1 Peter 4:1

Contextual Overview

¹ Christ suffered while he was in his body. So you should strengthen yourselves with the same kind of thinking Christ had. The one who accepts suffering in this life has clearly decided to stop sinning. ¹ Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ¹ For as moche as christ hath suffred for vs in the flesshe arme youre selves lyke wyse with the same mynde: for he which suffereth in the flesshe ceasith fro synne ¹ Forasmuch then as Messiah 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; ¹ Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,¹ Since Christ suffered while he was in his body, strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking Christ had. The person who has suffered in the body is finished with sin. ¹ Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, you arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; ¹ Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; ¹ Forasmuch then as 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; ¹ Seeing then Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Christ: 1 Peter 3:18

arm: Romans 13:12-14, Philippians 2:5, Hebrews 12:3

for: Romans 6:2, Romans 6:7, Romans 6:11, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:24, Colossians 3:3-5

ceased: Isaiah 1:16, Ezekiel 16:41, Hebrews 4:10

Reciprocal: Leviticus 7:5 - General Deuteronomy 27:10 - General Psalms 85:13 - shall set Isaiah 11:5 - righteousness Isaiah 32:16 - General Isaiah 50:7 - I set Matthew 5:29 - pluck Matthew 16:24 - and take Mark 3:3 - he saith Mark 8:33 - savourest Mark 8:34 - take Luke 6:8 - Rise Luke 9:51 - he stedfastly Luke 19:28 - he went Luke 22:36 - But John 10:4 - he goeth John 13:14 - ye also John 18:4 - Whom Romans 6:4 - even Romans 8:3 - condemned 2 Corinthians 10:3 - walk Galatians 2:19 - that Galatians 5:16 - and Ephesians 2:16 - having Philippians 3:10 - and the power Colossians 2:12 - wherein Colossians 2:20 - if 2 Thessalonians 1:7 - who 2 Thessalonians 3:5 - the patient waiting for Christ Titus 3:3 - we 1 Peter 2:21 - because 1 Peter 2:24 - being 1 Peter 4:6 - that they 1 Peter 5:5 - all 1 John 2:1 - that 1 John 2:8 - which 1 John 4:17 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

Genesis 3:15
and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15
I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies. One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel."

Genesis 3:15
And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring's heel."

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel."

Genesis 3:15
"And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel."

Genesis 3:15
Y schal sette enemytees bitwixe thee and the womman, and bitwixe thi seed and hir seed; sche schal breke thin heed, and thou schalt sette aspies to hir heele.

Genesis 3:15
and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh..... The apostle having finished his digression concerning Christ's preaching in the ministry of Noah, to men whose spirits were now in prison, and concerning the salvation of Noah's family in the ark, by water, and concerning its antitype, baptism, its nature and effect, returns to the sufferings of Christ he had before made mention of; and argues from thence to holiness of life, and patience in sufferings, after this manner; seeing then Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, the holy and Just One, suffered such indignities, reproaches, and persecutions from men, the wrath of God, the curses of the law, and death itself; and that not for himself, nor for angels, but for men, and those not all men, otherwise his death, with respect to some, must be in vain; but for a particular number of men, in distinction from others, described in the beginning of this epistle, as elect, according to the foreknowledge of God; and these sufferings he endured in the room and stead of those persons, in the days of his flesh, while here on earth, and in his human nature, both soul and body, and was crucified through the weakness of his flesh, and for the sins of our flesh, and which he bore in his own:

arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; that was in Christ; as he suffered for you, do ye likewise suffer for him, in his cause, for righteousness sake, for the sake of him and his Gospel; and bear all reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions on his account, willingly and cheerfully, with meekness and patience, as he did, and with the same view; not indeed to make satisfaction for sin, which was his principal design, but that being dead unto sin, you might live unto righteousness. The apostle speaks to the saints, in this exhortation, as to soldiers, and who had many enemies to engage with, and therefore should put on their armour, and be in a readiness to meet any attack upon them:

