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Introduction:
Brothers and sisters, we are in a battle. It is the same battle that the saints of Christ have been in since the beginning and it is the same battle the original readers were fighting when Peter wrote this letter to them. What I would like to do, this morning, is to draw your attention to some of the things we easily forget in our historical and geographical context. I would also like to point out some solutions that Peter presented to his original readers and things we can put into practice just as they did.
Text:
“Therefore, since 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, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1–2)
Context:
Peter had three goals in writing to the saints in Asia Minor: first, he wanted to encourage his readers to suffer in a way that brought others to faith in Christ. Second, he wanted to give them some very practical direction in how to go about suffering so that those who caused the suffering would come to Christ. And third, over all of this Peter wanted all of this to give glory to God.