BE PURPOSEFUL
1 Peter 4:1–6 (LSB)
1 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose—because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin— 2 so as to no longer live the rest of the time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For the time already past is sufficient for you to have worked out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, maligning you, 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For to this the gospel has been proclaimed even to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh as men, they live in the spirit according to the will of God.
Introduction
Early voting is going on now for Columbus County, and Penny and I voted on Tuesday. Voting is a privilege fought and died for by many. We should definitely take advantage of that privilege. The life we live from now on depends on the choices we make today. We cannot change yesterday’s decisions, and we cannot know every consequence that tomorrow will bring. But we can take responsibility for the choices before us now.
In a sense, every day is voting day for the believer. Every Christian faces a decisive question: What will you do with the rest of your life? Not the life you have already lived, not the years you regret, not the sins Christ has forgiven—but the years still ahead of you. Peter writes to believers who are suffering, misunderstood, and tempted to drift back into old patterns. He reminds them that they have already spent enough time living for themselves. Now they must live the rest of their lives for the will of God.
That is a word we need to hear. We can become so occupied with what has happened that we neglect what can happen next. We can spend years regretting past failures, explaining old choices, or wishing that circumstances had been different. But the gospel does not leave us chained to the past. Through Jesus Christ, forgiveness is real, transformation is possible, and a new direction is open to us. The important question is whether we will choose that direction.
This passage is a call to clarity, courage, holiness, and hope. Peter shows us four choices that shape a life lived for God.
1. Arm Yourself with the Mind of Christ (v. 1)
Peter begins with a military command: “arm yourselves also with the same purpose.” The word picture is deliberate. A soldier does not wander into battle unprepared, expecting to improvise when the danger arrives. He equips himself beforehand. In the same way, Christians must prepare their minds and hearts for the pressures that come with following Jesus. The Christian life is not passive. It requires deliberate readiness, and the weapon we take up is the mindset of Christ.
Christ suffered in the flesh. He did not choose the easy road at the expense of obedience. He accepted the Father’s will even when obedience led to rejection, pain, and the cross. His suffering was not evidence of failure or divine abandonment. It was part of His faithful accomplishment of the Father’s purpose. Peter tells believers to carry that same resolve into their own lives: determine in advance that faithfulness to God matters more than personal comfort.
The phrase about suffering in the flesh and ceasing from sin must not be understood to mean that pain automatically makes a person holy or that Christians become incapable of sin. Rather, suffering for righteousness brings the issue of allegiance into sharp focus. When obedience costs us something, we discover whether we value the approval of people more than the approval of God. We are pressed to decide whether we will abandon faithfulness to avoid discomfort or remain faithful even when the cost is high.
Suffering can expose our hidden loyalties. It can reveal how much we depend on ease, praise, acceptance, or control. Yet it can also deepen our determination to follow Christ. A believer who has decided, by God’s grace, that obedience is worth suffering for has begun to reject sin’s rule. The heart learns to say, “I would rather suffer with Christ than sin against Him.” That is the purpose Peter urges us to take up.
We should not wait until a crisis arrives to decide what kind of Christians we will be. We must establish our purpose now, through prayer, Scripture, worship, fellowship, and daily obedience. A mind shaped by Christ will not make every decision easy, but it will give us a settled direction when decisions become difficult. We may not feel very loyal to the candidates on this year’s ballot, and political choices may disappoint us. But we have every reason to be loyal to Jesus. His character is trustworthy, His purposes are righteous, and His call is worth our whole lives.
2. Break with the Old Life of Sin (vv. 2–3)
Once the mind is armed, the life must follow. Peter says the believer must no longer live “for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” This is the great turning point of conversion: a decisive break with the old life and a new commitment to God’s will. Christianity is not merely adding religious activity to the same old priorities. It is a change of direction. The question is no longer simply, “What do I want?” but, “What does God want, and how can I obey Him?”
Peter declares, “the time already past is sufficient” for the old way of living. In other words, enough is enough. There has been enough time spent serving selfish desire, enough time surrendering to habits that destroy, and enough time pursuing what cannot satisfy. The past cannot be recovered, but it need not be repeated. Whatever our history may contain, we are not called to keep returning to it. The past is long enough; the future belongs to God.
