Righteousness, Slander, and Judgment
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iii. Sin has already occupied too much time. (4:3, Proverbs 1:29–31, Proverbs 14:14, Romans 1:22–25)
This is a continuation of the command in the previous verse to live according to the will of God and not according to the will of men. Those who have suffered with Christ in the flesh are free from sin and able to live to the will of God, instead of the lusts of men.
Peter takes this thread into verse 3. We have already spent so much time living to the lusts of men, the will of the Gentiles, in life before salvation. As mentioned before, these people, I believe, primarily Gentiles who converted as adults, so they had a whole history behind them of pagan living. The phrase “suffice us” means, “it was enough.” All the time we spent in sin in our old life was enough sin. Indeed, more than enough sin.
Peter takes the lowest ground: for not even the past time ought to have been wasted in lust; but since you cannot recall it, at least lay out the future to better account.
It was not okay that they had lived their life in such a way. Those sins were wrong, and they needed to repent of them. But after they did, why would they want to go back? There is no more need for sin. There is no reason to go back. They already had enough, and more than enough, sin for their entire lives. They had their fill of rebellion against God and had turned to Him in repentance. He’s reminding them of how they hated their sin and left it behind in salvation.
For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: They despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own devices.
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: And a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Of course, this applies to those raised in a Christian home and saved from a young age as well. All of us sinned growing up and have probably sinned this past week. Whatever past of sin we have, it is enough. There is no reason to continue in it. Let us repent, turn to God, and be holy.
Then Peter gives a list of sins that characterized their past lives. What are all of these?
Lasciviousness - Unrestrained and indecent behavior. Denotes a lack of control.
Lusts - Any sort of evil, ungodly craving.
Excess of wine - Drunkenness. The Greek word is a compound word that comes from “wine” and “overflow.”
Revelings - Wild parties.
Banquetings - Similar to revelings, but with heavy drinking implied.
Abominable idolatries. Notice that this is the only one with an adjective describing it. It seems to form the climax of pagan wickedness, and is really the root of much of their bad behavior.
Idolatry is one of the most foundational sins for mankind. There is idolatry of self, or pride, which is the sin commited by Satan. You could argue Adam and Eve committed it as well. The love of money—the root of all evil—could also be called the idolatry of money. Making a idol of God is the final sin in the list in Romans 1.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
A Jewish source also speaks of idolatry as the root of all pagan evils.
Then it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but though living in great strife due to ignorance, they call such great evils peace. For whether they kill children in their initiations, or celebrate secret mysteries, or hold frenzied revels with strange customs, they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure, but they either treacherously kill one another, or grieve one another by adultery, and all is a raging riot of blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury, confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors, defiling of souls, sexual perversion, disorder in marriages, adultery, and debauchery. For the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil. For their worshipers either rave in exultation, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury; for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm.
Making idols of depraved gods led to depraved worship. A lot of the wickedness spoken of in the Gentile world followed from the worship preferences of their gods.
This applies to us today as well. Idolatry is still very much a problem, and we become what we worship. If we acknowledge God as Lord over every area of our lives (and really mean it), we will become more like Him. But if we set some person, hobby, or job as the center of our life, it will influence how we act. Right living starts with right worship.
iv. The changed life of a believer often shocks the pagans. (4:4)
The word for “think it strange” means that they are surprised or astonished. That someone would leave sin willingly is a novel idea to them. They think it strange that changed Christians do not participate in the these uncontrolled, excessive sins. Everything in the wording here speaks of a lack of restraint. “Run, excess, riot,” are all words of eagerness and being over-the-top in pleasing the flesh. They stand in complete contrast with the Christian ideal of holiness. Disciple is our standard, but for the pagan—at least the average person—their ideal is the unrestrained sin of their gods.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Nine: The Rest of Your Time (1 Peter 4:1–11)
Unsaved people do not understand the radical change that their friends experience when they trust Christ and become children of God. They do not think it strange when people wreck their bodies, destroy their homes, and ruin their lives by running from one sin to another! But let a drunkard become sober, or an immoral person pure, and the family thinks he has lost his mind!
The last part of the verse is odd though. Why would this restraint lead to a Christian’s neighbors speaking evil of him? That is, slandering or insulting him? It makes enough sense that they would be shocked by it. That lifestyle is all they’ve known, so deviance from it is bound to be strange. But why would that turn them to accusing a Christian? I think they are two reasons.
First, and most obviously, is the sin of envy. These Gentiles might have envied the happier lives Christians were living and thus tried to accuse their character or slander them to get them arrested, “canceled,” and generally make their lives hard. Christians living righteously would be a testimony against the kind of sin described here, just as Peter said. So what happens when follows the instructions Peter gives about holy living? People think it’s strange. And they are jealous, but they aren’t willing to leave their sin. So they try to tear that person back down to their level and feel better about themselves.
The second reason is back in verse 3—abominable idolatries. Idolatry was part of the daily life of every Gentile.
