Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Peter 4

1 PETER CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter relates principally to the manner in which those to whom the apostle wrote should bear their trials, and to the encouragements to a holy life, notwithstanding their persecutions. He had commenced the subject in the previous chapter and had referred them particularly to the example of the Savior.

His great concern was that if they suffered, it should not be for any crime, and that their enemies should not be able to bring any well-founded accusation against them. He wanted them to be pure and harmless, patient and submissive, faithful in the performance of their duties, and confidently looking forward to the time when they would be delivered.

He exhorts them, therefore, to the following things:

1. To arm themselves with the same mind that was in Christ; to consider that the past time of their lives was enough for them to have done the will of the flesh, and that now it was their duty to be separate from the wicked world, in whatever light the world might regard their conduct—remembering that those who slandered them must soon give account to God (1 Peter 4:1–6).
2. He reminds them that the end of all things was near, and that they should be sober and watchful in prayer (1 Peter 4:7).
3. He exhorts them to practice mutual love and hospitality—virtues especially useful in a time of persecution and affliction (1 Peter 4:8–9).
4. He exhorts them to perform every duty with seriousness of manner and fidelity—whether it was in preaching or in giving alms to the poor and needy (1 Peter 4:10–11).
5. He tells them not to think it strange that they were called to pass through fiery trials, nor to suppose that any unusual thing had happened to them. He reminds them that they only shared in Christ's sufferings, and that it was to be regarded as a favor if anyone suffered as a Christian. He also presses upon them the thought that they should be careful that none of them suffered for any crime (1 Peter 4:12–16).
6. He reminds them that the righteous would be saved with difficulty and that the wicked would certainly be destroyed; and exhorts them, therefore, to commit the keeping of their souls to a faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:18–19).

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. Since He, as a man, has died for us (see Barnes on 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 showed—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 struggles 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. . 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 Barnes on 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 to 2 Timothy 2:11; Colossians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).

That he no longer should live. That is, he has become, through the death of Christ, dead to the world and to the former things which influenced him, in order that he should from now on live not to the lusts of the flesh. (See Barnes, 2 Corinthians 5:15).

The rest of his time in the flesh. The remainder of the time that he is to continue in the flesh; that is, that he is to live on the earth.

To the lusts of men. Such lusts as men commonly live for and indulge in. Some of these are enumerated in the following verse.

But to the will of God. In such a manner as God commands. The object of redemption is to rescue us from being swayed by wicked lusts, and to bring us to be conformed wholly to the will of God.

For the time past of our life may suffice us. "We have spent sufficient time in indulging ourselves and following our wicked inclinations, and we should from now on live in a different manner." This does not mean that it was ever proper to live this way, but that, as we would say, "we have had enough of these things; we have tried them; there is no reason why we should indulge in them any more." An expression quite similar to this occurs in Horace—Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti. Tempus abire tibi est, etc.—Epistles 2.2.213.

To have wrought the will of the Gentiles. This does not mean to be subservient to their will, but to have done what they willed to do; that is, to live as they did. That the Gentiles or heathen lived in the manner immediately specified, see the notes on Romans 1:21 and following.

When we walked in lasciviousness. When we lived in the indulgence of corrupt passions—the word walk being often used in the Scriptures to denote the manner of life. On the word lasciviousness, see the notes on Romans 13:13.

The apostle says we, not as meaning that he himself had been addicted to these vices, but as speaking of those who were Christians in general. It is common to say that we lived so and so, when speaking of a collection of persons, without meaning that each one was guilty of all the practices enumerated. See the notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:17 for a similar use of the word we. The use of the word we in this place would show that the apostle did not mean to set himself up as better than they were, but was willing to be identified with them.

Lusts. The indulgence of unlawful desires. See the notes on Romans 1:24.

Excess of wine. The word used here (oinophlygia) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means an overflowing of wine (oinos, wine, and phlyō, to overflow); then wine-drinking, drunkenness. That this was a common vice need not be proved. Multitudes of those who became Christians had been drunkards, for intemperance abounded in all the heathen world.

Compare to 1 Corinthians 6:9–11. It should not be inferred here from the English translation, "excess of wine," that wine is improper only when used to excess, or that the moderate use of wine is proper. Whatever may be true on that point, nothing can be determined regarding it from the use of this word.

The apostle had his eye on one thing—on such a use of wine as led to intoxication, such as they had indulged in before their conversion. About the impropriety of that, there could be no doubt. Whether any use of wine by Christians or other persons was lawful was another question.

