Living for the Will Of God
Notes
Transcript
What does it mean to follow Gods will? How do we know what God’s will is for our life. Peter gives us what I believe is a great overview of what it means to follow God’s will. We can obviously go into more depth as we look to all of Scripture, But I believe that the three main points here summarize what living in God’s will looks like practically. Those points are to 1. Stop Sinning. 2. Start Serving. 3. Glorify God
Stop Sinning
Stop Sinning
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
The entire center of this passage is calling us to stop sinning. He says its time to quit living by human passions, than he gives us a long list of these passions. But rather than just give us a blanket command Peter gives us three reasons that help aid us in stopping sinning.
1. Because of the Resurrection
1. Because of the Resurrection
The first part of verse 1 gives us our example:
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh…” The word “therefore” takes us back to 3:18-22 where Peter starts that section by saying:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
And then ends the section by reminding us:
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Because of what Christ did on the cross, we are now dead to sin positionally.
The problem is that we still sin in practice. The middle part of verse 1 is an command: “…Arm yourselves also with the same mind…” Beloved, we are at war with sin and this war is a spiritual battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Unfortunately, many believers see themselves on a playground, not a battlefield. The hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers” calls us to crusade against our own sins:
“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle see His banners go!”
Beloved, sin is our enemy. We would do well etch the image of Genesis 4:7 upon the screens of our minds:
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
We are called to “arm” ourselves with the same mind that Christ has against sin. This word “arm” refers to heavy, not light armor and was used for a soldier who was fully outfitted with a javelin and large shield. And it’s in the aorist imperative tense, meaning that we must make a decisive choice in response to an immediate and urgent call to arm ourselves.
So what is the same way of thinking that we are to arm our selves with?
Christ suffered to the point of crucifixion. And though it looked like things were out of control, and the bad guys won, we now know that God had the last word in the resurrection.
In the same way, many of you are in the midst of suffering, and it looks like things are out of control, and it doesn’t always seem like the good guys are winning. So you need to remember the resurrection, to arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, so that you can resist the temptation to quit following Christ and fall back into sin.
The second half of verse one says: “for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,”
The idea here is that many times you have to choose between suffering and sin.
Now this doesn’t mean that just by experiencing suffering you are now sin free. I think that the Amplified Version of the Bible helps us understand what Peter is saying:
SO, SINCE Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God],
We can either please ourselves and sin or we can suffer (deny ourselves) and please God by not sinning.
So, Peter says, “arm yourselves with the same way of thinking that He had.” Think of it like a weapon you wield in battle. You are in the midst of suffering and you say, “Christ suffered. He faced what looked like defeat, what looked like God had forsaken Him. But look what happened. God resurrected Him.”
Arm yourself with the knowledge of the resurrection, the knowledge that Christ lived with, that God uses pain and suffering to accomplish His work on earth, that He’s greater than pain and suffering; and ultimately our pain, our defeat, will be swallowed up in victory, like Christ’s was.
2. Because of Eternity
2. Because of Eternity
The second reason that Peter gives us to stop sinning is eternity. Just as the Resurrection changes everything, so does the idea of eternity. Peter shows us this in vs.6:
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
This verse is a bit confusing at first glance. But to help us understand it lets first look at what this doesn’t mean. This verse does not mean that someone went and preached the gospel to people after they were dead and they all got a second chance.
That would be against the whole point of this passage! Peter’s whole point is to tell these people not to indulge the lusts of the flesh. He’s not telling them “Don’t worry; if you do sin a bunch, you’ll have a second chance after you die.” No, Scripture is clear.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
There is no second chance.
The point of this passage is the gospel was preached to people who are now dead when they were alive. And even though they died, often in poverty and under extreme persecution, like Jesus did, they now live like God did.
