In the above focus, Peter talks about suffering in the body and being done with sin. This speaks of the reality of physical trials, but he also is talking about a suffering that is greater than the mere difficulties of one’s physical self. He is associating with a greater suffering that one might go through for the sake of serving Christ. As Paul discusses in Romans 7, we died with Christ when He was murdered on the cross. We went into the grave with Christ. By suffering with Christ in his death, we have been loosed from the bondage of sin. We are done with sin. A person might suffer in his body at this present time for the sake of Christ but might not be done with sin. But in identifying with Christ in his death, we are permanently finished with sin, for the new creature that came to us because of that identification with Christ is perfect in the eyes of the Lord. Just as a heavenly body might not have any geothermal activity in it, so is the body without the Holy Spirit. But when we are raised in the newness of the Holy Spirit as Christ was raised, we become a body radiating the Spirit of God within us. We become an active, energized body for God, for deep within us burns the fire of God. Peter is talking about this suffering, this death. We died with Christ, allowing the inert body, born to sin, to become the active new creature. Now we image God as the Spirit reveals himself in us. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:4-6) After our salvation experience, we do not live the rest of our earthly journey for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. As new creatures we are not bound to the law of good and evil. We do not measure our lives on what we do or do not do; we measure our lives on the perfection of Jesus Christ in us. We are holy because He is holy. We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Christ has been resurrected to a new way of living. Even in his earthly journey, Christ was bound to the law; He lived as a Jewish man, but as the resurrected Christ, He put to death the strictures of the law and brought freedom to us to live by the unction of the Spirit. Peter says, since we are free in Christ, for He has appeased God’s anger on sin, why not put away the old ways of living that lead to death. These former practices produce nothing but evil. Why live there any longer—put them aside and live for God in his mercy and love. We have no obligation to the ways of the flesh, why not live as new creatures, energized by the Holy Spirit of goodness and grace within us.
Man’s total depravity brought him outside of God’s mercy and grace, but Jesus paid the price for the new life within us. In fact, mankind was so marred by sin that he was beyond redemption. The implication in the story about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is that God spared only Lot and his family in those cities. Generally, man was beyond redemption. This story is told to show us the condition of mankind before the law brought the light of God to people. God did choose men such as Noah, Abraham, Moses and others for his purposes, but He did not make them perfect or holy. We see imperfections cropping up in their lives, behaviors and attitudes in opposition of God’s perfection. The law brought light into the world for it reflected God’s holiness and rightness. Without any wavering, the law required exact obedience. Judgment would fall upon the lawbreaker. The only escape for the Jewish people were the sacrifices offered to God to appease him for their sins. God was placated by these sacrifices, allowing the people to go on with their lives. All others outside of those who received the law were called barbarians or heathens—the Gentiles, for they functioned without the light of the law. Their consciences had to be pricked to know right from wrong. Some societies and cultures called certain attitudes and activities good, but the law called them evil: such as sacrificing children to gods. Yet the law or even their consciences could not deliver mankind from slavery to sin. Within man’s basic nature was interwoven a DNA string of sinfulness or self-willed behavior that was estranged from the goodness and mercy of God. Men and women’s imperfection tended to mar their actions and interactions. Consequently, violence, destruction, and often chaos were part of mankind’s existence. What could restore goodness to God’s creation? What could bring love to the forefront of all of people’s involvement? What could make them prefer others above themselves? Only a perfect sacrifice of a perfect man could change the basic nature of humankind? A new creature had to be created. The old man would always be under the sentence of death. He would not escape the judgment of God, for God cannot allow sin to exist without exacting payment. A perfect sacrifice must be offered to God, One who has fulfilled the law to every jot or tittle. Was there one who could have saved Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction? He alone would be the one to pay the price for all who are under the penalty of their sinful actions: death. Jesus fulfilled the law, completing the task of pleasing God. He would pay the price of death, taking sin to the cross, the sins He had not committed in the flesh. There, He would pay the price, as their substitution for death, the replacement for their penalty of death. As Paul writes to the church at Rome, You see, at just the right time, when were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Paul goes on to say, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6 & 8)
Peter wants the church to understand that they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. We all will fall under the judgment of God. Either we will be judged by Christ’s work or our own work in the flesh. Christ died, we died with him. Christ was raised, we are raised with him. When Christ died, we died with him. As we read from Paul, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) When Jesus was on Earth, no salvation was possible. All the people Christ ministered to were open to the eternal judgment of death, even the apostles. For all were still judged strictly by the law. The law had not yet been killed or done away with. Goodness, mercy and holiness were the operative standards for judging all humans. Any variation or waywardness from those traits throughout one’s life would be judged harshly, for God will not allow cancer to be part of his eternal dwelling. Mankind must be made into new creatures in perfection or rightness with God. Christ’s death and resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit created this new life. He died as the perfect man for those who are imperfect. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8) The cross brought death to the penalties of the law, for we who trust in Christ died with him and to the consequences of the law. The law holds no more dominion over a dead person. Christ’s resurrection brought a new life to us who trust in him by faith and keep our promise to follow him. Being found IN HIM through faith in his works on the cross, we are new creatures as He was new after his resurrection. We are like him because He is in us and through us. The Holy Spirit has come to energize these earthly bodies into eternal creatures for God’s glory. We are no longer our own, for we have been bought with a high price: the blood of Jesus Christ. We are like him: his nature is within us. That attributes of the Holy Spirit or within us—the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Therefore, why live as the old man lived, in sin and debauchery? Why not live to the glory of God, revealing the Holy Spirit’s work in us to the world. As his creations we give love and grace in place of hate and judgement, peace and harmony in place of unrest and chaos. Stop whatever you are doing right now and take time to realize you have died to the flesh. Now begin anew, starting over to live the resurrected life for the Christ who lives in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whoever suffers in the body is done with sin; whoever realizes he or she is dead is done with sin and the attraction of the world and the flesh. This new creature no longer lives for self, but for Christ. Bless you today and every day!
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