It should be added, moreover, that the phrase "excess of wine" does not precisely convey the meaning of the original. The word excess would naturally imply something more than was needful, or something beyond the proper limit or measure, but no such idea is in the original word. That refers merely to the abundance of wine, without any reference to the inquiry whether there was more than was proper or not. Tyndale renders it, somewhat better, drunkenness. So Luther, Trunkenheit.

Revellings. Rendered rioting in Romans 13:13. See the notes on Romans 13:13.

The Greek word (kōmos) occurs only here, and in Romans 13:13, and Galatians 5:21. It means feasting, revel; "a carousing or merry-making after supper, the guests often sallying into the streets, and going through the city with torches, music, and songs in honor of Bacchus," etc.—Robinson, Lexicon. The word would apply to all such noisy and boisterous processions now—scenes wholly inappropriate to the Christian.

Banquetings. The word used here (potos) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means drinking, an act of drinking; then a drinking bout, drinking together. The thing forbidden by it is an assembling together for the purpose of drinking. There is nothing in this word referring to eating, or to banqueting, as the term is now commonly employed. The idea in the passage is that it is improper for Christians to meet together for the purpose of drinking—as wine, toasts, etc.

The prohibition would apply to all those assemblages where this is understood to be the main object. It would forbid, therefore, attendance on all those celebrations in which drinking toasts is understood to be an essential part of the festivities, and all those where hilarity and joyfulness are sought to be produced by the intoxicating bowl. Such are not proper places for Christians.

And abominable idolatries. Literally, unlawful idolatries; that is, unlawful to the Jews, or forbidden by their laws. Then the expression is used in the sense of wicked, impious, since what is unlawful is impious and wrong. That the vices referred to here were practiced by the heathen world is well known. See the notes on Romans 1:26 and following.

That many who became Christians were guilty of them before their conversion is clear from this passage. The fact that they were thus converted shows the power of the gospel, and also that we should not despair regarding those who are indulging in these vices now. They seem indeed almost to be hopeless, but we should remember that many who became Christians when the gospel was first preached, as well as since, were of this character.

If they were reclaimed—if those who had been addicted to the gross and debasing vices referred to here were brought into the kingdom of God—we should believe that those who are living in the same manner now may also be recovered. From the statement made in this verse, that "the time past of our lives may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles," we may remark that the same may be said by all Christians of themselves; the same thing is true of all who are living in sin.

1. It is true of all who are Christians, and they feel it, that they lived long enough in sin.

   They made a fair trial—many of them with ample opportunities; with abundant wealth; with all that the fashionable world can furnish; with all that can be derived from low and gross indulgences. Many who are now Christians had opportunities of living in splendor and ease; many moved in gay and brilliant circles; many occupied stations of influence or had brilliant prospects of distinction; many gave indulgence to gross inclinations; many were the companions of the vile and the abandoned. Those who are now Christians, taking the church at large, have had ample opportunity of making the fullest trial of what sin and the world can furnish.

   They all feel that the past is enough for this manner of living. It is "sufficient" to satisfy them that the world cannot furnish what the soul demands. They need a better portion, and they can now see that there is no reason why they should desire to continue the experiment regarding what the world can furnish. On that unwise and wicked experiment they have expended time enough; and satisfied with that, they desire to return to it no more.

2. The same thing is true of the wicked—of all who are living for the world. The time past should be regarded as sufficient to make an experiment in sinful indulgences, for:

   The experiment has been made by millions before them and has always failed; and they can hope to find in sin only what has always been found—disappointment, mortification, and despair.

   They have made a sufficient experiment. They have never found in those indulgences what they flattered themselves they would find, and they have seen enough to satisfy them that what the immortal soul needs can never be obtained there.

   They have spent sufficient time in this hopeless experiment. A person has no time to waste. A person may soon die—and at whatever period of life anyone may be who is living in sin, we may say to him that he has already thrown away enough of probation in a fruitless attempt to find happiness where it can never be found.

   For any purpose whatever for which anyone could ever suppose it to be desirable to live in sin, the past should suffice. But why should it ever be deemed desirable at all? The fruits of sin are always disappointment, tears, death, despair.

Wherein they think it strange. Regarding these vices, those who were once your partners and accomplices now think it strange that you no longer join them. They do not understand the reasons why you have left them. They regard you as abandoning a course of life that has much to attract and to make life merry, for a severe and gloomy superstition.

