Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 11 Oct 2015
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for y’all in flesh,
y’all also must start arming yourselves with the same resolution,
because the one who has suffered in the flesh has been stopped from sin,
2 in order to live the
remainder [of his] time in flesh no longer in the lusts of men,
but rather in the will of God.
3 For the time of life which has gone by is enough
for y’all to have accomplished the will of the nations,
having proceeded into immoralities, lusts, alcohol-binges, orgies, parties and illicit idolatries-
4 in regard to which they are alienated, uttering hurtful [epithets]
when y’all do not run together into the same flood of dissolute behavior.
5 Those guys will render an account to the One who is preparing to judge the living and the dead,
6 and because of this, the gospel has been preached even to the dead,
in order that they might
be judged according to men in flesh
yet that they might live according to God spiritually.
· Introduce Jamie, my son’s coyote pelt.
· Illustrate its deadness by putting meat in front of it and asking, “Why doesn’t Jamie want to eat that meat?”
· Ask if Jamie could fly if I wanted him to. Make the pelt fly across the room and observe, “Jamie can now do things he never could do before because he is completely dead and completely in my power to do whatever I want with him.”
· Also note that he will no longer do the things I don’t want him to: never again will he wake me up in the middle of the night with his howling, never again will he get into my trash can and spread my trash all over the lawn. All his doggie appetites are gone.
· When his pack of coyote buddies comes by my house yipping and yelping, will Jamie go and join them?
· If Jamie could get a message to those other coyotes, what would it be? Maybe he’d say, “Watch out for that Josh Wilson during hunting season; he’ll get you like he got me!”
· “Arm yourselves” is the main verb for this passage. The four other times that the root of this verb occurs in the Greek Bible are all in military contexts:
o Numbers 31:3 (“arm” some men to wipe out the Midianites who had tried to subvert Israel under Baalam’s cunning),
o Deuteronomy 3:18 (“proceed armed” – Moses’ charge to the men of the transjordanic tribes to stay in the army until the lands for the other tribes on the West side of the Jordan River were conquered),
o Numbers 32:17 (The Reubenites’ reply to Moses that they would “arm themselves” for battle with the rest of the army and help them conquer the land west of the Jordan),
o and Numbers 32:20 (Moses’ reply that if they would indeed “arm themselves before the LORD for battle” instead of abandoning their fellow tribes and settling on the East side of the Jordan, all would be well for them.)
· The noun form of this verb (with another prepositional prefix) is πανοπλι-, found in Ephesians 6:11-17 (NKJV) “Put on the whole armor [pan-opli-] of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [He goes on to list the armor of the Christian which we use to fight our spiritual battles: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the word of God.]
· Which reminds me of the hymn: “Soldiers of Christ, arise, And put your armor on, Strong in the strength which God supplies Through his Eternal Son... Stand then in his great might, With all his strength endued; But take, to arm you for the fight, The panoply of God...”
· But notice what we are to “arm/equip” ourselves with. Spears? Guns? Missile launchers? Even better – arm yourselves with a certain way of thinking, the same mind Christ had, His resolve, His attitude. This Greek word ἔννοιαν occurs only one other place in the New Testament: Hebrews 4:12, where it is translated “the intentions/attitudes of the heart.”
o It does occur also in the Greek Old Testament in the Proverbs – usually translated “understanding” – as a synonym for “wisdom” and an antonym for “foolishness.”
o It shares the same root (although a different prepositional prefix) with the word that Peter used for “mind” back in 1:13 “Therefore, after girding up the loins of y’all’s mind [διανοιας], being sober, perfectly start hoping upon the grace which is being brought to y’all in the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
o I like what commentator Gordon Clark said about this, “Ideas are weapons. Belief is armament. The notions that Christ entertained will aid each Christian in his struggle against the enemy.” So equip yourself with them!
· Now this is a very complex passage, and I know it can be organized in different ways, but I see what comes in the next few verses of 1 Peter 4 as listing two or three reasons why we need to arm ourselves with the same resolve that Christ possessed to endure the suffering which God calls us to endure. First...
