God’s Grace in Peter’s Theology

By Frederic R. Howe

Frederic R. Howe, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas, resides in Cincinnati, Ohio.

This is article four in a four-part series, “Theological Themes in 1 and 2 Peter.”

The impact of Jesus’ life and ministry on Peter was significant. John included Peter in the circle of those referred to as believers (John 1:12) and firsthand recipients of God’s grace (1:16). In their close association with Christ in His incarnate ministry, Peter and the other disciples saw firsthand the grace of God in the Lord’s entire life, including His teaching and healing ministry and His compassion on the multitudes. One cannot help but notice a link between John 1:16, “of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace,” and 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” Thus what Peter and the others saw in Christ was indeed the grace of God.

Also Jesus’ teaching ministry emphasized grace. Luke 4:22 states, “And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips.” The phrase “gracious words” (τοῖς λόγοις τῆς χάριτος) can be translated “words of grace.” In fact the American Standard Version translates the phrase “at the words of grace,” and the New English Bible has “words of such grace.” The meaning here is far more than a Lucan comment on the way Jesus delivered His teaching, or the manner of His teaching. Rather, it refers to the content of His teaching. As McDonald puts it:

Luke uses the phrase “the word of his grace” (Acts 14:3), as equivalent to the gospel (cf. 20:25). Something of this objective sense is to be read in the use of charis in Luke 4:22. This is strengthened by an examination of the context. The context is a quotation from Isaiah 61:2, and our Lord asserts its fulfillment in His coming. The allusion is made more gracious still by His omission of any reference to the divine vengeance which the original passage contained (cf. Isa 61:2; Luke 4:22). Luke intends to convey that the people did not simply marvel at the charming way Jesus spoke, or at its fascinating effects. Jesus was indicating that His presence in the world was to have a result wider and deeper than any nationalistic aid to the people of Israel. This was more than a hint of the Gospel as “grace for all.”[1]

After Jesus’ great discourse on the Bread of life and His miraculous feeding of the five thousand, He said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). When Jesus asked the disciples if they intended to desert Him (v. 67), Peter responded, “To whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (v. 68). The phrase “words of grace” (Luke 4:22) and the clause “words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63) help confirm the fact that in both its existence and its content Christ’s teaching epitomized the life-giving grace of God.

Peter learned of God’s grace, therefore, through his many contacts with the incarnate Lord and other elements, including his mature reflection on the words and the works of the Messiah, and his own experiences as the recipient of divine revelation and grace.

Peter’s use of the word χάρις harmonizes with the way the term is used elsewhere in the New Testament,[2] which may be summarized this way: “Always, however, charis had the underlying idea of a bestowal of help by an act of one’s free generosity. Aristotle could therefore define charis as ‘helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything’ (μὴ ἀντὶ πινός) nor that the helper may get anything, but for the sake of the person who is helped (Rhetor. ii. 7)…. God giving Himself in Christ His Son … is ‘the gospel of the grace of God.’ ”[3]

The Ultimate Source of Grace

Peter stated unmistakably that the ultimate source of grace is God Himself. He wrote, “The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). The words “the God of all grace” affirm that God Himself is the Provider and Source of grace. This is also made abundantly clear in the greetings Peter used in both of his epistles: “May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure” (1 Pet. 1:2), and “Grace and peace be multiplied to you” (2 Pet. 1:2). The words “be yours in fullest measure” and “be multiplied” translate πληθυνθείη, an aorist passive verb. The passive voice is consistent with the truth that this is the work of another; it is God who gives the bountiful blessing of His grace.

