will invest “the rest of our time” in that which is lasting and satisfying; but if we give in to the world around us, we will waste “the rest of our time” and regret it when we stand before Jesus.

The will of God is not a burden that the Father places on us. Rather it is the divine enjoyment and enablement that makes all burdens light. The will of God comes from the heart of God and therefore is an expression of the love of God. We may not always understand what He is doing, but we know that He is doing what is best for us. We do not live on explanations; we live on promises.

III. Remember what you were before you met Christ (v. 3).

3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

A. There are times when looking back at your past life would be wrong.

Satan could use those memories of the past to discourage you. There are times however that we need to be reminded of our past though.

God urged Israel to remember that they had once been slaves in Egypt. Paul remembered that he had been a persecutor of believers, and this encouraged him to do even more for Christ. We sometimes forget the bondage of sin and remember only the passing pleasures of sin.

B. The will of the Gentiles” means “the will of the unsaved world”

Lost sinners imitate each other as they conform to the fashions of this world. “Lewdness” and “lusts” describe all kinds of evil appetites and not just sexual sins. “Revelings and banquetings” refer to pagan orgies where the wine flowed freely.

Of course, all of this could be a part of pagan worship, since “religious prostitution” was an accepted thing. Even though these practices were forbidden by law, they were often practiced in secret.

We may not have been guilty of such gross sins in our preconversion days, but we were still sinners—and our sins helped to crucify Christ. How foolish to go back to that kind of life!