“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. To him be dominion forever. Amen.
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.”
We are coming to the end of Peter’s letter. As I studied these last five verses, I had some questions. Who is Silvanus? Who is “She who is in Babylon”? As I studied, I did find the answers, and I will share them here. But first, let’s look at Peter’s last words before his closing remarks.
He first uses the phrase “The God of all grace…” I want to land on that for a minute. Especially because in his closing, he tells his readers to stand firm in the true grace of God. What is grace? J.I. Packer, in the classic book Knowing God, describes it this way. “…grace is God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.” God sent his Son to die on our behalf. That is grace. Paul writes in Romans, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (3:23-24).
He goes on, “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ…” Because the end of this sentence is a reminder of their suffering, he is again telling his readers that they have hope. In chapter one, he writes of their inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, that is being kept in heaven (v.4); A salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (v. 5); and the salvation of their souls (v. 9). He finishes his letter reminding them of this hope.
He then lists four things that God is going to do after they have suffered a little while. The first thing he is going to do is restore them. To restore something is to make something complete or make it right. Peter himself was restored to fellowship after his denial of Christ. We are being restored from the time we accept Christ as our Savior until we meet him face to face. Edmund Clowney writes, “…God’s gracious work of completing and perfecting us begins now, during the brief time of our suffering. Indeed, God uses suffering to perfect us as he leads us to the time when he will complete our transformation in the glory of Christ.”
Second, he will establish them. Paul writes about our position in Colossians. “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude” (2:6-7).
Next, he will strengthen them. In 1 Corinthians 1: 8, we read, “He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Arichea and Nida write this in their commentary. “…it denotes the idea of God giving them strength to bear all their sufferings without wavering in their faith.”
And lastly, he will support them. Other translations read “settle” (KJV), and “place you on a firm foundation” (NLT). I love the picture this gives. God is going to make us whole, he is going to root and establish us, he is going to strengthen us, and he is going to place us on a firm foundation. Wayne Grudem writes, “In sum: all loss will soon be made right, and that for eternity.”
Peter then finishes his letter with a doxology. “To him be dominion forever. Amen.” Peter reminds his readers of God’s sovereign power.
He then goes on with his closing remarks. He lets his readers know that he is sending this letter through Silvanus. There is much written on whether Silvanus wrote the letter as Peter dictated it, or whether he was the one who delivered it. For our purposes, I don’t think it is important. What I do want to write about is who he is. I didn’t know that Silas and Silvanus are the same person. Apparently, Greek names had both long and short forms and Silas/Silvanus was one of them. We see both forms used throughout the New Testament letters and Acts. Silas is first mentioned in Acts 15:22. “Then the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to select men who were among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers.” He is mentioned 12 times between that verse and 18:5. The greeting from the first letter to the church at Thessalonica is from Paul, Silvanus (or Silas), depending on your translation, and Timothy. Peter considered him to be a faithful brother.
He gives the reason for the letter- encouragement- and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Wayne Grudem writes, “The entire Christian life is one of grace- God’s daily bestowal of blessings, strength, help, forgiveness, and fellowship with himself, all of which we need, none of which we ever deserve.” Peter says, “Stand firm in it!” So many times in the Scriptures we are told to stand firm. “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galations 5:1). “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by what we said or what we wrote” (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
Peter writes enigmatically, “…she who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings…” Who is Babylon? Babylon had been destroyed many years before, so he was not referring to the literal city. Paul was writing from Rome, and he is using the name Babylon symbolically to describe it. He is sending greetings from the sister church in Rome to the dispersed churches abroad. He also sends greetings from Mark, who he affectionately calls “my son”. This is John Mark, who had traveled with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. I love reading through Acts and the letters of Peter and Paul and making all the connections of people. It brings the history of the Bible alive. These are real people who had real relationships with one another. They didn’t always get along (Paul didn’t want John Mark coming on the second missionary journey) but they worked things out- he was Paul’s companion in Rome. And here he is sending greetings with Peter.
Peter ends his letter with this. “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” This letter would have been read in their worship service. He is reminding them that they are united in Christ by a bond of love.
This is a good reminder for us. We are united in Christ by a bond of love. We need to remember Peter’s words. We need to be like-minded and sympathetic. We need to maintain a constant love for one another. We will go through suffering. But we have a living hope because of Jesus. We have an inheritance waiting for us. I’ll end with the verses from the beginning of first Peter.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 