Devine Scripture

1 Peter 4:2

What does 1 Peter 4:2 mean?

A plain-English look at 1 Peter 4:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 1 Peter 4:2 means

The purpose of taking up Christ’s mindset is practical: to live the remaining years not driven by human cravings but by the will of God. Conversion reorients what time is for. Instead of being governed by impulses and cultural pressures, the believer measures choices by what pleases God. Peter’s wording suggests urgency—life is short, and the past has been long enough for wandering. The focus shifts from self to God’s purposes, from satisfying the flesh to purposeful obedience. This is not merely avoiding obvious sins; it is a positive dedication of one’s remaining days to God’s agenda, with suffering accepted if obedience requires it.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

no more in the desires of men, but in the will of God, to live the rest of the time in the flesh;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

That now he may live the rest of his time in the flesh, not after the desires of men but according to the will of God.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

no longer to live the rest of [his] time in [the] flesh to men's lusts, but toGod's will.

Context

Having called for Christlike resolve, Peter explains its aim in verse 2: a re-purposed life. The moral break described in verse 1 is now cast as a new trajectory. Verses 3–4 will describe the old patterns the readers once pursued and the social backlash they now face for refusing them. The argument moves from mindset (v. 1), to purpose (v. 2), to contrast with former behavior (v. 3), and then to the world’s reaction (v. 4), preparing for the reminder of divine judgment in verse 5.

v.1Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

v.2This passage

v.3For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries:

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 1 John 2:17

    And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

  • James 1:18

    Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

  • John 1:13

    who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

  • Ephesians 2:3

    among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:—

  • Ephesians 5:17

    Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

  • Galatians 2:19

    For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God.

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