Craig A. Evans
John’s Gospel, Hebrews–Revelation 4:1–6. The Rationale for Separateness
Every aspect of Greco-Roman life was surrounded, sanctified, and cradled by the presence of the gods and the acknowledgment of their favor. Households practiced the worship of the family’s gods. Civic festivals and holidays were always religious events to some degree. Trade guilds had their patron deities, whose favor would be invoked at meetings and social gatherings. Private parties would include some pious acts of devotion to the gods, perhaps even being hosted in a dining room adjacent to a pagan temple. And, of course, imperial cult activity was especially prominent in the cities of these provinces.
All of these activities were part of what they called piety. Today, most people either don’t know what piety is or misunderstand it. But in the days of the Roman Empire, it meant a life characterized by duty. Duty to fathers, duties to wives, duties to children, and most importantly, duties to the gods. There were certain things that every person in one’s life was owed, and it was your job to do those things.
Even the ancient Greek philosophers and moralists, who discouraged the gross sin so present in the Gentile world, spoke of worshipping the gods as morally upright because it was an act of piety. It was fulfilling one’s given duties.
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The Gentiles probably saw these Christians as failing in their divine duties and being atheistic. They might have even felt sorry for them and expected their gods to bring judgment for failing to show piety toward them.
It was for this cause that the Gentiles spoke evil of the Christians. They slandered them in insulting their character, devotion, and piety because these pagans had completely different standards of what worship and piety looked like. Peter assured them that God would return to judge the world, set things right, and reward them for their righteous service.
This has strong parallels for today. The world around us has flipped morality on its head. If you do not bow to the god of wokeism, you are slandered as a racist, sexist, transphone, homophone, Islamiphobe, and all the other ists and phobes. We are seen as neglecting our duties to stop climate change or be less white.
For any good Christian, these things are untrue. We should not be distressed at the slander, nor surprised when the slander comes, because we know we are living honestly toward God. And we must also stand strong in that way of life despite the misunderstanding and slander of others.
v. All Christians will stand before God to account for their actions. (4:5, Revelation 20:11–12, Matthew 12:36, Romans 14:12, Hebrews 13:17, Psalm 98:9)
There is some disagreement about who “who” refer to. Some say it’s about the heathen who are slandering them who will have to give account for what they say. Others interpret it as the Christians giving account for their righteous actions and any compromising they might have done. Which one you take doesn’t, I think, matter all that much. They both end up in basically the same place.
I take the latter interpretation for this reason: the phrase “give account” better fits the description of the judgment of Christians than the description of the judgment of non-Christians.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Here, God is reading what has happened and judging. There is no giving account. Only God reading facts and meting out judgment.
Compare that to these other passages.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
The first passage is spoken to the Pharisees, so may be speaking of the judgment of unbelievers, but the other two are definitely talking about Christians. It is a different picture than the Great White Throne judgment awaiting unbelievers.
But whichever side you take, the Bible does speak explicitly about a time God will return and judge all people of the world.
Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: With righteousness shall he judge the world, And the people with equity.
This is both an encouragement and a warning. If they are living right, the slander of the unbelievers will be refuted and Christians will be rewarded for their righteous actions. God will set the record straight. But it’s also a warning to stay on the right path, because God will judge their unrighteous actions too.
Additionally, God will judge the lies of the unbelievers and punish them for that. Just as Jesus commited Himself to Him that judged righteously, so Christians in Peter’s day and today should not worry about the slander of the wicked. We should defend ourselves when necessary but then focus on holy living that will make those who slander ashamed.
vi. Those who have died as Christians will live in the spirit with God. (4:6, Hebrews 9:7, 1 Peter 3:18)
This is the third verse in three weeks that can be tricky to interpret. The Gospel is preached to them that are dead? Does this mean that those who have already died have another chance to receive salvation?
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
After death is judgment. No second chance. So that’s obviously not what it means.
You could also make the case that this means Jesus preached the Gospel to the Old Testament saints in Abraham’s Bosom. But there’s a simpler explanation. The gospel was preached to those who were alive but were at this time dead. You might say, the gospel was preached to them that are now dead.
For what cause? That they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to men in the spirit. What does this mean?
“Judged according to men in the flesh” talks about Christians still dying. This is obvious when you compare it to the next phrase. “Judged” is contrasted with “live.” It’s hard to tell whether this is talking about Christians being martyred after they are judged by men, or if it’s talking about Christians dying from martyrdom or natural causes because their bodies are still judged for sin by dying. But I tend to think it’s a parallel with an earlier verse, applying Jesus’ suffering to Christians.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Though we might suffer or be put to death for our faith, or even just die of old age, our flesh is not the only part of us. We will still live according to God in the spirit. That is, by God’s power. we will still be alive in the spirit.
Exploring the Epistles of Peter: An Expository Commentary b. A Word about the Judgment (4:6)
“One of these days you will read in the newspaper that D. L. Moody of Northfield is dead. Don’t believe a word of it! I shall be more alive then than I am now.”
So we end this section with encouragement. As we forsake sin, we will be slandered and insulted. We may even suffer bodily as Jesus did. But if we living righteously, we can take confidence in God’s final judgment to sort everything out and reward us for that faithfulness. And, in the end, we can know that our spirits—and later, glorified bodies—will live with God. That is enough to get us through any trial.