The Inherited Sphere of Grace

In 1 Peter 3:7 Peter used an intriguing phrase: χάριτος ζωῆς (“the grace of life”). In discussing husband-wife relationships he exhorted, “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman, and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” By stressing the truth that husbands and wives, as believers, are heirs together of “the grace of life,” Peter pointed to the fact that the Christian life is a realm or sphere of grace that is inherited.[4]

Thus the phrase “the grace of life” speaks of the Christian life. This agrees with 1:4 in which Peter stated that, as heirs, believers have “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

In 1:10 grace is associated with the salvation wrought by God. Peter stated, “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry.” The close affinity of “this salvation” and “the grace that would come to you” indicates that both phrases refer to believers’ spiritual blessings because of their salvation in Christ. “Salvation then must be used here to refer to the full possession of all the blessings of salvation (see v. 5 for the same sense). The process described in verse 9 is the entire process of growth in the Christian life, the process of appropriating in one’s own life more and more of the blessings of salvation. This process happens, Peters says, as Christians continually believe in Christ and continually rejoice because of that personal trust in him. Such day by day faith and joy produces an unexpected benefit: continual growth toward Christian maturity.”[5]

The fact that many of Peter’s readers were Gentiles may be of some significance here. The fact that God offers salvation to the entire world clearly demonstrates His grace. Peter’s Gentile readers and hearers were recipients of divine grace, and this extension of the grace of God to the world is recognized in Acts 11:23 and 15:11, in which Peter said to the Jerusalem Council that Jews and Gentiles alike “are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” In each passage χάρις is synonymous with salvation.

The Needed Supply of Grace

Life In The Fellowship Of Believers

In 1 Peter 4:10 Peter wrote of the fact that each believer has a spiritual gift, a χάρισμα, a word closely associated with χάρις, “grace.” “As each one has received a special gift [χάρισμα], employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Paul used both words in Romans 12:6: “We have gifts [χαρίσματα] that differ according to the grace [χάριν] given to us.” This close link between χάρις and χάρισμα reflects the fact that spiritual gifts stem from the grace of God.

Then in verse 11 Peter wrote that “speaking” and “serving” gifts are to be exercised “by the strength which God supplies.” Grudem suggests that the speaking gifts include teaching, preaching, evangelism, and other ministries that involve words.[6] The serving gifts include helping and encouraging believers and unbelievers. These activities—of those who speak and those who serve are to be exercised by believers who are “good stewards of the manifold [ποικίλης] grace of God” (v. 10). “In its various forms translates poikiloi, lit. multicolored. Christian gifts of service come in many varieties, but exercised together they form a harmonious pattern.”[7]

Summarizing the truth of God’s grace as a bountiful supply for various gifts given to believers in the life of the church, Grudem fittingly notes, “The source of such service is (literally, ‘out of’) the strength which God supplies; service performed by merely human energy and for one’s own status in the eyes of others can soon become a wearying activity (see Gal. 6:9; 2 Thes. 3:13) and increase one’s pride rather than one’s faith. While service is directed to helping fellow believers (and others) and to building up the church, its ultimate purpose is that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 1:31). [The word] glorified applies not only to words but also to attitudes and actions which honor God.”[8]

Another verse in which Peter focused on God’s grace in the fellowship of believers is 1 Peter 5:5: “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The transition from “younger men” to “all of you” is smooth and deliberate. The younger men are urged to be responsive to mature leaders, those who are older and have served longer in the church. All believers are to be humble, because God resists proud people and gives grace to those who are humble.[9] The reason God resists the proud is apparently that in their arrogance they reject His authority, wanting glory only for themselves.

Because Peter appealed to believers to practice humility toward each other, and because God resists the proud, it would seem that self-centered pride could easily become a problem for believers. However, Peter also referred often to those outside the faith in 1 Peter. For example in 3:16 he said unbelievers are “those who revile your [believers’] good behavior in Christ,” and in 4:4 he said these non-Christians “malign” Christians. Yet Jesus’ followers can rest assured that God will “exalt” them at the proper time (5:6).

