He said to them, ‘You men also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So, they went to work.
1 Peter 4:2 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) So then, you should no longer live the rest of your lives [to satisfy] the sinful desires of your body, but to do what God wants. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 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. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires, but [he lives] for what God wills. 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. Common English Bible As a result, they don’t live the rest of their human lives in ways determined by human desires but in ways determined by God’s will. Catholic Public Domain Version so that now he may live, for the remainder of his time in the flesh, not by the desires of men, but by the will of God. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version 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. |
He said to them, ‘You men also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So, they went to work.
Which of these two sons did what his father wanted?” They answered, “The first one.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes [will] enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.
“Not every person who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but [only] that person who does what my Father in heaven requires.
For whoever will do what God wants, that person is my brother, and sister and mother.”
For from within, out of people’s hearts, proceed evil thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, extramarital affairs,
[Such people] were born of God, not of blood ties [i.e., from physical descendants], nor of the will of the flesh [i.e., merely from a sexual desire], nor of the will of man [i.e., from a husband’s desire for offspring].
If anyone [really] desires to do what God wants, he will know whether my teaching comes from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority [only].
And you people must not be conformed to [the values and standards of] this age, but you should become transformed [i.e., changed in attitude and action] by having your mind renewed [i.e., to think in a totally different way]. Then you will be able to determine [and practice] God’s will, the thing that is good, and acceptable and perfect.
For none of us lives for his own benefit [only], and none of us dies for his own benefit [only].
So, you [too] should consider yourselves dead to sin [i.e., no longer under its power], but [spiritually] alive to God, in [fellowship with] Christ.
Certainly not! How can we, who died to sin [i.e., stopped living under its power], go on living in it [i.e., practicing it] any longer?
Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law [i.e., were released from its binding requirements] through the body of Christ [Note: This seems to refer to Christ’s death on the cross, but some think it refers to becoming a part of the church], so that you could belong to someone else, [namely] to Christ, who was raised from the dead in order that we might live spiritually productive lives for God.
And Christ died for all people, so that those who are alive should not live for themselves anymore, but for Him who died and rose again for their sakes.
All of us [Jews] also once lived among such people, fulfilling the improper cravings of our physical being and doing what our bodies and minds desired. In this natural [unconverted] state we were deserving of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].
So, I tell you this, and insist [on it] by [the authority of] the Lord: Do not continue to live with worthless thoughts as [unconverted] Gentiles do.
Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Do not serve them only when you are being watched, just to gain their approval, but as slaves of Christ, doing what God wants from your heart.
So, this is why, since the day we heard about these things, we do not stop praying for you and requesting that you people be filled [by God] with the knowledge of what He wants [for your lives], and with spiritual wisdom and understanding.
For you died [with Christ, See 2:20], and your life is [now] hidden with Christ in [fellowship with] God.
Epaphras, who is one of you [See 1:7; 4:9], a slave of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always struggles in his prayers on your behalf so that you will remain mature and be fully convinced [that you are living] by all that God wants [for your life].
Thank [God] for everything, for this is what God wants for you in [the fellowship of] Christ Jesus.
equip you with every good deed for doing God’s will. [May He] work in us [to accomplish] what is very pleasing in His sight through [the power of] Jesus Christ. May there be praise to Him forever and ever. May it be so.
It was God’s purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of “first fruits” of those He created. [Note: “First fruits” here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God’s creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].
As obedient children, do not pattern your lives after the evil desires you formerly had when you were ignorant,
Therefore, you should put out of your lives all malice [i.e., bad attitudes], and all deceit and hypocrisy, and all envy and unwholesome talk.
And the world, with its [physical and material] desires, is passing away, but the person who does what God wants will continue to live forever.