Grace that means there is a future to hope for. A hope that is living and that, on occasions, breaks into the here and now with a joy that is beyond words.
Grace - God's Riches At Christ's Expense. Not a bad summary.
But not a fully adequate summary. As Peter closes his first letter he reminds his readers that he has written to them briefly, wanting to encourage them. And what he has written in his letter has been a testimony that "this is the true grace of God" (1 Peter 5:12). So what is it he has testified to?
That those who come to faith in Jesus are born again into a living hope, they have an inheritance that is untouchable and a gloriously joyful salvation that they are being preserved for. That they have a new status - a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and God's special possession. That they share life together "as faithful stewards of God's grace in all its various forms" (4:10). What they have begun to experience, angels long to look into. And all this achieved for them through the precious blood of Christ. Truly, this is grace.
But Peter also writes about unwarranted suffering and callous rejection by an idolatrous society. The harsh words and hurtful hands of masters and, likely, husbands too. Ridicule and malicious slander is heaped upon them.
All of which, the joys and the pain, Peter bundles together into this one short phrase: the true grace of God.
That sounds so very counter-intuitive in a world that puts comfort and ease near the top of its list of treasures. To describe such negative experiences as being part and parcel of the true grace of God seems misguided at best and malign at worst. But it is neither.
The grace of God is not disproved by the sufferings of this present age. Peter's portrayal of the life of Christians and churches is accurate, not simply in its no-punches-pulled account but also in the place he assigns to their suffering within God's calling: "live such good lives among the pagans that, though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (2:12) The enduring of present sufferings leads to a future where God is willingly and gladly worshipped by those who formerly spat upon such holiness. As Paul, Peter's dear brother, expressed it, "it has been [graced] to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." (Phil. 1:29)
Peter has testified that this is the true grace of God, in all its present reality and future fulfilment, so that his readers might "stand fast in it." Don't be surprised at the world's disdain; it's sure to come. Don't be knocked off your feet by the suffering and the slander. Instead, "set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1:13). Grace has begun and we experience its reality, even in the apparent contradiction of painful struggles. And grace will be completed, in a way and to a depth we can scarcely begin to imagine.
In that grace and hope, let's stand fast.
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Arise, my soul, my joyful powers,
And triumph in my God;
Awake, my voice, and loud proclaim
His glorious grace abroad.
He raised me from the depths of sin,
The gates of gaping hell,
And fixed my standing more secure
Than 'twas before I fell.
The arms of everlasting love
Beneath my soul He placed;
And on the Rock of Ages set
My slippery footsteps fast.
The city of my blest abode
Is walled around with grace;
Salvation for a bulwark stands
To shield the sacred place.
Satan may vent his sharpest spite,
And all his legions roar:
Almighty mercy guards my life,
And bounds his raging power.
Arise, my soul, awake, my voice,
And tunes of pleasure sing;
Loud hallelujahs shall address
My Saviour and my King.
(Isaac Watts 1674-1748)