for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin: meaning either Christ, who having suffered in human nature for the sins of his people, whereby he has made satisfaction for them, is now clear of them; the sins that were imputed to him being took and bore away, finished and made an end of, and he justified from them, and freed from all the effects of them, and punishment for them, as from all the infirmities of human nature, from mortality and death: or the person that has suffered in and with Christ, his head and representative, which is all one as if he had suffered himself, in person; by virtue of which his sin ceases, and he ceases from being chargeable with it, as if he had never sinned; which is the case of every criminal, when he has suffered the penalty of the law for his crime: or else the person that is dead to sin, by virtue of the death of Christ, and, in imitation of it, who has been baptized into Christ's death, and planted in the likeness of it; whose old man is crucified with Christ, and he is dead with him; who has crucified the affections with the lusts, and through the Spirit has mortified the deeds of the body; which way the generality of interpreters go: such a man has ceased from sin; not from the being and indwelling of it in him; nor from the burden of it on him; nor from a continual war with it in him; nor from slips and falls by it, and into it; no, nor from it in the most solemn and religious services; but as from the guilt of it, and obligation to punishment by it, through the death of Christ; so from the servitude and dominion of it, through the power of divine grace, in consequence of Christ's death: or rather, the believer that suffers death in his body, for the sake of Christ, such an one immediately ceases from the very being of sin, and all commission of it; he becomes at once perfectly pure and holy, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; and a noble argument this is to meet death without fear, and to suffer it cheerfully and willingly, since the consequence of this will be an entire freedom from sin, than which nothing can be more desirable by a believer: to this agrees the Syriac version, which renders the words thus: "for whoever is dead in his body hath ceased from all sins"; but the Arabic version more fully confirms this sense, and is the best version of the text, and is this; "be ye armed with this (same) thought, that (not for) he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin"; that is, fortify your minds against all the fears of sufferings, and of death, for the sake of Christ, with this single thought; that he that has suffered martyrdom for Christ, in his body, or has suffered death for his sake, or dies in the Lord, is free from sin, and so from sorrow, and is the most happy person imaginable; so that this last clause is not a reason of the former, but points out, and is explanative of what that same mind or thought is Christians should arm themselves with, against the fears of death; and it is the best piece of armour for this service, a saint can make use of.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh - Since he as a man has died for us. See the notes at 1 Peter 3:18. The design was to set the suffering Redeemer before them as an example in their trials.

Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind - That is, evidently, the same mind that he evinced - a readiness to suffer in the cause of religion, a readiness to die as he had done. This readiness to suffer and die, the apostle speaks of as armour, and having this is represented as being armed. Armour is put on for offensive or defensive purposes in war; and the idea of the apostle here is, that that state of mind when we are ready to meet with persecution and trial, and when we are ready to die, will answer the purpose of armour in engaging in the conflicts and strifes which pertain to us as Christians, and especially in meeting with persecutions and trials. We are to put on the same fortitude which the Lord Jesus had, and this will be the best defense against our foes, and the best security of victory.

For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin - Compare the notes at Romans 6:7. To “suffer in the flesh” is to die. The expression here has a proverbial aspect, and seems to have meant something like this: “when a man is dead, he will sin no more;” referring of course to the present life. So if a Christian becomes dead in a moral sense - dead to this world, dead by being crucified with Christ (see the notes at Galatians 2:20) - he may be expected to cease from sin. The reasoning is based on the idea that there is such a union between Christ and the believer that his death on the cross secured the death of the believer to the world. Compare 2 Timothy 2:11; Colossians 2:20; Colossians 3:3.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER IV.

We should suffer patiently, after the example of Christ, 1.

And no longer live according to our former custom, but disregard

the scoffs of those who are incensed against us because we have

forsaken their evil ways, who are shortly to give account to

God for their conduct, 2-5.

How the Gospel was preached to Jews and Gentiles, 6.

As the end of all things was at hand, they should be sober,

watchful, charitable, benevolent, good stewards of the bounty

of Providence; and, when called to instruct others, speak as

the oracles of God, 7-11.

Of the persecutions and trials which were coming upon them, and

how they were to suffer so as not to disgrace their Christian

character, 12-16.

Judgment was about to begin at the house of God, and even the

righteous would escape with difficulty from the calamities

coming upon the Jews; but they must continue in well-doing, and

thus commit the keeping of their souls to their faithful

Creator, 17-19.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.

Verse 1 Peter 4:1. As Christ hath suffered — He is your proper pattern; have the same disposition he had; the same forgiving spirit, with meekness, gentleness, and complete self-possession.

He that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from sin — This is a general maxim, if understood literally: The man who suffers generally reflects on his ways, is humbled, fears approaching death, loathes himself because of his past iniquities, and ceases from them; for, in a state of suffering, the mind loses its relish for the sins of the flesh, because they are embittered to him through the apprehension which he has of death and judgment; and, on his application to God's mercy, he is delivered from his sin.

Some suppose the words are to be understood thus: "Those who have firmly resolved, if called to it, to suffer death rather than apostatize from Christianity, have consequently ceased from, or are delivered from, the sin of saving their lives at the expense of their faith." Others think that it is a parallel passage to Romans 6:7, and interpret it thus: "He that hath mortified the flesh, hath ceased from sin." Dr. Bentley applies the whole to our redemption by Christ: He that hath suffered in the flesh hath died for our sins. But this seems a very constrained sense.