1 Peter 5:14

Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

That the battle against the might and the guile of Satan is not a matter of man's own strength and wisdom is a truth of which Christians must be conscious at all times. It is for this reason that the apostle adds his fervent prayer: But the God of all grace, He that called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself, after you have suffered for a little, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, ground you. That is the source of the Christian's strength. He, the God of all grace, who is so immeasurably rich in His mercy toward men, in Christ Jesus, He that always does more than we ask for or understand, He has called us to His eternal glory, He has brought us to the communion of His dear Son, His object being finally to lead us to His eternal glory. It is true that we, in our calling as Christians, must suffer for a short while, as long as the few years of this earthly life endure, Acts 14:22. But it is true also that we have His promise to bring us to final perfection, to realize His purpose in us, Philippians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:24. To this end He Himself will establish, confirm us, that our feet may not become uncertain; He will strengthen our faith, He will set us on the firm foundation of His Word unto the end. Thus our ability to resist the adversary, to cling in firm faith to Christ and to His Word, is the work of God in us. And this fact is our guarantee that He will also continue to strengthen and keep us, in spite of all temptations and tribulations, unto our end. Therefore we say with the apostle: To Him be glory and power forever and ever. We acknowledge His power, we give all honor to Him, both now and in that glorious future which awaits us at the end of time. This is most certainly true.

The apostle now adds some personal remarks: Through Silvanus, a faithful brother in my opinion, I have written to you briefly, admonishing and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you are standing. Silvanus, or Silas, the companion of the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey, was a valued assistant in the missionary work of the early Church, personally known, moreover, to many of the readers of this letter. Not only Paul, but also Peter considered him a faithful brother in Christ. The letter, as the apostle here remarks, is only brief, but it certainly contains enough of admonition and of testimony to convince any believer that his faith in the grace of God, as assured to him in the Gospel-message, was not an imaginary, futile thing, but was a solid foundation, on which he might well continue to stand.

In conclusion, St. Peter writes: The congregation at Babylon, elected together with you, greets you and Mark, my son. With the common personification of the Church as we find it in the early letters, the apostle says, literally, that she who is elected together with you in Babylon (Rome) salutes yon. The members of the congregation at Rome were elected and called by the same Lord, in the same manner as those in Asia Minor. They were therefore united by the bonds of the same faith and hope and love, hence the brotherly greeting. Mark was Peter's spiritual son, standing about in the same relation to this apostle as Timothy did to Paul. The apostle, in closing, bids the members of the congregations greet one another with the kiss of love, a custom which was observed for a number of centuries at a certain point in the communion service, the men saluting the men and the women the women. His very last word is that peace, true peace, based upon the love of God in Christ Jesus, on the reconciliation earned through His obedience, might be with them all. Christ is our Peace: with this thought we may well close this letter and with it close our eyes in death.

Summary

The apostle exhorts the pastors to be faithful in their oversight of the Lord's flock, admonishes all Christians to show humility, vigilance, and steadfastness in resisting the devil, and closes with greetings and a benediction.