The emphasis in the main section of Peter’s letter (2:11—4:11) is on the theme of doing good to the surrounding unbelievers (1 Peter 2:12, 1 Peter 2:15, 1 Peter 2:20; 1 Peter 3:1, 1 Peter 3:11, 1 Peter 3:13, 1 Peter 3:17). Doing good may result in suffering (1 Peter 2:19–20; 1 Peter 3:17); in fact, even Christ suffered for doing good (1 Peter 3:18). No one, not even a Christian, looks forward to suffering, and so is tempted to renounce good deeds to spare his own skin. In an effort to encourage his readers in the face of suffering, Peter in the present section holds up Christ’s mindset as one the Christian needs to follow.
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,