Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00014A
|
00:22 Hello and welcome to "Books of the Book."
00:24 I'm Deyvy Rodriguez and I'm glad 00:26 you're able to join us in our study today. 00:28 We're studying the books of 1st and 2nd Peter. 00:31 Dr. Tom Shepherd is with us. 00:33 He is a Professor of New Testament Interpretation 00:35 at the Theological Seminary of Andrews University. 00:39 Dr. Shepherd, welcome. Thank you. 00:41 You know, when I became a Christian 00:43 there were many things I had to leave behind 00:45 and some of them were friends. 00:46 And actually they left me behind 00:48 because they just simply didn't like my new lifestyle 00:52 and so some of them decided to just go their own way. 00:56 And at some point they just didn't like me anymore. 00:59 I don't know if you'd an experience that way or-- 01:01 Well in my life I was raised up as-- 01:05 in a church going family, Adventist family. 01:08 And so my group of friends 01:10 were friends that were already in the church. 01:11 So I didn't have that shift take place. 01:13 But I know many people do. 01:15 And it's quite startling to them sometimes, 01:18 especially if there old friends give them a hard time. 01:23 And that's really what our passage here is talking about. 01:25 So we jump right into it. Let's read 1st Peter 4:1-6. 01:30 "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, 01:33 arm yourselves also with the same mind, 01:36 for He who has suffered in the flesh 01:38 has ceased from sin, that He no longer should live 01:41 the rest of His time in the flesh 01:43 for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 01:46 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing 01:51 the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lewdness, 01:55 lusts, drunkenness, revelries, 01:58 drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 02:02 In regard to these, they think it strange that 02:06 you do not run with them in the same flood 02:09 of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 02:13 They will give an account to Him 02:14 who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 02:17 For this reason the gospel was preached 02:20 also to those who are dead, 02:23 that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, 02:26 but live according to God in the spirit." 02:30 So how does this, what we've just read fit, 02:33 with what we've read before? All right. 02:36 Now that's a great question, too. 02:38 Because in a way it kind of builds on what's gone before. 02:41 We saw in our previous 2 times together 02:45 that 1st Peter 3:13-22 are a description 02:52 first of the Christian experience 02:54 of sharing faith and being persecuted for it, 02:58 followed by a support from the experience of Jesus 03:03 where He suffered as well, 03:06 where He died to bring us to God, 03:09 that He was raised to life in the spirit 03:12 and that He proclaimed victory 03:14 and ascended to the throne on high. 03:17 So we have that wonderful victory to look forward to. 03:22 He begins chapter 4 then by saying, 03:24 "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh." 03:29 This concept of since Christ suffered in the flesh 03:34 is like a summary of all that he said in those verses 03:39 about Christ's experience in verses 18 to 22. 03:44 But then that's, of course, not where he stops. 03:48 He goes on. 03:51 And what does Peter mean in verse 1 when he says that 03:53 "we should arm ourselves with that same thought?" 03:57 Yeah, he now talks about a mindset or a way of thinking. 04:04 We've seen Peter talk a lot about, you know, 04:08 things that go on in the mind 04:10 because these Christians in this setting of Asia Minor 04:15 in the 1st century were many of them 04:19 by themselves, you know, away from other Christians. 04:22 And they needed to be fortified in their minds 04:26 in order to face the experience around them. 04:28 So we aren't exactly told. 04:32 We are said to arm ourselves with that same thought 04:36 but we aren't told exactly what that thought was 04:38 because in verses 18 to 22 what we're told is actions 04:43 that Jesus went through. 04:45 If we want to think back to any thoughts of Jesus 04:51 we have to reach all the way back to chapter 2, verse 23. 