Life Under Stress And Trials

Peter discussed the fact that believers face suffering for faith in Christ. The apostle affirmed that “the God of all grace … will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (5:10). These four verbs describe the outflow of God’s grace. “Their cumulative effect is to reiterate and reinforce the aorist subjunctive ὑψώσῃ, ‘he will lift you up,’ of v 6, and so to complete Peter’s interpretation of Prov. 3:34 as cited in v 5. This, he concludes, is how God ‘gives grace to the humble.’ The benediction turns out to be a promise of victory or vindication. The victory described is future and eschatological (cf. ἐν καιρῷ, ‘when it is time,’ in v 6), yet because God is the God of ‘all grace,’ the process by which it comes to realization is already underway in the ministries of believers to each other within and among their scattered congregations.”[10]

The verbs, virtually synonyms, furnish striking pictures of God’s amazing grace in operation. The first word, “perfect,” translates καταρτίσει, which means “to restore, to set things right.” Noting that this same word is used in Mark 1:19 of the process whereby fishermen mended their nets, Hillyer asks, “Is Peter thinking of the old days, remembering how his fishing nets continually needed reinforcement and repair?”[11] The next verb, “confirm,” renders στηρίξει, “to fix firmly, to support.” Then follows σθενώσει, a verb that is used only here in the New Testament and that means “to make strong, to fill with strength.” The fourth verb, “establish,” translates θεμελιώσει, meaning “to prepare a foundation, and thus to establish and ground firmly.”

Another use of χάρις (“grace”) in relation to the trials and stresses of life is in 1 Peter 2:19–20. “For this finds favor [χάρις], if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor [χάρις] with God.” For a Christian to bear with dignity and perseverance the suffering endured for “conscience toward God” is pleasing in God’s eyes because it is an expression of grace.

The Future Security of Grace

Peter assured believers that the present supply of grace is a foretaste of the grace they will experience at the second coming of Christ. “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). “God’s plan of salvation will be finally realized, making it abundantly clear that the grace being continuously brought to the believer day by day has proved utterly sufficient at every stage of the individual Christian’s development (2 Cor. 12:9).”[12]

Conclusion

An appropriate conclusion to a study of God’s grace in Peter’s theology is found, interestingly, in the last verse of the second epistle. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18). Peter began his second epistle with a strong emphasis on growth (1:5–9), stressing the fact that the virtues listed in verses 6–7 are to be experienced and manifested by believers in an increasing and growing manner.

How does one grow “in grace”? Since the imperative “grow” in 3:18 is an appeal to the will, the answer to this question is this: Keep on prayerfully drawing on the strength and grace of the risen Savior. As the writer to the Hebrews stated, “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace [θρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος], so that we may receive mercy and find grace [χάριν] to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Peter’s appeal to “keep on growing” (2 Pet. 3:18) agrees with the words “let us draw near” (Heb. 4:16). Believers should keep on drawing near to God, for His grace is always available. At each step in a Christian’s growth in grace, “the God of all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10) grants just the right amount of grace that person needs. Peter’s own life bore eloquent testimony to this fact, as he fulfilled the Lord’s command “Follow Me!” (John 21:22).

Notes

1. H. D. McDonald, “Grace,” in Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 2:800.
2. For a succinct but complete lexicographical study of χάρις see Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 130–38.
3. McDonald, “Grace,” 2:799.
4. “Here as elsewhere the New Testament authors couple their treatment of differences in roles of husband and wife with an implicit or explicit affirmation of their equality in status or importance (cf. 1 Cor. 11:2–3, 7, 12; Eph. 5:22–33; Col. 3:18–19)” (Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, rev. ed. [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987], 15).
5. Ibid., 67 (italics his).
6. Ibid., 175.
7. Norman Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrikson, 1995), 128–29.
8. Grudem, 1 Peter, 176 (italics his).
9. Peter’s quotation of Proverbs 3:34 is also cited in James 4:6.
10. Ramsey Michaels, 1 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1988), 302–3.
11. Hillyer, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude, 149.
12. Ibid., 45.