| Arming Ourselves With the Mind of Christ |
by David A. DePra |
| For asmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arms yourselves |
| with the same mind. For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from |
| sin, 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. (I Peter 4:1-2) |
| This passage from I Peter tells us that we are to "arm |
| ourselves with the same mind" -- towards suffering that Jesus had. |
| A quick glance at the Greek shows that Peter is telling us that we |
| need to "equip ourselves with the same attitude towards |
| suffering, as did Christ." And he goes on to elaborate what he |
| means by that: We are to live for the will of God, rather than the |
| "lusts,"or motivation, of man. |
| Earlier in the epistle, Peter also describes the attitude which |
| Jesus had towards suffering: |
| "....who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who, when He was |
| reviled, reviled no again, when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed |
| Himself to Him that judges righteously." (I Peter 2:22-23) |
| The key point in this verse is that Jesus, despite what people |
| were doing to Him, "committed Himself to Him which judges |
| righteously." In other words, while IN His suffering, Jesus |
| unconditionally surrendered Himself -- not to the suffering itself -- |
| but to God. He allowed GOD to decide. |
| This is, of course, God's will for us as well. Indeed, Peter tells |
| us that we are supposed to "equip ourselves with the same |
| attitude." We are to unconditionally commmit OURSELVES to |
| Him that judges righteously for whatever it is that HE desires. |
| Jesus walked through His life on this earth never once |
| departing from this attitude towards His Heavenly Father. He |
| knew that God was incapable of forsaking Him, and that no matter |
| how difficult things got, the Father always knew best. |
| On the Cross, Jesus took the ultimate leap of faith. He said, |
| "Into Your hands I commit My spirit." But remember what He |
| said just minutes prior to this statement? He cried, "My God, My |
| God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Jesus trusted that God was |
| faithful and true despite the terrible sense of being forsaken which |
| came upon Him while on the Cross. It is when we feel forsaken |
| by God that we must refuse to believe it, and commit ourselves |
| to Him. And if we do, we will be raised up as Jesus was raised. |