· Albert Barnes, Adam Clark, and more recently Eugene Nida, in their commentaries on First Peter, postulated that this is just an old saying to the effect that dead bodies can’t sin anymore. (Kinda like Jamie here, who can’t act like a varmit anymore because he’s dead.) Other commentators like Gordon Clark, and John Gill have suggested that this is a benefit of martyrdom: Die for your faith and you won’t have to deal with sin anymore!
· But it goes deeper than a mere aphorism. The Apostle Peter is clearly drawing a connection between Jesus and Christians which is deep and is frankly more mysterious than I can expound.
o Jameison, Faussett and Brown in their commentary touched on this, writing, “...by the very fact of His having suffered once for all, [Jesus has obtained] a cessation from sin, which had heretofore lain on Him... The Christian is by faith one with Christ: as then Christ by death is judicially freed from sin; so the Christian who has in the person of Christ died, has no more to do with it judicially, and ought to have no more to do with it actually.”
o and John Gill wrote in his commentary: “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.”
o and Matthew Henry wrote: “As Christ suffered in his human nature, do you, according to your baptismal vow and profession, make your corrupt nature suffer, by putting to death the body of sin by self-denial and mortification.”
· Even though there is a range of interpretations of this verse, the practical upshot is that when we identify with Christ’s death, we call a halt to sin.
o I like how Adam Clarke put it, “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.”
o Compare this with the previous instance of the Greek verb pauw in 3:10 “The one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him stop his tongue from bad and his lips such that they don’t utter deceptiveness. Let him lean away from bad and start doing good. Let him seek peace and start chasing it down.”
· If we arm ourselves with the same resolve that Christ possessed to endure the suffering which God calls us to endure, we will stop living under the control of human desires and start living under the control of God’s will. This is what Peter has already said back in chapters one and two:
o 1:14-15 “As children of obedience, not being shaped with [your] earlier desires during your ignorance, but rather, in accordance with the Holy One who called you, you yourselves should also start becoming holy in all [your] lifestyle...” (NAW)
o 2:11b-12 “keep yourselves away from the fleshly desires which are at war against your soul 12 while keeping your lifestyle among the nations good” (NAW)
· Now we come to what I think is a second reason for arming ourselves with the same resolve that Christ possessed to endure the suffering which God calls us to endure, namely that the time to get away from evil and its consequences is now!
· I suspect that the vocabulary Peter uses here is referring in large part to sinful activities prevalent in Graeco-Roman culture at his time:
· The first word (translated in various English versions as “lasciviousness/lewdness/sensuality/ debauchery/lecheries/wantonness”) is almost always paired with words describing sexual sin when it occurs in the NT. It is an alpha-privative with the word “continent/self-controlled” negated.
· The second word, “passions/lusts/evil desires” is the same word used back in v.2 to mean doing what humans want instead of what God wants.
· The third word “drunkenness” is plural, but it’s not the usual word for “drunk” – Matthew Henry suggested it means getting just short of being all-out drunk. The only other passage in the Greek Bible that contains a form of this word is Deuteronomy 21:20, where a man is stoned to death because he is characterized by this form of drunkenness, so it is very serious in God’s eyes.
· The “reveling/carousing/orgies” come from a Greek word that means to “lie in bed,” and Greek Lexicographer Joseph Thayer wrote that this word was used in Greek literature to describe “feasts in honor of Bacchus” (the supposed god of wine, so there was a lot of drinking alcohol at those feasts) and also what occurred after those feasts, going “late [into the] night” doing crazy stuff because drunkenness makes you lose inhibitions (which is why Proverbs calls wine a mocker.)
· The next word literally means “drinks,” but is used throughout the Greek Bible to describe special parties or feasts of any kind.
· The last phrase combines an alpha-privative word (a-themitois) meaning “illegal/un-lawful/improper” together with the word for “idolatry.” Judging from the other three places the word eidw-lola-triais occurs in the Bible[1], it could mean other forms of sexual immorality, or it could mean idol-worship or dealings with the occult... or some combination of those things – all of which received the death penalty under Moses.
