The Weapons of Our Warfare

1 Peter 4:1-2 (NKJV)

1 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,

2 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.

suf•fer - verb - intransitive verb - English word for 22 different hebrew and greek verbs

1 : to endure death, pain, or distress

2 : to sustain loss or damage

3 : to be subject to disability or handicap

SUFFER is used by KJ in two quite distinct senses. It is used, of course, to translate the Hebrew and Greek verbs which mean to endure hardship, pain, affliction, insult, betrayal, rejection, penalty, and the like—there are 69 cases of its use in this, which is the primary sense of the word. But it is also used 60 times to translate Hebrew and Greek verbs which mean to let, allow, or permit. Example:

Matthew 19:14 (NKJV)

14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

2. pascho (πάσχω, 3958), “to suffer,” is used (I) of the “sufferings” of Christ (a) at the hands of men, e.g., Matt. 16:21; 17:12; 1 Pet. 2:23; (b) in His expiatory and vicarious sacrifice for sin, Heb. 9:26; 13:12; 1 Pet. 2:21; 3:18; 4:1; (c) including both (a) and (b), Luke 22:15; 24:26, 46; Acts 1:3, “passion”; Acts 3:18; 17:3; Heb. 5:8; (d) by the antagonism of the evil one, Heb. 2:18; (II), of human “suffering” (a) of followers of Christ, Acts 9:16; 2 Cor. 1:6; Gal. 3:4; Phil. 1:29; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Peter 3:14, 17; 5:10; Rev. 2:10; in identification with Christ in His crucifixion, as the spiritual ideal to be realized, 1 Pet. 4:1; in a wrong way, 1 Peter 4:15; (b) of others, physically, as the result of demoniacal power, Matt. 17:15, rv, “suffereth (grievously),” kjv, “is (sore) vexed”; cf. Mark 5:26; in a dream, Matt. 27:19; through maltreatment, Luke 13:2; 1 Pet. 2:19, 20; by a serpent (negatively), Acts 28:5, rv, “took” (kjv, “felt:” see feel, Note); (c) of the effect upon the whole body through the “suffering” of one member, 1 Cor. 12:26, with application to a church.

SUFFERING

• FOR CHRIST Acts 9:16; Rom. 8:17–23, 26; 1 Cor. 4:12,13;

2 Cor. 1:7; 4:11–18; Phil. 1:29; 2:27-30; 3:10; Col. 1:24;

2 Th. 1:4,5; 2 Tim. 2:12; Jas. 5:10; 1 Pet. 4:13,14; 5:10

• OF CHRIST Lk. 24:26, 46,47; Jn. 6:51; 10:11, 15; 11:50, 52; Rom. 4:25; 5:6–8; 14:15; 1 Cor. 1:17,18, 23,24; 8:11; 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:14,15; Gal. 1:4; 2:20,21; Eph. 5:2, 25; 1 Th. 5:9,10; Heb. 2:9,10, 14, 18; 5:8,9; 9:15,16, 28; 10:10, 18–20; 1 Pet. 2:21, 24; 3:18; 4:1; 1 Jn. 3:16

2 Samuel 14:14 For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.

Psalm 38:17 (NET)

17 For I am about to stumble, and I am in constant pain.(before me continually)

arm verb - transitive verb

1: to furnish or equip with weapons

2: to furnish with something that strengthens or protects

3: to fortify morally

4: to equip or ready for action or operation 〈arm a bomb〉

Intransitive verb

: to prepare oneself for struggle or resistance

Psalm 119:30 (AMP)

30 I have chosen the way of truth and faithfulness; Your ordinances have I set before me.

True faith, wrestling with the problem and burden of suffering, does not require an immediate and complete justification of God. It can wait in the darkness

(Hab. 2:2-4).

True faith finds in the reality of God’s presence and goodness a more decisive factor in the present situation than even the bitterness of pain (Ps. 73:21–23), and is willing to set against the distorted shape of things present the perfect new order of things in the kingdom of God, of which it has already received a foretaste

(Ps. 73:24-26; Rom. 8:18;

2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

There is but one truly serious Spiritual problem, and that is judging whether the Christian life is or is not worth living. This amounts to answering the fundamental question of Life.

ὁπλίζω 1aor. mid. ὡπλισάμην; from a basic meaning prepare, equip, arm; only middle in the NT arm or equip oneself with something; figuratively prepare, get ready (1P 4.1)

77.10 ὁπλίζομαι: (a figurative extension of meaning of ὁπλίζομαι ‘to arm oneself,’ not occurring in the NT) to prepare, with focus upon the process of equipping—‘to prepare, to make ready.’ ὑμεῖς τὴν αὐτὴν ἔννοιαν ὁπλίσασθε ‘prepare yourselves with the same insight’ or ‘get ready by having the same understanding’ 1 Pe 4.1.