This is a true account of the feelings that worldly people have when their companions and friends leave them and become Christians. To them, it is a strange and unaccountable thing that these individuals give up the pleasures of the world for a course of life that seems to them to promise anything but happiness.

Even the relatives of the Saviour regarded Him as "beside himself" (Mark 3:21), and Festus supposed that Paul was mad (Acts 26:24). There is almost nothing that worldly people comprehend so little as the reasons that influence those with ample means of worldly enjoyment to leave circles of gaiety and vanity and to devote themselves to the serious practices of religion. The labels 'fool,' 'enthusiast,' 'fanatic,' are terms that frequently come to their minds to describe this, even if these terms are not always allowed to escape their lips. The reasons why they consider this so strange are something like the following:

1. They do not appreciate the motives that influence those who leave them. They feel it is proper to enjoy the world and to make life cheerful, and they do not understand what it means to act with a deep sense of responsibility to God and with reference to eternity. They live for themselves. They seek happiness as the end and aim of life. They have never been accustomed to direct their minds toward another world and to the account they must soon give at God's judgment seat. Unaccustomed to acting from any higher motives than those pertaining to this present world, they cannot appreciate the conduct of those who begin to live and act for eternity.

2. They do not yet see the guilt and folly of sinful pleasures. They are not convinced of the deep sinfulness of the human soul, and they think it strange that others should abandon a course of life that seems so innocent to them. They do not see why those who have been accustomed to these indulgences for so long should have changed their opinions, and why they now regard as sinful those things they once considered harmless.

3. They do not see the force of the argument for religion. Not having the same understanding of the unspeakable importance of religious truth and duty that Christians now have, they wonder why Christians would break away from the course of life they formerly pursued and separate themselves from most other people. Therefore, they sometimes regard the conduct of Christians as amiable weakness, sometimes as superstition, sometimes as sheer folly, sometimes as madness, and sometimes as sourness and misanthropy. In all respects they consider it strange.

"Lions and beasts of savage name
Put on the nature of the lamb,
While the wide world esteems it strange,
Gaze, and admire, and hate the change."

That you run not with them. There may be an allusion here to the well-known orgies of Bacchus, in which his devotees ran as if excited by the Furies, and were urged on as if transported with madness. See Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.529, thus translated by Addison:

"For now, through prostrate Greece, young Bacchus rode,
While howling matrons celebrate the god;
All ranks and sexes to his orgies ran,
To mingle in the pomp and fill the train."

The language, however, aptly describes revels of any sort, and at any period of the world.

To the same excess of riot. The word translated "excess" (anachysis) means, properly, a pouring out, an affusion; and the idea here is that all sources and forms of riot and disorder were poured out together. There was no withholding, no restraint. The most unlimited indulgence was given to the passions. This was the case in the disorder referred to among the ancients, just as it is now in scenes of midnight revelry. For the meaning of the word riot, see Barnes on Ephesians 5:18 and Titus 1:6.

Speaking evil of you. Greek, blasphemy. See Barnes on Matthew 9:3.

The meaning here is that they used harsh and reproachful terms for those who would not join them in their revelry. They called them fools, fanatics, hypocrites, and so on. The idea is not that they blasphemed God or charged Christians with crimes, but that they used language designed to injure the feelings, character, and reputation of those who would no longer join them in the ways of vice and folly.

Who shall give account. That is, they shall not do this with impunity. They are guilty in this of a great wrong, and they must answer for it to God.

That is ready to judge. That is, "who is prepared to judge"— tw etoimwv econti. See the phrase used in Acts 21:13: "I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem." In 2 Corinthians 12:14: "The third time I am ready to come to you." Compare the word ready—etoimov—in Matthew 22:4, 8; Matthew 24:44; Matthew 25:10; Luke 12:40; Luke 22:33; and 1 Peter 1:5.

The meaning is, not that he was about to do it, or that the day of judgment was near—whatever the apostle may have supposed to be true on that point—but that he was prepared for it; all the arrangements were made with reference to it; there was nothing to hinder it.

To judge the quick and the dead. The living and the dead; that is, those who shall be alive when he comes, and those in their graves. This is a common phrase to denote all who shall be brought before the bar of God for judgment. See the notes on Acts 10:42.

See the notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; and 2 Timothy 4:1.

The meaning in this connection seems to be that they should bear their trials and the opposition which they would meet with patiently, not feeling that they were forgotten, nor attempting to avenge themselves; for the Lord would vindicate them when he should come to judgment, and call those who had injured them to an account for all the wrongs which they had done to the children of God.