Living for Christ

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He gave His life so that I might live. As a Christian, who has put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) and who has been added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:47), I am a member of the family of God and an heir of His precious promises (Gal. 3:26-4:7). As such, my life must be lived for Christ.

To live for Christ, we must change our past behaviors and spend each day following the doctrine of Christ laid out for us in the pages of the New Testament. I love the way Peter describes this change, found in 1 Peter 4:1-4: “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, 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. For we have spent enough of our pasts lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles — when we walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 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.”

As he begins this discussion, Peter says to live for Christ, we must arm ourselves with the mind of Christ. To have the mind of Christ means we will submit to God’s will first in our lives. It means we will work to seek and save the lost. It means we will have the heart of a servant to help those who are in need. It means daily living in a way that is pleasing in the sight of God.

Peter then tells us that with the mind of Christ, we will change our behavior. We will no longer follow the lusts of this world (Cf. 1 John 2:15-17). Instead, we will cease sinning and live the rest of our time for the will of God. We sometimes sing the song, “This World Is Not My Home.” However, too many times we live like this world is what really matters in life. As people with the mind of Christ, Christians must do the will of God rather than love the world which is passing away. With the mind of Christ, our thoughts and actions change. As he continues in verses 5 and 6, Peter tells us the importance of this change. We will give an accounting for our lives before God so we must live according to God’s will.

The change that we make in our lives upon becoming a Christian is something that is noticeable to the world. It is interesting that Peter would tell us that we have spent enough time living like the world. We have made plenty of mistakes. We have sinned against God in worldly living. So stop acting like the world. He then tells us that the world will think we are strange because we don’t continue in worldly living. The ESV & NAS say that the world is surprised that you don’t continue to act like they do. People may be shocked that we would change our lives and they may think we are peculiar because we don’t participate in the sinful ways of this world, but that is what is required when we stop living for ourselves and begin to live for Christ. They can speak evil about us, they talk about us behind our backs, they can make fun of us, and they can mock and ridicule us all they want. That is to be expected. The world persecuted Christ and they will persecute His followers (John 15:20). We must have the strength of character to stand up for the Lord regardless of what others may say. We wear His name. Act like it!

The Lord has done so much for us, we should want to live for Him. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Christ gave Himself for us and now, we who have obeyed the gospel, have a new purpose: to give ourselves for Him.

We cannot let the world and its lusts or the worldly and their attitudes keep us from faithful living. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). Most of us have done things we are ashamed of and it is hard to bear. I don’t even want to think about Christ being ashamed of me. We must learn to repent of our sins, change our behavior and live for Christ.

Simple question: are you living for Christ each day of your life? If not, why not? Repent and live for Him each day. Let us have the courage to stand for Christ daily.