Peter lists the practices that characterized the lives from which these believers had turned: sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. Sensuality describes an unrestrained way of life in which appetite is treated as authority. Lusts are desires that reach beyond their proper place and begin to dominate the heart. Drunkenness and drinking parties describe excess that clouds judgment and encourages people to abandon self-control. Carousing suggests a reckless, disorderly celebration in which restraint is cast aside. Idolatry is the deeper spiritual problem: giving worship, trust, or ultimate loyalty to something other than God.
These are not merely isolated behaviors. Together they describe a worldview—a life organized around appetite, pleasure, and self-rule. The person living this way asks whether something feels good, not whether it is good; whether it is desired, not whether it is right. God’s commands are treated as obstacles to enjoyment rather than the wise instruction of the Creator who knows what leads to life.
Peter is not listing these sins in order to shame believers who have repented. He is reminding them that this is no longer their identity. Christ has redeemed them, claimed them, and called them out of darkness. They must not romanticize the old life or imagine that returning to former sins will restore something valuable. Sin promises freedom but brings bondage. It promises satisfaction but trains the heart to crave more. It promises escape but cannot remove guilt or heal the soul.
Holiness is not accidental. It is the daily refusal to return to what Christ died to free us from. That refusal may require practical action: ending a destructive pattern, changing what we watch, refusing invitations that repeatedly lead us into temptation, seeking accountability, confessing sin honestly, or repairing harm we have caused. Repentance is not only sorrow over what we have done; it is a turning toward God and away from the path that dishonors Him.
Becoming holy is not as easy as casting a ballot. It requires persistence and dependence on God’s grace. Yet God does not call us to a life that is meaningless or impossible. He supplies His Word, His Spirit, and the encouragement of His people. Holiness is not a way to earn salvation; it is the fitting fruit of belonging to Christ. We do not pursue holiness so that Christ might claim us. We pursue holiness because, through Him, we have been claimed. The choice before us is clear: will we spend the rest of our time feeding old desires, or will we live for the will of God?
3. Expect the World’s Misunderstanding and Hostility (v. 4)
When a believer breaks with the old life, the world notices. Peter says that others are surprised because Christians no longer run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they respond by maligning them. The word picture suggests a flood of reckless living, a current that sweeps people along. When everyone around us is moving in one direction, refusing to follow can seem strange—even offensive.
The world may understand religion as a private preference, morality as self-improvement, and spirituality as a way to feel better. But it does not naturally understand a life transformed by the lordship of Jesus Christ. When believers stop participating in old patterns, friends or relatives may wonder what has happened. Some may assume that Christians think they are better than everyone else. Others may feel personally judged because a believer’s changed conduct challenges choices they do not want to reconsider. Confusion can become ridicule, and ridicule can become hostility.
The Christian must respond with both conviction and humility. We should never use holiness as an excuse for arrogance. We are not saved because we were better than others, and we have no right to treat those still trapped in sin with contempt. We, too, need mercy. Our changed lives should bear witness to the grace of God, not to our own superiority. Nevertheless, humility does not mean returning to sin just to make others comfortable. We can love people without joining them in what God forbids.
Jesus warned His disciples that the world’s hostility toward them would reflect its prior hostility toward Him. Paul likewise taught that those who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus should expect persecution. Peter’s instruction is not that believers should seek conflict or assume that every criticism is persecution. Sometimes criticism is deserved, and Christians should be willing to receive correction. But when hostility comes because we are faithful to Christ, we must not interpret it as proof that faithfulness has failed.
When we vote, every effort is made to keep our decisions hidden from the watching eyes of those around us. Choosing to live like a Christian is different. Our choices become visible in our speech, conduct, relationships, priorities, and responses to pressure. People may notice that we no longer laugh at what once entertained us, participate in what once drew us in, or measure success by the same standards. They may not understand the reasons. Some will respect our convictions; others will resent them.
Do not be surprised when obedience makes you different. Do not surrender your convictions merely to preserve popularity. And do not become bitter toward those who misunderstand you. Keep doing good. Speak truth with gentleness. Show patience when others are hostile. Let your life demonstrate that Christian holiness is not joylessness but a better allegiance, a deeper hope, and a different kind of freedom. Faithfulness to Christ may make you strange to the world, but it makes you precious to God.
