But the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when ye have suffered for a little while, himself shall make perfect, stablish, strengthen, ground
Peter has just warned his readers about an enemy who prowls like a lion, and then he turns from that scene to God Himself. The last word of the letter is not about the devil's power but about God's grace, God's call, and a short season of suffering that God intends to use.
The verse opens with a contrast. One commentator stops at the small word "but":
The "But" that opens verse 10 lifts us in the most glorious way out of the murky atmosphere of the world with its persecutions and trials and the power of Satan. At once we are in the presence of "the God of all grace." Do we need grace in countless different ways? Well, He is the God of all grace. The powers of the world and the devil may be against us, but He has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, and nothing shall frustrate His purpose.
The title is not decorative. It says something about supply — that grace comes in as many forms as our situations do:
It is "manifold" grace (1 Peter 4:10), many-sided, and it fits every kind of need. And the One from whom it comes is the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10). There is no lack in Him.
The call is not merely to be rescued. One commentator sets it beside the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and beside the coming earthly kingdom:
It is not merely the God of the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the God of all overcoming love as shown in Christ Jesus... And there is more. He called us not only to the salvation of our souls, great as that grace is, but to His everlasting glory in Christ. This glory goes far beyond the earthly kingdom that is coming. In that kingdom righteousness will reign for a thousand years, Satan will be locked away, and creation will rejoice after its long slavery to decay and groaning.
The phrase about suffering is short. One commentator shows how short:
He has called you to glory, and by Christ Jesus. After you have suffered a little while, He will make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. The words here are "a little while," not just "a while." "A while" could mean a long time, so Peter cuts it short. You have need of endurance "a little while," says Paul (Heb. 10:37); you must suffer "a little while," says Peter.
Peter is correcting an expectation. Some of his readers had assumed that God's call would mean present comfort and honour:
As Jews, they might expect the Christ to bring freedom from suffering and a rise to high honour. As Christians, their portion is to share His sufferings for righteousness, love and truth. No mistake is more common among Christians than expecting the gospel and the church to bring us reward, status and ease now... Suffering in faith and patience trains us and makes us fruitful for Him. This is how He chooses to prune the branches of the vine.
Another commentator asks what happens when suffering is missing:
Suffering helps to perfect you, establish you, strengthen you and settle you. Why do we so often find believers who are unstable and unsettled? I think it is because we in this comfortable land have escaped so many of the sufferings others have gone through... if you want stable, strong, settled Christians, you will have to look among tested Christians.
The four verbs are not a pile of synonyms. Each answers a different lack in us. The older translation these writers use reads "perfect, establish, strengthen, settle" where the ESV reads "restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish":
It is much that He will "perfect" those who in themselves lack everything. The word means to fit them out fully and set them right. It is more that He will "establish" those who need turning inside out, as Peter's self-confidence once was, so that they lean on Him and His word by faith. It is precious that He will "strengthen" those who know they are as weak as spilled water, and as changeable as the wind. More again, He will "ground" on the Rock that never moves those who have learned that they are nothing, and worse than nothing.
Read as a prayer, the verse asks for something. Read with the better wording, it announces something — and the burst of praise in verse 11 follows naturally:
The right word here is "shall": "shall Himself make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you." No wonder Peter breaks out in praise!
- Grace begins it. The One behind your whole story is "the God of all grace" — many-sided supply, with no lack in Him.
- Grace calls. That call is not to rescue only, but to His eternal glory in Christ — a glory beyond even the coming earthly kingdom.
- Grace times it. The suffering is "a little while"; the glory is eternal.
- Grace uses it. Perfect, establish, strengthen, settle — four needs, all met. The very attacks meant to destroy faith end up building it.
- Grace guarantees it. He Himself will do it. That is why the verse ends in praise, not in pleading.
to him [be] the glory and the might for the ages of the ages. Amen.
This short burst of praise lands right after Peter has spoken of the devil's power and of believers suffering "a little while." Why would a letter written to people under pressure end by handing all power to God — and what does the word "dominion" claim?
The praise is an answer to something. Peter has just described the world's hostility and the devil's work. Then he turns the reader's eyes elsewhere.
The "But" that opens verse 10 lifts us in the most glorious way out of the murky atmosphere of the world with its persecutions and trials and the power of Satan. In thought we are carried into the presence of "the God of all grace." The powers of the world and the devil may be against us, but He has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, and nothing shall frustrate His purpose. He will permit us to suffer for a little while, but even that He will overrule. He will take up the suffering and use it as material. He weaves it into the pattern and design of His own choice for our characters and lives.
Grace explains both God's plan for us and His handling of us along the way:
As to His purpose for us, He has called us to His eternal glory. As to His disciplinary ways with us, He overrules even the activities of the adversary against us, for our spiritual perfecting and establishment. Grace, all grace, shines out in both His purposes and His ways. Who would not ascribe glory and dominion to the ages of ages to such an One as this?
Commentators differ over the wording here, and over how to put the Greek into English.
Let us join in the apostle's praise and thanksgiving: "To Him be (or is) the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen." Certainly "the glory" is His also; but the connection here seems to strengthen the testimony of the few witnesses which express only His "might" in the face of the adversary. The great majority, however, read "the glory and the might," which was a frequent phrase, as in 1 Peter 4:11, Jude 25 enlarged, and Revelation 1:6. But "dominion" answers to the Greek word kuriotes, rather than to kratos, and translators go back and forth over how to render it.
The might praised here is might shown against an opponent. Peter himself is the example.
The devil by his opposition may seek to destroy the faith of the saint. Still, as in the case of Peter, God uses the attacks of Satan to perfect, establish, strengthen and settle the saint. So God not only frustrates his efforts; He uses them for the blessing of the saint and the glory of God: "To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Suffering taken with God also does something in the sufferer:
When the believer goes through difficult times with God, he comes out of them with a deeper knowledge and appreciation of God. That leads to worship and praise.
The same words appear again in Revelation, and there they belong to Jesus Christ.
To such an One as this, known through grace, we heartily ascribe the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Fallen men have always chased glory and domination. Not one of them has been worthy to receive it. Where they have gained any of it, the result has been nothing but oppression for the masses, and in the end disaster for themselves. Here at last is One worthy to have it, and to wield it for the glory of God and the blessing of men — worthy because of who He is as well as what He has done. It is remarkable that we have exactly the same words in 1 Peter 5:11. What is there ascribed to "the God of all grace" is here ascribed to Jesus Christ: pretty clear proof of WHO He really is.
The phrase reaches past any human reign. And the final word is not a wish.
The form of the ascription is nearly the same as in 1 Peter 5:11… John expresses the desire of the redeemed that the visible glory and far-reaching dominion foretold by the prophets, seen by the seer, and sung by the poets should belong to Him who alone is worthy. And this is not only during the thousand-year reign, but through the ages, or definite measures of time, on into eternity. The "Amen" in the two passages is not a prayer that it may be so. It stands as a solemn affirmation of the truth stated.
- His grace — the praise starts with the God of all grace, whose purpose for us and whose dealings with us are both grace.
- His overruling — He permits suffering for a little while. Then He weaves it into the design He has chosen for our lives.
- His might — the word points to strength shown against the adversary. Satan's attacks end up perfecting, establishing, strengthening and settling the believer.
- His reach — "forever and ever," the ages of ages, runs past every human reign into eternity. Revelation gives the same words to Jesus Christ, and that tells us who He is.
- His Amen — not a hope that it may be true, but a settled affirmation that it already is.