📖 1 Peter Intensive — Unit 10: Stewards of Grace

Text: 1 Peter 4:1-11

Arm Yourself with the Mind of Christ

Peter has just set Christ before us as the One who suffered, died, and now reigns. Now he draws the practical lesson. "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" (1 Peter 4:1-2). The word arm is a soldier's word; the believer is to take up the same attitude Christ had as a weapon for the battle ahead. Christ was willing to suffer in the flesh rather than turn aside from the will of God, and the believer is to share that resolve. The one who has so suffered — who has died with Christ to the old way of living — has made a decisive break with sin. As a result, he will no longer spend the rest of his life chasing the lusts of men; he will spend it doing the will of God. The whole direction of life is turned around: from the appetites of the flesh to the will of the Father.

Done with the Old Life

Peter speaks plainly about the past these believers had left behind. "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" (1 Peter 4:3). The point is simple and bracing: enough. Whatever time was wasted in the old pagan ways, it was more than enough; there is no reason to give it another hour. But such a clean break does not go unnoticed. "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" (1 Peter 4:4). The old companions are baffled and even offended that the believer no longer plunges with them into the same rushing stream of excess, and they repay his changed life with slander. Yet they are not the final judges. "They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Peter 4:5). Everyone, slanderer and saint alike, must answer to God, who is ready to judge all. It is in this connection that Peter says the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead (1 Peter 4:6) — that is, to believers who heard the good news while they lived and have since died; though they were judged as all men are, dying in the flesh, they live according to God in the spirit. Death is not the end for those who have heard and believed.

The End Is Near: Sober and Watchful

"But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers" (1 Peter 4:7). A fair question arises here, for Peter, Paul, and John all spoke of the end as near, and that was many centuries ago. Were they mistaken? They were not, and two things must be remembered. First, nearness must be measured from God's perspective, not ours. Scripture reminds us that with the Lord a thousand years are as a day, and a day as a thousand years; so from God's vantage point only a short while has passed since Peter wrote. Second, there is a nearness that touches every person directly. Given the uncertainties of life, and knowing that on average we live only some seventy years, the end is truly near for every one of us — our own end may come at any moment. So the warning is not an error to be explained away but a truth to be felt. And the response Peter calls for is practical: be serious, sober-minded, and watchful in prayer. The shortness of the time should sharpen our prayers and steady our minds, not throw us into panic or idleness.

Above All, Fervent Love

From the call to prayer Peter moves to the supreme Christian duty. "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins'" (1 Peter 4:8). Notice the priority: above all things. Of all the graces a believer may pursue, love for one another stands first. The word fervent pictures love stretched out to its full reach, love that keeps going when it would be easier to give up. And such love, Peter says, will cover a multitude of sins. This does not mean love ignores wrongdoing or calls evil good; it means that love readily forgives, overlooks small offenses, and refuses to broadcast or brood over the faults of others. In a suffering church, where believers are pressed close together and nerves can wear thin, this fervent, forgiving love is the very bond that holds the family of God together. Where love is fervent, a thousand small grievances are quietly covered and never allowed to divide.

Stewards of the Manifold Grace of God

Now Peter comes to the theme that gives this unit its name. "Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:9-10). First comes hospitality — an open home and an open heart — offered cheerfully, without grumbling about the cost or the trouble. Then comes the great principle: every believer has received a gift, and the important word is steward. A steward is a manager. The clearest picture is Joseph, who managed all of Potiphar's household; he owned nothing there, yet everything was entrusted to his care. That is precisely the Christian's position. Everything we are and everything we have is not our own to spend as we please but is entrusted to us to be used in the service of God. It has been observed that nearly half of the parables Jesus told touch on stewardship; again and again He taught that our talents, our time, and our treasures belong to God, and that we are only managers who must one day give account.

A striking example is C. T. Studd, once the finest cricket player in all of England. When he became a Christian he gave himself to the mission field, and when a large inheritance came to him from his father, he gave it all away to the work of the gospel. Near the end of his life he was dismayed to discover that some money still remained in his hands, and he quickly passed it on to General Booth of the Salvation Army; he was determined not to leave this world holding any monetary wealth of his own. Few are called to do exactly as he did, but his spirit is the spirit of a true steward, who holds even great wealth with an open hand, counting it God's and not his own.

It is worth pausing on the word each. Peter says that each one has received a gift; not a few gifted leaders only, but every single believer. There is no such thing as a Christian with nothing to contribute, and no such thing as a Christian who may sit idle while others serve. The grace of God is called manifold, that is, many-colored and varied, because God distributes a wonderful variety of gifts throughout His people, and each gift is needed. The quiet servant and the gifted teacher, the one who shows mercy and the one who gives, the encourager and the helper — all are stewards entrusted with a portion of God’s grace for the good of the whole body. To bury one’s gift, or to despise it as too small, is to fail as a steward; the Master gave it to be used.

Peter then shows how this stewardship works in the body of Christ. "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:11). The believer who teaches or speaks is to handle his words as the very words of God, with reverence and care. The believer who serves in any practical way is to do it by the strength God supplies, not in his own power. And the goal of it all is not the servant's reputation but this: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Our gifts are entrusted grace, to be spent for others and for the glory of God.

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