Arm Yourselves Also With The Same Attitude

1 Peter 4:1 - Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

1 Peter 2:21 - To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Romans 6:11,14,18 - In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus…For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace…You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Philippians 2:5-7 - Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Conclusions:

• The patient endurance of injustice is part of God’s plan for the Christian
• It was an important feature of the true grace of God experienced by the readers
• Christ is the supreme example of suffering evil for doing good
• His experience as the suffering Servant-Savior transforms the sufferings of His followers from misery into privilege
• A Christian has changed masters
• Whereas a Christian was formerly a slave to sin, he becomes a slave to righteousness
• In spite of all that is unique and radically different about the person and work of Christ, Christians are to have His attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others
• Made Himself nothing means He emptied Himself
• He made Himself nothing, not by giving up deity, but by laying aside His glory and submitting to the humiliation of becoming man
• Jesus is truly God and truly man
• Another view is that He emptied Himself, not of deity itself, but of its prerogatives—the high position and glory of deity
• Nature of a servant emphasizes the full reality of His servant identity
• As a servant, he was always submissive to the will of the Father
• Count yourselves is the first step toward victory over sin in the believer’s life
• The believer is dead to sin and alive to God, and by faith he is to live in the light of this truth
• The first occurrence in Romans of in Christ is found in Romans 6:11, which is often found in Paul’s writings
• True believers are in Christ because they have died with Christ and have been raised to new life with Him
• Paul conceived of sin as power that enslaves, and so personified it
• The meaning of not under law is not that the Christian has been freed from all moral authority
• The Christian has, however, been freed from the law in the manner in which God’s people were under law in the Old Testament era
• Law provides no enablement to resist the power of sin; it only condemns the sinner. But grace enables.

Application:

• Do you patiently endure injustice?
• Are you a slave to righteousness?
• Do you have Christ's attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others?
• Do you see Christ as a servant?
• Have you died with Christ?
• Have you been freed from the law?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible