1 Peter 4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:14

Verse 14 14If ye be reproached He mentions reproaches, because there is often more bitterness in them than in the loss of goods, or in the torments or agonies of the body; there is therefore nothing which is more grievous to ingenuous minds. For we see that many who are strong to bear want, courageous in torments, nay, bold to meet death, do yet succumb under reproach. To obviate this evil, Peter pronounces those blessed, according to what Christ says, (Mark 8:35,) who are reproached for the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:15

Verse 15 15.But (or, For)let one of you Here also he anticipates an objection. He had exhorted the faithful to patience, if it happened to them to be persecuted for the cause of Christ; he now adds the reason why he had only spoken of that kind of trouble, even because they ought to have abstained from all evil-doing. Here, then, is contained another exhortation, lest they should do anything for which they might seem to be justly punished. Therefore the causal particle is not, here superfluous,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:16

Verse 16 16Yet if any man suffer as a Christian After having forbidden the Christians to do any hurt or harm, lest for their evil deeds, like the unbelieving, they should become hateful to the world, he now bids them to give thanks to God, if they suffered persecutions for the name of Christ. And truly it is no common kindness from God, that he calls us, freed and exempted from the common punishment of our sins, to so honorable a warfare as to undergo for the testimony of his Gospel either... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:17

Verse 17 17For the time is come, or, Since also the time is come. He amplifies the consolation, which the goodness of the cause for which we suffer brings to us, while we are afflicted for the name of Christ. For this necessity, he says, awaits the whole Church of God, not only to be subject to the common miseries of men, but especially and mainly to be chastised by the hand of God. Then, with more submission, ought persecutions for Christ to be endured. For except we desire to be blotted out... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

Verse 18 When the faithful see that it is well with the wicked, they are necessarily tempted to be envious; and this is a very dangerous trial; for present happiness is what all desire. Hence the Spirit of God carefully dwells on this, in many places, as well as in the thirty-seventh Psalm, lest the faithful should envy the prosperity of the ungodly. The same is what Peter speaks of, for he shews that afflictions ought to be calmly borne by the children of God, when they compare the lot of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:19

Verse 19 19Wherefore let them that suffer He draws this conclusion, that persecutions ought to be submissively endured, for the condition of the godly in them is much happier than that of the unbelieving, who enjoy prosperity to their utmost wishes. He, however, reminds us that we suffer nothing except according to the permission of God, which tends much to comfort us; when he says, Let them commit themselves to God, it is the same as though he had said, “Let them deliver themselves and their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1

Expositions Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh. St. Peter returns, after the digression of 1 Peter 3:19-22 , to the great subject of Christ's example. The words "for us" are omitted in some ancient manuscripts; they express a great truth already dwelt upon in 1 Peter 2:1-25 . and 3. Here the apostle is insisting upon the example of Christ, not on the atoning efficacy of his death. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. The word rendered "mind" ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-6

I. BY UNION WITH CHRIST . 1. Through suffering. Suffering is the appointed discipline of the Christian soul. Gold is tried by fire, the Christian's faith by suffering. Christ himself suffered in the flesh, and while we are in the flesh we must also suffer. "In that he died, he died unto sin once;" his death separated him from sin, from the sight and hearing of sin, from that mysterious contact with human sin which he endured when "he was made sin for us, though he was without... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-6

I. THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST CARNIES WITH IT THE RESOLUTION TO SUFFER . "Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind." Peter goes back to the starting-point, that from it, with practical instruction, he may go beyond the present session of Christ at the right hand of God, viz. to his coming to judgment. He does not say, "put to death in the flesh," but more generally, to suit the condition of those whom he was addressing,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-7

This passage is the most difficult in the entire Epistle. We can see a meaning in each of its sentences taken separately, but when we take them together their meaning, as a whole, is obscure. As far, however, as I can understand it, I would entitle the paragraph, The persecuted Christian reminded of the necessity of suffering for righteousness. Peter here states the fact that suffering for righteousness is no strange thing, but what Christians must reasonably look for. I. CHRIST 'S ... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:14

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:15

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:18

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Peter 4:19

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-6

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-6

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Peter 4:1-7

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