1 Peter 5:13
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace be to you all who are in Christ.
The reference to Babylon may refer to a church in Rome.1 Mark is no doubt Peter’s spiritual son and the writer of the Gospel of Mark.
1 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible: (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006), John MacArthur’s notes on 1 Peter 5:13.
1 Peter 5:12
12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
Silvanus was also named Silus, who was a prophet and a leader among the brethren (Acts 15:22, 32); who also traveled with Paul and was a Roman citizen as Paul was (Acts 16:37). He was apparently the scribe for this letter and possibly the one who delivered it to the intended recipients. I can imagine the trouble he had, since they were scattered all over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1 Pt. 1:1). Peter wanted them to know that his words were inspired by God and were His words of grace (His love to them); therefore, they should believe all of it and stand firm in it.
1 Peter 5:10-11
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
The suffering Peter speaks of here is from the devil. It is that which will cause us pain and agony of the body, the mind, and the spirit; it will be the pain of anxiety, depression, grief, regret, loss or injury—or anything that the devil dreams up. But God will use all our suffering for good. We can be assured by His promise that after “a little while” He will begin to use oursuffering to strengthen us—to strengthen our faith. Hence, when we feel down and in some kind of pain, we must hold on and believe that very soon He will deliver us and strengthen us. For all power is His, and since we are in Him He will pass it on to us.
1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
To be of sober spirit and alert means to be steadfast and self-controlled. This will come when we cast all our anxiety on Him. And this is quite necessary since the devil is always wanting to devour us (destroy us); and he will seek those that are most vulnerable—those weak minded and anxious. Hence, we are to be firm in our faith, always resisting the devil and committing ourselves to God. We must at the same time be mindful of other believers who are being attacked by the devil just as we are. We should be always praying for them, that they would be strong in the Lord.
1 Peter 5:6-7
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
God’s grace which He gives to the humble (v. 5) will be in the form of exaltation—and it will be given at the proper time, just when we need it. And (from verse seven) that casting of our anxiety on Him is part of the process of humility; and we should do it with the knowledge that He cares for us; and so, He will strengthen us in the entire process of humbling ourselves.
1 Peter 5:5
5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
Here Peter begins to address those who are not elders. I am not sure if he is saying that only older men can be elders. But I suppose that is mostly true. Certainly, a teen would not be an elder, but one in his twenties or thirties may—if he has godly qualities. Nonetheless, they all are to be subject (under and submissive to) their elders. And all, even elders, are to be humble toward each other, for “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” This is a statement that we ought always to remember. Those who slip into pride I’m sure lose their memory of this pronouncement.
Stephen Nielsen 