1 Peter 4:1-5

1 Peter 4:1–5

Peter calls believers to participate in the cruciform life of Christ: suffering in the flesh signifies a decisive rupture with sin and a reorientation of the will toward God. United to Christ, the believer no longer lives under the dominion of disordered desires but under the lordship of God’s will. This new allegiance exposes the believer as a contradiction to the world, inviting hostility and slander. Yet such judgment is provisional, for all humanity stands before God, whose final judgment will vindicate those conformed to Christ and expose the emptiness of a life lived for passing passions.