There is something wholesomely energetic about Simon Peter’s forthright manner. The Spirit of God always uses the servants of the Lord consistent with their characters, and this is seen here in connection with Simon. The burden of the entire ministry of this first epistle is connected with suffering, and Peter indicates that the “little while” of suffering of which he speaks is that we might be made perfect, established, strengthened, and settled.
These are sterling words of real value. There is nothing apologetic here. Simon, who himself had gone through much trial and suffering, knew that the end of that pathway leads to stability of character, strong confidence, and establishment in the faith. He knew both the heights of success and the depths of failure in the Christian pathway.
He failed miserably in denying his Lord with oaths and curses, and then went out from the palace hall and wept bitterly. He had proved quite inadequate to the temptation of Satan. All his boastfulness and self-confidence had gone. He could not claim any standing now as a loyal disciple, because he had proved himself a traitor to the One whom he loved very dearly.
We all know what it is to be driven into the shadows of defeat through self-confidence. It is then we are brought to realize, as Simon Peter must have realized, what he terms here “the true grace of God wherein we stand.”
It is sometimes very difficult for the people of God to unravel the skein of the tangled threads of a life of trial and suffering. Sometimes it seems so bewildering that the Lord should lead us through paths of difficulty. Yet this little time of suffering has its objective that we might be made perfect. This does not mean that we shall reach a state of absolute perfection as long as we are in the body. It does mean, however, that every suffering through which we pass carries us forward to a more mature sense of appreciation of God’s goodness. It molds within our spirits something of sterling spiritual value that will bring us at long last into the presence of our Lord in the fullness of the perfection of His own purpose and grace. Suffering in this sense is a great investment for the Christian. Every trial lays in our souls a new deposit of pure gold. It accumulates throughout our spiritual career until, in glorified bodies, we shall be able to portray something of the grace of Christ revealed in the path of suffering.
Paul says: “But we all with unveiled face beholding…the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.” The glory of moral grandeur does not come all at once. We are changed from glory to glory as our spiritual gaze is fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The last master stroke of God’s purpose in our life will be when we see our Lord face to face. Then we shall be like Him, for “we shall see Him as He is.”
“After that ye have suffered a while,” Peter says, “the God of all grace [will] make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Perhaps we do not appreciate the value of trials in our lives. If you want to be established as a Christian, you cannot attain this apart from suffering.
Trials make us long for communion with the Lord. We discover in hard times the necessity, rather than the luxury, of reading of His Word, and meditating on it. It is when the strong, cold winds of persecution beat against us that we send our spiritual roots down into the soil of God’s goodness, and draw the nourishment of His power. Thus the same storms that uproot unbelievers make the believer established and rooted in His grace.
That word “settled” does not mean that we cease to make progress, settling down to an attitude of apathy and self-complacency. It is just the opposite. It means that we will not be driven about by every wind of doctrine, but that we shall be brought to realize that our true security in this world is found in Christ Himself.
Then Peter goes on to say, as if he would bring us to the climax of all of this: “To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” This expression would deliver us from any thought of self-occupation. We never arrive at a time in our Christian lives when we can afford to sit back and feel that we have accomplished our end. Indeed the further we travel on the Christian pathway, the more one must be alert and vigilant, to see to it that honor and glory accrue to the name of our God.
Then in verse 12, Simon Peter links another brother with him in this letter. His name is Silvanus, or Silas, and he calls him “a faithful brother.” Perhaps this is one of the finest designations that one Christian could give to another. We are living in days of such unfaithfulness to one another. Loyalty is a very rare virtue among the people of God. True fellowship among the Lord’s people will engender a spirit of loyalty, not only to one another, but to the Lord Himself. Silas was such a brother.
Then Peter says: “I have written briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.” Is this not a faint echo from the heart of Simon Peter who stood outside on that night, weeping bitterly because of his own failure? Had the grace of God not exceeded his defection, his end would have been sad indeed. The Lord looked on Peter, and His look was one of loving-kindness and grace. From that moment forward, Peter knew that he stood, not by his own boastful self-confidence, but in the true grace of God.
We are not only saved initially by grace; we stand in the true grace of God. But for God’s grace we should fail. By His grace we shall succeed. And, says Peter, it is not only the grace of God, but “the God of all grace” that keeps us. He has called us, and also will do it!