Live for God’s Will, Not Our Desires

1 Peter 4:1-6 

1 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, 2 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. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Christ suffered as a man with a nature as ours, yet perfectly obeyed the Law to live righteously as He suffered.  He suffered for us, for our imperfect struggles in the flesh to give the example of suffering for the flesh and not because of it.  We are to stop living as before, gladly sinning as the world gives us as an example; we are called to better things, to live for God’s will in place of our fallen will of ungodly desires.  Before Christ delivered us from the power of sin, we lived in varying degrees of drunkenness, partying, sexual sins, and other idolatrous deeds.  Our lifestyle now offends the world that is still caught up in such sin, and we have stepped away from the works of darkness into the light before God who we now know sees us and we can now see Him and His will.  Remember that those continuing in these things and mocking us will stand before their Judge and give a full account before eternal sentencing, but our accounting is covered in the justifying grace of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin; so how can we even consider to continue in the sin we have been saved from?  The world will be judged as condemned men in their flesh, but we will live eternally as redeemed before our Savior in the spirit by grace and mercy.  The gospel we speak to the world then is to waken the dead to life.  We therefore arm ourselves with the mind of Christ to pursue mortifying sin by His enabling Spirit living in us (Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5).