When God was about to send the Apostle Peter to open the door of grace to the Gentiles, He gave him a vision in which he saw all manner of creatures in a vessel let down from heaven, and called upon Peter to kill, and eat. Peter replied, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:11–14). Then the voice from heaven said to him, “What God has cleansed, that call not thou common.” God was teaching His servant that the Gentiles whom He had cleansed, were to be received into the divine circle on earth into which believing Jews had already been brought. Both Paul and Peter write much of the grace of God, Peter writing at the end of his first epistle, “This is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.”
Grace for God’s Elect
At the commencement of his letter to the scattered saints, Peter addresses them as “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (verse 2). As the chosen of God, the saints have been set apart by the Spirit of God who indwells them, so that they might be found walking in the steps of Jesus, in His life of holy obedience to God’s will, and has having come under the efficacy of His blood, serve Him as priests in His sanctuary.
To walk here as Christ walked, and to serve God in priestly function, divine grace is needed, therefore Peter adds, “Grace to you, and peace be multiplied.” Sovereign grace has chosen us, and nothing but the constant supply of divine grace will enable us to be here for God. How encouraging it is for us to realise that God has abundant resources of grace in Christ, and from these resources we can constantly draw. With grace and peace multiplied, every trial of the way can be met with confidence, for we do not lean on anything of man, but on what God supplies.
Grace Come in the Gospel
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the work He has done, has brought to us the salvation of the soul, but this salvation, if through faith, is by sovereign grace. The Old Testament saints were blessed of God, but they knew not the blessings that the Gospel has brought to us. Regarding this, the Apostle writes, “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you” (1 Peter 1:9–11). Our salvation rests on the death and resurrection of Christ, and the Old Testament prophets searched their own writings to find out what “manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”
What has come to us in the Gospel was not for the prophets or their generation, and this was divinely communicated to them. Their prophetic writings foretold the coming of Messiah, and the consequences of His rejection for Israel, and the wonderful results that would follow His death. For Himself there would be the glory to follow, but for those who believed in Him there would be the salvation of the soul. How wonderful is the grace that offered the blessing of God to the very nation that refused the Christ, and to sinners of the Gentiles who, by nature, were strangers to the covenants of promise, and far from God in their sins.
Grace at Christ’s Revelation
In 1 Peter 1:13 the Apostle writes of “the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” and in view of this, the believer is to gird up the loins of the mind, and to be sober, and hope to the end. The practical life of the Christian is to be affected by what lies ahead, as also by that into which he has already been brought in the present grace of God.
Something of the grace that will be ours at the revelation of Jesus Christ is indicated in verses 3–5. There our living hope is referred to, a hope because of the resurrection of Christ, for the Christ who rose from the dead is coming again to bring us into the full blessedness of all that He has secured for us through His death upon the cross. Then we shall enter into the “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away” reserved in heaven for us. Then we shall have the “salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.”
Christ is about to be revealed; the One who is hidden in heaven is about to come out to be seen of men again, but not as He was seen the first time. He shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel (2 Thess. 1:7-8). Our salvation shall then be revealed, for we shall be taken from earth to heaven, to come out with Him, and like Him, in the day of His kingdom and glory. On the heavenly side is the inheritance, but in coming out of heaven with Christ it is to share His kingdom and glory.
Grace Tasted
Christians have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious (1 Peter 2:3), in all that has already been brought to us through the Gospel, the foretaste of all that yet awaits us at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to the gracious Lord that we have come, “a Living Stone, chosen of God, and precious,” and as living stones we have been built up a spiritual house, “an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ” (verse 5). How rich is the grace that has brought us into this place of divine privilege and blessing. God’s original thought for Israel was that they should be a nation of priests, but the golden calf showed how unworthy they were of such a relationship with God. Even the tribe of Levi, and the family of Aaron, knew nothing of “a spiritual house,” nor did they have access into the holiest to offer spiritual sacrifices.
This same rich grace has given us the privilege of “royal” priests, to show forth the praises of Him who has called us into His marvellous light, out of the darkness in which nature found us. In the divine light we see what Christ is for God, “a Chief corner stone, elect, precious,” and as having believed in Him we find Him to be precious. In God’s grace we have salvation, a place of blessing and privilege before Him, and a blessed object in Christ, the One who is so precious to Him.
