(2)
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 5:5-14
In 5:6 Peter says, “Therefore, be humbled under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” Preachers and teachers often quote the phrase “the mighty hand of God” without regard to what it means in the book of 1 Peter as a whole. As a result, this verse concerning the mighty hand of God has been misused.
We have seen that the entire book of 1 Peter is on God’s government, and that God’s government is administrated through His judgment. God’s judgment is carried out in the environment arranged according to His sovereignty. For example, in order to judge Noah’s generation, God arranged a great catastrophe, the flood. Only God could have done such a thing. The flood that terminated the human race at the time of Noah was brought about by the mighty hand of God. In 5:6 the mighty hand of God refers to God’s administrating hand seen especially in His judgment.
God’s hand is more mighty in His judgment than in His salvation. Of course, in saving us, God’s hand is mighty. But we see much more of the might of His hand in His judgment. Suppose a certain brother continues to enjoy worldly entertainment long after he has been saved. Although he has truly been saved, he still loves the world. But one day he has a car accident, an accident arranged by the mighty hand of God, and that accident causes him to seek the Lord in a deeper way than he ever did before. This is an illustration of God’s hand exercised in judgment.
According to Peter’s word in 5:6-8, we need to do three things that are related to our experience of the mighty hand of God. First, we should humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. Second, we should cast all our anxiety on Him. Third, we need to be sober and watch. Everything that happens to us is under God’s mighty hand. There is no need for us to worry or be anxious. We should simply humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and not resist it. Then we should cast all the troubles that cause our anxiety upon the Lord. Along with this, we need to be sober and watchful. If we cast all our anxiety on God, we shall have a sober mind, and we shall be clear about our situation. Furthermore, we shall be watchful regarding our adversary, the Devil, who walks about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. If we are watchful, we shall not be deceived when Satan incarnates himself in the form of anxiety. On the contrary, the adversary, the roaring lion, will be defeated by us. This is the proper understanding of this portion of the Word.
In 5:10 Peter goes on to say, “But the God of all grace, who called you into His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.” “But,” indicating a contrast, brings in comfort and encouragement to the suffering believers. The contrast is between the sufferings in verse 9 and the God of all grace in verse 10. If we had verse 9 without verse 10, we would be lacking in hope and encouragement. However, in 5:10 Peter seems to be saying to the suffering believers, “You and your brotherhood are suffering your adversary’s threatening, the Devil’s lion-roar, only for a little while. But the God of all grace, of the bountiful and gracious supply of life that exceeds all your need, will perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.”
In this verse all grace refers to the riches of the bountiful supply of the divine life in many aspects ministered to us in many steps of the divine operation on and in us in God’s economy. The initial step is to call us, and the consummate one is to glorify us, as mentioned here, “who called you into His eternal glory.” Between these two steps are His loving care while He is disciplining us, and His perfecting, establishing, strengthening, and grounding work in us. In all these divine acts, the bountiful supply of the divine life is ministered to us as grace in varied experiences. The God of such grace will perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground the persecuted believers after they suffer a little while.
The term “the God of all grace” is unique, found in the New Testament only in 5:10. It may be common for Christians to speak of the God of mercy. But do you know of anyone who uses the expression the God of all grace? Peter does not say merely that God is the God of grace; he says that God is the God of all grace. In this expression once again Peter shows his characteristic use of adjectives. The suffering believers should be encouraged by the fact that, although they are suffering, their God is the God of all grace. Furthermore, He has called us into eternal glory, a glory that is unlimited in both space and time.
Peter says that God has called us into His eternal glory in Christ. “In Christ” indicates that the God of all grace has gone through all the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to accomplish the complete and full redemption so that He may bring His redeemed people into an organic union with Himself. Thus they may participate in the riches of the Triune God as their enjoyment. All the steps of the divine operation are in Christ, who is the embodiment of the Triune God becoming the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the bountiful life supply to us. It is in this Christ, through His all-inclusive redemption and based on all His achievements, that God can be the God of all grace to call us into His eternal glory and to perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground us in the Triune God (1:1-2) as the solid foundation, thus enabling us to attain unto His glorious goal. What a miracle that fallen sinners can be brought into God’s eternal glory! And how excellent is His perfecting, establishing, strengthening, and grounding work in us! This is all accomplished through His “all grace” which is the “true grace” (5:12).
According to what Peter says in 5:10, our sufferings are only for a little while, but God’s glory is eternal. After we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace will personally perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground us.
