Being Patient with the Lost (1 Peter 4:4-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  01-29-04

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Being patient with the Lost

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 4:4-6

            Message of the verse: “4 ¶  Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you.  5  But just remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.  6  That is why the Good News was preached even to those who have died—so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in the spirit as God does.”  (NLT)

            The reason that I am only using the NLT this time is because I think that is the easiest way to understand verse 6, for in some of the other translations verse 6 seems to contradict some of the other doctrines in the Bible.  The NIV version also has made it easier to understand verse 6.

            When a believer gets saved his whole life is changed, and some of the things that he used to do he does not feel comfortable doing anymore, and because  of this some of the people he used to hang around may begin to get on him because of these changes in his life.  Peter goes on to explain that if these friends do not understand and accept the message of the Gospel then they will have to face God, and He will judge their sins, where as if they would accept the good news of the Gospel, then it would be Christ who would have been judged for their sins.  God will judge both the living and those who have already died at the last judgment.  Jesus spoke of this in Matthew’s Gospel, of separating the sheep from the goats.

            Peter goes on in verse 6 to write that is was for this reason that the Gospel has been preached, and was preached to those who have already died, and because they had accepted the truth of the Gospel, they are now in heaven, and live in their spirit there.  Believers will all get their new bodies when the rapture takes place, so when believers die and go heaven before the rapture they will receive a temporary body.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are many times that it is hard for me to understand why people cannot see the simple truth of the Gospel, and for that matter it is hard for me to see why believers miss some of the truths of Scripture that seem very clear to me.  The focus that was written here concerning these verses is that believers are to be patient with these unbelievers, and it can be carried even with believers when they don’t understand a truth in the Bible.  That is the message for me today, to be patient and to pray that others will see the truths of the Bible.

Peter’s writings have been a real challenge to me as I have been reading through his letter.

My Steps of Faith Today  To be thankful for the truths that God has opened my eyes to, and to be patient with others who have not seen these truths.

Memory verse for the week:  1Peter 3:15

But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.