4. Live in Light of God’s Final Judgment (vv. 5–6)
Peter now lifts our eyes from present opposition to the future judgment of God. Those who malign believers “will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” Human judgment is temporary; God’s judgment is final. People may misunderstand our motives, misrepresent our actions, or condemn us for doing what is right. Their verdict is not the last word. Every person, whether living when Christ comes or having died before that day, is accountable to God.
This truth gives courage and also calls us to seriousness. We do not need to win every argument, answer every insult, or secure the approval of every observer. God sees what others cannot see. He knows the truth about our conduct and the truth about the accusations brought against us. We can entrust ourselves to His righteous judgment. At the same time, the prospect of judgment warns us not to live carelessly. If all people must answer to God, then our choices matter eternally. We should seek His approval rather than build our lives around human applause.
Peter then adds a difficult but beautiful statement: “the gospel has been proclaimed even to those who are now dead.” The natural sense is that the gospel was preached to people who have since died. During their lives, they heard the good news and were called to trust Christ. Some may have been judged harshly by their contemporaries because of their faith, and their physical deaths might have seemed to confirm the world’s verdict against them. Yet human judgment does not determine their final destiny.
The LSB renders the phrase in verse 6 with a lowercase “spirit,” but the point, as understood here, is not that dead believers are presently alive as disembodied spirits. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit, those who have died in Christ will not remain dead forever. God will raise them to life. The words “the will of” appear in italics in the LSB, indicating that they are supplied by the translators rather than directly represented by separate words in the original text. The central assurance is that God is able to bring the dead to life according to His purpose.
This hope fits the wider message of Scripture: death is an enemy, but it is not stronger than God. Christian hope rests not on the idea that human beings possess immortality independently, but on the power and promise of the God who raises the dead. Those who have died after hearing and believing the gospel are not beyond His reach. The world may regard them as defeated, forgotten, or gone forever, but God’s promise of resurrection stands.
Peter’s point is that human judgment ends at the grave, but God’s purpose does not. The faithful dead await the life God has promised, and the living must choose how they will spend the time entrusted to them. Live for the judgment that matters. Live for the approval that lasts. Live for the God who will raise the dead and set all things right.
Voting is our judgment of those who lead us and those who want to lead us. We make the best choices we can with the knowledge we have, but some choices may later bring regret. The decisions of this world are limited, and no human leader can deliver the final kingdom of righteousness. Yet our daily decisions about faithfulness are also significant. We are choosing what kind of people we will become and whose will we will serve. Let the certainty of God’s judgment make you steadfast, and let the promise of resurrection keep you hopeful.
Conclusion: Live the Rest of Your Life for God
Peter’s message is clear and urgent. Arm yourself with the mind of Christ. Break decisively with the old life. Expect misunderstanding from the world. Live in light of God’s final judgment. These are not four disconnected suggestions; they belong together. A mind settled on Christ gives us courage to turn from sin. Turning from sin makes our lives different from the world around us. The world’s opposition drives us to remember that its judgment is temporary. And the certainty of God’s judgment and resurrection gives us reason to remain faithful.
What will you do with the rest of your life? You cannot go back and change the years already spent. You cannot erase every failure or undo every consequence. But you can bring your past to God in repentance and trust His grace for the future. The past is forgiven through Christ; the future rests in God’s hands; the present is a gift to be used in obedience. Do not waste it by returning to what enslaved you. Do not surrender it to the fear of people. Do not live as though this world’s verdict is the final one.
Take up the mind of Christ. Walk in holiness. Stand firm when obedience is costly. Answer hostility with grace, and keep your eyes on the God who judges justly and raises the dead. If you have wandered, return to Him. If you have been compromising, make a decisive break with sin. If you have been afraid of what others think, remember whose judgment will endure.
And if you have never trusted Jesus Christ, the call begins here: turn from sin and believe the gospel. Christ suffered in the flesh, died for sinners, and rose again. He offers forgiveness and calls you to a new life under His lordship. You do not need to remain bound to the old way. Come to Him in repentance and faith, and receive the hope that rests in God’s promise of resurrection and eternal life.
“Lord, make us steadfast in holiness, courageous in suffering, and joyful in the hope of Your coming judgment. Teach us to live the rest of our lives for Your will.” Amen.
