Here we are, and I’m jumping to the last paragraph of the book just to set up a concluding word, and maybe God will give us another chance to do the rest at another time.

By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. (1 Peter 5:12)

Stand in Grace

Amazing statement. What I have written in this book, I want you to sum it up as the true grace of God. You wonder what the true grace of God is? Read these five chapters. This is the true grace of God. “Stand firm in it” (1 Peter 5:12). Stand in grace, just like Romans 5:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. (Romans 5:1–2)

It’s exactly the same. This is the true grace of God. Stand in grace. So as you walk out today, walk in grace, stand in grace. Just a huge, massive encasement of grace to stand in.

“She who was at Babylon,” Babylon is, I think, a code name for Rome, where Peter is probably in prison, and she is probably the church there. “Who is likewise chosen.” She’s elect. Just like you are elect and chosen, the church here is chosen. “[She] sends you greetings, and so does Mark my son” (1 Peter 5:13). Connection between Mark and Peter in the early church.

Kiss of Love

“Greet one another with the kiss of love” (1 Peter 5:14). I think the least that means is really be affectionate with one another, as Christians. Love each other earnestly from the heart. Show hospitality. I doubt that he meant the only greeting allowed in the church is a kiss. Or every greeting has to be a kiss. But rather use that kiss with great love.

There are two men in the world who kiss me now that my dad is gone. I won’t tell you their names. Every time I meet them (they don’t live in the Twin Cities) they kiss me right there. It’s very significant. I don’t know why they do. One’s Hispanic. So that’s just may be culturally explainable. The other one’s not. It’s just profoundly “I love you,” and there’s not the slightest whiff of sexuality about it.

Not saying you should all be chastened for not kissing each other, but affection matters, and appropriate demonstrations are fitting. If you don’t know any, or you feel awkward with all of them, desire the milk that you may grow up into salvation. If you’ve tasted that the Lord is kind. “Peace to all of you who are in Christ” (1 Peter 5:14). That’s the only people for whom this book is grace.

The Big Picture of 1 Peter

Now, let me close before we do the Q&A with my effort to give the big picture. The indentation is significant. Things to the right are the things that the left things are leading to.

God’s eternal — I’m thinking election there in 1 Peter 1:1, and at the end — and historical — I’m thinking of the cross and the resurrection. God’s eternal and historical work in Christ to save sinners. Everything is built on that.

Then God’s causing his elect to be born again on the basis of the resurrection and the death of Jesus. Then, as a result of this being born again, new affections are born, especially hope in God’s grace and humility.

This hope flows with hope-filled humility. I wish we had time to do 1 Peter 5 where it says all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due season he may exalt you because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humility is of the essence in this book because without it, you will return evil for evil.

This hope flows with hope-filled humility, that is a deep sense of unworthiness because of sin and a deep dependence on God’s care. Humility is not paralyzing. If you’re paralyzed by a negative view of yourself, you don’t have a bad enough view of yourself. I’m not going to let you off the hook with this.

Don’t say that cultivating a negative view of yourself as a fallen sinner is paralyzing. That’s not what’s paralyzing. That’s freeing if it’s combined with dependence on God’s grace, God’s care. “Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you”(1 Peter 5:8). And one of those anxieties is I’m a sinner, and I’m not going to make it in the judgment.

So humility is a double thing. It is a deep despairing of myself and a deep restful dependence on I am cared for. I preached a sermon one time from Isaiah (and now I can’t remember the exact place): “Fear not, you worm Jacob” (Isaiah 41:14). I just love that.

Back in the ‘70s, people were all getting their back up because the self-esteem movement was just gaining energy and they called some of us vermicular theologians. You know what that means? Worm theologians. “You preach worm theology. Worm, worm, worm. How boring is that? That’s not helpful.” “Fear not, you worm Jacob.” Use your concordance to find that text. That’s an exact quote in Isaiah. Fear not. I preached the sermon. You can go find it online. Just put in fear not worm, and Desiring God’s awesome search engine will just call it right up.

And I just said, “If you don’t have both of those, you just won’t get half the Bible. I’m a worm, and I’m fearless in the presence of Almighty God. Draw boldly to the throne of grace, worm.” I mean, if you try to cultivate boldness another way, you’ll be a braggart.

This hope that this book is talking about yields a hope-filled humility, hope-filled humility, not a paralyzing humility, but a hope-filled humility. This hope-filled humility also gives rise to readiness to submit to proper authority. Huge theme in this book. If you’ve got a hope-filled, “I’m a free man, and I submit to governments and employers and appropriate relationships because of God’s free command to me to be his servant there.” This hope-filled humility gives rise to patient suffering when authority is misused.

This hope-filled humility gives rise to earnest, brotherly love for believers that serves them with spiritual gifts. We had to skip that whole section. And gives rise to love for enemies. Enemy love that returns good for evil. So this hope-filled humility produces returning blessing for reviling.

This hope-filled humility gives rise to holiness of life that abstains from passions that war against the soul — the drunkenness, the partying, the orgies, the sensuality. And in all of this fruit from hope-filled humility, God is the one who gives the power so that he is the one who gets the glory.

First Peter 4:11: “Let him who serves serve in the strength that God supplies so that in everything God may get the glory through Jesus Christ. To him belongs the dominion forever.” The Giver gets the glory, and so he’s the one who gives the power to live this way. First Peter is not calling you to a heroic lifestyle, but a childlike dependence on an omnipotent God.

Lastly, to him belongs glory and dominion forever and ever. That’s the highest point of the book.