4:1,2
If we suffer in this life then we are no different than Jesus. In John 15:20 Jesus said no servant is greater than his master, and if they persecuted Him, which they did, they will also persecute us. So we are to have the same approach as Jesus did.
We then get another difficult phrase, “whoever suffers in the body is done with sin”. The most probable meaning is that if we are willing to suffer with Christ it shows that we are no longer living for ourselves but are living for God. In fact verse 2 would seem to imply that this is the intended meaning. For there Peter explicitly talks about living not in order to satisfy earthly desires, but living to do the will of God. In Romans 8 Paul speaks about living by the Spirit not the flesh. This is part of what it means. We are no longer governed by earthly desires, instead we are governed by doing the will of God. This is fundamental to the new life in Christ.
4:3
In the past the Christians had lived as other pagans did, with a list of various sins then presented. Some had indulged in a pretty debauched life. When the church is working it will attract people from all sorts of backgrounds, and when people come to Christ their lives and lifestyles will start to change. A debauched life is not a good life, it is not a fun life. Rather it is a destructive life. We should no longer have any desire to live our old lives.
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