Stand Fast in God’s Grace

Like the other Bible writers, Peter was open about the threats and challenges posed to the people of God from time to time by many of the people and cultures around them. He also had no hesitation in identifying the work of the devil in opposing and attacking them. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But this experience was not unique to the specific people to whom Peter was writing, and he encouraged them to find solidarity in the common experiences of God’s people across the world and throughout history. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9). However, Peter also pointed his readers to the glorious alternative—the goodness and grace of God as demonstrated in Jesus. This reality made all the difference: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).

Whatever the devil, the culture, or the people around them might throw at the believers, the reality of Jesus and His promises of restoration and hope were always more powerful and more enduring. This is a reality that has allowed many people to stand for truth and justice throughout history. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”* This is what it means to stand fast in the grace and promises of God, however daunting the opposition or the circumstances might seem.

* Martin Luther King Jr, Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.