One of Peter’s themes in this letter (according to commentators) is suffering. We discovered he also wrote about glory.* The “family of believers” is a minor theme, reviewed toward the end of the letter.
“Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9).
- We stand against our enemy, the devil, by keeping our faith firm and strong.
- It’s easier to do this when we remember we’re not in these struggles alone.
- Believers everywhere suffer in varying degrees simply for following Jesus.
*How can we keep our faith firm and strong?
*In what ways might believers suffer in our culture?
Early in our study of Peter’s first letter, we observed a relationship between faith and hope.
Faith and hope work together, as the author of a letter to Jewish Christians wrote,
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see… and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:1, 6).
Peter encouraged his readers to strengthen their faith with hope—that which they could expect but could not yet see.
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:10-11). 
- God offers us grace: joy, kindness, acceptance, and favor.1
- He invites us to glory* that lasts for eternity.
- God’s glory is before the dawn of time and continues without end. And all the space in between.
- God will restore us.
- He will make us a perfect fit, not deficient in any way2, suitable to spend eternity with Him.
Paul said it this way,
“But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NASB).
- God will confirm, strengthen and establish (NASB 1995) us in our faith.
- We will be settled with Him forever. I like the sound of that!
- The presence of God’s power and dominion will last forever.
- The Greek New Testament includes “glory” in this verse, repeating verse 10, which emphasizes the idea.3
*How do faith and hope work together?
*How have you experienced God’s grace strengthening your faith?
*How will God restore us in the future?
*What does it mean to look at the glory of the Lord and be transformed from glory to glory?
Often, we write a letter to one individual at a time, rather than a community, as Peter did.
Therefore, Peter included greetings from and to more than one person.
“With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it” (1 Peter 5:12).
- Peter wrote this letter with Silas’s help. (Silas preached with Paul and Timothy [2 Corinthians 1:19], and traveled and wrote with Paul. [1 Thessalonians 1:1])
- Peter considered Silas a true brother in Christ’s family, faithful in his responsibilities in ministry.4
- Peter’s purpose was to help believers and give comfort in times of suffering.
- He shared with them what he personally had heard and seen and experienced regarding God’s grace.
- Peter encouraged his readers to persist in their faith, endure suffering, and continue to have hope.
*How can we be faithful in our responsibility in ministry to others?
*What is your testimony—what you have heard and seen and experienced—of God’s grace?
The location of the believers who send their greetings to Peter’s readers is uncertain.
- They are chosen together, in the same way, as the believers reading Peter’s letter.
- If nothing else, these greetings provide reassurance of Peter’s theme that we are part of a larger family of faith.
- Peter considered Mark his spiritual son.
- His final exhortation to readers was to maintain brotherly love, goodwill, and kindness toward one another.
It’s interesting that Peter’s final words underscore the family theme in the midst of trials and suffering.
Reuben Welch had something to say about that.
“You know something—
we’re all just people who need each other.
We’re all learning
and we’ve all got a long journey ahead of us.
We’ve got to go together
and if it takes us until Jesus comes
we better stay together
and we better help each other.
And I dare say
that by the time we get there
all the sandwiches will be gone
and all the chocolate will be gone
and all the water will be gone
and all the backpacks will be empty.
But no matter how long it takes us,
we have got to go together.
Because that is how it is
in the body of Christ.
It is all of us
in love,
in care,
in support,
in mutuality—
we really do need each other.”5
Peter signed his letter with the “blessing of salvation,”6 which is peace with God, reconciled to Him through His grace and adopted into His family.
*How can we walk together through trials and suffering?
*How is peace the “blessing of salvation?”
*If you would like to receive a graphic that defines God’s glory, scroll to the top of the page and subscribe to receive these weekly blog posts.
- Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 1992), 1469
- Zodhiates, 842
- Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., The Complete Word Study New Testament King James Version (Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 1991), 762
- Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament (Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG Publishers, 1992), 80, 1164
- Reuben Welch. We Really Do Need Each Other: A Call to Community in the Church. (Nashville: Generoux Nelson ) 125-126
- Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, 521