· Reading through a list like this makes me kind-of sick to my stomach because these things hold both incredible fascination and unspeakable horror for people. Yet the Bible lists sins like this in several places:[2] such as the “deeds of the flesh” in Galatians 5 before the “fruit of the Spirit” list.
o Galatians 5:18-21 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation+, but be filled with the Spirit, Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality* idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing**, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
o Romans 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing** and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality*, not in strife and jealousy.” (NASB)
o Ephesians 4:19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality* for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness...
o 2 Peter 2:18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality*, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
· “They” refers back to the pagan Gentiles – literally “the ethnic groups” – because even the Jews wanted to see the Christians suffer.
o The popular news channels may not report this very well, but Christians are persecuted more than any other religious group in the world: 70% of the world’s religious persecution is aimed at the 30% of the world’s population that is Christian[3].
o The Christian organization called Open Doors reported early this year that Christian persecution “reached historic levels in 2014, with approximately 100 million Christians around the world facing possible dire consequences for merely practicing their religion.”[4]
· The Present participle “blasphem-” is describing what the sinners do at the same time that Christians are refusing to participate with them in sin – literally “speaking evil/uttering injurious [epithets]”. “Who do you think you are?” “How can you be so arrogant to think you’re better than everybody else,” “What a goodie-goodie,” “Blue-nosed Puritan,” “Party pooper,” “Anti-social,” “Curse you,” “F-U” or worse.
o The Apostle Peter explains that this kind of “verbal abuse/maligning speech,” comes from the unbelievers’ feelings of “alienation/estrangement” when they realize that what your life is oriented around as a Christian is so utterly alien to what their life is centered around that they can’t even comprehend it. They’re shocked and surprised that the things which seem to them the most natural and desirable things in the world are not the things you are chasing after. And rather than admit that their way of life might be the wrong one, they choose to mock the Christian way of life.
o When people do that to you – when they say those hurtful words, remember what Peter says here: The terrible things they say about you are not true, they just come from the frustration of discovering that you are different; you are living for the will of God rather than for the will of Man.
o Furthermore, remember that the reason you are different is because you have become aligned with Christ, so every insult, every barb, every bit of their hot air is aimed at the Christ they see in you, not at you personally. They are really blaspheming Jesus when they say those things about you, so don’t let it shake you.
o And don’t worry about getting them back for what they say about you; Jesus will take care of that shortly when He comes back on Judgment Day. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord” (Deut. 32:35).
· “You don’t run together/plunge/join in with their excesses of riot/their flood of dissipation and debauchery.” The last word in that phrase is an alpha-privative of the Greek word for “salvation,” which is why I translated it “dis-solution.” It is found three other places in the Greek Bible:
o Proverbs 28:7, which contrasts dissolution with keeping the law and honoring parents[5];
o Ephesians 5:18, which contrasts dissolution with drunkennness[6];
o and Titus 1:6, which contrasts dissolution with faith and submission to proper authority.[7]
o Also, an adverbial form is the word “prodigal” in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son[8].
· This kind of anti-salvation behavior that breaks God’s laws, disregards authority, and gets out of control is what your non-Christians friends want you to jump back into.
o I was just talking recently with a Christian who said that his company has an annual staff conference, but he wasn’t going. I asked why he wasn’t going, and he replied, “Oh, they don’t do any business or training there, they just go to Las Vegas to gamble and hire prostitutes.” He wouldn’t plunge in with them on that.
o On the other hand, maybe you are in a nice Christian family or in a ministry setting where there is no pressure from peers to jump into debauchery. You still have to be on your guard, because the flesh and the devil are still working hard to pull you down into addictions that will destroy you, even when you are all alone.
· So we should arm ourselves with the same resolve Christ had to endure legitimate suffering, first because death and identification with Christ’s death stops sin, second because now is the time to stop sinning, and then what follows in v.5 explains further why it is important to stop sin in its tracks: Jesus is going to punish people for their sin.
· The “they” in v.5 (or “who” in the KJV) is those same guys who speak evil of you in v.4 and who continue to fulfill the will/desire of the nations in v.3.
