“Stewards of Grace” – 1 PETER 4:1-6

This can’t be the way…

Peter says we must arm our thinking with the reality of Jesus’ suffering in the flesh. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus essentially said the same thing in Gethsemane. This can’t be the way, but if it is, I will do it! If we would belong to Christ and follow His footsteps, we must adopt a spiritual mindset that endures whatever comes to the flesh.

Spiritual life is the result when the flesh is sacrificed.

That’s what happened when Jesus endured in the flesh. He opened the way for forgiveness and new life in His resurrection. An, my friends, that is the path that Peter walked. So must we.

Human passions have always been the problem.

In the immediate sense, I am VERY passionate about avoiding pain. I don’t like it at all. I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to pain. My human passions must submit to the will of God for me to go to heaven.

My human passions are what set me at odds with God in the first place. God was never mad at me, just disappointed. He instructed and I did not learn. He commanded and I did not obey. He guided and I did not follow. In each instance MY will triumphed over God’s will. My “triumph” was pyrrhic … empty. In the “triumph” of my will I was separated from God and lost because I gave priority to my human will.

Leave all of that in the past.

Peter had his own share of pyrrhic victories of the flesh. Eventually, he determined to leave them in the past and follow Jesus. He gives us an interesting list. Any one (among all others) in any degree is sin. Be forewarned. In leaving these behind, you can’t bring them with you.

Grace demands change.

In His mercy, God has taken all sin of all people and nailed it to the cross in the body of Jesus, the Lamb of God. There it must stay. In repentance we DIE to sin. As Paul asked, “How can we then still live in it?” How indeed. Yet, this is the sticking point for so many in following the footsteps of Jesus. Somehow, we are convinced that grace makes sin OK. I can do as I desire and God will forgive me. Do you see it? Human passions triumph over God’s will for you as a saved child of God.

A precious gift demands good stewardship.

The new life given by God in Christ is a second chance for a lost soul. In my case, MY soul. The flesh then must endure the physical pain of suffering and even the “torment” of putting away sinful things and the passions that make them so desirable. Stewards of grace clearly see this and rejoice in the new spirit life God provides. All the while knowing a day of reckoning awaits.

The Judge is ready for the accounting that is inevitable.

Every accountable human is a steward of a soul that is valuable to God. Repentant humans understand the poor stewardship embodied by sin. Selfish humans embrace their desires and return to sin. Converted humans embrace the stewardship of God’s grace and turn from sin.