1 Peter 5:6-14 (CSB)
Here we are in the last section of 1 Peter. We’ve taken eight weeks to go through this letter, and hopefully you have learned as much as I have. Last week, we ended by examining what Peter said about clothing ourselves with humility, as he quoted from Proverbs 3:34, which says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Continuing this thought in verses 6-7, he says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.”
Not only does God resist the proud and give grace to the humble, but if we humble ourselves under God’s hand, then He will exalt us at the proper time. James 4:10 says this same thing: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
When reading James’ verse, I picture a person kneeling before the Lord, humbling himself or herself before God. Peter’s verse is more descriptive. I like how he says we are to humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God.” I think some of us might picture this to mean that we’ve placed ourselves under God’s strong hand and it’s a scary place to be. As Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says, “This refers probably to the calamities which he had brought upon them, or was about to bring upon them; represented here, as often elsewhere, as the infliction of his hand.”
The picture I see when I read this verse is very different from that, though. I see a person tucking themselves into the shelter of God’s hand. His hand is mighty, but mighty to save, not to harm. We should be motivated to humble ourselves, not just so we can be exalted, but as Peter adds, as we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, we can cast all our cares on the Lord, because He cares about us and loves us.
We can humbly tuck ourselves into God’s hand, trusting Him that whatever happens, even fiery trials and ordeals, persecution or attacks, we can shelter under God’s mighty hand. If we are submitted to God and His ways, choosing to obey His word, then no matter what happens to us, we can trust that He is caring for us and is with us, giving us grace to endure.
The other benefit of being submitted to God’s will is that He alone offers us protection from the devil’s attacks, as Peter says next. Verses 8-9 say, “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.”
The devil is looking for people whom he can devour. He’s actively searching. As Ellicott writes in his commentary, “Satan is eyeing all the Christians in turn to see which he has the best chance of, not merely stalking forth vaguely to look for prey.” The devil is looking for an opportunity to attack someone who has their defenses down. Just like criminals look for weak, vulnerable looking people, so does satan. This is why Peter says that we need to be sober-minded and alert. It’s far less likely that satan will attack us if we are on guard, ready and prepared.
Note, too, this is the third time that Peter has implored them to be “sober-minded.” Back in 1 Peter 1:13, he said, “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” And again, in 1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.”
We must be sober-minded and alert, for the devil is like a roaring lion, looking and waiting to pounce. There is no time for lazing about. There is too much at stake to be taking part in the kind of stuff the world occupies its time doing. We are to have nothing to do with the things Peter mentioned in 1 Peter 4:3 when he said, “For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do: carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry.” We must be sober-minded and alert, ready for action, and on guard against the devil, who is actively on the prowl.
Peter warns them of this, and also says, not only are they to be on guard against the attacks of the devil, but they are to, “Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.” This sentence tells us quite a few things. First being, we can resist the devil. We are not at the mercy of satan. We do not have to give in to his attacks. We can resist. This is vital to understand, because we do not need to live in fear or defeat. If Christ is in us, then through His power and authority, we can resist the devil’s attacks of temptations. We can resist all of his attacks, whatever they might be.
Unfortunately, a lot of Christians don’t rightfully understand this. They either dismiss the devil’s power and don’t even think they need to be on guard against him, or they give him too much power and think they are powerless against his attacks. Still others, and this is increasingly vocal within American Christianity, think everything that happens to us is God’s will, including whenever someone gives in to temptation.
For example, a very prominent pastor within a reformed Christian denomination was recently removed from his position due to his immoral behavior. So many people within the Calvinist/Reformed circle are saying that it was God’s will that he failed morally because somehow through this happening God will be glorified in some way, which is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read, by the way. It was obviously not God’s will for that pastor to behave so reprehensibly. It was that pastor’s fault, and his fault alone, that he gave in to temptation and sinned. We cannot put the blame on God or excuse that man. If he repents, then, of course, he can be forgiven, but we cannot say that what happened was God’s will for him. God is not the author of sin. We, as followers of Christ, have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. We can overcome temptation. That is why 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.”