· This coming judgment is the reason why preaching the gospel is so important now:
· This preaching, says Peter in v.6, has been done “to the dead.” What does that mean?
o Whoever these dead people are, the Gospel was preached to them so that they might undergo some kind of judgment in their fleshly bodies and so that they might experience God’s eternal spiritual life.
o Like I observed earlier, this is a difficult passage of scripture, and there is quite a range of opinion on it[9], but I will give you my opinion, and that is that these dead people were physically alive but spiritually dead at the time that they heard gospel preaching, then, either due to the condemnation they felt for their sins when they heard the preaching or perhaps later when they were persecuted for their faith by unregenerate men, they experienced judgment while living in their fleshly bodies, yet they trusted Jesus to save them, and God gave them spiritual life which would extend into eternity when they died and went to heaven. For what it’s worth, this is also the interpretation of Clement, Augustine, and Luther.
· Death is inevitable. You are either going to have to die to your flesh and live spiritually or be spiritually dead while living in your flesh.
o That’s why we must “arm ourselves with the resolution” to let go of our selfish, man-centered flesh and live out the will of God.
o We must separate ourselves from the idolatrous activities of worldly culture – make a break from social events and media which tend toward causing us to break the 10 commandments, risk being ostracized and slandered by former friends who will get mad at us for exposing the fact that they are at odds with God when we preach the Gospel through words and actions to them – the gospel that dying to the flesh with Christ is good news because it means living with Christ forever spiritually instead of dying forever spiritually in hell.
· Because there is going to be a Judgment Day in which Jesus glorifies all who trust Him and in which Jesus condemns all the rest to hell, God is going to the effort to reveal to every human being in every ethnicity enough about the Gospel that Jesus’ judgments will be obviously just (Romans 1:20, 2:1, etc.).
· The only other places in the Bible where God judging the living and the dead is mentioned, both of them include the importance of preaching the Gospel[10]:
o Acts 10:42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.”
o 2 Tim. 4:1 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word...”
· Non-Christians need to have the Gospel preached to them so that,
o on one hand, if they do not want to be right with God and receive the good news that Jesus died for their sins, then when Jesus condemns them for their disbelief on Judgment Day, they will have to admit that they chose the path of perdition with full disclosure of the consequences and that they have no grounds to whine about being sent to hell.
o On the other hand, the Gospel needs to be preached to the spiritually dead because some of those spiritually-dead people today might come to life by the Spirit of God when they hear the Gospel and repent of their sin and trust Jesus to save them.
o Notice that verse 1 implies that the Christians to whom Peter was writing had been in “sin,” v.2 implies that they had “spent time following human lusts rather than God’s will,” and v.3 implies that they had spent part of their “life” committing adultery, getting “drunk,” and “worshipping idols.”
o If Peter and the apostles had looked at those Greeks and said, “We won’t bother preaching the gospel to them; they’d never convert,” then there never would have been a 1 Peter in the Bible, because all those loose-living pagans would not have heard the gospel, and there wouldn’t have been any Christians in northern Turkey for Peter to write to.
o What does that tell us that our attitude should be toward the “Greeks” in our own town? How about those frat brothers and sorority girls who so often have a reputation for partying – or anyone else, for that matter, whose sinful life tempts you to think it would pointless to share the Gospel with them? We need to share the Gospel even with them. Some will be saved as a result, and it will leave the rest without excuse on Judgment Day.
· This is such a rich passage with so many more rabbit trails we could chase, but I think this at least covers the framework:
· let us arm ourselves with the same resolve Christ had to endure legitimate suffering,
o first because death and identification with Christ’s death stops sin,
o second because the time to escape from sin and its consequences is now,
o and third, because Judgment Day is coming.
