Nonconfirmist Exiles

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family.

The world is not going to celebrate the choice of Christians to live differently. 

Peter wrote a letter to Christians scattered across the Roman Empire — exiles and strangers in a world that is no longer their permanent home. And as he opens chapter 4, he’s preparing them for a hard truth: living as exiles for Christ is not going to earn you any applause. More often, it earns you confusion, distance, and even mockery from the people who used to call you one of their own. 

That was true in Rome. It’s true now. The world is not going to celebrate our choice to live differently. Peter wants us to be prepared for this, so that we’re not shaken by it. 

[1] Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,  

In 13th and 14th century Europe, there were groups known as The Flagellants. It was a very popular movement. The people misunderstood verses like this one, believing that physical pain and suffering would make them more holy.  

And so, they literally beat themselves with whips and chains, often in public. They were trying to be free from sin. They also thought it might help prevent the black plague from spreading across Europe. 

I am confident that is not what Peter is encouraging here. Instead, I think he is echoing something Paul says in Romans 6 about our union with Christ. We have died with Christ. And so, we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  

Paul says we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, nor obey its passions. And what does Peter say next? 

[2] so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.  

Very similar teaching. This is a call to holiness, grounded in our union with Christ. It is best understood as growth that happens in response to God’s grace. Whatever time we have left on this earth, we use it in pursuit of God’s will. 

But this is not a legalistic, self-righteous pursuit of holiness – like a modernized version of the flagellants. Instead, Scripture provides us with a new way of thinking that motivates us to live for Christ. 

Peter says “arm yourselves” with this way of thinking, which is a military command. Take up arms with this thinking. And what is the new way of thinking?  

It’s that we have died and have been made alive. 

When someone dies, they are no longer held accountable for their old debts and obligations. Death closes the account. Life in Christ opens a new one. 

Peter tells us to arm ourselves for a fight against those old debt collectors. We owe them nothing. The debt is paid in Christ. Our sinful passions are constantly trying to draw us back into our old way of life, but that’s not who we are anymore. 

We will hear the promises of God, and the Accuser will whisper in our ear, “That doesn’t apply to you. You’re a guilty sinner.” But He knows, and we should know, that’s only half true. 

Martin Luther, in commentary on Galatians, said that when the Devil comes to us with these accusations, we “should tell the devil, ‘Just by telling me that I am a miserable, great sinner you are placing a sword and weapon into my hand with which I can decisively overcome you… For if you can tell me that I am a poor sinner, I on the other hand, can tell you that Christ died for sinners, and is their Intercessor … You remind me of the boundless, great faithfulness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … to Him I direct you. You may accuse and condemn Him. Let me rest in peace; for on His shoulders, not on mine, lie all my sins.” 

That’s the new way of thinking, and it changes the fight against sin and the devil. Shame and guilt never motivate true change any more than pride and self-righteousness do. The only real hope we have to defeat sin is to abide in Christ… to know our place in Him. 

[3] For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 

It sounds like cultural life in the Roman world was very similar, in many ways, to modern America. If it feels good, do it. And this lifestyle was part of their religion. 

That last phrase, lawless idolatry, tells us that this lifestyle was a form of worship to false gods, which is historically accurate. The Romans had worship parties. 

In a similar way, our culture has turned excess into its own religion, which is something the Bible anticipates when nations stray further from God. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.  

Peter says to Christians, you did enough of that in your former life, and it was a waste of time. Stop wasting your life. Stop living like the world does, enslaved to its daily passions. They make it sound like freedom, but it’s slavery. 

As a side note, this doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the gifts that God has given to us in moderation and in their right place. Jesus said that it’s not what goes in a man that defiles him, but what comes out of the heart. 

Peter specifically mentions sexual immorality. Sex is not the problem. God created sex and He fully intended that we enjoy it. It’s a good thing. 

We have a fireplace in our home and a warm, cozy fire on a cold winter night is a good thing… in the fireplace. But if we started a fire a few feet away, in the middle of our living room, that would not be a good thing! 

Sex is very much like fire. It’s a good thing when it’s in the right place. It’s a bad thing when it’s in the wrong place. It burns us. 

And when we make the choice to use God’s good gifts in ways He did not intend, we should understand that making that choice comes at a cost. 

But making the right choice also comes at a cost. That’s where Peter is going with all of this. He wants us to understand that the world does not appreciate our desire to live for Christ. 

[4] With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;  

Young people. What is Peter saying? He’s saying that the world is going to make fun of you unless you join their fun. 

What’s going to happen if you stay quiet (or speak up) when someone bullies another kid? 

What’s going to happen if you walk away from a party when things start happening that you know are wrong? 

What about refusing to cheat on a test even when “everyone does it” and you know you won’t get caught? 

You are going to feel that pressure and you’re going to have to make a choice. And if you’d made the wrong choices before, that doesn’t mean you have to keep making the wrong choices. 

Adults, this is no less true for us. There are always going to be moments when we have to choose between the will of God and the ways of this world.  

Refusing to pad an expense report or bend the truth in a business deal to close it. 

Declining a promotion or opportunity that would require compromising your integrity or neglecting your family. 

Staying faithful to your spouse in a culture that normalizes emotional or physical infidelity. 

These are decisions with real consequences. 

[5] but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  

In the movie Gladiator, what does Maximus say as he tries to inspire his soldiers before a battle? “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” But that’s Hollywood, not ancient Rome. 

Judgment after death was not really a Roman expectation. Many of them denied the existence of an afterlife and the ones who did believe in an afterlife didn’t think of it as a moral judgment. If you earned some kind of glory, the gods might give you a better afterlife. 

But they didn’t really think of this life having any eternal consequences. 

And that’s why most Romans lived their lives seeking pleasure. If this life is the only one I get, I may as well make the best of it! What would be the point of restricting myself? Even the Christians die! Why would I want to waste my life living like a Christian? 

And to be honest, most Americans are living as if they believe the same thing. This life doesn’t have any real eternal consequences. If there’s a heaven, I’m not that bad. We’re probably all going to heaven. Either way, I’m going to get the most out of this life as I can. 

But if the Bible is right about judgment, that changes the equation significantly. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. What we do in this life matters. 

[6] For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 

As a quick theological note: Peter is not talking about purgatory. There is no such thing as purgatory in the Bible. Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed for man once to die and then comes the judgment. 

Instead, Peter is telling us not to be discouraged about Christians who have already died. The Gospel WAS preached to them when they were alive. They are now dead, but that’s not the end of their story. 

And so, altogether, this is an encouragement to Christians to stay the course. Keep living as exiles. Expect to be mocked for it, just as the people in Genesis 6 mocked Noah. But a day of judgment is coming. We will be found in Christ, or we will be found guilty. 

And I want to encourage you to really think about this for a moment. Do you believe judgment is coming? 

The world hates the idea of judgment. A lot of churches have stopped talking about it, because they don’t want to offend people.  

C.S. Lewis saw this happening a hundred years ago. He wrote about it in his book The Problem of Pain. He said this: 

“We want not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.” 

In other words, a god who just wants us all to be happy. But that’s a god we created. It’s not the God of the Bible. Christianity without real consequences is not Christianity at all. 

We know that simply by looking at the cross. I know judgment is real and necessary because of what Jesus endured. If the atonement required that kind of grisly, painful death, then God obviously takes our sin more seriously than we do. 

In fact, Jesus took the cup of God’s wrath on the cross so that we could receive a cup of blessing. And as we come to the table today, we come as exiles… learning to live for the rest of our time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.