1 Peter 5 Part 6 God of all Grace
1 Peter 5 Part 6 God of all Grace
1 Peter 5:10-14, Many Additional References - His Dominion is forever and ever!
“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:10-14 NASB1995
Peter winds up his first epistle by reminding believers that after they have suffered for a “little while”, the God of all grace who called us to eternal glory in Christ will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us. His dominion is forever and ever! Peter then talks about a few believers and calls for peace through all who are in Christ.
As readers have gathered over the last few weeks exploring this epistle, 1 Peter is all about preparing us for suffering. He once again reminds us of this fact, but tempers the message by saying that the suffering is only temporary. “A little while” comes from the Greek word ὀλίγος or oligos, with the following definitions:
little, small, few
of number: multitude, quantity, or size
of time: short
of degree or intensity: light, slight
A few devotionals ago, I talked about two types of real suffering (personal and persecuted). People enduring cancer treatments or recovering from major injuries or grieving the loss of a beloved spouse or languishing in prison or being tortured because of their beliefs may not consider time to be short or the intensity to be slight. But it ends! You recover or are released or rescued or perhaps it all ends in death, but it ends! And if you believe, you are then joyfully joined with your Savior in Heaven after this very short life!!
The God of all Grace has called you to eternal glory. I found an excellent list of the things that God has called (καλέω or kaleo, meaning invited, summoned or named) you to from Precept Austin (I have added the Bible verses and removed a couple of redundant items):
The called are those who have been summoned by God… called…
according to His purpose
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NASB1995
to salvation
“and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Romans 8:30 NASB1995
saints by calling
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:”
1 Corinthians 1:2 NASB1995
both Jews and Greeks
“but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:24 NASB1995
having been called "with a holy calling"
“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,”
2 Timothy 1:9 NASB1995
heavenly calling
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;”
Hebrews 3:1 NASB1995
out of darkness into His marvelous light
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
1 Peter 2:9 NASB1995
to walk worthy
“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,”
Ephesians 4:1 NASB1995
through the "gospel" that we "may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ"
“It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 2:14 NASB1995
and be brought "into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord"
“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 NASB1995
and return in triumph "with Him" at the end of this age
“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of Lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.””
Revelation 17:14 NASB1995
After calling us through Christ (and Christ ALONE), God will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us. Let’s do a brief word study on these four words (some of these have probably been analyzed before, but not in the context of 1 Peter 5):
Perfect: The Greek word is καταρτίζω or katartizo, defined as follows:
to render, i.e. to fit, sound, complete
to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair
to complete
to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust
to fit or frame for one's self, prepare
ethically: to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what he ought to be
God perfects us by completing us, mending us, adjusting us, equipping us, preparing us and making us what we ought to be.
Confirm: The Greek word is στηρίζω or sterizo, defined as follows:
to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix
to strengthen, make firm
to render constant, confirm, one's mind
And from Strong’s: to turn resolutely in a certain direction.
God confirms us by fixing us, rendering us constant, and turning us in the right direction.
Strengthen: The Greek word is σθενόω or sthenoo, defined as follows:
to make strong, strengthen
of one's soul
God strengthens us by making our souls strong.
Establish: The Greek word is θεμελιόω or themelioo, defined as follows:
to lay the foundation, to found
to make stable, establish
God establishes us by laying the stable foundation for our faith.
To end our exploration of 1 Peter, Enduring Word has some insight into the last paragraphs (links go to the Blue Letter Bible):
By Silvanus… I have written to you: This portion was probably written by Peter’s own hand, after he (according to the custom of the day) had dictated the bulk of the letter to Silvanus. This man Silvanus was probably the same one known as Silas in many of Paul’s letters.
This is the true grace of God in which you stand: Peter summed up his message as an exhortation to understand and recognize the true grace of God in which you stand. We must understand not only what God’s grace is, but that grace is our place of present standing before Him.
She who is in Babylon… greets you: She probably refers to the church, which in the ancient Greek is in the feminine. Peter apparently wrote from Babylon. This may be the literal city of Babylon (which still existed in Peter’s day), or it may be a symbolic way of referring to either Rome or Jerusalem. These were two cities that in Peter’s day were famous for their wickedness and spiritual rebellion, just like ancient Babylon was. In any regard, this was one church greeting another.
There was of course the literal city of Babylon on the Euphrates. There was also a place known as Babylon in Egypt, and it was a Roman military fortress near the present city of Cairo. Yet many think that Peter meant “Babylon” in a symbolic sense to represent the city of Rome. As a Biblical concept, “Babylon” as the city of this world stands in contrast to “Jerusalem” as the city of God. He may have meant Rome as Babylon as “the center of worldliness.”
So does Mark my son: This verse connects Mark with Peter, apparently the same Mark of Acts 12:12, 12:25, and 15:37-39. When the style and perspective of the Gospel of Mark are taken into account, many believe that Peter was Mark’s primary source of information for his gospel.
Peace be to all of you who are in Christ! And thanks to Peter, who put these thoughts down, led by the Holy Spirit, in his first epistle.
My next devotional series tackles one of the minor prophets in the Old Testament - Jonah. I will start with God’s call to Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2).
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for calling us to glory in Christ after we have suffered a little bit, perfecting us, confirming us, strengthening us and establishing us. May we study and know why we are called and turn to you in any circumstance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.