· Let me close with a passage from the Apostle Paul’s letters which parallels the same ideas that Peter has presented to us: Romans 6:3-14 NASB Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace... [11]
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Patristic GNT |
NAW |
KJV |
NKJV |
ESV |
NASB |
NIV |
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1 ΧριστοῦGSM οὖν παθόντοςAAP-GSM [ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν[ii]] σαρκὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς τὴν αὐτὴν ἔννοιανASF ὁπλίσασθεAMM-2P, ὅτι ὁ παθὼνAAP-NSM [ἐν][iii] σαρκὶ πέπαυταιRPI-3S ἁμαρτίαςGSF, |
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for y’all in flesh, y’all also must start arming yourselves[iv] with the same resolve[v], because the one who has suffered in the flesh has been stopped from sin[vi], |
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 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, |
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves X with the same way of thinking, for whoever 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 he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, |
1
Therefore, since Christ suffered in [his] |
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2 εἰς τὸ μηκέτι ἀνθρώπων ἐπιθυμίαιςDPF, ἀλλὰ θελήματιDSN Θεοῦ τὸν ἐπίλοιπονASM ἐν σαρκὶ βιῶσαιAAN χρόνονASM. |
2 in order to live the remainder [of his] time in flesh no longer in the lusts of men, but rather in the will of God[vii]. |
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. |
2 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. |
2 so as to live [for] the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for humanX passions but for the will of God. |
2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. |
2
As a result, he does not X live the rest of his |
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3 [viii]ἀρκετὸςNSM γὰρ ὑμῖν[ix] ὁ παρεληλυθὼςRAP-NSM χρόνος [τοῦ βίου[x]] τὸ θέλημαASN τῶν ἐθνῶν [xi]κατειργάσασθαιRNN, πεπορευμένουςRNP-APM ἐν ἀσελγείαιςDPF, ἐπιθυμίαιςDPF, οἰνοφλυγίαις, κώμοιςDPM, πότοις[xii], καὶ ἀθεμίτοις[xiii] εἰδωλολατρίαις. |
3 For the time of life which has gone by is enough for y’all to have accomplished the will of the nations, having proceeded into immoralities, lusts, alcohol-binges, orgies, parties and illicit idolatries[xiv] - |
3
For the time |
3
For [we] have
spent enough of our
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3
For the time that
is past |
3
For the time [already]
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3
For |
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4 ἐν ᾧDSN [xv]ξενίζονταιPPI-3P μὴ συντρεχόντων[xvi]PAP-GPM ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν τῆςGSF ἀσωτίαςGSF ἀνάχυσιν[xvii]ASF, βλασφημοῦντες PAP-NPM |
4 in regard to which they are alienated, uttering hurtful [epithets][xviii] when y’all do not run together into the same flood of dissolute behavior[xix]. |
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: |
4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. |
4
With respect to this
they are surprised when you do not join |
4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, [and] they malign you; |
4 X
X They think it strange that you do not plunge with |
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5 οἳ ἀποδώσουσιFAI λόγον τῳ ἑτοίμωςADV ἔχοντιPAP-DSM κρῖναιAAN ζῶνταςPAP-APM καὶ νεκρούς. |
5 Those guys will render an account to the One who is preparing to judge the living and the dead[xx], |
5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. |
5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
5 [but] they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
5 [but] they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
5 [But] they will [have to] give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. |
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6 εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ νεκροῖς εὐηγγελίσθηAPI, ἵνα κριθῶσιAPS μὲν κατὰ ἀνθρώπους σαρκὶ, ζῶσιPAS δὲ κατὰ Θεὸν πνεύματι. |
6 and because of this, the gospel has been preached even to the dead[xxi] in order that they might be judged according to men in flesh[xxii] yet that they might live according to God spiritually.[xxiii] |
6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. |
6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. |
6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. |
6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. |
6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. |
[1] 1 Cor. 10: 7-8, 14 “And stop being idolaters, just as some of them were, as it has been written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they stood up to party.’ And let us stop being sexually immoral... 14. Therefore, my beloved ones, keep fleeing from idolatry.’” NAW, Ga. 5:19-20 “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred...” NKJV, Col. 3:5 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” NKJV
[2] ασελγειαις sensuality* / κωμοις carousing** /ασωτια+ (2 Peter 2:2&7, Mark 7:22 & 2 Corinthians 12:21, and Jude 1:4 also mention sensuality*)
