1 Peter 4:1-6

4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 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 human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Not only can we share the cure to sin but we can show it.  

1. Show the Story

One of the reasons that people don’t take the story seriously is that they don’t see it lived out in our lives.  The question we need to ask is are we going to be sold out or sell out? When it comes to showing the story I see two main imperatives from this passage. First, we must arm ourselves against sin and second, we must abstain from sin.

• Arm yourself against sin – “So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had”

The words “so then” take us back to 3:18 where we read that “Christ suffered for our sins” and 3:22 which reminds us that Christ is now seated at the right hand of God the Father with all authorities and powers in subjection to Him. Peter starts by reminding us of Christ’s victory on the cross when He crushed sin, because of what Christ did on the cross, we are now dead to sin positionally. The problem is that we still sin in practice. So sandwiched in the middle of verse 1 is an exhortation to Arm ourselves with the Almighty’s attitude because our attitude affects our actions. Do you have the mindset of the Messiah, do you see sin the way the Savior does. When it came to sin the Lord didn’t have a lackadaisical attitude He went to war against wickedness. Many of us have settled when it comes to sin, instead of confronting sin we have become content to curl up and cuddle with sin. Instead of killing sin we coddle and cultivate it. Today we have divided sin into two categories those we abhor and those we accept. Sins we condemn and sins we cuddle. So let’s compare two controversial sins, that of gossip and that of being gay. I know I’m treading on dangerous territory and will probably end up being hated by both the church and the culture but when it comes to sin we don’t make the calls, the bible is our basis for truth. One is a social sin the other sexual, which do we take more seriously?  Why does gossip get a pass and gay get pointed out? Why are we strict with some sins while we let others slide, because when it comes to sin we only take some seriously. Gay goes against God’s design but gossip is the sin of slander; it ruins reputations and destroys relationship, how serious do you think the Savior is about sin that fractures the family? Why do we see the sin of homosexuality as wrecking the home but not gossip? Why are we soft on the social sins and serious when it comes to the sexual sins. The problem with separating sin into different categories is that it causes us to be hyper sensitive with some sin and hypocritical with others. The world is watching and when we war against some sin while warming up to others what kind of a witness will they see. When it comes to sin are you convicted or comfortable? The sins we are strong on become the ones we hide while the sins we are soft on we tend to hold.  The result is that we either fake it or flaunt it. So let me ask you are you dabbling with sin or dealing with it? Peter is calling us to have an axe like attitude when it comes to sin, if it slithers don’t dabble decapitate. Are you tolerating or terminating sin? Are you going to coddle it or killing it, because if you don’t kill sin it will kill you. When it comes to sin we are called to have Christ’s attitude not a careless attitude. To be proactive not passive, to see sin as hurtful not harmless. We are in a war with wickedness but sadly when it comes to sin many believers see themselves on a playground instead of a battlefield. The word “arm” refers to heavy armor not light armor and was used by a soldier that was fully outfitted for war with a javelin and large shield. Peter is not talking about playing war or the possibility of war he is reminding us of the reality of war and the need to be prepared. To arm yourself means to take sin seriously and suit up. Sin is our enemy and as Genesis 4:7 reminds us “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” When it comes to sin do you have an armed and active mindset or an apathetic one? Do you have a worldly mindset or a warrior’s mindset? Our war with sin starts in the mind and we need to be both vigilant and diligent. It takes us back to 1:13: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober…” Peter picks up on this in 5:8 as well: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Don’t be sleepy when it comes to sin, don’t be dismissive about your disobedience. Many of us lose the battle because we have a lax attitude instead of the Lords attitude. Christ didn’t cower or cave to sin he confronted it and so should we. We need to have a militant mindset toward sin and not minimize it in our lives because sin is destructive, deceptive, and leads to death and decay.