Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
–1 Peter 4:1-2

The traditional interpretation of these verses from the letter of the apostle Peter is that if we suffer in our flesh, we will not sin and, as a result, will live not for the lusts of men but for the will of God. Wrong interpretations always arise when the center of our attention is ourselves or some brother or sister in Christ. But the truth, as we know, is in Jesus, and not in a person’s behavior or in the circumstances around us. So when reading the Scriptures, and indeed in all the circumstances of our life, it is important to see Jesus Christ, His glory and His finished work on the cross, and then our heart will abide in peace and rest, and wrong interpretations will not frighten and torment us.

That is exactly what the apostle Peter does in this place in his letter. He points the reader to Jesus Christ and His sufferings, and to the result of those sufferings. This is what it means to know the finished work of Jesus on the cross: to know what He has already accomplished through His sufferings, death, burial and resurrection, and accordingly what effect His great work has on our life. So let’s go through these verses together, see Christ and His finished work, and give Him glory!

I want to note right away that if some place in Scripture troubles you, you can always use other translations to compare the content or look at a literal translation. But most important of all is to rely on the Holy Spirit. In Proverbs it is written: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding” The Holy Spirit will always point you to Jesus, for He came to testify about Him and His finished work. And a right understanding of God’s Word will always comfort you, root your heart in God’s love and establish you in the grace and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Arm Yourselves with the Truth

In his letter Peter does not call his readers to suffer in the flesh. He calls them to arm themselves with a mind, or to take up as a weapon the thought he wants to get across. We know that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual hosts of wickedness — the devil and his demons. That doesn’t mean we grab a sword and run off to hack at him. The enemy has already been defeated on the cross, and there is no need to fight him. The spiritual war is already over, and the enemy has been defeated by the blood of God’s Lamb and cast down from heaven to earth. Today he simply walks about like a roaring lion and tries to steal by deception what already rightfully belongs to the believer, what Jesus has already paid for with His life and blood. That is why the teaching and the sermons you listen to are so important. Because they can either bind you back into slavery, as happened with the Galatians, or set you free, which is exactly what the good news of Jesus Christ does.

So today, as the beloved apostle Paul wrote, “Put on the whole armor of God” (Eph.6:11). In other words, put on the gear the Lord has given you, so that when the enemy roars and threatens, or deceives and frightens, we do not fall away from the hope of the gospel but keep standing firmly on our feet. Falling away does not mean losing salvation or some other scary story, but accepting the enemy’s deception, as happened with the Galatians, and then that lie will keep us in bondage. Any symptoms of curses in our life are the result of the enemy’s deception, because Jesus has already redeemed us from all the curses of the law, having become a curse for us on the cross. That is why it is so vitally important to hold on, as Paul wrote, to the true gospel he preached, and not to a different one, which in fact is no gospel at all — there are just people who trouble, frighten and roar at God’s sheep from the pulpit.

So with what mind does the apostle Peter call us to arm ourselves? Pay attention to the words the same. He says arm yourselves with the same mind. That means the thought has already been stated by him. Here it is: “Christ suffered for us in the flesh“. Someone may say: “Well, we all know that Jesus suffered for us in the flesh, but how do I arm myself with that, and what is the power of this thought?” That is why, after the word for, or in modern terms because, Peter explains the power of this thought. Let’s read his explanation carefully once more: “for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin“. This is exactly where many stumble. And all because by “he who has suffered” they mean themselves or another brother or sister in Christ. But the thought Peter gave us as a weapon is not “I suffer in the flesh”, but “Christ suffered in the flesh”. You see how important it is where we look — at ourselves or at Christ.