Peter is telling us that believers who have died are not saying, “I should have given up less and indulged sin more.” No due to the blessings of living with God in eternity, they are glad that they lived by putting sin to death. If we think about what those who have now entered eternity would say, it would spur us to stop sinning. I love what the Psalmist says:
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Another way that we could state Peters argument here is that the gospel we embrace in life is not empty because we will be raised after death. From the perspective of a skeptic, Christianity seems empty. What advantage is there to believing in Christ if Christians suffer more in this life, give up the “pleasures” of this life, and still end this life by dying, just like everyone else? But, Peter argues, though Christians die—they are “judged in the flesh the way people are”—they will “live in the spirit the way God does. Peter is simply saying that the gospel preached to us and believed by us gives us hope beyond the now. It is not empty because it brings fullness of life eternally, beyond the grave. This goes back to what Peter has shown us earlier in the book. This world is not our home. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom. So we need to live like it!
We need to continually preach this good news to ourselves! We need to rehearse it every day! And we need to speak this gospel to one another often. We are very good at being forgetful. We need to remember that judgment is coming, and salvation is coming. These two things need to dominate our thinking, as they did our Lord’s. We need to have our thinking and our actions be guided by eternity.
Fast forward your life 100 years … and live from that vantage point. What will you wish you had done with your life in 100 years? Live for that now! The glory of God. The mission of Jesus. The souls of people.
3. Because these things are imminent
3. Because these things are imminent
There are two things that are imminent, your death and the return of Christ.
That is what Peter goes on to tell us in the first half of verse 7.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
Peter tells us to live like Jesus is coming back. Peter doesn’t know when he is coming back and neither do we. But we know that He said he is coming back. It could be any minute or it could be another thousand years from now.
We may say that it has been 2000 years, he is not coming back. But we need to remember, God’s redemptive history began all the way back in the garden, when he said that the son of the woman will crush the serpents head. God has moved this redemptive story forward through the flood, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses, the covenant with David, the coming of Christ, the New Covenant that established and built the church, and the only thing left in that story is his return. None of the chapters of the redemptive story happened within just one or two generations, but they did happen. God is faithful to carry out his redemptive story.
But even if he doesn’t return in our life, we are not guaranteed our next breath. None of us know when our life will end. So eternity is but a moment away for each of us.
I love what Isaac Adams, Assistant Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist tweets every week. “Christian, we are one day closer to heaven.”
Start Serving
Start Serving
Not only are we to live for the will of God by stopping sinning, but we live for the will of God by serving.
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In this passage Peter gives us 3 ways that we are to be serving.
1. Pray
1. Pray
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
For the sake of your prayers. As God’s people, you have a crucial role on the earth. Remember back in chapter 2 Peter said that we are a royal priesthood. A Priest offers prayer and worship to God. Our job as a royal priesthood is to be praying. We play a vital role, because God choses to act through our prayers. So in a sense we are the conduit of God’s power. Prayer makes a difference. As James says, it avails much!
We must be sober minded and alert in our prayer. We miss it a bit in the ESV, but if we look at the KJV it says:
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Watch unto prayer. This is the same command the disciples heard in the garden of Gethsemane. I find this fact convicting and yet encouraging at the same time. You see often one of the greatest battles that I face is the battle of being alert in prayer. My mind drifts. I lose focus. I'm tired. I'm easily distracted. So was Peter. When I think about Peter praying, I think about failure.
Picture with me the night in which Jesus is betrayed. He takes His disciples with him to the Garden of Gethsemane. He tells His disciples, "Sit here wile I go over there and pray" (Matt. 26:36). And then He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me" (Matt. 26:38). And then, Jesus went a little beyond them, fell on His face and prayed with loud crying and tears to the one able to save Him from death (Heb. 5:7). Certainly, Peter was able to see the anguish of the moment. Certainly, Peter was concerned about Jesus. He had never seen his master like this before.
So, how did Peter respond? He fell asleep! In the hour of need, he failed to maintain a sober spirit. And this happened not once, not twice, but three times! Three times Jesus had told Peter to say alert as He headed off to pray. And three times Peter fell asleep.
So Peter isn't exhorting us to these things because he's the example of how to stay alert in prayer. He knows the failures and he knows the difficulties. But, here's what it is: Peter knows the importance of prayer. Peters knows the importance of maintaining a sound mind and sober spirit in the process of prayer. He knows because he has failed.
Prayer is the greatest resource we have, but it often goes unused. We need to be in a constant attitude of prayer. ▪ Imagine what we could see we all would watch unto prayer. I’m not talking about a generic prayer at bedtime, but earnest, heart-felt, God-seeking prayer.
So I want to encourage you to begin serving by praying.
2. Love
2. Love
Verse 8 tells us how we are to love other Christians.
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
This isn’t referring to shallow love, but the type of love that God has for us. Fervent has the idea of “an athlete stretching, reaching out, and giving all that he has to achieve his goal.” Fervent love is passionate, (not sensual), for those around us.”
Not only is the love we are to have fervent, but it is also a forgiving love. With forgiving love, there is no room for jealousy, anger, bitterness, or division. Forgiving love will cover a multitude of sins. If we could love as God loves, we wouldn’t see the imperfections of others. If we are to reach the lost, we must love each other. Genuine love will show forth so that the failures and imperfections go unnoticed.
This love isn’t just for Christians that you know. Vs 9 expands it to those that you do not know.
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
When you look at those words, you might easily ask, "Where do you get 'loving strangers'?" I get it from the literal meaning of the Greek word translated here, "be hospitable." This word is a combination of two Greek words. The first is philos which means "love." The second word is xenos which means "strangers." You put these two words together and you get, philoxenos or "love of strangers." This is what this term is describing!
So we serve Christ and the body by our love. Are you actively loving in this way?
3.. Use your Spiritual Gift
3.. Use your Spiritual Gift
God’s grace towards us in the church as well as in the world is found in the various gifts that he has given us. Each one of us as believers has been given a gift that we are to use.
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We each have a gift that God has given us, and its purpose is not for ourselves but to be used to serve others. Without exception, each and every one of us has been given a gift by God. Paul mentioned the same idea in 1 Corinthians 12:7,
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Scripture gives us a lot of examples of what these gifts are. In our passage Peter mentions specifically speaking and serving. But no where do we see an exhaustive list and I think that this is because God gifts according to the need in the church.
So each of us are gifted uniquely in the body, but it's not by chance. Rather, it's by design. In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote,
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
So, as you fail to use you gift, the body fails to function properly. And those who are suffering gain little strength and comfort.
So with Peter I want to encourage you to serve the body of Christ in His strength with the spiritual gifts that he has given you.
Glorify God
Glorify God
Peter concludes by giving us the ultimate in Living in God’s will. It is found in the last half of vs 11:
whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In order that in everything God may be glorified through Christ Jesus. This is our ultimate purpose. To Glorify God. Our lives are to Glorify God. To Glorify God is to display his beauty, his character, proclaiming his authority and holiness and His salvation. It is to worship. And we do this as we live lives in obedience.
But notice that this glorification comes through Christ Jesus. We are not, and cannot be saved by just trying to stop sinning. In fact we will fail. And we cannot serve God enough to earn our salvation. We are not saved of our selves. We are not saved by works, we do not even live the Christian life by our own power. Instead we are saved through the finished work of Christ. Jesus has paid it all. He has completely accomplished it. I don’t even add to it. But, once I am saved I am saved to good works. But even those are done by his strength. In the stop sinning it is both us and Christ. This is why Paul says in Philippians that we are to work our our salvation, but in the next verse he tells us that it is God who is working in us. This is also true of our service. We serve as Peter has said here with God’s strength.
I want to encourage you to live this out even where we find ourselves in this time of not gathering. Our holiness is important even when no one else will see because it is easier to social distance.
But I also want to encourage you to start serving, even though the church cannot gather right now. We need to be watchful in prayer. We need to be showing fervent, forgiving love, and loving even those we do not know in the body. We can do this through communicating with each other, through finding ways to serve each other, and continue that fellowship even if you don’t agree with each other in regards to politics and policy right now.
And God has gifted you with a unique spiritual gift that the body needs. It may be acts of service or compassion, it may be teaching or shepherding, It may be in evangelism, encouragement, giving, or… But prayerfully seek how God has gifted you to serve the body. And the Body needs that gift even when we are not gathering. Serve one another in this time.