We tend to equate growth and transformation with mountaintop
experiences or loving relationships. Therefore, we find it hard to believe that
there is a powerful correlation between transformation and what we know and believe (Romans 12:2).
An example might be helpful. I trust my wife completely.
Therefore, I have entrusted everything to her and am grateful for her. If
instead I believe that she is having an affair with the neighbor, I will feel
entirely differently about her. Instead of gratefulness, I will feel bitterness
and might even want to take revenge. This belief will also profoundly affect my
behavior towards her.
This same principle pertains to the way we think about
ourselves. If I believe that I am inferior to others and that they look down on
me, I will probably resent and avoid them. Besides, as a social creature, I
might even resent myself and practice self-harm.
Therefore, what we know
makes all the difference in the world. This is also true about what we believe
that Scripture is teaching. If I believe that I have to deserve and earn God’s
love, I will probably resent Him, knowing that I’ll never be good enough to
earn any mercy from Him. This principle probably pertains to the way we
understand the entirety of the Scriptures. Let me use the example of one verse
I’ve tried to understand:
·
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,
arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the
flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh
no longer for human passions but for the will of God. (1 Peter 4:1-2 ESV)
Your reaction might be as mine:
·
I haven’t “ceased from sin.” What’s the matter
with me? Have I missed the boat? But it seems like there aren’t any sinless Christians.
Perhaps this verse is in error?
Either interpretation – I’m a looser or Scripture is wrong –
will upset our faith. Therefore, it is important to meditate (Psalm 1:1-3) on
these verses to arrive at an understanding consistent with the Scriptures.
Here is the solution that I have adopted. Although we are
not going to be sinless in this life, we can be totally sold out for the Lord. While
we will continue to struggle against sin and even slip into it, we will no
longer pursue it and justify it. I think that this is what
Peter meant by “ceased from sin.”
Can we Scripturally justify this conclusion? I think so. The
Psalmist made this same distinction:
·
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous
sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and
innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13)
What is this “great transgression?” One that is “presumptuous”
or intentional, and there are many examples of this distinction (Hebrews 10:26;
Ephesians 4:18-19; Numbers 15:30). Although the Psalmist doesn’t claim that he
would then be “sinless,” he does claim that he would be “blameless,” the way
that Job had been described.
I am assuming that this was the intent of Peter in writing “ceased
from sin” meaning “intentional sin,” or blameworthy sin. (Any sin is blameworthy
but confession can wipe it out entirely – 1 John 1:9) His next verse seems to
bear out this understanding of “ceased from sin”:
·
For the time that is past suffices for doing
what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness,
orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (1 Peter 4:3)
These sins represent intentional lifestyle or chosen sins
but sins which can also overtake immature Christians. Nevertheless, while the mature
Christian will thoroughly reject these sins, he is still prone to act
selfishly, speak inordinately, and even throw a temper tantrum.
It’s important to realize
that we will not reach moral perfection in this world. When we believe that
this is possible, we will be inclined to put others up on a pedestal and to
follow them without question. Instead, we all have this treasure in earthen and
very fallible bodies (2 Corinthians 4:7). This means that we will suffer all
kinds of affliction (4:8-11).
Let me now give you another example from the next chapter of
what a Christian must know and
understand:
·
Resist him [Satan], firm in your faith, KNOWING
that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood
throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of
all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself
restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:9-10)
We must know that
we are called to suffer “fiery trials” in order to prepare us to meet Jesus (1
Peter 4:12-13). If we don’t understand this, we will be inclined to think, “Why
is God allowing this to happen to me. Evidently, I am not one of His favorites.”
Such doubts will only cause envy and resentment. Instead, we need to know that it is because He loves us that
we are afflicted. He chastens all of His children (Hebrews 12:5-11).
We also need to understand
that the suffering is only temporary and will be followed by eternal joy, as
Peter’s 10th verse claims. When we know this, we can endure. King
Solomon didn’t know this. Consequently, he hated life (Ecclesiastes 2, 3). This
is why the Bible teaches that spiritual renewal comes through what we understand through the Scriptures, which
are able to make us complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17):
·
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self
is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day…as we look not to
the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that
are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2
Corinthians 4:16,18)
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