Peter’s instructions for defense against Satan are quite interesting.

1 Peter 5:5-11 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.  Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  To Him be the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

I think that the issue of submission has received a bad reputation in recent church history.  Especially concerning the nature of a wife’s submission to her husband, submission has unfortunately come to be seen as a negative thing.  This is unnecessary and even harmful since Peter here connects the idea of submission to our protection from the devil.  Yes, in chapter three Peter tells wives to be submissive to their husbands, but here he tells younger people to be submissive to the elders.  Also, he proceeds to tell everyone to be submissive to everyone else.  What is the nature of this submission? I think the answer is contained in Peter’s next phrase, “and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  I think that this means lowering ourselves and thinking correctly about ourselves in light of the majesty of God.  When we all see our proper place before God we are then able to see our proper place with each other.  What is our proper place and association with each other?  The answer can at least partially be given from that famous statement in the Gospel according to Mark (Peter’s memoirs), “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”  So, yes, the younger are to submit to the elders, but the elders are also to submit to the younger.  This is essentially a group of people bent on serving each other no matter each one’s status.  If we think of the entire church at once we will realize that there are kings and peasants, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, but that these distinctions matter not before God.  Thus, the poorest saint, and the youngest saint are to be treated as Christ would be treated by the church precisely because they are part of Christ’s body.  After all, Christ told us, “whatever you do for the least of these, you have done for Me.”  This is what submission means, to prioritize the needs of everyone around us as if those around us were Christ Himself.

The repercussions of this attitude are startling.  First, there is the exaltation that God brings to the humble.  Second, there is the care that God provides for those who cast all their cares upon Him.  Of course, God never stops caring for us when we stop casting our cares upon Him, it is just that when we are consciously humble and reliant upon His care, we are so much more aware of His care for us.  And third, this humility is directly connected to a soberness and vigilance that allows us to resist the devil.  I love how Peter has this verse about resisting the devil tucked within a context of the nature of the church as it works together.  This makes perfect sense, as Christ told Peter in Matthew 16, as the church working together in faith is much stronger than an individual saint.  In fact, the church working together in faith is so strong - as Christ tells Peter - that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Peter concludes his letter here with a type of doxology and reference to the eternal kingdom.  I love how this eternal dominion is connected beautifully by Peter to a church struggling and suffering.  This is what anchors the church, the hope of the eternal kingdom in which we will enjoy the glory of God forever.  This is also connected to our submission in the here and now.  The degree to which we submit to one another is the degree to which we understand and look forward to this eternal glory.  There is much more to unpack here in these verses, but I must conclude for this morning.