Bible Studies

 

1 Peter 5 12-14 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. The Church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑 James Version 

 

The Apostle Peter now sends his final greeting to all the brothers and sisters 'in Christ' who will read this his first letter 💌 to them. Peter wants everyone to know of how much he loves them and wants to see them flourish in their walk with Christ despite the brutal conflicts, controversy, and commotions that have come their way and will continue to do so because of their/our alliance, allegiance, and association with the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus Christ our Lord. Peter declares to them and to us that he has written this first letter 💌 through the hands of a faithful brother 'in Christ' Silvanus who also was mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his letter 💌 to the Corinthians and the Thessalonians. Peter probably dictated this letter 💌 to Silvanus to write ✍️ down because he was skilled in short hand and it made it possible for Peter to get his message throughout the various wide spread regions that those saints had been scattered into much quicker as we recall his first words of greeting to them when he wrote, "Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia 🌏, and Bithynia," (1 Peter 1:1) (KJV). This Silvanus was most likely Silas who spent most of his time on missionary work with the Apostle Paul. This letter 💌 was most important to the Apostle Peter and the urgency of the believers receiving said letter 💌 was of utmost importance to him, for he wanted them to be encouraged, energized, and emboldened because of the 🔥 fiery trials, test, and tribulations that were occuring with all of them because of their turning to Christ. Here in 1 Peter 5:12 he says, "I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand." Peter wanted them to know that what he has written in the entirety of this first letter 💌 is the truth and nothing but the truth that they can stand firmly, faithfully, and forever upon despite being physically persecuted vehemently by their own Jewish brethren whose spiritual eyes 👀 were still closed to the truth of Jesus Christ being the Messiah. Peter used the English word 'testifying' (used this one time only right here in the entire New Testament) here in 1 Peter 5:12 and it is translated by the Greek word epimartureo meaning to attest further, that is, corroborate: - testify or to be a witness to the truth. To what truth is Peter speaking 🗣️ of here? That truth he has written throughout this first epistle that it is 'the true grace of God wherein ye stand.' For example, when he wrote this in Chapter one, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) (KJV). The TRUE GRACE of GOD within them and within us is incorruptible by any foe visible or invisible 🫥 and they/we are kept or guarded/garrisoned more securely than Fort Knox or any fortified military 🪖 post 🏣 where troops are stationed. Like wise the Apostle said this in the first Chapter of this letter 💌 declaring the TRUE GRACE of GOD, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold 🪙, from your vain conversation/conduct and behavior received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb 🐑 without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world 🌎, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by Him do you believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1:18-21) (KJV). Lastly these words of the Apostle Peter also declare everything written in this first epistle to be the TRUE GRACE of GOD, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." (1 Peter 1:23) (KJV). This is why they were receiving such vile, vicious, and violent persecution from their fellow Jewish people because they (the persecutors had not yet been 'born again', but were still spiritually dead to God. This is the very same reason throughout the centuries up to this very day that those of us who have been 'born again' receive the same vile, vicious, and violent persecution from those who are still spiritually dead. Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of 1 Peter 5:12, "The grace in its several stages has just been summarized: the calling, the perfecting, stablishing, strengthening; and the whole letter 💌 is occupied in showing that at every advance God puts His servants to the test. But the Apostle knows that the agents of the adversary are busily scattering the tares of doubt and disbelief where God has sown His good seed. The wrestling is not against flesh and blood alone, but against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness. Hence the form of his exhortation: 'Stand fast.'" 

 

The Apostle Peter declares in his final greeting to all of these scattered Jewish brothers and sisters 'in Christ' that they are graciously greeted by Gentile believers in the 'Church at Babylon' and Marcus (who is most likely John Mark) the ✍️ writer of the Gospel of Mark. The Apostle Peter wanted them to know that their fellow brothers and sisters 'in Christ' of the Gentiles were aware of their persecutions and themselves endured like persecutions from their own fellow Gentiles who also were still spiritually dead. Peter in 1 Peter 5:13 says of them that they are 'elected together with you', that is, they too have been 'born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.' (1 Peter 1:23) just as you Jewish believers. This little English phrase 'elected together with' is translated by the Greek word suneklektos (used this one time only right here in the entire New Testament) meaning chosen in company with, that is, co-elect (fellow Christians): - elected together with. Here is what Alexander McLaren had to say of 1 Peter 5:13, "'The Church that is in Babylon' was in a very uncongenial place. Thank God, no Babylon is so Babylonish but that a Church of God may be found planted in it. No circumstances are so unfavourable to the creation and development of the religious life but that the religious life may grow 🪴 there. An orchid will find footing upon a bit of stick, because it draws nourishment from the atmosphere; and they who are fed by influx of the Divine Spirit may be planted anywhere, and yet flourish in the courts of our God. So 'the Church that is in Babylon' gives encouragement as to the possibility of Christian faith being triumphant over adverse conditions. But it also gives a hint as to the obligation springing from the circumstances in which Christian people are set, to cultivate the sense of belonging to a great brotherhood. Howsoever solitary and surrounded by uncongenial associations any Christian 👞 may be, he may feel that he is not alone, not only because his Master is with him, but because there are many others whose hearts throb with the same love, whose lives are surrounded by the same difficulties. It is by no means a mere piece of selfish consolation which this same Apostle gives in another part of his letter 💌, when he bids the troubled so be of good cheer, as remembering that the 'same afflictions were accomplished in the brotherhood which is in the world 🌍.' He did not mean to say, 'Take comfort, for other people are as badly off as you are,' but he meant to call to rememberance of the solitary sufferer the thousands of his brethren who were 'dreeing the same weird' in the same uncongenial world 🌍. If thus you and I, Christian men, are pressed upon on all sides by such worldly associations, the more need that we should let our hearts go out to the innumerable multitude of our fellows, companions in the tribulation, and patience, and Kingdom of Jesus Christ." 

 

Lastly, the Apostle wants holy love to manifest itself among all of them Jewish converts to Christ and Gentile converts to Christ having these words in mind as written by the Apostle Paul when he said, "There is neither Jewish nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) (NKJV). So, Peter says to them and to us, "Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen." (1 Peter 5:14) (KJV). Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:14, "He exhorts them to fervant love and charity one towards another, and to express this by giving the kiss 😘 of peace 🕊️, according to the common custom of those times and countries, and so concludes with a benediction, which he confines to those that are in Christ Jesus, united to Him by faith and sound members of His Mystical Body. The blessing he pronounces upon them is peace, by which he means all necessary good, all manner of prosperity; to this he adds his Amen, in token of his earnest desire and undoubted expectation that the blessing of peace would be the portion of all the faithful."

 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!