[3] According to John Allen in his book, The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution
[4] https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/
[5] LXX 30:7 “A son with integrity keeps the law, but one who acts with dissolution dishonors [his] father” (NAW)
[6] “Don’t y’all get drunk with wine, in which dissipation exists, but rather keep being filled by the Spirit” (NAW)
[7] “If someone is upstanding, a one-woman man, having believing children who have not been charged with dissipation or disorderliness” NAW
[8] Luke 15:13 “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal [ἀσώτως] living.” (NKJV)
[9] Wesley took it to mean that the gospel had been preached throughout history to people who are now dead and buried, and JFB took a similar approach, saying that Peter is refuting the idea of annhilationism by saying that the dead will not be left out of the judgment. The reasoning for “dead” in v.6 being physically passed away is that the word “dead” in v.5 seems to be describing physically dead vs. living. SIL’s Exegetical Summaries cite ten commentaries [including Henry Alford’s] which explain this judgment according to men as physical death, and three commentaries [including Simon Kistemaker’s] which explain this judgment according to men as physical suffering and persecution of the Christian by unbelievers. Three more commentators not cited in SIL’s summaries which agree with the latter position include Jameison, Faucett, and Brown, who wrote, “Alford’s explanation is wrong... For ‘judged’ cannot have a different meaning in this verse from what ‘judge’ bears in 1Pet. 4:5,” Robert Hanna, who wrote, “©Ina … pneŔmati is difficult; perhaps it should be rendered ‘that they might be judged in the eyes of men (as men reckon judgment) physically, but might live as God lives spiritually,’” and Gordon Clark, who wrote, “one must give full value to the emphatic antithesis: judged according to men in the flesh versus live according to God in the spirit... the dead of verse five and the dead of verse six are not identical... the former is a judgment by God whereas the latter is explicitly a judgment by men... the reason why the Gospel was preached to the martyrs before they died was that they might indeed be martyred according to God’s plan and after martyrdom receive a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (Clement of Alexandria interpreted this similarly, but placed the source of the judgment in the hands of God that the suffering at the hands of men would result in further repentance and spiritual life, citing 1 Cor. 5:5 “Whom I have delivered to Satan, that he might live in the spirit.” – which seems a bit off the track of Peter’s line of thinking.)
[10] They are quoted from the NASB here.
[11] See also Romans 8:10-14, Ephesians 4:17-24, Colossians 3:2-8, and Titus 3:3-7!
[i] Where the traditional Patriarchal
edition of the Greek Bible is challenged by the Textus Receptus or by the modern critical editions, I note
that. When an English translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does
not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put
the added words in [square brackets]. When one English version chooses a
wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline
it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the
grammar form of the original Greek word, I use strikeout. And when an
English version omits a word which is in the Greek text, I insert an X. (Sometimes
I will place the X at the end of a word if the Greek word is plural but the
English translation is singular.) I have also tried to use colors to help the
reader see correlations between the Greek original and the various
translations.
[ii] Not in Critical editions of the Greek New Testament because three of the oldest-known manuscripts omit it, as does the Vulgate translation. It is, however, in the majority of Greek manuscripts, including some of the oldest-known (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus).
[iii] Although not in this edition of the patristic text and not to be found in modern critical editions either, this preposition is in the majority of Greek manuscripts (none dating earlier than the 9th century though), and is in the Textus Receptus. It makes no difference in translation, however, since the Dative case of the Greek word “flesh” would require the translation “in flesh” anyway.
[iv] Main verb. Occurs nowhere else in the Greek scriptures, but the root occurs with prepositional prefixes in: Num 31:3 (εξοπλισατε), Deuteronomy 3:18 (ενοπλισαμενοι), Numbers 32:17 (ενοπλισαμενοι), Numbers 32:20 (εξοπλισησθε), and Ephesians 6:11-17 “Put on the pan-oplian of God (all contexts are martial).
[v] The only other place in the NT this word occurs is Heb 4:12 “intentions/attitudes of the heart.” Also in the Proverbs – usually translated “understanding” – as a synonym for “wisdom” and an antonym for “foolishness.” It shares the same root (although a different prepositional prefix) with the word that Peter used for “mind” back in 1:13 “girding up the loins of y’all’s mind [διανοιας]...” Gordon Clark: “Ideas are weapons...”