04:54 So maybe we should read 2:23 04:56 'cause it's probably a good parallel to this. 05:00 "Who when He was reviled did not revile in return, 05:03 when He suffered He did not threatened 05:06 but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." 05:10 All right, remember when we talked about this 05:12 we said that in that experience 05:14 Jesus handed Himself over to God. 05:18 This is in the Garden of Gethsemane where He said 05:21 "Not My will be done but Your will be done." 05:26 And so He delivered Himself to God. 05:29 He handed Himself over to God. 05:30 That same kind of concept of Christ 05:33 submitting Himself to God, 05:34 of being willing to go to the cross, 05:37 of being faithful to God in a trying an experience, 05:41 that's probably the idea 05:43 that we are to arm ourselves with in this experience. 05:46 Now it's interesting that verses 18 to 22 of chapter 3 05:51 are kind of pivotal because they form the support 05:56 for verses 13 and 17 which come before them. 06:01 But now they are the premise for verses 4--chapter 4:1-6. 06:08 So they supported what goes before 06:10 but they become the basis 06:13 for his argumentation in verses 1 to 6 of chapter 4. 06:16 So it's kind of a pivotal kind of a pattern there in 3:18-22. 06:21 Very interesting, very important passage, 06:24 challenging, takes a lot of study to really get into. 06:27 We really just kind of touched on things there. 06:30 You can go read commentaries where you can read pages 06:32 and pages and pages to try to understand those verses. 06:36 So what we present here 06:38 we hope it's a great blessing to God's people. 06:40 But in a sense it's kind of the hors d'oeuvres 06:44 for a great meal of digging into God's word for ourselves. 06:48 What does the last part in verse 1 of chapter 4 06:52 mean that when it says 06:54 "that the one who has suffered has ceased from sin?" 06:58 Boy, isn't that a great little phrase? 07:00 Just sticks in your mind. 07:01 "That one who has suffered has ceased from sin." 07:05 People get this idea "Wow, I want to have victory oversin. 07:11 So what I better do is I better go suffer." 07:15 Because it says here the one who has suffered 07:19 has ceased from sin. 07:21 Well, who is this one who has suffered? 07:22 That's the first question. 07:24 Some people wanna say "it's Jesus" because it says 07:29 in the verse that "Christ suffered in the flesh." 07:32 You know, so arm yourselves with the same way of thinking 07:36 for the one who has suffered in the flesh. 07:39 Well then Jesus suffered in the flesh? Sure. 07:42 But then the last phrase "has ceased from sin." 07:46 What's the problem of applying that to Jesus? 07:49 That he was sinning at one point and now he stopped sinning. 07:53 Yeah. So it doesn't seem to work with applying this to Jesus. 07:57 So it probably is applying to the Christian. 08:00 And saying the one who has suffered in the flesh 08:06 has ceased from sin. 08:07 And some commentators take this to teach 08:12 that suffering is a way of disciplining 08:15 the Christian to root out sinful behavior. 08:19 And that's one possibility. 08:22 I mean, we think back to 1st Peter 1 08:25 where it talks about the testing of your faith 08:29 and it says in verse 7. 08:32 So that the-- this is 1st Peter 1:7. 08:34 "So that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious 08:38 than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire 08:41 maybe found to result in praise and glory and honor 08:43 at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 08:45 That's one possibility. 08:47 Certainly suffering can show you the badness of sin. 08:55 But the suffering he's talking about here is probably suffering 08:58 because you're being persecuted for being a Christian. 09:02 And it's a little hard to see how if you're doing 09:06 what's right and you're suffering, 09:08 how that is that which cleanses sin out of you. 09:12 I mean, it's possible. 09:14 You might want to say "I'll never go back to that again. 09:16 I'll never go that way." 09:18 But actually the ceasing from sin concept here 09:25 may instead of being, you know, 09:27 headed towards cleansing sin out of the life 09:32 actually, a sign of it being cleansed from the life. 09:36 Now how can that be? What do we mean by this? 09:39 It goes like this. 09:41 The person is converted 09:43 like you had talked about your experience. 