Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 1 Peter 4:1-4

When we think about everything Christ has done for us, dying for our sins, rising from the dead, ect I think very often people forget that Jesus Christ became a human just like us, so he could be the atonement for our sins. We recognize his deity, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (John 1, Isaiah 9:6) however I think we often forget Jesus emptied himself of his deity to become an obedient servant of the Father all the way to the cross (Philippians 2)

I bring this point up, because this is what I believe the Apostle Peter is trying to convey in his teaching here. Peter states “Christ has suffered for us in the flesh” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was tortured for you, was persecuted for you, he bled for you, and Christ ultimately died a horrible death on the cross for you. We need to remember that Jesus felt the pain and suffering just as we would feel the pain and suffering, even though Jesus Christ is God, he bore the punishment of our sins for us (Isaiah 53)

So Peter goes on to say “arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” A couple points to make here, Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could live in sin freely. No Christ died on the cross so we could become Born Again (John 3) When we look at the death of Christ, we should understand the seriousness of our sin and its consequences. If we continue to live in our sins after receiving Christ, then Christ’s death was in vein

Secondly , understand Jesus Christ in the flesh lived a sinless life. Now I’m not saying we are going to live a sinless life as a Christian, but what I am saying is we should strive for holiness like Christ. Today the Church doesn’t want to hear anything about holiness or sanctification, but this is a part of the Christian life. As Peter says here “That he no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men”

What do we spend our time pursuing? When we were unsaved , we pursued the temptations of this world, the lusts of the flesh. But as a Born Again Christian, we pursue the things of God, we are led by the Holy Spirit and not the flesh. We wasted enough of our life in sin, its time to live for God and serve him

When you become Born Again, the world will think your strange, they will label you a “Jesus Freak” consider this a badge of honor, let Christ be your example in life and not this world, Amen!