1 Peter 4:6

For this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

The apostle here resumes the thought connection which he had touched upon in chap. 3:18, that of the sufferings of Christ and its lessons: Christ, then, having suffered for us in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same disposition of mind; for he that suffers in the flesh has desisted from sin, When Christ assumed true human nature, when He became a man for our sakes, He was obliged to suffer a great deal in this flesh, not only during His ministry, but especially during His last great Passion. The idea of Christ's acting as our Substitute is brought out also in this case, in order to give additional force to the admonition. We should arm, or shield, ourselves with the same disposition or state of mind, with the same intention and purpose. For he that suffers in the flesh, he that willingly takes upon himself the cross which is the lot of all true Christians in the world, thereby has desisted from sin. If Christians take their cross upon themselves and follow Christ, they have chosen the best way of combating and overcoming sin; in fact, they have left sin behind as a ruling power.

The purpose of being armed with the mind of Christ as with a weapon is now stated by the apostle: In order no longer to spend the remaining part of his life to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. If God inflicts a chastisement, sends some suffering, this will indeed be disagreeable, full of bitterness, to the flesh. But God is acting like a wise physician; for He thereby protects the Christians themselves. Their life, which would ordinarily have been spent in serving the lusts and desires in which the unbelievers delight, is now devoted to battling against the temptations to sin and in fulfilling the will of God. They give up the delights of this short life, but they gain the bliss of everlasting salvation as God's gift of mercy.

This thought is now brought out with all the force of a strong contrast: For the time now gone past suffices that you worked the will of the heathen, conducting yourselves in acts of licentiousness, lusts, carousings, revelings, banquetings, and unlawful, idolatrous acts, in which they are taken aback that you do not run with them into the same overflowing of profligacy, blaspheming This is a picture of the life of unbelievers when they give way to their natural desires and passions and live in every form of sensual sin, as most of the heathen Christians had done before their conversion. Peter reminds his readers that their behavior in their unconverted state certainly was sufficient and more than sufficient to pay the debt which they may have thought they were owing to the flesh. Note the irony in the words. A few of the sins of the flesh are now enumerated. They conducted themselves, they spent their life in acts of licentiousness, or sensuality, in giving free rein to all their lusts and desires. They were wine-bibbers, using intoxicating liquors to excess; they held night revels, with banquets where eating as well as drinking was carried far beyond the limits of decency; they became guilty of all the unlawful, heathen, idolatrous acts and practices whereby the proper honor was taken away from the living God. Of these acts of sensuality, of carnal mindedness, of godlessness, the Christians to whom this letter was addressed were now heartily ashamed, and they were straining every nerve to spend the rest of their lives in such works as were well-pleasing to God. This change of attitude, of course, was a surprise to the heathen, it took them aback in a very unpleasant way. That these former boon companions of theirs should now no longer be willing to accompany them to the places where licentiousness and profligacy went beyond all bounds, that they considered an insult. That the Christians should now consider their former dissolute life with abhorrence and should do everything in their power to forget the indecencies of that period of their life, put them into such a fury of rage that they set out to curse and blaspheme the Christians. Also herein history repeats itself, as many a believer that was converted in adult life will be able to testify.

The apostle wants the Christians not to be intimidated or otherwise influenced by the attitude of the unbelievers: They shall have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. A time is coming, and that very soon, when the unbelievers will think of their blasphemous behavior with a regret which will be too late. For the Lord is prepared even now to return for the judging of the living and the dead, for the final Judgment; and from His sentence there will be no appeal. These heathen who now abuse the Christians will then have to answer for their hatred and persecution of the Christians, and since they cannot give an account that will satisfy the holiness and justice of God, their portion will be that of eternal damnation. This fact is a consolation to all believers that are subjected to such maledictions more or less.

For the same reason the apostle adds: For to this end was the Gospel preached also to them that are (now) dead, that they might be judged in the flesh indeed after the manner of men, but might live in the spirit after the manner of God. This statement has no connection with the fact given in chap. 3:19, but belongs into this connection. To certain people that are now dead the Gospel was preached during their life, they became partakers of its wonderful blessings, in order that they, although subject to the general curse of death according to their mortal body, yet might live in the spirit, so far as their soul was concerned, and that after the manner of God, that is, in a spiritual, divine, glorified existence, until the day when God would reunite their bodies with their souls. Thus the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel was realized in the case of those that died in the Lord. The connection of thought, then, is this: While death does not remove the blasphemer from the final Judgment and condemnation, it confirms the hope of the Christians that their souls, which are safe in the hands of God, will be reunited with their bodies on the last day and enjoy everlasting salvation and glory in the presence of God.