That means that God gave that pastor a way out of that temptation, but he didn’t take it. He chose to ignore the Holy Spirit and give in to his flesh. If he had taken God’s way out, he would not have given in to the devil’s attacks. That pastor didn’t resist his flesh. He didn’t want a way out.
James 4:7 says the same thing about overcoming temptation. It says, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Peter echoes that same idea and says we are to resist the devil. That means it is possible and achievable for us believers to do. To think otherwise is a lie from the enemy.
And being very practical, Peter not only gives us that important information, but he even tells us how to do this: the way we resist the devil is by standing firm in our faith. As the rest of verse 9 says, reading it again, “Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.”
In order to resist the temptations of the devil who is prowling around like a lion, we must not only be on guard, but we must stand firm in the faith, knowing that not only do other believers face these same attacks, but God will help us and reward us for our faithfulness if we resist.
These temptations aren’t just temptations of moral compromise. It’s the temptation to be prideful, to slander people, to want our own way, to not submit to those in authority or to treat those under us with contempt. In summary, any temptation to act the opposite of how Peter has said we are to behave all throughout this letter should be resisted. We should act with humility and submit ourselves to God’s decrees; humbling ourselves under His hand of guidance, trusting that He sees us, cares for us, and loves us.
When the temptation comes to escape the suffering that living for Jesus causes, we should not give in to temptation and take the easy way out. We should endure. We should endure because we know that it’s just temporary suffering anyway. As Peter then explains in verse 10, “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.”
In Ellicott’s Commentary, he points out, “The Greek says distinctly, ‘a little while,’ as in 1 Peter 1:6 [which says, ‘You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials’] All time is short in comparison of what comes after. The original looks as if St. Peter meant not only ‘after that ye have suffered,’ but also ‘by the fact of your having suffered.’”
In other words, God uses the suffering we experience because of Him, to restore, establish, strengthen, and support us. As 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.”
This is the good news, and if we don’t forget it, then we will be more apt to endure. The suffering we are enduring is being used to mold us more and more into reflections of Jesus. The ESV translates this verse as, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
That last word is a little different from all the others, isn’t it? Instead of “establish” or “support,” some translations say, “settle you.” The Greek word, according to Strong’s Concordance, is themelioó, and it means, “to lay the foundation of.”
Maybe Peter is thinking of the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 7:24-27 when He said, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”
The person who follows God’s word and obeys Him, humbly submitting to the Lord’s leading, will be firmly established on the rock of Jesus. Nothing that comes against that person will prevail; not the devil’s attacks, not the flesh, not pride, nor willful disobedience. That person will stand by faith on the rock of Jesus. That person of faith will endure the suffering, knowing it’s just temporary, for God will give the strength needed to bear it all.
That is why Peter then gives Jesus the glory by praising Him in verse 11, saying, “To him be dominion forever. Amen.” This is similar to what Peter said in 1 Peter 4:11b, when he said, “To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” This time, “to him be dominion forever.” God alone is to be praised and given the glory for all that He has done for us. We, too, should give God the praise and glory, knowing that we accomplish none of this without His strength.
All of these past few verses have been a summary of all that Peter has been writing about, and now he summarizes the intention of his letter even further. Wrapping up his letter, he says in verses 12-14, “Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
His intention has been to encourage the believers, and to “testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” He wants them to take his words seriously. He doesn’t want them to waver in their faith, but to stand firm and remember what God has called them to through their conversion.
Looking at the closing remarks more closely, we see that Silvanus, or Silas as he’s also known, has assisted him in some way with this letter. This is the same Silas who traveled with Paul. I don’t know if Peter dictated it to him or if Silvanus simply delivered the letter to the people. He also sends greetings to two different people. Verse 13 says, "She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.”
