1 Peter 4

Living for God’s Will

1 Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mindset, because whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin,

2 in order to live the remainder of your earthly life no longer for human passions but for God’s will.

3 For the time already passed is sufficient for having pursued what the Gentiles desire—living in debauchery, lusts, drunkenness, wild parties, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

4 They find it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of reckless excess, and they heap abuse on you.

5 They will have to give account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

6 For this purpose the gospel was proclaimed even to those who are now dead, so that although they were judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.

The End of All Things Has Drawn Near

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober-minded for the purpose of prayer.

8 Above everything else, maintain intense love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

10 As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as faithful stewards of God’s varied grace.

11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as one conveying God’s own words; if anyone serves, let him serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are experiencing, as though something unusual were happening to you.

13 Rather, to the degree that you participate in Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that you may also rejoice and be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.

14 When you endure reproach on account of allegiance to Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the very Spirit of God—rests on you.

15 Ensure that none among you experiences punishment as one guilty of murder, theft, criminal conduct, or intrusion into matters beyond your concern.

16 Yet should someone undergo hardship for bearing the identity of a follower of Christ, let there be no shame in this; rather, let him honor God by carrying that designation.

17 The appointed moment has arrived for divine judgment to commence with the household of God, and if such reckoning starts with us, what end awaits those who defy the gospel of God?

18 And,

“If the righteous person is barely saved,

where will the ungodly and sinner appear?”*

19 Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to their faithful Creator while continuing to do good.

Notes

18 Quoted from Prov. 11:31

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