The God of All Grace Throughout Scripture, we find terms that are descriptive of God; terms that tell us who He is, what He is like, and what He does. God is described as almighty, gracious, kind, faithful, merciful, and longsuffering. God referred to Himself as a jealous God [Exodus 20:5]. John wrote, “God is love” [I John 4:8]. Paul spoke of God who is “rich in mercy” [Ephesians 2:4]. Peter described God as “the God of all grace.” He wrote, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” I Peter 5:10 Fortunately, Peter did not leave us to wonder what he meant when He referred to God as, “the God of all grace.” Rather, he gave us wonderful insight into God and how He ministers by His grace when he wrote, “...the God of all grace...make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Peter‘s words reveal that the God of all grace is the God Who aids us, strengthens us, settles us, and matures us, bringing us to a place of fitness, firmness, full stature, strength, and stability! — After You Have Suffered Awhile? — In the immediate context of Peter’s wonderful statement about the God of all grace there are words which, if they were taken at face value from the King James Version of the Bible, would be quite disheartening. Peter said that the God of all grace would strengthen, perfect, establish, and settle believers, “after that ye [believers] have suffered a while.” At first glance, it seems that Peter was either suggesting that God has planned that believers should suffer for a season of time before He helps them or that suffering for a season is simply part of the process of growing. To understand what Peter meant, we must discover where the English words “after that ye have suffered awhile” come from and what they really mean. The English word “suffered” in I Peter 5:10 comes from the Greek pascho. Pascho means, “to be affected, to feel something, to have an experience, or to undergo something.” It gives the sense of being prone to being affected, of being subject to outward disturbances, or of being influenced from without. Pascho is neither positive or negative and could be used in a good sense or in a bad sense. It could refer to a person’s feelings of well being because of how what was going on around them impacted them or refer to a person’s sense of inner disturbance or even despair because of how what was going on around them impacted them. Although pascho is neither positive or negative, it is used mostly in a negative sense in the New Testament; to depict one who is suffering internally because of difficult external circumstances. The English word “awhile” comes from the Greek oligos and means, “little, a few, short, or slight in degree or intensity.” It could be rendered, “briefly” or “short time.” In the context in which Peter used oligos, it suggests a short period of time. New-born and young believers are not grounded, settled, strong, and established. Being in that spiritual condition, they are quite subject to outside influences and circumstances. These unsettled believers may love God with all their heart and even be zealous, but being young and not yet strong and established, they are yet subject to outside circumstances and influences. If someone speaks a kind word to them, they will feel encouraged and be happy. If someone says something unkind to them, they will become discouraged, despondent, and maybe even depressed. When fair winds blow, they will be content, satisfied, and smiling. When harsh winds blow, they will lose their joy and become troubled in their emotions. If harsh winds persist, they will begin to feel overwhelmed and miserable. If a temptation comes, the immature and weak believer will be easily drawn away into a sin. If personal pressures arise, he will buckle under those pressures and become despondent, perhaps wondering if God has abandoned him; perhaps even wondering if he is saved. When conflict arises, he will panic. When storms, floods, and rains beat upon his house, he will crumble and experience ruin. He is not yet a match for Satan and his minions. This believer, in his un-perfect, not-settled, not-established, and not-strong condition, will definitely “suffer;” and, perhaps, suffer intensely. By using the words pascho and oligos together in the phrase, “after that ye have suffered a while,” Peter was conveying to believers that during a certain period of time, when they are yet young and not established, they would “suffer” — they would be easily affected. They would undergo inner stress because of outward trouble and be prone to being inwardly disturbed because of outside circumstances. This time period, however, according to Peter, should not be a very long time. Peter revealed that it was not God’s will that they continue for very long at all in an immature, unsettled, and weak spiritual state where they are easily affected, but that they should very soon become mature, settled, strong, and established by their relationship with the God of all grace! The condition of “suffering” — of being easily affected by outside things — should only be for “awhile” — for a short season. After “awhile” — after believers have been saved for a time; and not such a very long time — they should no longer be “suffering” profoundly under the influence of what assails from the outside, but should be becoming settled, grounded, strengthened and perfected through the abundant in-working of the God of all grace and, growing into that place of maturity and strength, be able to remain firm and steadfast no matter what assailed them from the outside! — Take Heart! — Take heart! The “God of all Grace” will establish you! He will settle you! He will strengthen you! He will perfect you! And when you grow into that place through the working of the God of all grace, you will no longer “suffer!” You will no longer be easily moved and affected by what happens TO you. You will be moved only by what is happening IN you!!
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:31:49 +0000
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