Restored, Confirmed, Strengthened, Established

Resisting the devil, remaining firm in the faith by learning and believing God’s promises, keeps us from being devoured by Satan (1 Peter 5:8–9). Our enemy seeks to scare us into abandoning the faith by employing the threat of persecution. But if we are confident that eternal glory awaits all who persevere in faith, we can endure the suffering, which is temporary in the grand scheme of eternity: “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).

Peter began his first epistle with the promise of eternal glory and an exhortation that the suffering his original audience faced was but “a little while” (1 Peter 1:3–9). Now, as he reaches the end of his letter and prepares to give his final greetings, the Apostle returns to the glory ahead for the faithful and the temporary nature of suffering. He reminds us that after we have “suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called [us] to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish [us]” (5:10). Commentators note that there is no reason to sharply distinguish between restoring, confirming, strengthening, and establishing, for all these ideas make the same point. Whatever loss we experience in suffering for the Lord Jesus Christ will not be forever. God will return to us all that we lose for the sake of Jesus and much more besides, as He did with Job (Job 42:10–17). He will glorify us, and we will live with Him forever (Rev. 21:1–22:5).

Although Peter has the final day in mind primarily when he speaks of the work of God to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us, our Creator begins this work before we are glorified. Going through suffering has a way of increasing our confidence in the Lord; as we persevere, we find ourselves even more committed to Christ on the other side of a trial. As we experience this, we must keep in mind that our loving God more deeply after a trial is the Lord’s work that He performs as we seek Him. Matthew Henry comments, “The perfecting, establishing, strengthening, and settling, of good people in grace, and their perseverance therein, is so difficult a work, that only the God of all grace can accomplish it; and therefore he is earnestly to be sought unto by continual prayer, and dependence upon his promises.” Moreover, we need not doubt that the Lord can fully establish us. As Peter tells us, He is fully sovereign, having eternal dominion over all (1 Peter 5:11).