[vi] Albert Barnes, Adam Clark, and more recently Eugene Nida, in their commentaries on First Peter, postulated that this is just an old saying to the effect that dead bodies can’t sin anymore. Gordon Clark, following John Gill, interpreted the phrase to mean that the martyrs who have suffered death don’t have to worry about sin anymore. Jameison, Faussett and Brown (and the Net Bible and somebody else I read) suggested that this person is Christ, but I don’t think so because the passive verb “has been stopped” and the following verse infer that this person has been committing sin. (JBF go on to say, “‘The flesh’ is the sphere in which sin has place,” but Hanna, on the other hand, says “suffered in the flesh” means suffered “physically” and not “spiritually.”) The mystical union of Christ with believers is pretty universally recognized by commentators on this passage. Predictably, Wesley used this passage to promote sinless perfection, but other commentators like Henry, Robertson, NET Biuble, and Adam Clarke acknowledge some role that suffering plays in mitigating sinful behavior. Cf. pauw in 3:10 “let him stop his tongue from bad.”
[vii] Cf. 1:14-15, 2:11b-12
[viii] This word only occurs in the Greek Bible here and in Matt. 6:34 (“each day has enough trouble”) and 10:25 (servant satisfied that he becomes like his master)
[ix] This is the spelling of the majority of Greek manuscripts, including the Sinaiticus, and, interestingly, it is reflected in the NASB and NIV, which are not followers of the Majority. The Textus Receptus (followed by the KJV) spells this pronoun as first person (a difference of one letter in Greek), and that is attested by the ancient Ephraimi Rescriptus. Modern critical editions omit this pronoun altogether, following the Vulgate (which apparently followed P72, A, & B), hence the ESV reading. Although it doesn’t make any difference theologically, it is interesting to have that many variants for that long a timespan.
[x] Although this phase is in the majority of Greek manuscripts, it is not in any manuscripts dating prior to the 9th century, so it is suspect and is omitted in the critical editions. Same goes for the next word which is spelled βουλημα (“council” instead of “will”) in all the oldest-known manuscripts. Neither variant makes a difference in the meaning.
[xi] The Majority of Greek manuscripts as well as the Textus Receptus depart from the Patristic and Critical editions by spelling this word in the Aorist tense instead of the Perfect tense. It makes no difference in English translation.
[xii] Literally “drink,” but used throughout the Septuagint OT to indicate special meals – some with too much drinking and some perfectly honorable. (Genesis 19:3; 40:20; Leviticus 11:34; Judges 14:10,12,17; 1 Samuel 25:36; 2 Samuel 3:20; 13:27; 1 Kings 3:15; 10:21; Ezra 3:7; Esther 1:5,8,9; 2:18; 5:6; 6:14; 7:2; Job 1:4,5; 8:11; 15:16; Proverbs 23:30; Ecclesiastes 7:2; Daniel 1:5,8; 5:10) This is the only mention in the NT.
[xiii] Only here and Acts 10:28, where Peter speaks of how “out of place” it is for Greeks and Jews to eat together.
[xiv] Many of these words are not Old Testament words; probably sinful activities prevalent in first century Graeco-Roman culture. All are plural: A-selgeia (“not + continent”) is almost always paired with words describing sexual sin. Epithumia: cf. v.2 human will vs. God’s. Oinoflugia is not the usual word for “drunk” – Matthew Henry suggested maybe just “buzzed,” but it’s still a serious offense in Deut 21:20. Kwme – lit. “lie” – referring to Baccanalian feasts and subsequent revelries according to Thayer. Potois – literally “drinks,” but is used throughout the Greek Bible to describe special parties or feasts of any kind. A-themitois – lit. “il-legal/un-lawful/im-proper.” Eidwlolatriais also occurs in 1 Cor. 10: 7-8, 14, Gal. 5:19-20, Col. 3:5, including sexual immorality, idol-worship, and dealings with the occult – perhaps in combination, all of which received the death penalty under Moses.
[xv] Xenos in Greek literally means “strange/foreign/alien.” This verbal form of Xenos occurs only in the NT, and, 70% of the time, it speaks of being an out-of-town guest (Acts 10:6,18,23,32; 17:20; 21:16; 28:7; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:4,12;). In 1 Peter and one instance in Acts, it speaks of an idea being foreign. (Acts 17:20 “...you are importing some foreign [ideas] to our ears...”) Hanna says it means to be “surprised.”
