1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, (2) that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. (3) For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. (4) In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. (5) They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
There is another aspect to Christian suffering, which the Holy Spirit calls suffering in the flesh. As I have already mentioned, this is the lowest level of suffering that believers will encounter in this life. And so because this is the lowest level of suffering for believers in the earth, God expects all believers to experience this type of suffering, for He instructs all believers to present their bodies to Him as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Sadly however, this is one area of suffering that many believers struggle to accept, purely because they never develop their spirits, and therefore their flesh remains dominant throughout most of their Christian walk. And so we see that it is actually up to the believer as to how much of this type of suffering they are prepared to endure for their faith in Christ. Some will deny their flesh completely, while others will be prepared to deny their flesh in some areas only, but not in others. So what does suffering in the flesh mean? In the above-quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Peter tells us that Christ suffered in the flesh for us. What that means is that when Christ died, He died to sin once for all (Romans 6:10). And so all who are in Christ have been baptized into His death and we too have therefore died to sin (Romans 6:2-3). So when the apostle Peter tells us to arm ourselves with the same mind, he is telling us to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed to sin (Romans 6:11). And so he tells the believer to no longer spend the rest of their time on the earth living in the lusts of the flesh, which are sinful in nature. He goes on to list some of the desires of the flesh that believers are called to forego in this life, i.e. lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. All of these practices, the world loves to indulge in, but so does the flesh of the believer. However, believers are called to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, and so we are called to deny fleshly desires, and when we do, our flesh suffers i.e. we suffer in the flesh.
Romans 13:13-14 “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. (14) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.”
Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”
I have quoted the apostle Paul in the above passages of scripture. In these passages Paul lists certain lusts of the flesh, i.e. revelry, drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife and envy. This list is very similar to the one that the apostle Peter mentioned. Nevertheless the point that I wanted to highlight from these passages, is that the Holy Spirit tells the believer to make no provision to fulfil any of the lusts of the flesh and to deny worldly lusts. Clearly therefore, believers that walk in this manner will suffer in the flesh.
Hebrews 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, (25) choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, (26) esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”
In the above-quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit puts Moses forward as an example of one who chose to suffer in the flesh in his stand for Christ. As the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses had access to privilege and wealth which would have been unrivalled in his day. However, there came a time in Moses life when he realised that all the prestige and wealth of this life was nothing compared to the riches in Christ. But I want you to notice that the scripture teaches us that Moses chose to forego the passing pleasures of sin. In other words the flesh finds sin pleasurable, and to deny its lusts is to thus suffer in the flesh. There are not many that would give up immense wealth in this life to follow after the Lord. You will recall the rich young man that walked away from the Lord for that very reason (Matthew 19:22). That is why our Lord called riches deceitful (Mark 4:19), because even believers find it difficult to walk away from wealth if the Lord requires them to do so. Moses walked away from it and suffered in this life for doing so. The rich young man chose not to walk away from it and suffered in eternity for not doing so. If wealth hinders the spiritual walk of the believer in any way, then you can be sure that those believers have not yet learnt to suffer in the flesh.
Philippians 3:7-8 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. (8) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
The apostle Paul had first-hand experience of what it means to forsake all for Christ, for he had advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries and he had a “bright” future in his chosen field of study. But when he was confronted with Christ, he walked away from all of it. In the above-quoted passage of scripture Paul tells us that he suffered the loss of all things for Christ, and that he counted them as rubbish so that he could gain Christ. Paul clearly understood what it means to suffer in the flesh.
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. (17) And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
In the above-quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle John admonishes the church not to love the world or the things in the world. The Holy Spirit goes on to explain why, for He tells us what is in the world, i.e. the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These values are what drives this world that we live in and they are all fleshly in nature, and so for the believer to deny them would be to suffer in the flesh. However, as with most aspects of God’s word there is always a balance. For the scripture also says that God gives us richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17), and in context the Holy Spirit is talking about wealth in this life. And so when the scripture says that believers should be prepared to suffer in the flesh, it is not saying that they should give up everything and live as hermits in caves, but rather they are to use the things of this world purely as a means to an end i.e. to serve Christ.
Michael E.B. Maher
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