We Are Not Who We Were

 ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹ by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹ There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

 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, 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. ³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 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. ⁵ They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 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. (1 Peter 3:18-4:6, New King James Version)

Christ's sufferings bring us into the very presence of God.  Our servitude to our flesh has ended and we are made alive by the Holy Spirit to live new lives.

This same Spirit, in an act that remains somewhat of a mystery to us, is how Jesus went and preached the gospel to those souls in prison.  Those Old Testament people who lived even before the establishment of God's covenant with the people of Israel, before even the flood, were now presented the gospel so that even though they had suffered the judgment of death on earth, they might have the chance to take part in eternal life. (verses 3:19 and 4:6)

Just as Noah and his family demonstrated their faith by going into the Ark, and so were saved, we by faith choose to take part in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and we demonstrate that decision with baptism.  The act of baptism itself, the act of dunking our flesh into the water the water  is not what saves us, otherwise taking a bath would have the same result, the death and resurrection of Christ is what saves us.  It is the cleansing of conscience by His resurrection that we need, not just the cleansing of our flesh.  Baptism is simply how we show our decision to take part in the resurrection.

Because Christ died and rose again for us, and because we have symbolically taken part in that death, burial, and resurrection through baptism, we should no longer live in sin.  When we decided to follow Christ, we decided to die to sin, this death is represented in baptism by our body being dunked under the water, just as a dead person is placed under the ground.  However, we didn't stay under the water!  We didn't just decide to die to our old life of sin, we were also making a choice to live anew for God!  This resurrection to new life is represented by our rising back up out of the water, just as Christ rose up from the grave.  So now, having died to sin and risen again to a new life in Christ, we should not live to please our flesh, but should live to do God's will.

Enough of our past lifetime was spent in sin.  We now live a new life, who wants to waste time in this new life by walking in sin? 

Those who knew us in our past life think it is strange that no longer live as we used to.  They may speak evil of us, but we can rejoice because we know that we have life in Christ.  Our judgment for sin is finished.  The penalty has already been paid.  So we can rejoice over that rather than be worried about what others say about us or do to us. 

In fact, rather than hating them, we can pity them, for unless they choose in this life to judge their own sin and accept Christ's payment for it, unless they choose to begin a new life in Him, their sin will be judged in the next life, and they will have to pay their own penalty.  We can pity that, because we too were deserving of judgment, no better than they, the only difference being that we have recognized that and have accepted the free gift of salvation.

So we should pray for them and try to live lives that point them to Jesus.

Lord, I praise you that you have given me new life in You.  I thank you so much for this free gift Lord.  I did nothing to earn it, could do nothing to earn it if I tried.  I am saved, and can't become more saved or less saved by my works, praise you for that Lord, because surely I'd mess up and end up "less saved" if that were the case! However Lord, Your word does teach that my works matter, not in the sense of earning my salvation, but in the sense of glorifying You, and being used by You to draw others to Your Kingdom.  Help me Lord to glorify You today in all that I do, all that I think, and all that I say.  I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Always Be Ready

 ⁸ Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; ⁹ not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For

      “ He who would love life
      And see good days,
       Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
      And his lips from speaking deceit.
       ¹¹ Let him turn away from evil and do good;
       Let him seek peace and pursue it.
       ¹² For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
       And His ears are open to their prayers;
      But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”   

¹³ And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” ¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶ having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:8-17, New King James Version)

Love should be the primary factor in our relationships to one another, this will show itself in the big ways like having compassion, but perhaps even more so in the small everyday things.  Things like being courteous, showing manners, making that phone call if you're not going to be able to do what said you would do, or opening the door for the person who has their full. While small, "common courtesy" type of things, these very things are what is so easy to overlook, and are things that in today's world are becoming far from common.  We need to practice these little, everyday things, not just because we were taught to, but because we are seeking to glorify God and shine His light.

We also should not be seeking to "get back at" others, but always to try to bless. The principle of doing good and blessing those around us is found throughout scripture, Old Testament and New.

If we live this way, always treating others with respect and courtesy, and always seeking to bless others, it is much less likely that anyone will hate us and try to hurt us, however if it does happen we at least have the blessing of a clear conscience, the knowledge that we are suffering for righteousness and not for our own sin.  This will give us great hope through the trial of mistreatment, and will prompt questions from those around us.  Questions such as how we continue to love those who treat us so badly, and how we endure such mistreatment with patience, and how we continue to have hope even in situations that seem hopeless.

Of course the reason for our hope is Jesus Christ and the fact that He died for us and purchased our salvation, and that He promises not only life eternal and abundant, but even promises additional reward for those who suffer for His name. Often I hear this verse (vs. 15) interpreted that we should study the Bible intently so we are ready to to give an answer, of course that is true, but in the context of this verse I think it is more about having a clean conscience and a good witness, so that we are ready to share whenever asked.  If we live as God calls us to, we will always be ready to share this, never feeling that we need to hold back because our actions condemn us as hypocrites.  Instead, with a clean conscience we can share Christ, knowing that we have lived out our faith. 

Praise God for His awesome gift of salvation.  May we do all we can to share this gift with others.

Praise you Lord that You have given me the gift of salvation and a true and living hope in You.  Help me to live today in such a way that I will always be ready to share the reason for my hope.