In his first epistle, Peter was writing to believers who were in the midst of a fire of persecution. They were really struggling, and in times like that, it can be so easy to just give into our flesh and resort to foolish behaviors that cause more negative effects, but we need to be careful that we are not falling into that trap. Peter wanted to help those early believers stay away from these mistakes, so he instructed them with this command:

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

—1 Peter 4:1 KJV

The RIV says it like this:

So in the same way Christ went through great struggles and suffering in the flesh, you also must have the same exact frame of mind that Christ had and do all you can to fully mentally arm yourself with all the weaponry you need to prevail in battle. You also need to know that the one who has been through great struggles and suffering will want no more participation with sin. He’ll say, ‘I’ve had enough of that and I want no more of it.’ As far as he is concerned, he’ll be done with personal failure and sin — that is, missing the mark of what is right and wrong, or intentionally or unintentionally doing what is wrong and sinful.

—1 Peter 4:1 RIV

The thing that Peter first tells us to do is “arm yourselves likewise” or “have the same exact frame of mind that Christ had.” To better understand this, let’s look at what he means when he says that Jesus “suffered.” In the Greek, this is a form of the word pascho (πάσχω), which simply means “I suffer.” Sometimes we try to excuse ourselves with the fact that Jesus was the Son of God. We say that things were different for Him and that it was easy for Him to do all the things God told Him, but we have to realize that it really wasn’t a smooth path for Him all the time.

One of the best examples of this is Jesus’ decision to go to the Cross. You see, Jesus didn’t just wake up one day and say, “Oh, today’s the day I’m going to be crucified. I’ve been looking forward to this.” It wasn’t easy for Him to walk into that horrible death. In fact, it was so difficult that He found Himself on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Bible says the pressure was so intense that He was on the ground, writhing as though in pain due to the unbearable mental pressure. He knew that He was going to be flogged, He was going to be miserably treated by the religious leaders and Roman soldiers, and He was going to die on the Cross and then spend three days in Hell.

In Luke 22:44, we are told that the pressure on Jesus was so intense that He sweated great drops of blood! Now Luke was a doctor, and when he described this condition, he was actually using medical terms that describe a real condition where a person is under such mental stress that the mind begins to signal to the entire body that it is under actual physical pressure. In response to this perceived pressure, the top layer of skin separates from the second and forms a vacuum, which fills with blood. When that vacuum becomes full, the blood finally begins to ooze through the pores, mixing with the sweat of the sufferer. This is something that only occurs in people who are under the most intense mental distress, more intense than most of us can even imagine.

As if Jesus’ physical symptoms weren’t enough to tell us how much strain He was under, we can also see it in His words and actions. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we find that Jesus was earnestly praying that night that there might be another way for everything to work out, and Matthew tells us that He prayed this prayer three separate times:

O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

—Matthew 26:39 KJV

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

—Matthew 26:42 KJV

And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

—Matthew 26:44 KJV

Jesus really didn’t want to drink from this cup, but notice what else He said in His prayers. Every time He asked if there might be a way out of this, He immediately followed it up with, “But no matter what, let Your will be done, Father.”

Jesus was dealing with Himself in the mental realm — that’s where He won the battle. He was able to face the Cross because He had made the decision in His mind, and this is what we have to understand as we study 1 Peter 4:1. Remember that this verse says, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind” (KJV), or as the RIV says it, “So in the same way Christ went through great struggles and suffering in the flesh, you also must have the same exact frame of mind that Christ had.”

This is so important for us to understand! Most of your battles are won in your mind, friend, and if you want to have victory there, Peter says you must have the same exact frame of mind that Christ possessed when He struggled within Himself.

One very practical way you can do this is to simply put some space between yourself and the things that put you in the wrong mental space. If there are things that tempt you or people who cause you troubles, you need to use discernment and common sense and decide to put space between yourself and those things or people. If you can’t overcome them or learn to get along with them, then you need to make the choice in your mind to stay away and refrain from things that are not good for you.

If you are still thinking that you don’t need to take this step or that maybe you can allow yourself a little weakness here and there and still have victory, then you need to look at the word “armed” in this verse. It is translated from a Greek word which is derived from hoplon (ὅπλον), which was used to depict the full weaponry of a soldier that he wore in battle, all of which was necessary to prevail in battle.

Friend, God has constructed and made available overwhelmingly superior weaponry for your benefit, but you’re the one who has to get into the right mindset and decide to put it on. If we fail to win our battles, it is not because God failed but because we did not use the weaponry that He gave us. Everything that was available to Jesus as He wrestled with His own mind is also available to you, so you need to make the choice to arm yourself.

After challenging us with all these things, Peter says very succinctly, “for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1 KJV).

The word for “cease” in this verse is actually the Greek word pauo (παύω), which means to cease, to finish or refrain, or to stop. It describes a permanent pause of those sinful tendencies. Actually, the RIV says it like this:

You also need to know that the one who has been through great struggles and suffering will want no more participation with sin. He’ll say, ‘I’ve had enough of that and I want no more of it.’ As far as he is concerned, he’ll be done with personal failure and sin — that is, missing the mark of what is right and wrong, or intentionally or unintentionally doing what is wrong and sinful.

—1 Peter 4:1 RIV

Think of it like this: maybe you regularly say things you shouldn’t, and after those words come out of your mouth, you just wish you could grab them and pull them back in. Over and over again, you keep saying those words, and they keep hurting the people around you or causing so many regrettable situations, and you finally come to a place where you no longer want to speak those words.

This is what Peter is telling us about. When we suffer through all these things because of our sins, we naturally come to a place where we just want to cast it all off and be done with it, and the way we do that is by doing exactly what we’ve been talking about — arming ourselves.

Friend, if you are tired of struggling with your sins, you need to take a look at Jesus’s example and at all the spiritual weaponry God has given you. You have everything you need for victory at your disposal, but you need to check your own state of mind right now and make the choice to put those tools to use!