4 1Christ suffered while he was in his body. So you should strengthen yourselves with the same kind of thinking Christ had. The one who accepts suffering in this life has clearly decided to stop sinning. 2Strengthen yourselves so that you will live your lives here on earth doing what God wants, not the evil things that people want to do. 3In the past you wasted too much time doing what those who don't know God like to do. You were living immoral lives, doing the evil things you wanted to do. You were always getting drunk, having wild drinking parties, and doing shameful things in your worship of idols.4Now those "friends" think it is strange that you no longer join them in all the wild and wasteful things they do. And so they say bad things about you. 5But they will have to face God to explain what they have done. He is the one who will soon judge everyone - those who are still living and those who have died. 6Some were told the Good Newsa before they died. They were criticized by others in their life here on earth. But it was God's plan that they hear the Good News so that they could have a new life through the Spiritb.c
aGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God¡¯s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God¡¯s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever. bSpirit See ¡°Holy Spirit.¡± c4:6 through the Spirit Or ¡°in the spirit,¡± meaning in the spiritual or heavenly realm. dgrace The love and kindness that God shows in his complete willingness to give people favors he does not owe them and blessings they don¡¯t deserve. eglory A word that refers to the special qualities of God. Often it means brightness, referring to the way he appears to people. Sometimes it means majesty or power, referring to a kind of greatness that cannot be compared to anything in human experience. It can also include the ideas of wealth, honor, fame, or respect, especially in expressions of praise. fAmen A Hebrew word meaning ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± ¡°True,¡± or ¡°Yes.¡± It is used to express strong agreement with what has been said. gProverbs 11:31 (Greek version) |