"But the God of all grace, Who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you, 11. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever."
Peter refers to God as "the God of all grace." Grace is defined as God's unlimited mercy. Without God's grace the world would have been destroyed a long time ago. Thank God for the grace that He has shown ,us through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by God's grace through Jesus Christ alone that we can be saved for all eternity. Peter wrote to the recipients of his letter "that after you have suffered for awhile, make you perfect, (e)stablish, strengthen, settle you." I want to explain what this means. The word "perfect" seems to establish an impossible goal, but the Greek word that is translated "perfect" means to be complete. We are made complete in Christ. We can never be perfect in that we have to be sinless, but that we are made complete in Christ.That's why John told us in 1John 1:8-9: "If we say we have no sin, we deceilve ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrigteousness." The word "stablish," or "establish" means to be anchored in our faith in Christ. This is illustrated for us on Psalm 40:1-2: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclned unto me, and heard my cry. 2. He brought me up out of a horrible pit out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established by goings." The rock on which we are established is Jesus Christ. He is "The Rock of Ages" about which we sing; "Rock of ages, cleft for me,let me hide myself in thee." The word "strengthen" means that we need more than our human strength to save us. We find our strength by faith in Christ, and in the indwelling Holy Spirit. Human strength alone could never save us from our sins. When we are faced with temptation, we need to lean on the strength of Christ, and our faith in Him, in order to overcome the devil. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us into this strength. The world "settle" means that we cannot settle on our own strength. In order to be settled in our faith, we need to be settled in our faith in Christ. There is no way on this earth that we can stand against Satan without being settled in Christ. This means that we are assured that Jesus has saved us, and that He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and settle us. Settled in Christ does not mean that we sit down, but that we are actilvely, and prayerfully, dependent on Him. 1Peter 5:10-11 reminds us that the Christian life is not a "do it yourself" project. It reminds that we need faith in Christ to be complete, established, strengthened and settled. And, and in the final analysis none of it can be accomplished outside of our faith in Jesus Christ. That is why we can finally joyfully proclaim: "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen"
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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