1 Peter 5:6–11

Bible Studies for Life 
Chair and Armstrong Professor of Religion, Samford University

Victorious Faith

1 Peter 5:6–11

In his famous allegory of the Christian life, John Bunyan wrote that “he that is down needs fear no fall, and he that is low no pride. He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.”

Humility is the Key to Spiritual Maturity (6–7)

Peter knew from bitter experience what it was like to be spiritually proud and tell Jesus that although all the other disciples might desert Him he would never deny his Lord and Savior. When he did deny Him, he was overwhelmed with remorse and “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). 

Peter encourages his readers to humble themselves “under God’s almighty hand,” which was a familiar biblical image, deeply rooted in the Old Testament experience of deliverance from bondage in Israel. The “hand” of God was powerful and also loving toward His people. Believers could find their confidence not in themselves but in God. The purpose of God is never to humiliate us but in “dying to self” that we might be blessed by Him. This will ultimately take place “in due time,” which is most probably a reference to the coming of Christ. Just as Jesus “humbled Himself and became obedient to the death of the cross and God exalted Him to the highest place” so the believer can have confidence that suffering for Christ will be rewarded in the life to come. So we cast all our concerns and cares upon Him, knowing He cares and that His caring does not lack the ability or the willingness to do the very best for His chosen people.

Watchfulness is the Key to Spiritual Victory (8–9)

However, Peter is concerned that such assurance of God’s care does not make us careless in how we live and so he immediately encouraged us to be watchful and to discipline ourselves. He knows that the devil, our archenemy, is like a roaring lion prowling around. We need not fear him. But we do need to be watchful and to resist his temptations. Jesus has defeated him. As Bunyan reminds us in “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” Christians can “see the lions but see not the chains” and forget the victory that Christ has already won over the powers of evil. They are defeated and in His strength we can gain the victory.

Perseverance is the Key to Spiritual Blessing (10–11)

Our faith is rooted and grounded in His grace, mercy and love and in His eternal purposes. So Peter reminds us this God of all grace has called us to eternal glory in Christ and that He will restore us when we fall, support us in our greatest crisis of faith, strengthen us with His Spirit and establish us. The final image is one of total security, assuring us that nothing will move us from the firm foundation we have in Jesus Christ. The four images combine to overwhelm us with a sense of the security we have in Christ. Nothing and no one will separate us from His purposes and from His eternal love. To this God (our God) belongs eternal praise.

God has written the names of His people in the book of life. His pencil does not have a rubber eraser. The ink in which our names are written is that of the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world in His eternal purposes and nailed to the cross in history.

“O to grace how great a debtor. Daily I’m constrained to be! Let that grace now like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.”