1 Peter 5:10

‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after that you have suffered a little while, will himself make whole, establish, strengthen you.'

But Peter assures them that they have nothing to fear from such persecution, for it is the God of all grace Who will be their strengthener and upholder. Let them then also remember that He has called them to His eternal glory in Christ, and has sufficiency of grace for every situation. We can compare, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness' (2 Corinthians 12:9; and see also 2 Corinthians 9:8).

So by His sufficiency of grace He will ‘make whole, establish and strengthen them'. The verbs tend to intertwine with each other. The first (katartizo) means to ‘make whole, restore, give a sure footing, establish, prepare in readiness, refresh'. It occurs for example in Psalms 18:33 LXX, ‘He  establishes  my feet like hind's feet', in other words gives me a sure footing (compare also Psalms 17:5; Psalms 29:9); in Psalms 40:6 LXX, ‘a body have you  prepared  for me'; in Psalms 68:9 LXX, ‘O God, you will grant to your inheritance a gracious rain, for it was weary, but you  refreshed  it'; in Psalms 74:16 LXX, ‘The day is yours, and the night is yours; you have  prepared  (made ready, set in place) the sun and the moon'; in Psalms 80:15 LXX, ‘ restore  what your right hand has planted' (restore because it has been devastated); in Psalms 89:37 LXX, ‘and as the moon which is  established  for ever, and as the faithful witness in heaven'. So the idea behind it is to make sure and strong, to restore and refresh.

The second (sterizo) is found in Psalms 51:12 LXX, ‘ renew  (restore) a right (directing) spirit within me'; in Psalms 104:15 LXX, ‘and bread which  strengthens  (nourishes) man's heart'; in Psalms 111:7 LXX, ‘The works of His hands are truth and judgment, all his commandments are sure,  established  for ever and ever'; in Psalms 112:8 (LXX), ‘His heart is  established, he will not be afraid'; in Proverbs 15:25 (LXX), ‘he  establishes  the border of the widow'; Psalm 16:30 LXX (compare Psalm 27:20 LXX), ‘and the man who fixes his eyes devises perverse things.' These examples demonstrate that it covers a similar area to katartizo.

The third (sthenein) is not found in LXX but means ‘to strengthen, make strong'. Thus He will firmly and strongly renew, refresh, establish, make sure, and strengthen them for what lies ahead.

Note firstly that He is the God of all ‘grace' (in this context this refers to ‘gracious strengthening and power'). In other words He is the source and provider of unlimited supplies of His gracious and powerful working on behalf of all who are His own (compare Ephesians 3:16).

Note secondly that His aim is to perfect, establish and strengthen them, through the testing of their faith (1 Peter 1:7), so that they can face the future with calmness. And this is so even though for a little while they may be called on to suffer. For as a result of that suffering they will be made all the stronger (1 Peter 1:7; 1 Peter 4:1). It should also be noted that having a vision of the eternal glory, Peter then brings them right back to earth. Their pilgrim journey has still some way to go, but the God Who has called them to His eternal glory, will now sustain them for the rest of the way.

Note thirdly, however, that this royal summons (‘called') from the One Who has all dominion (1 Peter 5:11) is a call to eternal glory. ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him' (1 Corinthians 2:9), ‘for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory' (2 Corinthians 4:17). And the promise is that through His grace it is all to be theirs.

Note fourthly how this ties in with their being sojourners in 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:13. It explains why they are seen as sojourners. It is because they are travelling onwards to the eternal glory, with their eyes fixed on the One Who died for them and rose again in order that they may be with Him in glory. The whole letter is aiming towards this. And yet it confirms that their journey is not yet over, but that they will be given full strength and sustenance in the way (compare Isaiah 40:31; Isaiah 43:2).

‘Called --to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus.' It is this that makes whatever we have to face worthwhile, and confirms all that Peter has pointed to previously. Compare in this regard 1Pe 1:4-5; 1 Peter 1:9; 1 Peter 1:13; 1Pe 1:11; 1 Peter 1:21; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Peter 4:13. It is describing our inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled which is reserved in Heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4); it is the final consequence of the salvation of our ‘inner lives' (1 Peter 1:9); it is the culmination of the glories that will follow the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 1:11); it is the consequence of the gracious and abundant outpouring of His love which is to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13); it results from the glory given to Jesus Christ at His resurrection (1 Peter 1:21), the glory which He had had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5); it is the glorious hope of the saints of God (1 Peter 1:21; 1 Peter 3:15); it is one reason why, at the revelation of the glory of Christ, we will rejoice with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:13), not only because He has received His glory, but because He has graciously dispensed it upon us.

In 1 Peter 1:2 we were ‘chosen by God the Father, through sanctification in the Spirit, unto the obedience of Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of His blood', with the result that we had become just sojourners in the world (1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:13), called by Him into His most marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9), but with the recognition that we must be purified in the crucible of life (1 Peter 1:7;). And here now we find the final end of that calling (1 Peter 2:9), a participation in His eternal glory in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 1:11; 1 Peter 5:1; 1 Peter 5:4; compare Hebrews 2:10). It is the final consequence of being made partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). Compare for this participation in His glory Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5, ‘and there shall be night no more, and they need no light of flaming torch nor light of sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they will reign for ever and ever'. And see 2 Corinthians 3:18 to 2 Corinthians 4:6 which is preparation for it.

But even as we rightly rejoice in that glory let us not overlook the fact that we are to enjoy some of it now. For we have even now ‘been called out of darkness into His most marvellous light' (1 Peter 2:9), while ‘the glories that will follow' (1 Peter 1:11) include the triumphs of His people in the present age, as He sees the incoming of His seed and the bringing about of God's pleasure (Isaiah 53:10). And the reason that we can show forth His excellencies (1 Peter 2:9) is precisely because we ourselves have seen the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6), a vision that has transformed our lives. Thus for to a certain limited extent we are already enjoying the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12; Ephesians 5:8; John 8:12; John 12:46).

So it is fitting that the one into whose heart the glory of Jesus had been burned by his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, should now be the one to make known to God's people the promise of participation in the eternal glory that he had momentarily experienced there. Neither Peter (2 Peter 1:16) nor John (John 1:14; Revelation 1:13) could ever forget the vision of glory that they had been privileged to see, and they wanted to pass it on to others. Meanwhile James had already gone to experience it for himself (Acts 12:2), and Stephen also had seen it as the first martyr (Acts 7:55).

‘In Christ.' Along with 1 Peter 5:14 this is the only mention in Peter of this very Pauline idea. But its double mention in these verses emphasises how much Peter also saw us as ‘in Christ'. It is indeed because we are ‘in Christ' that we can enjoy the certainty of this promise. It is just that he has been expressing it differently.