Stand Firm: Peter sums up his letter with a final encouragement. Stand firm in the true grace of God. Peter sees all that he’s written to fall within the wide scope of divine grace. This spans the full scope of salvation encompassing election (1:2; 2:9; 5:13), regeneration (1:3, 23), atonement (1:2, 18-19; 2:24; 3:18), redemption (2:9-10), reconciliation (2:25; 3:18), sanctification (1:2; 1:14-17; 2:2, 11-12, 17; 3:8-9, 15; 4:2), suffering (1:6; 2:19-21; 3:14; 4:1), the church of God (2:5, 9; 4:8-11), and future glory (1:5, 9, 13; 5:10). All of this is divine grace which God directs toward His own children. A false grace is the lackluster and defective gospel of self-salvation, cheap atonement, devoid of the blood, reconciliation, sanctification, the church of God, suffering, and glory.

Christian Love: As Peter concludes his letter, he puts the spotlight on the demonstration of the very love he has commanded throughout this epistle (1:22; 2:17; 4:8). He first brings up a brother who has been instrumental in writing this letter: Silvanus. Peter emphasizes his good character and esteems him as “our faithful brother.” As he sends greetings, he again shows how he treasures another co-laborer in the Lord, Mark. He endearingly calls him “my son.” He loves the men with whom he serves. The greeting also comes from the church from which he wrote. He tells his audience that they have friends who love and greet them from there. They are their spiritual kinsmen, fellow elect of God, who love them. He then calls them to express their love for fellow believers (“one another”) “with a kiss of love.” Finally, he wishes peace for his audience who were suffering (1:6; 4:12). Christian love is like this: esteeming, endearing, cherishing, expressing, wishing peace, and more (1 Cor. 13:4-7)!