Heirs of the Grace of Life
Natural relationships are to be coloured by the grace of Christianity, and if the wives are to be in subjection, and to show by their manner of life, and in even their apparel, that which in the sight of God is of great price, the husband is to dwell with the wife “according to knowledge,” and they are to pray together as “heirs of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:1–7). The knowledge of the truth should enhance every relationship in which we are in this world, the border of blue in the skirt of the garment ever proclaiming that we belong to heaven though passing through this world.
Grace has made us heirs of eternal life, and the bright prospect of life eternal in heaven with Christ should be constantly before us, so that we might enjoy together in Christian fellowship what God has given to us now, and the anticipation of what is on before[?]. A Christian household should be vastly different from that of the man of the world, for we have the things of God to engage us, to colour our conversation, to give character to all our actions; and we have the future glory to brighten every moment of our sojourn together in the relationships of time. Though husband and wife are in natural relationship with each other, the closest of nature, this shall pass away, but as heirs of the grace of life they are in a relationship now that will never pass away.
Stewards of the Manifold Grace of God
God has endowed His saints richly with His grace, each one having what is for carrying out God’s will in his own walk and ways, but also for the help of others. In every circle in which God has set us we need the grace He has given to us from His boundless stores, for we can do nothing for Him of ourselves. Therefore the Apostle writes, “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Every saint has something from God that is of benefit to others, so that we are to be exercised before God regarding this, that our lives may be useful to others, and therefore for God’s pleasure and glory.
No doubt public speaking is before the writer when he says, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” This is of the first importance, for speaking among the saints of God is to acquaint them with the mind and will of God. There is no edification, refreshment or encouragement for the saints in listening to what comes from the mind of man, for all the thoughts of men, at best, are vain. The solemn thing is that in Christendom today, the oracles of God are sadly absent from the great majority of sermons and discussions among those who profess to be speaking for God.
Then the Apostle adds, “If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives.” Natural ability of itself is not only useless, but may be an intrusion in divine things, but if it is but the vessel to hold a divine gift, then it can be of service to God and His people. Ability, as spoken of here, is that “which God gives,” and is readily recognised. Ministry is not only speaking, indeed, as speaking has already been referred to it would seem to be ministry in a general way, service to the saints in any way that ability from God is needed, and in which God can be glorified.
Grace to the Humble
Humility becomes those who were sinners far from God, but who have been brought into richest blessings by the Gospel. In all our relations with each other as saints of God we are to manifest the Spirit of Christ, who said, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,” who humbled Himself in coming down into Manhood, and in going into death. Lack of experience in youth tends to being self-assertive, which is inconsistent with the attitude of grace, so that the Apostle exhorts, “Likewise ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder” (1 Peter 5:5), which is not only what should be naturally, but which ought to be in the Christian circle.
Difficulties among the saints are readily removed when we heed the injunction, “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility.” Pride is most objectionable to God, and He resists the proud, but “gives grace to the humble.” If then we would draw upon the vast resources of divine grace, there must be the humility that was seen in Christ and in those who follow His steps. We cannot be in God’s presence in the spirit of pride, but we can come before Him to humble ourselves, and so be assured of true exaltation, in due time.
The God of All Grace
Amidst all the trials and sorrows of the Christian path how good it is that we have God Himself to sustain and deliver us. He is “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), and He has called us to His eternal glory. The suffering is but for a little while, but the glory is for eternity, and during the time of suffering we have the assurance of the supply of grace from the God of all grace. There is not a circumstance of life but what there is suitable grace for, and ministered by a God who knows exactly what is needed by us, and when to supply it.
Through the manifold grace supplied by the God of all grace, we are being prepared for our place in the coming glory, and He has in mind to “perfect, stablish, strengthen” and settle His own with His glory in view. We can glorify God in the present trials, and what is produced in us through grace now will be displayed in glory in the coming day.
The Grace in Which We Stand
From what we have considered of divine grace, and what is written throughout this epistle, Peter would have us understand that “this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand” (1 Peter 5:12). How good it must have been for the Jewish Christians to apprehend that they no longer stood before God on the ground of law, but on the ground of grace. Everything that the believing Jew or the believing Gentile has from God is because of His grace. We had no righteousness of our own in which to stand before God, but He has made us His own righteousness in Christ, and by sovereign grace.
In grace God has chosen us for Himself, and has called us to walk in the obedience of Christ. Our election, our calling, our place in the family of God, our part in the spiritual house, our holy and royal priesthood, our bright prospect of coming glory, our being heirs of the grace of life, our stewardship before God, and every other blessing and privilege, is because we stand in the true grace of God. Let us then answer to all that God has done for us, and has given us in His grace, by walking before Him in the steps of His dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. 24.11.67