The entire letter of 1 Peter is focused on the persecuted church and those believers who are experience such times. Peter’s immediate audience was in the first century, but his words apply across time as well. In this week’s passage, he turns to some practical application of how to live in such times. Take a look for yourself in 1 Peter 4:7-9.
This brief section of Peter’s letter can be divided into four parts, and we will look at each one of them in turn. Peter is giving some practical instructions on how the persecuted believers should live, and how they should stand together as they face such times. Already, he has touched on their need to love one another, in 1:22-2:5, in 2:17, and in 3:8. In this passage, he returns to the idea of loving relationships.
The end of all things
He begins with a statement that closely parallels that of James 5:8. Whether or not he had read James’ letter is unknown, but makes little difference. Peter and James are like minded, along with Paul, and other leaders of the early church, in their belief that the Lord’s return was at hand. Of course, the question that comes to mind is this: Peter wrote this over two thousand years ago, so what does he mean by “near?”
In a general sense, Peter could be referring to the fact that all the prerequisite conditions had been satisfied, and Christ could return at any time. But this doesn’t really answer the question, because it fails to take into account Christ’s own statement in Mark 13:10 and Matthew 24:14 that all people will have had a chance to hear the message of the gospel before his return.
Another possibility is that Peter and James were referencing, not a particular date of Christ’s return, but more of an apostolic period, or “church age.” If that is the case, then the period from Pentecost until now constitute these “end times,” and covers this whole span of centuries. This makes sense, especially in light of Peter’s statement in 2 Peter 3:8-10, where Peter shows how God views time differently that we do, since he is outside of time.
Either way, Peter uses this statement to encourage his readers to be ready by living right in relationship to others.
Be clear minded and self-controlled
This is a repeat of something Peter has already stated, all the way back in 1:13. To be clear minded is the same as to prepare your minds for action. And self-control is mentioned in both places. What is different in this passage is that Peter gives the reason why: so we can pray. Since the end times are near, we need to focus clearly on prayer.
Love each other deeply
As we already mentioned, one of 1 Peter’s themes is loving relationships. Here, he adds a statement similar to that in James 5:20, and states that love covers over a multitude of sins. This simply means that when we love one another, we are able to more easily overlook each other’s sins, not to condone them, but to avoid judging one another and stirring up dissension. This is an idea found in the Old Testament as well, in Proverbs 10:12.
Offer hospitality
Hospitality is one of the clearest ways to show love to one another, and this is seen elsewhere in the New Testament as well (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2). Perhaps one of the ways this was played out in Peter’s day was to open up one’s home for the church to meet in. Today, that may look a bit different, but we need to practice hospitality just the same.
Basically, Peter is encouraging the believers to use their gifts to help and encourage one another; and he will turn specifically to spiritual gifts in the next couple of verses.
Question: How does your faith play out in your daily actions? What do you do to encourage others around you? You can leave a comment by clicking here.