4:1-4 What do we learn from this?
4:1-4 What do we learn from this?
This teaches that as Christ suffered for sinners, so Christians must also be prepared to suffer to put away sin. Christians must not live like the unsaved people around them, sharing their sinful pleasures and thus avoiding persecution. They must live a holy life for all to see and be prepared to suffer for it.
They can no longer give in to the cravings and desires of their lower nature, but must bring their bodies under subjection to the will of God (cp 1Cor 9:27; 1Pe 2:11).
In this present world Christians are strangers in a foreign land, without rights as citizens, because their citizenship is in heaven. In the pst they lived dissolute and profligate lives of self-gratification, now they must spend the time they have left in this world for God's glory (cp Ac 8:1-13; Ro 6:1-23; Col 3:1-14).
See also comments on Ro 6:1, 6:3-5, 6:6-11, 6:12-14, 6:15, 6:16, 6:17-20, 6:21-23; Col 3:1-3; 1Pe 2:11.