Done with Sin

The thought we need to take up as a weapon, as we have already established, is “Christ suffered for us in the flesh”, so he who has suffered in the flesh is not about you and me, but about Jesus Christ. That is why “he who has suffered” is in the singular. “So we don’t suffer anymore? But Paul suffered for Christ, and so did the other apostles?” Dear brother, of course all believers have situations in which they go through suffering, but the thought “I am suffering” will in no way arm or strengthen me; on the contrary, it will make me vulnerable to the enemy. If a believer has some difficulty in life and thinks that he is suffering for Christ and that God is teaching him to live righteously and holily so as not to sin and to remain in God’s will, such a thought will keep him in constant bondage to that problem, and the problem won’t go anywhere. A lie binds, but the truth sets free. Jesus said: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That is why it is so important to know the truth, and the truth, as it is written in the Bible, is in Jesus and in what He has accomplished for us through His sufferings.

“But it says there ‘has ceased from sin’! And Jesus didn’t sin, so it’s about us.” First, the word “ceased” in the original is in the past tense, that is, the event has already happened — which is why the NKJV, like many other translations, renders it “has ceased” (the Russian Synodal translation has the present tense here). And second, “sin” in the original is a noun, and in the singular. Here is how this verse sounds in Robert Young’s literal translation: “Christ, then, having suffered for us in the flesh, ye also with the same mind arm yourselves, because he who did suffer in the flesh hath done with sin,”

So it turns out that Christ, who suffered for us in the flesh, has done with sin, or as Paul writes: “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all…” (Rom.6:10). Peter also writes in chapter 3 of his letter: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh”. (1 Pet.3:18) and the apostle John: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jhn.3:8) Jesus has done with sin, sicknesses, addictions, curses and death, which are the works of the devil, once and for all.

If we arm ourselves with the thought Peter offers us in his letter — that Christ suffered for us in the flesh, and having suffered in His flesh, delivered us from the power of sin, death, sickness, curses and all the manifestations of sin — what will the result be? In the next verse Peter explains: “that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God”. That is, when we know that Jesus Christ, who suffered in the flesh, has done with sin once and for all, and so we have no need to fight sin and its manifestations, we will live in the freedom Christ has given us. We will live in the will of God. And what is God’s will? As it is written, it is good and perfect. That we would live and not merely exist, because Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly. That we would enjoy strong health, because He bore our infirmities and sicknesses, and by His stripes we were healed. That we would live in financial well-being and have enough not only for our own needs but also the means to bless others, because Christ, though He was rich, became poor for our sakes, that we through His poverty might become rich.

Paul, after the words “He died to sin once for all…“, says “but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” (Rom.6:10) What does Christ, who suffered for us in the flesh and has done with sin, do today? He lives to God! Living to God does not mean witnessing, doing good works or serving. Look at Christ at the right hand of the Father and tell me what He is doing now? He is not sick, He is not suffering, sin and addictions have no power over Him, He is not in need. He lives, He reigns!!! That is why Paul wrote that those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life. (Rom.5:17) Reign the way Christ reigns. Reign over sickness, reign over infirmities, reign over needs, reign over sin. Where God’s life is, there is no death and none of its manifestations.

That is why Paul continues: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (Rom.6:11-12) Christ lives to God for our sake, just as He suffered for our sake. He lives to God so that we would be alive to God! To God we are alive — righteous, holy, blessed, healthy, prosperous — just like Christ! And when we know and believe this truth, sin will not be able to reign in our body! Sickness will not be able to reign in our body! Addictions will not be able to reign in our body! Because we will reign in life through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So, beloved brothers and sisters, Christ suffered for you and me in the flesh! Arm yourselves with this thought. For Christ, who suffered for us in the flesh, died to sin once and for all. Through death He defeated sin and the devil, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, to live for us. He is our life, our righteousness and holiness, our obedience and blessed standing before God. If the enemy comes and says: “You did something bad yesterday, so today you are suffering”, don’t believe this lie. Christ suffered for us once and for all, so that we would live in freedom, enjoying all the blessings with which our Heavenly Daddy has generously blessed us, when He did not spare His beloved Son for our sake. He did all this for us, His beloved sons and daughters.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen!