seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[a]
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
a. Peter 4:18 Prov. 11:31 (see Septuagint)
This is from the easy English site.
Peter is writing this letter to Jews and Gentiles who have become Christians. ‘Gentile’ is the name that the Jews gave to anyone who was not a Jew. The Gentiles did not know about the only real God, nor his laws in the Old Testament. Instead, they worshipped many false gods. As a result, they lived evil lives. An ‘idol’ is a piece of stone or wood that people believe is their god. But an idol can also be anything that a person loves more than they love God.
When people become Christians, their lives change. This happens because the Spirit of Jesus is now in them. They give up their evil behaviour. Now they worship God, who is the Father of Jesus Christ. People who are not Christians cannot understand why their former companions have completely changed. In John 3:19-21, Jesus says that people who do what is evil hate the light. Christians now have the light of Jesus in their lives. Other people may hate and insult them because of this.
Peter’s readers knew that Jesus would return. They expected this to happen before they died. But many people had already died. It does not matter whether people are dead or alive when Jesus returns. That is when God will judge what every person has said and done.
God has made everyone able to do something. This is your ‘gift’. Often God gives people more than one gift. There are various gifts. The Greek word for ‘various’ means ‘of many colours’. Together, God desires the gifts to produce a beautiful pattern.
Christians should not be selfish, because God wants them to help each other. They must not expect the leaders of a church to do all the work. Paul taught more about this in Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12.
Peter mentions two sorts of gifts. There are gifts where people speak. Also, there are gifts where people serve in a practical way. Some people are able to teach and preach. Some can prophesy or speak wise words. However, all these words must be about the truth that comes from God. Other people can do practical things to help. God gives them the strength to do this work. No one should be proud. People should depend on God. Then everyone will praise God for what he does. Peter ends these verses with praise to God. ‘Amen’ means ‘I agree’.
‘Judgement’ is the act of judging. God will judge people by his standards of what is right and wrong. Then he will reward or punish each person. It is not easy to live a Christian life. God wants Christians to be pure. He allows them to have troubles. These troubles test their trust in God and make it more pure. But many people do not trust Jesus or obey him. Their lives are full of what is bad. They are wicked people. If they do not accept Jesus, it will be awful for them when God comes to judge them. God will not forgive them. In Matthew 18:9 Jesus says they will go to ‘the fire of hell’. This describes their terrible fate.
Christians cannot always understand what God allows to happen. However, they must continue to trust him and to do what is right. God created the whole world and everything and everybody in it. So he has very great power. God is ‘loyal’. This means that he will use his power to care for all who put their trust in him. He will never fail them. He will always do what is good for them.
This is from enduringword.com.
If the righteous one is scarcely saved: Since this is true – that the salvation of the righteous does not come without difficulty – then it should make us pause if we ourselves or others seem to have an easy salvation.
It isn’t that our salvation is difficult in the sense of earning it or finding a way to deserve it; it is all the free gift of Jesus Christ. Yet our salvation is hard in the sense that the claims of discipleship challenge us and demand that we cast away our idols and our sins. Real discipleship and genuine following after Jesus Christ is sometimes a hard thing, so we understand why Peter quoted the passage from Proverbs 11:31, “the righteous one is scarcely saved.”
OK... another heavy chapter. If my salvation is too easy.... maybe I better go back and see what I missed?
The whole time I was posting the chapter and the commentary... I kept thinking.... "what? what?"..... this is a really rough chapter.... and then the last commentary seemed to put it all in perspective.
When Peter wrote this.... the Christians were really having a hard time. Nero [yep the fiddler] accused them of burning Rome to the ground. Nero [yep the fiddler] spread the word that Christians ate their own babies and they had wild orgies. Christians already had a hard row to hoe because they left their regular haunts. They didn't leave the Temple, bars and the whorehouses because they were feeling "holier than thou"..... it just didn't hold the allure it once held.
Back in the days when Peter wrote this letter..... people had only had the church for a few decades. Sure there were people, like Timothy, who had been raised on the Gospel.... the majority of the people in the church had a tougher time with it. For the Jews who chose Christianity.... they had to give up the Temple.... they didn't do the sacrifice anymore..... they didn't join their friends at Temple anymore.... and their friends noticed.... and probably called them names, spit on them... or maybe the Jews even hunted the Christians to save the Temple from calamity caused by allowing their fellow Jews to leave the Temple. Their friends from the Temple might have even stopped doing business with them.... because to leave the Temple [in their minds] was to turn their back on God.
Likewise... the gentiles had their own temples to their fake gods.... the Temple of Aphrodite is one example I read about in Corinthians. The Christian Church apparently rented a room in the Temple..... the male and female prostitutes employed by the Temple of Aphrodite became members of the first church in Corinth. When gentiles joined the church.... they were missed.... especially those gentiles who made their money sinning.... like the prostitutes in Corinth. On top of that.... the descendants of Jacob [Jews] didn't trust the gentiles.... they had always been taught to exclude the gentiles because the gentiles worshipped fake gods. Now the gentiles and the Jews were in the same room.... worshipping the same God. There had been discussions about what meats they could eat and some discussions about having to be circumcised. But at the end of the day.... they had to learn to get along.
There were difficulties in life caused by becoming a Christian back in the day.
It occurs to me.... I didn't have to really go through a whole lot when I asked Jesus into my heart. I had been raised in the Southern Baptist Church. I had been in Sunday School and church services since I was an infant. I didn't have to give up my Temple to join the church. I didn't have to give up my job to join the church. The people back in Peter's day..... didn't have to change before accepting Jesus either.... but their conversion required a lot of changes in their lives. They would have had to leave the Temple where they grew up.... they couldn't sacrifice anymore... they couldn't lay down with a stranger... it would nag at them.
Yesterday I talked about a preacher who kept bugging me to come back to church. He had quite a testimony. He was a sailor in the Navy. He was assigned to an aircraft carrier. Back in the days when this man was in the Navy.... as he tells it.... there were a lot of drugs available on the ship. He said he spent a lot of his "off time" drinking and smoking hash or pot. He said... one dark night he was out on the flight deck and of course there was a storm. He had an experience a lot like Paul claimed he had. This preacher said God knocked him down. He just "knew" he had an assignment. He just "knew" his life had changed.
We're all going to be judged..... it really doesn't matter what the guy next door or the preacher down the road or the politician on the TV says about how I live my life.... it only matters what God thinks when I meet Him. Jesus will be there to represent me... but God is going to do the judging.... and He'll know how I used my gift.... He'll know how I responded to my storm. Jesus had His own storms so He knows what humans go through.... He'll tell Dad how I handled the change.... I can count on that.
Being a Christian was a hard row to hoe back when Peter was writing this letter. Peter said Jesus lived a hard roe to hoe too. Peter says.... Jesus understands how things change.... and now it's easier of us to handle life. If Jesus did it.... we can too.....
