“Likewise, you younger submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
“Likewise” refers back to Peter’s admonition to the elders of the church to not consider themselves as “lords over God’s heritage.” They had authority, but they were to apply it humbly. The younger men were told to submit themselves to the elder. Peter followed that up with “all of you be subject to one another.” In Christ’s church all people are to act humbly toward all others and recognize the necessity of some to have authority as leaders. The important concept that is stressed in these two verses is the importance of humility in the church. Verse 6 gives us the essence of that importance. Peter admonished them: “humble yourselves…” Humility is not just an important Christian concept, it is an important part of the Christian’s lifestyle. Proverbs 16:18-19 reminds of this: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19. Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.” The Lord Jesus Christ lived the spirit of Proverbs 16:19 as revealed in Philippians 2:5-7: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7. But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” In Mark 10:44-45 Jesus told His disciples, “And whosoever of you will be chiefest. Shall be servant of all. 45. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life as a ransom for many.” There are many other references to humility in the Bible. Moses was referred to in the Bible as being humble. We are in “high cotton” when seek to live humbly, for we place ourselves in the tradition of Jesus. If we want to be humble, we just need to look to Jesus and He will show us what humility is. It is important that we humble ourselves. As we read on, however, we see that we are not to just humble ourselves, but to humble ourselves under the “mighty hand of God.” Peter wrote, “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” “Therefore” is important here. What it means is that if we are to live humbly we will have to submit ourselves to the “mighty hand of God” – to His power. We are not called upon to live the humble life on our own. We turn ourselves over to our powerful God and He helps us live humbly. If we would be under anybody’s “hand,” it is important that it be under “the mighty hand of God.” We can live humbly under God’s mighty hand because our security is in Him and not in the world. Christian humility is not the result of an inferiority complex. To the contrary, it is the result of putting our faith in the Lord Jesus and letting Him be number one in our lives. If our security in ourselves is involved with our security with Jesus, we can live humbly and not be worried about bruised egos. The humble life is not the life of a doormat, but it is the life of a person of faith. The next point in this text is what makes it all-important: “….that He might exalt you in due time.” The question is, do we want to be exalted by the world or by the Lord? There is nothing wrong with reaping rewards in this life, if we remember that those rewards are not our greatest rewards. Here is what Jesus said about the matter in Matthew 23:11-12, “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, 12. And whosever shall exalt himself shall be abased (humbled); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” That brings us back to what Peter wrote in 5:6, “….and He shall exalt you in due time.” Notice that Peter wrote that God will exalt us “in due time.” We are not to live humbly in order to just be exalted, but that we will be exalted in God’s time. We are reminded here to live humbly and be patient, because in due time, which I interpret to mean God’s time, we will be exalted. The bottom line is that the humble life is a God-pleasing life, and the prideful life is not God’s will and does not please Him. Let’s strive to live humbly before God and man, not as doormats, but as servants of God. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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