09:45 Their lifestyle changed. Okay? 09:47 And so they were now following Jesus. 09:51 I sometimes say to people that becoming a Christian 09:54 is like changing teams on a football team. 09:58 And you used to wear the black shirt 10:00 of death or whatever, you know, of Satan's team 10:02 and then you put on the red shirt of Jesus' team. 10:06 And He says "we're going this opposite direction 10:08 than you used to go. 10:10 You used to be going that way and now you're headed this way." 10:11 It sounds like a traitor. New team. 10:14 Like a traitor, you know. Yes, of course. 10:16 Betray your-- Yes, of course. 10:17 And the other team, what they're going to do? 10:18 They're gonna knock you right down. 10:20 They're gonna persecute you. All right. 10:21 So you left the way of sin 10:23 and you started to live for Jesus. 10:25 And what do they do? They persecute you. 10:27 All right, so the persecution, the suffering is a sign 10:33 that you left the old way and you're walking with Jesus. 10:38 That's another way to understand this verse. 10:41 So we tend to internalize this a lot and say, 10:44 "Wow, he has ceased from sin. 10:46 Ceased. He's sinless. He's perfect. 10:49 You have to remember that Peter 10:51 when he talks about sin is talking about actions. 10:54 He talks about things you do. 10:56 And he talks about-- he makes lists. 10:58 He tells you "don't do this. Don't do that. 10:59 You know, don't go down that way." 11:01 And it's always rather action oriented 11:03 in his descriptions of sin. 11:06 So we tend to, you know, sort of get it all 11:10 in our hearts and minds and say, you know, 11:12 just--he's not even sinning with the thought 11:15 or something if he's suffering. 11:17 And while the suffering has-- perhaps it's disciplining them. 11:21 I'm thinking maybe that this is more just a sign 11:23 that the person is a Christian. 11:25 People are persecuting them. That's a sign. 11:28 They are persecuting him. Why are they persecuting him? 11:31 Because he's doing what's right. 11:32 That's the sign he's going down the right path. 11:34 Now verses 2 and 3, how do they fit in with verse 1? 11:38 All right, it's a good question. 11:39 Let's just take a look them again just briefly. 11:42 Verse 2 says, "So as to live for the rest of the time 11:44 in the flesh no longer for human passions 11:47 but for the will of God. 11:48 For the time that is past suffices 11:50 for doing what the Gentiles want to do, 11:52 living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, 11:55 drinking parties, and lawless idolatry." 11:59 Verse 2 gives the purpose of the mindset 12:02 that has led to the suffering in verse 1. 12:05 So verses 2 and 3 stand in contrast 12:08 with one another actually. 12:10 Verse 2 talks about the future, 12:12 what this whole mindset is gonna lead you to. 12:16 And verse 3 talks about the past, 12:18 what was living like a Gentile was like. 12:21 The future is bright with living for God. 12:24 The past is what you used to do 12:26 for the-- in the Gentile lifestyle. 12:30 In between these two, in between these two 12:33 is the present in which the Christian is out of step 12:36 with the pagans around them 12:38 because they were converted and they became Christians. 12:41 Gentiles don't like that 12:43 and they make the Christians suffer. 12:44 The list of vices that we find in verse 3 12:47 is still typical of our world today. 12:50 You look at the entertainment industry 12:53 and all the things that they focus attention on. 12:56 See Hollywood has discovered 12:58 that sex and violence sells their films. 13:02 Sells their programs. So what do they focus on? 13:05 Sex and violence. 13:06 And when they put the two together 13:08 it sells them more. 13:09 They're all about making the money. 13:11 They're not about establishing Christian character, you see. 13:13 So this is just like reading the newspapers today. 13:16 And still with us to this day. 13:19 And perhaps you can also share 13:20 what reaction does the world have 13:23 when Christians or when people decide to, 13:25 you know, follow Jesus? 13:27 And maybe you can answer that after the short break. 13:30 Well, friends, we're studying 13:32 1st and 2nd Peter and with Dr. Tom Shepherd. 13:34 This is a very interesting Bible study. 13:37 And be with us after this short break. |
Revised 2014-12-17