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 turn from danger to God
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 God of all grace
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.
Called to a glory larger than we imagine
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 measure of the suffering
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.
Suffering as the road, not the detour
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.
Four words, each with its own weight
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.
Promise, not wish
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!
Summary
- 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.