Lesson 61
Study of
First Peter Chapter 4
4:2 The goal or objective in appropriating the same attitude and
thinking as Christ
so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer
for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
What will
be stated here is the result of arming ourselves with His thinking, that is
DVPT and maintaining the isolation of the sin nature.
What
Peter is doing here in order to motivate them to maintain their spiritual
momentum is to challenge them to remember the past, that is from where God has
brought them and also to look ahead to living in the sphere of the will of
God.
- this
refers to the remaining time, the period of time we have in f2, in other words the allotment of time God gives
us.
-
Categories of lust patterns
1. sexual
lust - 1 Ths 4:3-5
2. monetary
or details of life - 1 Tim 6:9-10
3. approbation
or power lust - 1 Cor
4. flee
youthful lusts - 2 Tim 2:22
5. pleasures
of this life - Lk 8:14
6. abnormal or corrupt desires - 2 Pet 2:10
He draws a strong
distinction between who they were before salvation,
before believing in Christ, before becoming a new creation in Christ and who
they are now.
If
we have armed ourselves with the viewpoint and thinking of Christ, coupled with
the empowering of the Holy Spirit we no longer have to live dominated by the
sin nature with its varied lust patterns.
but
for the will of God.
- but avlla, strong contrast between living dominated by
the sin nature and living out the will of God which is to their advantage.
4:2 So as to spend your life,
the remaining time in the flesh (your allotment) no longer in the lusts
of man (sin nature) but in the will of God (which is our advantage).
Summary
1. There is no way anyone who is in the flesh, that is
under the domination of the sin nature is able to live in a manner to please
God. Rom 8:8
2. Our
ability to please God and to walk in His will is limited by the extent of our
frame of reference of truth, the faith in us and our willingness to apply it.
3. We need to
remember that the function of the sin nature is totally repugnant to God.
4. Therefore time spent in f2
living dominated by the sin nature is time wasted, the objective of the CWOL is
to live conformed to the image of Christ so that we can maximize the freedom we
have in Christ. (Gal 5:1)
5. This freedom becomes a
reality experientially in our lives, f2, only when the
Holy Spirit is empowering the life. 2 Cor. 3:17;
6. Functionally what does this
freedom say to us? That
we as believers are no longer a slave to our sin nature with its lust patterns
and human good. It no longer has to rule or dominate our life. Rom
7. Only standing firm in the
Word of God, knowing and applying its truths, will keep you from becoming
enmeshed in this yoke of slavery, that is, becoming
enslaved to the sin nature which has ramifications in every aspect of life.
4:3-6
Peter gives them three reasons to motivate them to appropriate
the needed resources that is the divine viewpoint of life so that they have the capacity to endure the
suffering that they're facing (vv. 3-6).
4:3 The past
- "for" (gar) explanatory from vs:2 So as to spend your life, the remaining
time in the flesh (your allotment) no longer in the lusts of man
(sin nature) but in the will of God (which is our advantage).
4:3 For the time already past is sufficient (for you) to have
carried out the desire of the Gentiles,
Its interesting that Peter uses 3 perfect tense verbs in
this verse that put the emphasis on the fact that for these believers the past
is a closed chapter.
In the
thinking or the minds of their pagan friends there had been more than enough
time to have dulled these believers enthusiasm for the word, for their new
relationship with Christ and to return to their old pattern of life.
The
remainder of the verse describes how the desire of these Gentiles was worked
out in practice:
sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable
idolatries.
#1 sensuality avse,lgeia speaks
of unbridled or unrestrained living; the word was used to describe one who
knows no restraints, no boundaries in life.
#2 lusts evpiqumi,a a common
word to refer to the lust patterns of the sin nature
#3 drunkenness oivnoflugi,a lit
means wine bubbling up, therefore drunkedness; refers
to someone who uses every opportunity to get drunk
#4 carousing kw/moj originally
had a good connotation or usage since it referred to a band of friends who
accompanied a victor in the games on his way home and who rejoiced sang his
praises as the went.
#5 drinking parties - po,toj used for drunken orgies
#6 abominable
idolatries avqe,mitoj (adj) unrighteous
or lawless eivdwlolatri,a
- Peter concludes the picture by pointing to the taproot of the evils portrayed,
idolatry which ties their "religious" practice to the list of sins
that are in view.
As
the only item in the list qualified by an adjective, the concluding designation
underlines the nefarious nature of idolatry.
From God's vpt!
4:4 Present opposition Read
In all this, (loc + rel pronoun) in regard to which = refers to the abandonment
of the previous pattern of life,
they are
surprised that you do not run with them
- what this should remind us of is that those in your
periphery, friends, family are all observing you
What is
it that they are surprised or astonished about?
that you do not run with them
suntre,cw (pres act
Ptc) the idea is to run together, our phrase today
would be to run with the crowd, to get wrapped up in the same FSH that they are
in!
into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;
Their pagan friends just could not understand, it was beyond their comprehension that these believers did
not and would not return to the same FSH, the same excess of riotous living
that they were wrapped up in!
Their reaction is:
and they malign you blasfhme,w
4:4 in regard to which (failure to return to a
previous pattern of life) they consider it strange that you do not run
together toward the same excess of riotous living and they blaspheme you.
Observations:
1. Once again we have here the basis of Peter's writing
to these believer's in
- 2:12;
2. As we have seen in the previous context these believers have
done nothing to warrant such an attack therefore what they are undergoing here is
UNDSF.
3. What has happened here is that their pagan neighbors
and friends have
judged the life of these believers and found them to be out of
line with their own standards and respond by blaspheming them.
4. A changed life often invokes hostility from the
cosmos, that is those you deal with out in the culture because it is an
indictment of them and their rejection of the gospel as unbelievers or their
negative volition to truth as a reversionistic believer.
5. Peter now reminds these believers that those who pagans who are blaspheming them will themselves be judged (vs:5) so let God handle it.