The word “Himself” indicates God’s personal activity in the work of grace. The Greek word rendered “perfect” literally means restore. It implies repairing, adjusting, putting in order again, mending, perfectly joining together, thoroughly equipping, well furnishing, and, thus, perfecting, completing, educating. In Greek the word “establish” literally means to set fast, to confirm. The same word was used by the Lord in His charge to Peter in Luke 22:32. The meaning of “strengthen” is very close to that of establish. Literally, the Greek word rendered “ground” means to lay a basis for. It is a derivation of the word that means foundation. Hence, it is to ground solidly, as in Matthew 7:25, Ephesians 3:17, and Hebrews 1:10.
There is a progress in the four divine acts of grace. Perfecting leads to establishing, establishing to strengthening, and strengthening to grounding in the God of all grace — the Triune God in His dispensation (1:1-2) as the solid foundation.
First God perfects us. Through the suffering of persecution we are perfected. Then after perfecting us, God establishes us. When we are established, we no longer wander, and we are no longer changeable. After God establishes us, He strengthens us, empowers us, and eventually, He grounds us in Himself as the Triune God.
In 5:11 Peter says, “To Him be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.” To the God of all grace, the One who perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds us, be glory and might.
In 5:12-14 we have the conclusion of this Epistle. In verse 12 we have the testimony of the true grace of God, and in verses 13 and 14 we have Peter’s greetings.
First Peter 5:12 says, “Through Silvanus, the faithful brother, as I account him, I wrote to you briefly, entreating and fully testifying that this is the true grace of God; in which stand.” Peter was an eyewitness (5:1), testifying what he had seen and experienced. He testifies that what he has written in his Epistle as an account of God’s grace is true.
Peter wrote this Epistle to pilgrim believers in order to entreat them and testify to them of the grace of God. In 5:12 he indicates that what he has written positively concerning God’s doings is the true grace. We have seen that Peter speaks of grace being multiplied, of varied grace, of all grace, and here, of true grace. Furthermore, regarding the excellent manner of life, Peter twice says that this is the true grace of God (2:19-20). In 5:12 Peter entreats the believers to stand in the true grace. We need to stand in the true grace of God and withstand the Devil.
The true grace in this verse refers to the “all grace” in verse 10, in which the apostle charged the believers to stand. This book was written mainly to show the persecuted believers God’s governmental purpose in their sufferings. That they may pass through those sufferings, God will supply them with all the multiplied, varied, and true grace (1 Pet. 5:10; 1:2; 4:10), which is sufficient to enable them to participate in the sufferings of Christ and for Christ (1 Pet. 2:21; 3:14-17; 4:12-16), and will perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground them in the Triune God and bring them into His eternal glory.
In 5:13 Peter says, “The co-chosen in Babylon and Mark my son greet you.” The Greek word rendered “the co-chosen” and its article are feminine. It may refer to Peter’s wife, who traveled with him (1 Cor. 9:5), or to a prominent sister in the Lord, who had been co-chosen by God not only with the receivers of this Epistle, but also with Peter and all the other believers. Some suppose that it refers to the church.
Through the centuries the great teachers have held two different interpretations of the name Babylon as used in 5:13: one is figurative, referring to Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire; the other literal, referring to Babylon, a large city on the Euphrates. The reasons for the latter are more logical than for the former. First, it seems that Peter had no reason to use a figurative name to hide the city of his whereabouts. Second, all the names he used for the places in the address of his Epistle (1:1) were literal. Third, in the New Testament the name Rome is clearly mentioned (Acts 19:21; 28:14, 16; Rom. 1:7, 15), at least up to the time when Paul’s last Epistle, 2 Timothy, was written (2 Tim. 1:17), probably after 1 Peter. It is when John’s Revelation, a book of figures, was written, about A.D. 90, that the figurative name Babylon the Great was used for the city of Rome (Rev. 17:5; 18:2).
The name Mark in verse 13 refers to John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25), the writer of the Gospel of Mark. As Peter’s spiritual son, he was there in Babylon with him. Later he was taken to Paul by Timothy (2 Tim. 4:11).
In 5:14 Peter concludes, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ.” At the beginning of this Epistle Peter says, “Grace to you and peace be multiplied.” At the end he says, “Peace to you all who are in Christ.” Peace results from grace; it issues from the enjoyment of the Triune God. Such enjoyment of God as the multiplying and multiplied grace (1:2), the varied grace (4:10), the all grace (5:10), and the true grace (5:12) as the reality of the contents of the Christian life under the government of God issues and results in a condition of peace with both God and man.
Peter’s writing is not at all superficial. It is deep in truth and very experiential. We see this even in what Peter says regarding peace. Peter’s understanding of peace is deep. However, most Christians today think of peace in a very shallow way.
According to 1 Pet. 5:14, Peter’s desire is that peace be with all who are in Christ. Peter stresses the fact that the believers are in Christ (1 Pet. 3:16; 5:10). It is of God and through our faith and baptism that we are in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; John 3:5; Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3). This results in an organic union with the Triune God (Matt. 28:19) and makes us one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17).
