To understand verse 4:6, we need to recognize that all men are under the Adamic penalty of death. In other words, since Adam was under the death penalty, the entire human race is also under the death penalty. In a sense, we are all dead. (Matthew 8:22)
But those of the “dead” who hear the gospel and accept it are reckoned as passed from death to life. God views them as having escaped from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. Then even though men will continue to judge them according to the flesh (by their outward appearance), they are judged by God according to the intents of their minds. Here the mind is rendered “spirit.”
Verse 6 begins with “For this reason…”. What reason? The reason is shown in the context back in Verse 1. 1 Peter 4:1, “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”.
This verse gives us the reason. It instructs the faithful to have the mind or determination to lay down our lives in opposition to sin. Any sacrifice of ours could never effect the cancellation of the divine sentence. But our sacrifices show our devotion to Him. The motivation being that those who suffer with him shall share also his glory. 2 Timothy 2:12, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…”
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