It’s amazing to me to read through all the commentaries and see them try to figure out what Peter means by this statement. They all want Peter to be referring to a “church” in Babylon because it completely wrecks their theology if Peter is referring to a woman. They all say something to this effect: We know it must be a church he’s referring to even though the word for church is not present in the Greek text, and grammatically it’s clear he’s referring to a woman. Even In Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, he says, “In the original it simply stands ‘the co-elect one (feminine singular) in Babylon.’ Some, therefore, seeing immediately after, ‘Marcus, my son,’ and knowing that St. Peter was a married man have thought that this ‘co-elect one’ was St. Peter’s wife.” But then Ellicott says that he thinks Peter must be referring to a church. In Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says the same thing about the Greek, but then adds that even though it clearly says it’s a woman, “It could not readily be supposed, moreover, that any one female in Babylon could have such a prominence, or be so well known, that nothing more would be necessary to designate her than merely to say, “the elect female,” therefore it must be a church. Yet, that is precisely what I think is true: it was radical in that culture for a woman to be given any responsibility or position, and so “she” would have had ‘just such a prominence.’ She would have been well known to all the believers.
This is the problem with trying to fit God’s word into our theology: we end up adding to it and changing it. We need to be careful to mold our theology to God’s word, not the other way around. I think it’s clear that a woman was elected to the position of elder, just as these elders were elected to their positions, and Peter sends greetings from her and from Mark. To say that “she” is a church is reading into the text.
It’s also worth noting that the Mark who is mentioned is thought to be the same Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark, and that is widely accepted by all the scholars.
Regardless of your view on whether the “she” is a woman or a church, let us not miss the last sentences. Peter says they are to, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
This practice of greeting one another with a kiss is seen all throughout the Bible. The examples range from sons giving a kiss to their fathers, to Judas greeting Jesus with a kiss. Many of the New Testament letters end with this same directive as 1 Peter does. In the West, this is not a common practice for Christians. In fact, Christians tend to be the least physically expressive people I know. It was only when I was in Russia and ministering in churches there that I’ve seen this directive taken seriously by Christians. The men on the mission team I was a part of were rather taken aback the first time they were kissed by the men at the church we spoke at. The men kissed the other men. The women kissed the women. I thought it was welcoming and friendly. Those believers had none of the reserve or apprehension we in the West seem to have.
While I’m not advocating for bringing back the “holy kiss” within our churches, it would be wonderful to “bring back” the warmth and love that Peter is advocating for. The church was viewed as a family. The fellow believers were to consider each other as brothers and sisters. This was the goal of the kiss. It was a symbol of friendship and love. They were not to treat each other as strangers, but as members of the same family. They should cultivate a spirit of love and peace, which creates unity of heart and mind.
Which is exactly what Peter wants for these believers. Throughout this letter, he has been emphasizing the need for them to be holy and humble. They are to put off their former sinful ways. They are to respond in obedience to the living hope they’ve been given through Christ’s death and resurrection by living holy lives, submitted to one another in humility under God’s hand. Sober-minded and alert, they are to be living stones and members of the royal priesthood; joyfully enduring any suffering that following Christ results in. They are to do all this together, encouraging one another to persevere and support one another.
This letter is exactly what we need to hear today. Collectively, the Church needs to repent and be holy. We need to humble ourselves and obey God. We need to stop living as the world does and align our whole life under God’s Word. Instead of being stumbling blocks, let us be living stones. Let us show by our love for one another what it means to follow Christ. Then others will see our faith and be drawn to Christ. The time for fooling around in sin is over. The devil is real and is on the attack. Let us be sober-minded and alert, standing firm in our faith, waiting for Jesus to return. The question isn’t when will Jesus return, but will we be ready? Be holy. Be alert. Be humble. Be obedient. Be filled with hope. Let us humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, knowing He loves us and cares for us. Let us love one another as Christ has loved us. May all the priesthood of God join with me and say, Amen!
Pray: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always followed Your word. Please forgive us and help us to follow You. Please help us to stay sober-minded and alert. Please protect us from the devil’s attacks. Please give us grace to endure any suffering we face. Help us to humbly submit ourselves under Your mighty hand, knowing that You love us and care for us. Help us to be examples of Your love to the world. We ask all this in Jesus’ name, amen.
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