1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

Christ suffered on his way to glory. Christians will suffer too.

It was God’s will for Jesus to suffer and Jesus submitted to that. Christians need to ‘arm’ themselves with this same submissive attitude (v. 1).

If we need to ‘arm’ ourselves, it must mean that we have entered a danger zone. Sinful desires ‘wage war’ against our souls (2:11). This battle is especially intense when we are suffering. We will be strongly tempted to live ‘for evil human desires’ (v. 2). If following Christ involves suffering, we will be tempted to deny and abandon our Lord.

Jesus was tempted to avoid the cross too. Yet he submitted to his Father’s will, even though that involved suffering (see Matt. 26:39). We need to think like Jesus. Remembering Jesus’ example and sacrifice will strengthen us.

• How will suffering for Christ change a faithful Christian for the better (v. 1)?

If you have suffered for your Christian faith, it will change you. In particular, suffering can change how you see your sin. Peter says that ‘whoever suffers in the body has finished with sin’.

• What will being ‘finished with sin’ look like in practice (v. 2)?

Suffering for Christ helps us make a radical break with living for ourselves. When we suffer for Christ, we experience first-hand something of what it cost Christ to ‘finish with’ the penalty for our sin. How can we see what it cost Jesus to ‘finish with’ our sin and then continue to flirt or compromise with it? We will want to be rid of it!

Suffering for Christ also raises an important question very starkly: whose side are you really on? When you submit to suffering for Christ, it is like decisively burning all the boats of living your old life. It is clear that you do no longer live ‘for evil human desires’. There can be no doubt now where you stand. You are ‘finished with’ sin.

When we experience suffering for following Christ, we will be different afterwards. We do not instantly become perfect, but as we learn to submit to God’s will in the crucible of suffering, we will change. If we obey God on that hard day, we will want to obey him on all the days that follow too.

Pray

Jesus always lived to obey his Father’s will. Pray that suffering for Christ would help you live to do this too.