[xvi] Only used here, Mark 6:33, Acts 3:11, and Psalm 50:16-18
[xvii] Hapex Legomenon composed of the Greek root for “anoint/pour” prefixed by the preposition “up.” Vincent noted that this word “is used in classical Greek of the tides which fill the hollows.”
[xviii] The actions of “you” are in the genitive case in this verse whereas the actions of the sinners is in the nominative case. The Present participle “blasphem-” in the nominative case then is describing what the sinners do at the same time that Christians are refusing to participate with them in sin – literally “speaking evil/uttering injurious [epithets]”.
[xix] The last word in that phrase is an alpha-privative of the Greek word for “salvation,” which is why I translated it “dis-solution.” It is found three other places in the Greek Bible: Prov. 28:7, which contrasts dissolution with keeping the law and honoring parents (LXX 30:7); Eph. 5:18, which contrasts dissolution with drunkenness, and Titus 1:6, which contrasts dissolution with faith and submission to proper authority. An adverbial form is in Jesus’ parable of the “prodigal” son (Luke 15:13).
[xx] The only two other places where “judge the living and the dead” appear are: Acts 10:42 and 2 Tim. 4:1 and both use this as a reason to engage in preaching!
[xxi] Wesley took it to mean that the gospel had been preached throughout history to people who are now dead and buried, and JFB took a similar approach, saying that Peter is refuting the idea of annhilationism by saying that the dead will not be left out of the judgment. The reasoning for “dead” in v.6 being physically passed away is that the word “dead” in v.5 seems to be describing physically dead vs. living. On the other hand, “Augustine, Luther, etc... take “dead” here in the spiritual sense (‘dead in trespasses and sins’ as in Col. 2:13; Eph. 2:1” ~ATR, who took the same position, as did Clement of Alexandria before them all.
[xxii] SIL’s Exegetical Summaries cite ten commentaries [including Henry Alford’s] which explain this judgment according to men as physical death and three commentaries [including Simon Kistemaker’s] which explain this judgment according to men as physical suffering and persecution of the Christian by unbelievers. Three more commentators not cited in SIL’s summaries which agree with the latter position include Jameison, Faucett, and Brown, who wrote, “Alford’s explanation is wrong... For ‘judged’ cannot have a different meaning in this verse from what ‘judge’ bears in 1Pet. 4:5,” Robert Hanna, who wrote, “©Ina … pneŔmati is difficult; perhaps it should be rendered ‘that they might be judged in the eyes of men (as men reckon judgment) physically, but might live as God lives spiritually,’” and Gordon Clark, who wrote, “one must give full value to the emphatic antithesis: judged according to men in the flesh versus live according to God in the spirit... the dead of verse five and the dead of verse six are not identical... the former is a judgment by God whereas the latter is explicitly a judgment by men... the reason why the Gospel was preached to the martyrs before they died was that they might indeed be martyred according to God’s plan and after martyrdom receive a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (Clement of Alexandria interpreted this similarly, but placed the source of the judgment in the hands of God that the suffering at the hands of men would result in further repentance and spiritual life, citing 1 Cor. 5:5 “Whom I have delivered to Satan, that he might live in the spirit.” – which seems a bit off of Peter’s topic.) Here are some scriptures with similar wording: Jer. 25:31 & Isa. 66:16 (“The LORD will execute judgment ... on all flesh”), John 8:14-15 ("You judge according to the flesh), 2 Cor. 5:14-17 (“He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves... we recognize no one according to the flesh... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature”), Rom. 8:10-13 (“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness... if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”)
[xxiii] Evangelism is confirmed. Verse 1 implies that the Christians to whom Peter was writing had been in “sin,” v.2 implies that they had “spent time following human lusts rather than God’s will,” and v.3 implies that they had spent part of their “life” committing adultery, getting “drunk,” and “worshipping idols,” and yet Peter preached the gospel to them and they got saved. Those not saved have their only excuse removed on Judgment Day resulting in confirming the justice of God.