As Peter the
apostle gave instructions to the “elders” who were among
the “scattered” Christians, he told them to “willingly”
“feed” and have “oversight” of the flock of “God's
heritage”. He also told them to “be examples” to the
flock rather than “lord” over them. In chapter five and
verse five of his letter, Peter addressed his words to the “younger”
among the Christians where we read:
Likewise,
ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yes, all of
you be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to
the humble.
The
verse begins, “Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the
elder.” Peter began with the word, “Likewise” which
means “equally and in the same way” “you younger”
which refers to “recently born, youthful and new”, “submit
yourselves” which refers to the “younger”
“scattered” Christians “arranging themselves, being
subordinate to and be in subjection” “unto the elder”
which refers to “the advanced in life, senior and among the
Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches). The
New Testament uses the term bishop, elders and presbyters
interchangeably”. Those who were new to faith in Jesus Christ were
to “submit” themselves to “elders” who oversaw
them.
The
verse goes on to say, “Yes, all of
you be subject one to another, and be
clothed with humility:” Peter
continued with the word, “Yes” or
“but, now, and moreover” “all of
you” which
refers to “each, every, any, the whole and everyone” of the
“scattered”
Christians “be subject”
or “arranged under, subordinate to, in subjection to and obedient”
“one to another”
which refers to “reciprocally and mutually”, “and
be clothed”
or “knotted or banded by which two
things are fastened together and to fasten or gird one's self”
“with humility”
which means “humbleness and lowliness of mind”.
Finally the verse says, “for God resists the proud,
and gives grace to the humble.” Peter ended this verse with
“for God” which refers to “the Godhead bodily and
trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the
Holy Spirit” “resists” or “ranges in battle against
and opposes one's self” “the proud” which means “showing
one's self above others, overtopping and conspicuous above others and
pre-eminent”, “and gives” or “grants, supplies,
furnishes and delivers” “grace” which means “that
which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness
and loving-kindness and unmerited favor” “to the humble”
or “of low degree, base, cast down, lowly and of low estate”.
Peter gave the “younger” Christians incentive as he shared the
benefit of “submitting” to the “elders” -
“God's grace”, however if they “resisted”
submission, God would “resist” them.
When we think through these words of Peter, we begin to
understand there was to be “authority” within the church.
“Elders” were to minister to their “flocks” and
the “younger” or newer Christians were to “submit”
to their authority. This required “humility by the “younger”,
and Peter's promise was “God's grace” to those who
submitted to his charge. May the Lord Jesus help us to “submit”
to Godly authorities, and should we have authority over others, let
us be “humble” before the Lord as we oversee His flock.
Next
time Peter tells the Christians to “humble themselves
under the mighty hand of God”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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