Today’s message is from 1 Peter 5:12-14. The passage contains Peter’s final greetings and remarks to his readers (and that includes us, too, since we are his readers also). The passage is only three verses long. But as always, remember as we read it that we are reading the word of God.

Also, remember as always to read your Bibles every day. Read, study and meditate on the word of God. Make every effort to understand what God is telling you. Ask him to give you understanding. Also, read with an open mind. The word of God does not necessarily agree with men’s ideas. In fact, frequently it says the opposite of what would seem reasonable to us: “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:43-45a) Try to not have any preconceived ideas. Just listen to what God is telling you.

[Prayer]

Now, let’s read the passage—1 Peter 5:12-14:

^{12With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. ¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.
^{14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. (1 Peter 5:12-14 –NIV)

These are Peter’s closing remarks to “God’s elect, strangers in the world.” (“God’s elect, strangers in the world” is the way Peter addressed us clear back at the very beginning of his letter, chapter 1, verse 1.) The first part of verse 12, the first verse in the passage says, “With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly.” Peter is sending his letter with the help of Silas. (Most translations say Silvanus, which is what it actually says, but the NIV translators point out in a footnote that Silvanus is a variation of Silas.)

According to the commentaries, the phrase with the help of Silas refers to Peter’s sending the letter, rather than his writing it. Silas was the messenger who made sure the letter was circulated to the churches, although he may have also helped Peter write it by taking dictation or by helping him with his Greek. They say that, while the Greek in 2 Peter is not very good, the Greek in 1 Peter is very good, indicating that he may have had some help. But, in any case, we know and believe that all of the words are breathed by God through his Holy Spirit.

Peter says that he has written to us briefly. But as with much of the Bible, what he has said is highly condensed. I have, over the last several months, expounded on what God has told us through Peter just a little bit. Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible has 35 pages on 1 Peter. Matthew Henry’s commentaries are printed in very small print so that there is at least three times as much text on a page as with most other books. My Wayne Grudem commentary on 1 Peter has 239 pages.

Nevertheless, the message is not complicated. It’s about God’s grace. Peter says that he wrote to us to encourage us and to testify that “this is the true grace of God”. His entire message is about the true grace of God. We are God’s elect. He chose us, we didn’t choose him. And as a matter of fact, we rejected him, but he had mercy on us anyway.

God chose us, we didn’t choose him. He chose us by his grace. What did he choose us for? He chose us to be pure and holy, cleansed of all sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and for obedience to him. He gave us a new birth into a living hope (ch. 1, v 4) through Jesus’s resurrection. We have the certain hope of eternal life and of glory and honor when Jesus is revealed. We love him because he loves us. Finally, we will be with him forever.

By his grace, God chose us to be free of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander (ch. 2, v 1)—to be a royal and holy priesthood bringing spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (ch. 2, vv 5, 9). He Chose us to be like Jesus who, on our behalf, was willing to suffer all kinds of abuse, even to the point of torture and death, because he had entrusted himself to the one who judges justly (ch. 2, v 27). He chose us to entrust ourselves also to the one who judges justly—to be willing to sacrifice ourselves on the behalf of others—even on the behalf of our enemies!

By his grace, God chose us to be tried with many painful trials, but with the assurance that we are participating in the sufferings of Christ so that we may rejoice with him when his glory is revealed.

By God’s grace, he has chosen us to fight a war with a very powerful enemy. (I talked about it last week.) It is a war that is not fought with tanks and airplanes and ships. It is not fought with guns or bombs or missiles. It is not even fought with swords or spears. It is a war that is fought with the word of God and with humility. We are chosen to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand so that he may lift us up, exalt us, in due time.

We are chosen so that the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory in Christ, after we have suffered a little while, will himself restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Concerning all these things Peter has written to us to encourage us and to testify that this is the true grace of God. He wants us to stand fast in it. And it’s by God’s grace that we are able to stand fast!

To continue, Peter says in verse 13 in today’s passage, “She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.” She who is in Babylon certainly refers to the church. The expositors generally agree that “Babylon” is really Rome. There is also extra-biblical evidence that Peter wrote this letter from Rome. Rome was the center of government, of pagan religion and of all things worldly. The analogy is to the Babylonian captivity in the Old Testament, where God’s chosen people had to live among the pagan Babylonians. We are now God’s chosen people, God’s elect. We are strangers in this pagan world. (This really is a pagan world. The whole culture—entertainment, business, everything—is oriented, not toward God, but toward worldliness and selfishness—all the things that lead to destruction.) We are only here temporarily. We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13)

Now to get back to 1 Peter 5:13, when Peter says, “She who is in Babylon sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark,” he is telling his readers that the members of the church at Rome, as well as Mark (who is probably the author of the book of Mark), are thinking about them and, no doubt, praying for them as well.

Peter is ending his letter with personal greetings. Most of the apostle Paul’s letters also end with his passing personal greetings to those to whom he is writing. It’s very important for all the church all over the world to be connected together through personal relationships. (We have telephones and e-mail, now.)

Verse 14 says, “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” The apostle Paul also frequently ended his letter with instructions to “greet the brothers with a holy kiss.” In our present culture, we don’t generally greet each other with a kiss, except maybe family members. But Peter (and God) want us to be far more warm and intimate with other believers than I think we are. A friendly handshake won’t do it. We shake hand with nonbelievers. Maybe a “holy hug” would be good. That’s Wayne Grudem’s suggestion.

Finally, Peter says, “Peace to all of you who are in Christ.” This is really a prayer. It can only be made on behalf of believers. There can be no peace for anyone else. They are God’s enemies. We were too at one time, but now we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise his name.

She who is at 365 E. 13th greets you. Grace and peace and mercy to you.

Let’s pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.

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